From: walter.ellena@THRWHITE.remove-dii-this   
      
     To: alt.battlestar-galactica   
   You gotta love this.  Here we are discussing the new BG many of us having   
   been lucid when the old BG was around.  Sure, there were bulletin boards   
   back then as well as a rudimentary web, but nothing like we have now.   
      
      
      
   I think that the writers have done a pretty good job, however, there are a   
   few fatal flaws that, in retrospect, make for some of us having a harder   
   pill to swallow and others harder to forgive these flaws.  I think the whole   
   networked computers being evil to be a bit ludicrous but I could be biased   
   because dealing with computer networks is what I do.  I find it pretty hard   
   to believe that stand alone computers would independently be able to manage   
   the functions of a large space craft like a battlestar, but lets put that   
   aside as well as the whole "jumping" thing without giving us some basis for   
   it.  The ability to jump in space presumably deals with the concept of   
   folding space to be able to travel from A to B in a shorter period of time.   
   To be able to accomplish such a feat you could probably derive that such   
   technology would permit things like quantum bombs which, basically, could   
   nuke an entire galaxy into nothingness.  Whatever, I am picking and that's   
   not cool.   
      
      
      
   I see where Moore is presenting us with more complicated characters and more   
   things to think about, indeed the series does have a harder edge to it as   
   was evidenced by several deaths.  Particularly the death of soldiers in the   
   woods, that was a bit too realistic and it stirred up some pretty unpleasant   
   memories of wounded colleagues.  The added kill the dying guy with a big   
   dose of morphine crossed a line that, in real life, would probably have   
   occurred when the option to get the wounded out via dust off units was not   
   available - very hard to watch and such is where the new BG beats the snot   
   out of the old BG.  But the old BG did have a certain less dimensional   
   appeal that the new BG seems to be leaning against.   
      
      
      
   While I do like the idea of having more developed characters, deeper plots   
   and multi dimensional characters, I still like the rather two dimensional   
   finale of them finding Earth after all their suffering.  I really think they   
   should immediately set out to plot where Earth might be based upon what they   
   found on Cobol which should not be that hard to do as they had what, 12   
   points of reference, no 13 points of reference to plot a location.  Hell,   
   having so much data you could plot the rough location of Earth in about ten   
   minutes with just paper and pencil!   
      
      
      
   Actually, if they discover this then they have a lot of problems.  If Earth   
   is lets say 300 light years away, then we start asking questions about   
   transmissions from Earth that, if not realized, would mean an Earth that is   
   less advanced.  Not only that, but such a space series would have to walk   
   very carefully on the issues of faster than light travel, etc, lest they   
   lose a lot of the more well read sci-fi fans who have delved into quantum   
   theories which are almost impossible not to stumble upon be it on the tube   
   or the net, so you have to be very careful there.   
      
      
      
   So the quagmire is, how do the colonists find an Earth that can help them   
   keep the cylons at bay?  Then again, there is an admitted faction within the   
   cylon community that seems to not want to destroy mankind indeed, they want   
   to breed with us. . .   
      
      
      
   So what do you do?  Infect the cylons with a be nice to humans virus, do you   
   use the cylon insurgents to defeat the cylons completely and please, lets   
   not have the nexus of all cylon society contained in a single big ship that   
   is following the colonists around, a single ship that, if destroyed, would   
   signal the end of the cylon race. . . that's just lame.   
      
      
      
   And just how big is the space that the cylons and the BG people inhabit thus   
   far?  Are we talking within a galaxy?  Where are they?   
      
      
      
   I personally think they should find Earth but as I have said before, an   
   Earth that is at the very least capable of fending off the Cylons if need   
   be.  Such an Earth would have to be at least as advanced as the BG folks   
   which means that we should have already ventured far out beyond our own   
   corner of the milky way.  Have we found other civilizations?  Its worth   
   noting that the BG folks have only two species features.  The humans and the   
   cylons, which were created by the humans so just how far could they have   
   ventured without having bumped into another species?   
      
      
      
   The worlds created by both George Lucas and Gene Roddenbury were teeming   
   with life forms.  Indeed, the original BG did have a few other life forms   
   but not as extensive as the earlier of the two.  I think that when you   
   consider the mere fact that TV and radio signals travel through space at the   
   speed of light, you need to create an Earth, if it is to be found, that has   
   already conquered space to a very high degree.  So if the BG folks to find   
   an Earth that is capable of protecting itself and them, they will have to   
   not simply find Earth, but be discovered moving along space by somebody who   
   knows of Earth and is capable of pointing them in the right direction.  If   
   the BG folks arrive at our solar system without being noticed, then they   
   find an Earth that is less developed than we currently are, simply by the   
   fact that our radio and TV signals have been floating around space for at   
   least fifty years.   
      
      
      
   I think that the BG folks really have a hard task on their hands.  They need   
   to create episodes that will keep their ratings relatively high, and they   
   need to appeal to an audience that is used to having things wrapped up for   
   them fairly quickly.  Take a look at the series that have enjoyed long term   
   fame with us, such as Law and Order which is in what season?  Nothing lasts   
   forever with viewers these days and unlike Law and Order, which could go on   
   forever because there is no promised "Earth", BG has painted itself into   
   some type of closure.   
      
      
      
   I know that the world is a complex place and I know that people are   
   complicated, however, I also believe that a good part of us sci fi folks   
   dreams about a Star Trek world where we have gone beyond our trivial   
   differences.  I think it would be nice for the BG folks to finally find   
   Earth, but an Earth that is more advanced than they are by a lot.  The   
   problem then becomes how do the BG folks explain that several thousand years   
   ago the 13th colony came to Earth, populated it with humans and then simply   
   forgot about the technology.   
      
      
      
   Food for fodder, actually, Sunday afternoon rambling as I sit here and   
   realize that the only BG available for consumption are replays.   
      
      
      
   Walt   
      
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