Battlestar Galactica: "Downloaded"

We get a detailed glimpse into the Cylons, from the Cylons’ perspective, in the episode “Downloaded.” We see that the Cylons, in fact, are not completely united within their ranks, that there is some disagreement about their understanding of the Cylon God’s plan, and ultimately some disagreement with what has been done and what to do with the human race. Finally, we see Caprica Six and Sharon become leaders of a new movement that demonstrates God’s love, a new movement not based on fear and murder.

Nine months earlier Number Six died in Baltar’s apartment and downloads into a new body on Caprica. We see several Cylons surrounding her to comfort her. Also, it turns out that she has a Head Baltar, like Baltar has a Head Six on Galactica. Ten weeks later Boomer (aka Sharon) is killed by Cally and is downloaded into a new body on Caprica. When she realizes what happened, she’s freaked out. In the present she still has trouble adjusting to her new life and longs for Galactica. Number Six (aka Caprica Six) is asked to help her readjust.

She talks with Sharon in a café and convinces her to move out of her apartment and live with the rest of the Cylons. Number Three joins Caprica Six and Sharon and head up a stairwell to Sharon’s apartment when a bomb planted by the resistance explodes in the parking garage below the building. The stairwell protects them on the higher floor. While the three sort out their injuries, they discover someone else under some rubble and Number Three clears it off to discover Anders. She takes his gun away and prepares to kill him, but Sharon protests. Caprica Six agrees, but to avoid suspicion from Three, claims pragmatically that they shouldn’t kill him so he can be interrogated.

We see the cruelty and potential for violence these human Cylon models are capable of when we see the actions of Three. We also know that not all of these human models are on the same page regarding how to treat the humans. Three cruelly toys with Anders, putting his gun on the ground and daring him to take it. When Sharon asks her to stop, Three retorts that Sharon is a broken machine that thinks she’s human, but isn’t. Sharon states she has a conscience, but Three counters that Sharon is a murderer. Six realizes that murder and the genocide of the human race cannot be the path of their loving God.

The division within these human models is realized by Six, who knows that Three wanted her and Sharon boxed: they are celebrities in a culture based on uniformity. Three knows that these heroes had a different perspective on the war. Because of their celebrity status as Cylon heroes, they could actually cause a change the Cylons view about their conflict with the humans, upsetting the status quo which Number Three upholds so dearly. Number Three says that Six and Sharon are a waste, corrupted by their experiences. Caprica Six explains to Sharon that this is why Three wanted to get rid of them, because Six and Sharon understand that murder, vengeance, and genocide are sins in the eyes of God. Sharon realizes that their knowledge could convince other Cylons that the slaughter of humanity was a mistake:

Caprica Six: Genocide, murder, vengeance. They’re all sins in the
eyes of God. That’s what you and I know. That’s what they don’t want
to hear.
Sharon: Because then, they’d have to rethink what they’re
doing! They’d have to consider that maybe the slaughter of mankind was a
mistake!

As the building’s rubble shifts while the Cylons outside try to clear their way to the survivors, Anders grabs his gun and tries to escape, shooting at Number Three before Sharon knocks the gun out of his hands. The gun lands near Number Three. As Three is about to shoot Anders, she tells Anders “God loves me.” Caprica Six appears behind her and hits her over her head with a large rock, then bashes Three, again, killing her.

Caprica Six and Sharon believe that there is sufficient time to start a new beginning for the Cylons before Number Three is downloaded into a new body and tells the rest of the Cylons what happened to her. They want to lead the Cylons on a way to live in God’s love, without hate or lies. Together, the two heroes of the Cylons agree to a new plan as their rescuers arrive.

Battlestar Galactica: "The Captain's Hand"

“The Captain’s Hand” faces religious fundamentalism head-on as a pregnant teen seeks asylum, as well as an abortion, aboard the Galactica. Admiral Adama meets with Roslin on Colonial One to discuss the matter of the pregnant girl. Roslin stands by her pro-choice beliefs, saying that she has fought her whole life for a woman’s right to choose, but Adama tells her that the number of survivors in the fleet doesn’t go up very often and he reminds her of her earlier statement that the fleet “needs to start making babies” in order for the human race to survive. Roslin goes to Baltar’s lab to ask him about the fleet’s population and he tells her that at the current rate humanity will be come extinct in 18 years. This analysis later forces her to act against her previous beliefs on the rights of women. Later, Roslin allows the girl’s abortion and grants her asylum, but subsequently issues an executive decree making abortion a capital crime, citing “current circumstances” that make reproduction vital to humanity’s survival.

