I finally watched the show known as "GINO"

[BST]

I actually did this back in 2013 and just recently dusted off this review.



Where do we start?

The likely answer would be, AT THE BEGINNING!!

So,

The beginning of the show was interesting but, it really didn't change my mindset about the show, that I had been building these last 10 years, and that bothered me. I mean, I really couldn't see the point in watching the show if I was already going to have my mind made up that I didn't like it, that Moore and Eick were anti-Christs, and the cast was just a bunch of losers who couldn't get a job anywhere else. So, I made a decision to remove Galactica from the formula. I realize that may sound non-sensical because of certain things like the name of the show, the name plate on the ship, etc but, I think you understand that I'm not talking about the obvious, here. I'm talking about it, on a sub-conscious level. I had to remove my thoughts of the show, as being something trying to replace what I considered to be Battlestar Galactica, and try to view it as a show about a huge space ship, protecting a couple hundred civilian ships, all containing survivors of holocausts on multiple planets.

So, that's what I did.

I realized something, too. There WERE people on this show that I could like but, it didn't happen immediately. It took the first couple of episodes and the first character who I found to be someone I could admire, was Helo.

First, it was his gesture, during the evacuation, to give up his seat on the Raptor, to Baltar. After that, the Caprica storyline showed me that this guy wasn't a dysfunctional mess and that maybe, just maybe, there was going to be some positive elements of this show.

It did, though, take me longer to warm up to Sharon. Part of it was the Boomer thing and part of it was the fact that there were 2 copies, one on Caprica and the other on the Galactica. A lot of that baggage, though, went away after she became pregnant. Her desire to keep the child and to remain with Helo, once they were rescued by Starbuck, started the process of me viewing her as Sharon and not, Boomer. For me, that was a big step. It was one of many that I took, during this grand experiment.

At the beginning of the show, I really had no use for Kara. I already had the Starbuck issue going on so, seeing her coarse behavior, arrogance, insubordination, etc, just cemented the idea that it was not going to be easy watching her, in this show. To me, she was just a loud-mouthed b*tch who went out of her way to aggravate me. Well, that too, changed and, yes, it was not overnight. Her competition with Kat was typical, for her but, at the end of that storyline, the final 'honor' she gave to Kat was nice. Kara's loyalty to Adama and need for his love and 'approval' showed me that, deep down, it's no different than the interaction between a father and a daughter.

I, also, didn't really care for Lee. He seemed to be too full of himself, to be concerned with anyone else. Yes, he lost his brother but, his father lost a son. He never once put himself in his father's shoes and saw it from his point of view. He never once considered how absolutely horrific it is for a parent to bury a child. But, I tolerated it. Then, for me, the ice melted, with the episode, "You Can't Go Home Again". When the search was on for Starbuck and Apollo could see how hell-bent his father was, to find her, and thinking that she was the "favorite", he asked his father what would happen if he was the one there, and not Starbuck. When Adama said, "We'd NEVER leave", that did it. I smiled as I wiped away a few tears and thought, ok, maybe I was wrong. Maybe I DID throw the baby out with the bath water.

In the episodes that followed, there were disagreements between father and son but, they were honest disagreements and not just the whining of some petulant boy who thought that he could make himself look better, by making his father look bad. Neither backed away from core principles. One exchange, during Season 3, exemplified this, when Apollo resigned his commission, saying that he could "never serve for someone who questioned his integrity" and his father saying, he "would never have an officer in his command, who didn't have any", or something to that effect. Were the comments by each man hurtful to the other? Hell yeah but, it was not unlike a real-life argument between a father and a son. Eventually, all was forgiven and I think the pivotal event that healed that open wound, was Apollo's incredible closing argument, during Baltar's trial. He absolutely changed the entire outcome of the trial with that monologue. It was an absolute, KA-BOOM!

Throughout the show, I was also noticing the growing affection that was occurring between Adama and Roslin. It was something that I truly enjoyed and hoped that it would continue. As it turned out, I wasn't disappointed. Even near the end of the final episode, the flight in the Raptor.. a nice touch.

There were, however, some parts that I really didn't care for and I'll get it over with, now.

The rape scene.

My opinion of it hasn't changed from those days back in September 2005 when we wrote the Shutdown Letter. There is just no way in hell that I will ever agree that that scene should have ever been filmed or broadcast. It was and will be, a horrible aggression against a completely defenseless person. It would have been bad enough, if the Pegasus officer had physically overwhelmed Sharon, himself. But, to have 2 other soldiers holding her down while he was "getting ready" was just thoroughly and absolutely disgusting.

Another part of the show that I just didn't care for, was the occupation on New Caprica. To me, it had concentration camp written all over it and was a chapter in humanity that we didn't have to revisit, to tell a story. The Colonials looked like animals in pens. Why was it necessary to portray them that way? They had just lost their entire civilization. There were, maybe, about 40,000 survivors left, from 12 planets. Why did they have to continually be portrayed as gutter dwellers? Couldn't there have been some nice scenes with green grass, fresh-water streams, kids playing, etc?

Cally.
Was it really necessary to drive her character into the ground? She wasn't one of the elite and it would have been nice to see her character rise above all the sadness and despair but, it wasn't to be.

Handles, last names, suits, ties.
In the overall context of the show, they make sense now.

Dualla.
A complete surprise. Sad.

All Along the Watchtower?
Are the Cylons saying that Hendrix is the one, true god?

I won't do a like/dislike for everything but, suffice it to say, I have had my own little epiphany, watching this show.

It WAS worth the time that I spent watching it.

I DID find likeable characters. I found my little nuggets of gold.

And I owe Steve a big apology and have a question “does that fence really have splinters" ?



....and I may just buy the set. Not sure when but, maybe.

[Titon]

Holy crap! Didn't even see you did this!

New Caprica was kinda a stolen plot.

If you have not read it Pete find Richards book "Warhawk".

Just read it and let me know what you think.

[BST]

Originally Posted by Titon

Holy crap! Didn't even see you did this!

New Caprica was kinda a stolen plot.

If you have not read it Pete find Richards book "Warhawk".

Just read it and let me know what you think.

Don,

Yeah, I did it.

I'll check out Warhawk.

[Titon]

Actually Pete if i recall Richard had 3 books that he wrote and i think Warhawk was the last?

I'd have to did through my stuff to find them again but the New Caprica concept that i have seen glimpses of really remind me a LOT about what Richard wrote. And it revolved around the Pegasus.

[Jayworld]

Hi, Titan:
No, Richard Hatch wrote (in conjunction with a co-author) 7 total books. Warhawk was the 2nd in the series. The books were:

Armageddon
Warhawk
Resurrection
Rebellion
Paradis
Destiny
Redemption

At one time, I owned all seven, and five were signed by Richard (two gold signed editions). I finally sold all my books this past year. I thought the books overall were good (perhaps due to my starved nature for new classic Battlestar storylines), but not really worth a re-read. And yes, I found that the new series, GINO, borrowed several things from Richard Hatch's books PLUS the trailer that he showed out on the convention circle for many years, including the new style Cylon Raiders, etc.

[Eric Paddon]

Originally Posted by Titon

New Caprica was kinda a stolen plot.

The idea of a "New Caprica" even predates Richard using it in a novel. A fanfic author named Adam Stacey came up with the idea in the first of his series of 16 stories back in 1994.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070504...gal-fanfic.htm

[Senmut]

Again, proof that RDM never met a good plot he would not steal.