BSG: When the Pacing Matches the Drums
Come read the seventh BSG “so say we all” blog carnival.
spoilers for “Guess What’s Coming to Dinner?” (4.7)
Wow.
This felt like a throwback episode. I had not realized just how much I’ve been missing this pace of storytelling until just this past weekend.
Starting about mid-season three, the breakneck speed of the series slowed. It’s not that the show was no longer tense or explosive, but that the explosions usually came after a lot of talking and extended focus.
I used to chair dance during the drum part of the theme song. Somewhere along the way, I stopped. BSG became more like a drawing room drama while exploring such worthy topics as social predeterminism, religious and expressive freedoms, and constitutional democracies. But in “Guess What’s Coming to Dinner,” the show felt like it did in the olden times, when the fireworks happened around every corner.
Right off the bat, when Roslin called Tory out about sleeping with Baltar, I gasped. And then she got scary as only Roslin can get scary, and I found myself holding my breath.
That pattern continued all through the episode, where almost everything was surprising while making absolute sense. I can’t remember when we last dealt with a problematic jump, but this episode’s first one had an audible “no!” from me, while the last one just plain had my jaw on the ground.
The entire episode was a roller coaster ride. The Natalie Six in front of the Quorum. Hera and Athena’s chase through the halls. The shot. Planning double crosses. Gaeta’s song full of sadness. The reactions of the Five (minus one). Everything had me sharply focused, trying to catch everything there is to catch.
I tend to extol and talk about the philosophical, thoughtful aspects of genre shows. But episodes like this remind me why I’m a fangirl too and that I love the “whoa-that-was-cool!” aspects so much.
And that’s why BSG deserves all the good things that people say about it. “Guess What’s Coming to Dinner” brought the excitement and the anticipation while being chocked full of content. No filler here.
Separate wonderings:
- If Cavil’s faction tried to lobotomize the Raiders, are the Raiders still with them? Do the Raiders have enough sentience to leave? What about the Centurions?
- I didn’t even consider that Hera was also having the same dream. Since that’s the case, why does Baltar not owe up to his part of the process?