The Gemenon delegate sees abortion as a theological issue and approaches Roslin as soon as she finds out about the girl on board Galactica and as soon as she learns that the girl has not been returned to her parents, in spite of Roslin’s decision to criminalize abortion. The Gemenon delegate seems to want to make this government into a theocracy and is a staunch supporter of Roslin when she embodies their scriptural ideals, but is her enemy (not willing to negotiate) when Roslin goes against her fundamentalist beliefs. Their last conversation ends with an infuriated delegate, enraged that the girl had her abortion because the procedure was begun just before Roslin announced her decision. Roslin steely tells her “you have your pound of flesh,” so let it be. Roslin’s reply is a reference to the debt owed Shylock by Antonio in one of my favorite Shakespearean plays The Merchant of Venice. The phrase is used a lot and has come to mean a debt that a creditor insists on collecting regardless of how much suffering it might cause the debtor.

I find it interesting that now that Roslin no longer seems to be dying of a “wasting disease,” a key characteristic of the leader according to scriptures, there has not been very much mention of theology in the last few episodes—not much mention by neither Roslin nor Baltar and Head Six. Is Roslin no longer a scriptural figure? Regardless of if she thinks of herself as a scriptural figure, she does not seem to regard scripture as holding infallibility, that not all of its commands should be followed, that there are certain scriptural commands that may have been contextual to scriptural times; perhaps those passages were answers to certain problems confronted by those ancient peoples—perhaps those ancient peoples were confronted with dwindling populations much like Roslin’s dwindling people and were desperate to grow their population numbers for survival.

Battlestar Galactica: “Epiphanies”

Laura Roslin is losing ground in her battle with breast cancer. During her in-and-out of consciousness spells, she has flashbacks to the day before the Cylon attacks, the day she left for Galactica. We see her leadership style back in the colonies is one as a negotiator, a different tactic than President Adar’s, who saw any budging on a decision he had already made as a sign of weakness and a possible threat to his administration. The episode ends with her first task out of her deathbed as negotiating with the spokesperson for the Cylon sympathizers in the fleet.

There are just a couple of small scenes that hold theological importance. While Roslin is losing ground, her situation is dire, Dr. Cottle orders an aide to notify the Admiral. Adama then makes a speech over the P.A.: “This is Admiral Adama. As you know, President Roslin has been aboard Galactica for the last few days. She’s a fighter. But as of this moment, her prognosis is grave. I know that many of you believe in the power of prayer. If that is your way, then I urge you to pray for our President. As for the others, I hope you will join me in keeping her in our thoughts.” Adama acknowledges prayer and encourages those who believe in its power to use it. I’m not sure if he would have said this before he knew Roslin, knew her faith.

Earlier, on board Colonial One, Billy gives Baltar a tour and hands him a list of Cylon agent suspects. Baltar looks at the whiteboard and Billy says, “That number means everything to her. Represents hope, that’s our future.” Baltar responds with a slight eye roll. Billy gives him the letter Roslin wrote to be given to him upon her death. Baltar takes it and tells Billy, “Well, let’s just pray that she gets better.” Baltar’s response it interesting given his faith journey on the path to the Cylon God. He, a scientist, suggests prayer. Also, it is interesting to note that in a deleted scene from “Home,” part II, Billy tells Roslin that he is an atheist, yet he agrees with Baltar that they should pray that Roslin gets better. He could be agreeing that they should pray, or he may be hoping that she gets better so that Baltar won’t become President.

Battlestar Galactica: "Kobol's Last Gleaming," Part I

As a minister serving an active congregation, everyday I was reminded of my faith, reminded why I believe in not only God, but also in God’s interaction with humanity—God doesn’t just sit back and let the world go on its own. I’ve come to believe that, as illustrated in the Gospel, God is among us, God is with us, and that God will actually offer compassion, teaching, and guidance.

“Kobol’s Last Gleaming, Part I” is the first of two parts that will end Season One of Battlestar Galactica and the threads of Roslin’s growing faith in the scriptures continues, despite her being handed her six-month death sentence by Dr. Cottle—her cancer has spread aggressively into her lymphatic system. She shares this news with Elosha, who has an epiphany about her own faith, as she tells Roslin that she believes Roslin is the fulfillment of ancient prophecy: “You made a true believer out of me…. I know you’re the one to lead us to our salvation. You are going to guide us to Earth.” Her faith has been embodied in Laura Roslin and renews her faith in the scriptures. She also takes this opportunity to try to convince Roslin that the scriptures she has shared with Roslin are in fact real and, consequently, are being fulfilled.

In the meantime, it appears that the fleet has discovered the planet of Kobol, the fallen Edenic planet that at one time was home of gods and humans, who coexisted in happiness. There isn’t much more information shared about what precipitated the fall and drove the humans away, but we have heard that something is on the planet that could guide the fleet towards Earth. Billy reports the findings of Kobol and some preliminary surveillance photos to Roslin and Elosha aboard Colonial One. While Billy and Elosha talk about the photos, how they show ancient ruins of a city that seems to have been built some 2000 years ago, around when the thirteen tribes first left Kobol, Roslin looks at the photo of the abandoned city, seeing what the buildings actually looked like before they fell to ruin. She explains to them that she sees a “domelike structure with six roads leading out of it, like spokes. With something around it like columns, like the forum on Caprica.” This vision was followed by another flash, that of the Arrow of Apollo. She explains that “it’s real. The scriptures, the myths, the prophecies—they’re all real.”

