Countdown to Battlestar

If you haven’t already seen it, check out the BSG webisodes over at sci-fi.com.

If you’ve already seen it, or don’t care about spoilers, click below to read my view on it.

The basic plot is Gaeta is gay (I know, shocker, right?) and his lover is Hoshi, the former XO on Pegasus. [For some reason, that looks much funnier written than spoken] Gaeta is on a routine flight from the Galactica to another ship for a vacation. He’s on a Raptor with a couple of pilots and two Number Eights (the lovely Grace Park). Well, the “bad” Cylons appear while they’re in transit and the Raptor has to jump… and they jump to the wrong place.

So now, they’re lost in space and have limited air and no way to get back. And then… people start dying. By the end of it all, Gaeta is the only one left and he is really, really bitter at Tigh for some reason.

Overall, it was interesting. It wasn’t anywhere near as good as the Occupation webisodes though. I had several issues with some of the plot devices. For starters, why is it that the instant the first person dies (from an “accidental” electrocution) everyone starts saying “SHE WAS MURDERED!” That isn’t the first conclusion I would jump to. It’s not like the others who were found later with throats slit, which of course, immediately says “MURDER”. Then, after making such a big deal out of “we can’t get back, we’re LOST!” it was actually trivially easy to get back to where they could be found.

Then, the whole “Gaeta is gay” thing. I don’t have a problem with the revelation in and of itself, but I do have an issue with the execution of it. As far as my admitedly limited memory can remember, the only other gay couple was the Admiral Cain and one of the Sixes in the Razor movie. That one was also sort of “dropped” seemingly for shock value and “hey, I didn’t see that coming!” reactions. Gaeta hadn’t previously shown any interest in men, up until he gets smooched as he’s leaving Galactica. And in the flashbacks to the occupation, he smooches on the Eight with him on the Raptor. I’m going to assume that gay/lesbian relationships are quite normal because no one seems to raise an eyebrow. But if it was normal, why aren’t there more gay/lesbian couples around? Food for thought.