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13thcolony2005-03-06 03:14 pm
radiotelescope.livejournal.com) wrote in 13thcolony2005-03-06 03:14 pm
More on Ambiguity
(Discussion through "Tigh Me Up".)
I am becoming more and more sure that the theme of the show is "absolute ambiguity". Not just *ambiguous* scenes, but *provably* ambiguous.
For example: I think Ellen is a Cylon. There's a mountain of circumstantial evidence against her. Her origin story is suspicious; her behavior is suspicious (she doesn't once open her mouth without hitting a sore spot or a weak spot in some listener). Six gave her the hairiest eyeball I've ever seen.
(Did You Notice? Roslin asked "Where did Adama go, and why did a Cylon raider simultaneously appear and begin behaving strangely?" Tigh answered the first half the question -- and then they both forgot the other half. Clever, clever screenwriter. Heh. I didn't notice either until my second play-through.)
So, I think Ellen is a Cylon. *But* it is unprovable. We can *only* theorize, at least at this point in the season. The writers wave that ambiguity in our face, in the last scene, as Baltar is waving it in Six's face.
(Negative one point for anyone who thought that sounded dirty. :) Come on, didn't you love Baltar's sweet smile as he refused to answer Six's question? He so rarely gets to punch *her* buttons. Oh, dear, that sounded dirty too. Never mind.)
They keep doing this, and it can't be accidental. Is Baltar psychotic or brain-tapped? Is Baltar's Six working with or against the rest of the Cylons? Can she communicate with the other Cylons, either long-range or when Baltar meets one? (I know, those aren't orthogonal questions.) Was Leoben feeling pain during "Flesh and Bone"? (Starbuck said he would, but we don't know she was right.) At what times does the Caprica Boomer know she's a Cylon?
To repeat my favorite: In the bathroom scene in "Six Degrees", Six walks in. Is it the physical Shelley Godfrey or Baltar's Six? Absolutely ambiguous. The camera only shows us Baltar reacting to her presence -- Gaeta *could* be unaware of her.
Anyway. Despite my thesis, I will speculate about the Caprica Boomer. I'm quite sure she knows she's a Cylon during "Tigh Me Up", even though she's alone with Helo. She behaves as if she knows the Cylon plans. She's exhibiting superhuman capabilities -- those would certainly be locked out in a Cylon sleeper agent.
By the way -- I've seen a couple of people comment on the theme of women using sex to get at (corrupt?) men. Well, note that the Caprica Boomer has blown it. By both her own viewpoint and Six's, Helo got to *Boomer* through sex -- albeit innocently -- and now Boomer is a Cylon traitor. Redeemed: perhaps deeply or perhaps just a little for Helo.
But what does that mean for the thesis? Takes it beyond "corruption", I'd say. The portrayal is that sex is *powerful*, which is certainly true, and it fits with the theme of the Cylons being fascinated with *life*. Being alive isn't a weakness; the Cylons try to use it that way, but at the same time they're desperate for it themselves. I wonder if they're aware of the contradiction.
I am becoming more and more sure that the theme of the show is "absolute ambiguity". Not just *ambiguous* scenes, but *provably* ambiguous.
For example: I think Ellen is a Cylon. There's a mountain of circumstantial evidence against her. Her origin story is suspicious; her behavior is suspicious (she doesn't once open her mouth without hitting a sore spot or a weak spot in some listener). Six gave her the hairiest eyeball I've ever seen.
(Did You Notice? Roslin asked "Where did Adama go, and why did a Cylon raider simultaneously appear and begin behaving strangely?" Tigh answered the first half the question -- and then they both forgot the other half. Clever, clever screenwriter. Heh. I didn't notice either until my second play-through.)
So, I think Ellen is a Cylon. *But* it is unprovable. We can *only* theorize, at least at this point in the season. The writers wave that ambiguity in our face, in the last scene, as Baltar is waving it in Six's face.
(Negative one point for anyone who thought that sounded dirty. :) Come on, didn't you love Baltar's sweet smile as he refused to answer Six's question? He so rarely gets to punch *her* buttons. Oh, dear, that sounded dirty too. Never mind.)
They keep doing this, and it can't be accidental. Is Baltar psychotic or brain-tapped? Is Baltar's Six working with or against the rest of the Cylons? Can she communicate with the other Cylons, either long-range or when Baltar meets one? (I know, those aren't orthogonal questions.) Was Leoben feeling pain during "Flesh and Bone"? (Starbuck said he would, but we don't know she was right.) At what times does the Caprica Boomer know she's a Cylon?
To repeat my favorite: In the bathroom scene in "Six Degrees", Six walks in. Is it the physical Shelley Godfrey or Baltar's Six? Absolutely ambiguous. The camera only shows us Baltar reacting to her presence -- Gaeta *could* be unaware of her.
Anyway. Despite my thesis, I will speculate about the Caprica Boomer. I'm quite sure she knows she's a Cylon during "Tigh Me Up", even though she's alone with Helo. She behaves as if she knows the Cylon plans. She's exhibiting superhuman capabilities -- those would certainly be locked out in a Cylon sleeper agent.
By the way -- I've seen a couple of people comment on the theme of women using sex to get at (corrupt?) men. Well, note that the Caprica Boomer has blown it. By both her own viewpoint and Six's, Helo got to *Boomer* through sex -- albeit innocently -- and now Boomer is a Cylon traitor. Redeemed: perhaps deeply or perhaps just a little for Helo.
But what does that mean for the thesis? Takes it beyond "corruption", I'd say. The portrayal is that sex is *powerful*, which is certainly true, and it fits with the theme of the Cylons being fascinated with *life*. Being alive isn't a weakness; the Cylons try to use it that way, but at the same time they're desperate for it themselves. I wonder if they're aware of the contradiction.