Roslin, Elosha, and Baltar, the three key followers of their faiths, take this information to Adama, Tigh, and Gaeta, three key followers of reason, products of the age of enlightenment. This scene was staged perfectly, with the three representatives of each side seated or standing in a sort of face-off position on either side of a table. The pragmatic Adama immediately suggests considering permanent settlement and ignores the three faithful.

Everyone leaves Adama’s quarters, except for Roslin and Adama, allowing them to discuss the issue of Kobol. During this conversation Adama observes that Roslin has become very “religious,” and that “it’s…different.” He seems surprised by it and tries to remind her that “these stories, about Kobol, gods, the Arrow of Apollo, they’re just stories, legends, myths” and that they can blind her to reality, distract her from what they are facing. While Roslin wants to use the raider Starbuck brought home a few episodes ago to jump back to Caprica for the Arrow of Apollo, Adama wants the raider because it’s a “military asset.” Again, it seems it’s faith against reason, not aligning themselves together.

Without the support of the reasonable Adama, Roslin reaches out into the fleet, specifically to one of the closest personal people to Adama, the one who is like a daughter to him. She shares her plan with Starbuck, who we have seen to be religious, praying to religious idols. At first, Starbuck thinks that Roslin is out of line asking her to do take the raider back to Caprica:

Starbuck: You can’t be serious.
Roslin: “All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again.” The cylon you interrogated, he quoted that bit of scripture. He also said we would find Kobol, and Kobol would show us the way, did he not?
Starbuck: Yes, he did.
Roslin: Well, we have found Kobol. Do you believe in the gods, Lieutenant?
//
Roslin: If you believe in the gods, then you believe in the cycle of time. That we are all playing our parts in a story that is told again and again and again throughout eternity.
Starbuck: That’s the way I was raised. But that doesn’t mean that my part of the
story is to go off on some crazy-ass mission against orders.

While trying to persuade Starbuck, Roslin explains her role in this story, that she is dying, and that this confession has been made to only three other people, thus building a sort of trust between her and Starbuck. She suggests to Starbuck: “If you go back to Caprica and bring me the arrow, I will show us the way.” Starbuck lifts up Adama as being the one to lead humanity to Earth, that he knows the way. Roslin explains to her that Adama has no idea where Earth is, that he made up the story to give the people hope. She then pushes Starbuck to speak with him, which she does and finds his answers to her questions about Earth evasive. Feeling betrayed by Adama and showing that her religious practices supercede all else, she realizes that she has been following a sort of false prophet and the episode ends with her demonstrating her new allegiance to Roslin over Adama, as she jumps back to Caprica in the raider.

By Way of Introduction

Hi! Thank you for stopping by. This is my first posting on this blog site, so I just want to outline what I hope to do here, in this tiny parking space of the cyber parking lot. As one who has been very involved in the nuts and bolts of planning for both traditional and contemporary worship services, I found that I was frustrated with the lack of resources tying contemporary, secular media to the Christian life. I am a strong believer that there is something sacred in everything—that everything in our world is or can be in some way touched by the divine, by God; it could be something, someone, or a situation that speaks to us, inspires us to be better people, or it could be something that demands a response from us to make a difference through compassion for the world around us.

While I was serving as a minister, I simply didn't have the time and energy to keep up with all of the current movies and television shows, though I tried! Now I have twins and am fortunate to be able to stay home with them for a few years and, during their nap times and in between laundry and keeping up with the house, I can hopefully provide some resources for others about contemporary, secular media.

I watch secular media, a lot of it, through the lens that searches for the sacred in the secular. I'll post my thoughts on movies and television shows, among other things, and how they can relate to the Christian life, the life that is meant to be lived in love and compassion for the world, for all of humanity.

One of my first tasks is to watch a popular Science Fiction show Battlestar Galactica, which will begin its fourth season early next year. This is a show I enjoy and since it has a long hiatus, this will help me to wait out the next seven or so months. I plan to go episode by episode and blog my views of how it takes on theological points—it's a really interesting show that I would recommend you to watch! It has received a lot of good press, won the Peabody in 2006, and several big journals (like Newsweek) have called it the best show on television. I just pretty much stumbled across it this Spring. You can find out more about this show from scifi.com (http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/about/show/) and more background about the show will be posted in this blog. But, don't worry—I'm going to be watching other things, too! So, I'll blog about them.

Hopefully, this little site will provide some inspiration to consider secular media in worship planning, so that parishioners will have a model so that they can see the sacred in the secular.