Saturday, January 21, 2006

New Heights in Sci-Fi Gobbledygook (With Battlestar Galactica spoilers)

Have you been watching the Battlestar Galactica remake? Ok, last night on Battlestar Galactica, roughly this conversation occurred

Dr. Baltar: OK this is human blood.

He draws a hexagon on a transparency. Why a hexagon? What does this mean?

Baltar, continuing: This is Cylon blood. It looks similar, but its different, because they’re Cylons.

He draws an octagon on the transparency, overlapping the hexagon. Why overlapping?

Baltar: This is the thing, it has no antigens. The Cylon baby literally has no blood type.

Admiral Adama: What are you saying?

Baltar: We can cure the president’s cancer.

Adama: With the Cylon baby’s blood?

Baltar: With the Cylon baby’s blood.
The blood cures disease because it has no type? I know this is just a plot device, but come on guys! Also, I am losing patience with the fact that the Cylons are indistinguishable from humans biologically, and yet are robots with superpowers. I know, the show isn’t really about robots. It's about religion; it's about military and civilian government; it's about the characters. I gave this spiel to Sweater Project when he complained about the lack of believability. But Christ, man, the Cylon blood cures cancer because it has no type?

There are other weirdnesses in this episode. Early on they decide to abort the Cylon baby because it has “genetic abnormalities that could threaten the fleet.” What exactly counts as a genetic abnormality if you are a hybrid between a human and a robot that is oddly indistinguishable from a human? How does a genetic abnormality threaten the fleet? Just give me something, man, a little something plausible enough so that I can return my attention to plot and character. I don't ask for much.

I’m also getting tired of the references to contemporary politics that don’t add up to anything. The cancer cure resembles stem cell research. So? What does this mean? Also this episode features a shitty stereotype of peaceniks as people who collaborate with the enemy and aren’t at all committed to nonviolence.

Are we already jumping the shark with this show?

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