Battlestar Bros.

By Matt Ledger, Pat FitzGerald-Fleck, Mike DrewTV & Film

Battlestar Bros. episodes

July 08, 2018Episode 41: The Eye of Jupiter
http://traffic.libsyn.com/battlestarbros/BSB041.mp3
Parlay, parlay, parlay! It’s a parlay par-tay on Galactica, with your boy Gaius Baltar back in the hizzouse!
This time on BSG, the Cylons come in peace, and they’re bringing Baltar with them. Meanwhile, on the algae planet, the Chief entertains a religious notion, while Starbuck and Apollo entertain a romantic (for some definition of romantic) one.
In our analysis, Matt’s intrigued by the first real Human-Cylon negotiation.
Mike wants Starbuck and Apollo to stop with the frakkin’ charade.
Pat can’t quite connect the dots between the Human and Cylon religions.
Some observations and links of note:
I looked around to see if other reviewers agreed with our generally middling thoughts on this episode, and it looks like other people liked it better? It’s got one easy to find three out of four stars review and one nine out of ten rating. So if you liked it more than us, you’re not alone.
So we (and be we, I mean me, Matt) may have given the phrase “Eye of Jupiter” more of a beating than it deserves, as googling it leads you to a disambiguation page that lists the Galactica episode first. Our apologies, writers.
Our discussion about the intricacy and (lack of) connection between the Human and Cylon religions led me to search up some info on the emergence of religion, and I thought, ‘Hey, maybe our listeners have an hour to kill, too.’
“Parlay! That’s the one!”
“Adama didn’t know, that Tory and me, hid the Cylon baby in the flee-eet! So don’t tell Adama, Adama didn’t knoooowwww … Adama didn’t knowwww!!”
And one last video, this is the Portlandia skit I think we were all riffing on when we went off on our tangent about Locally-Sourced Nukes.
As always, our intro/outro song is I Love Battlestar Galactica by Jonathan Mann. You can find a link to his Patreon here. Jonathan creates a song a day, which seems bananas to me, but he’s been doing it successfully for a while.
New to the show? Battlestar Bros. is a mostly-loving review of SCI-FI’s (you can’t make me spell it the other way, I’ll fight you) greatest show, Battlestar Galactica. Join Pat, Mike, and Matt as they journey from Caprica to Earth, making observations both salient and snarky along the way.
You can find the show on Twitter as @BattlestarBros. You can find Pat as @Th3Hypn0Toad and Matt as @mat_ledge. Mike doesn’t Tweet, which might be for the best.
Battlestar Bros. is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://battlestarbros.wordpress.com/
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July 01, 2018Episode 40: The Passage
http://traffic.libsyn.com/battlestarbros/BSB040.mp3
If your very worst fear is being forgotten, you probably shouldn’t sacrifice yourself in a forgettable episode of Galactica.
This time on BSG, a good premise meets a bad plot, as Kat gains some unnecessary backstory but loses her life. And meanwhile, on the Cylon Basestar, D’Anna tests the limits of life and death.
In our analysis, Pat wonders whether death means anything to the Cylon.
Matt thinks this is BSG‘s first entirely detachable episode.
Mike never quite cares about Starbuck and Kat’s dappled relationship.
Some observations and links of note:
The first draft of the Hybrid’s dialogue from this episode. They threw it out because it didn’t have enough “of the”s.
Don’t bother trying to search around for the Final Five sketches shown in this episode … I looked, and the internet does not have them.
Here’s a look into some behind-the-scenes details that explain how this episode got so messy. Apparently, the initial plot arose from an expert’s discussion of space travel. And then … it went a little off the rails?
This Bear McCreary-written dirge is the best part of the episode, according to Pat.
I, however, think this Adama-Tigh chuckle session is probably the episode’s best moment. You decide.
As always, our intro/outro song is I Love Battlestar Galactica by Jonathan Mann. You can find a link to his Patreon here. Jonathan creates a song a day, which seems bananas to me, but he’s been doing it successfully for a while.
New to the show? Battlestar Bros. is a mostly-loving review of SCI-FI’s (you can’t make me spell it the other way, I’ll fight you) greatest show, Battlestar Galactica. Join Pat, Mike, and Matt as they journey from Caprica to Earth, making observations both salient and snarky along the way.
You can find the show on Twitter as @BattlestarBros. You can find Pat as @Th3Hypn0Toad and Matt as @mat_ledge. Mike doesn’t Tweet, which might be for the best.
Battlestar Bros. is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://battlestarbros.wordpress.com/
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June 24, 2018Episode 39: Unfinished Business
http://traffic.libsyn.com/battlestarbros/BSB039.mp3
Well, this episode certainly has an accurate title, because it feels pretty unfinished.
This time on BSG … IN THE LEFT CORNER! HAILING FROM THE FAIR CITY OF “SUBPLOTS NO ONE GIVES A FRAK ABOUT”! IT’S LEE AND STARBUCK’S RELATIONSHIP! AND IN THE RIGHT CORNER! COMING TO YOU ALL THE WAY FROM LAST EPISODE, WHERE WE EXPLORED THE SAME GODSDAMN THING! IT’S ADMIRAL ADAMA’S MARTYR COMPLEX!
In our analysis, Matt loves watching Good Guy Helo beat up on Lee Adama.
Mike walks us through the more meaningful scenes from this episode’s extended edition.
Pat petitions Mike to let Starpollo go. So say we all.
Some observations and links of note:
If you’re like me, and you’re watching this thing on Your Streaming Service of Choice, you don’t have the option to watch the extended version. Which sucks, because it seems much better.
I read background wikis so you don’t have to, but if you want more info on a couple of the tidbits we discussed upfront, here’s why this episode is a flashback dump and here’s Aaron Douglas discussing the Chief’s fighting style.
It WAS probably really fun for Edward James Olmos to watch Katee Sackhoff beat the hell out of his son. So the Hot Dog/Kara fight was worth it for that, at least.
The A.V. Club has a really nice roundtable discussion of this episode that is definitely worth a read.
Quote from this discussion thread on whether or not Roslin and Adama were getting sky high in this episode: “The RDM podcast confirms that they were getting baked.”
The groundbreaking on New Caprica, extended edition.
SPOILERS IN THIS ONE: Here’s that The Onion article Mike mentions near the end of the episode, which is a hoot.
As always, our intro/outro song is I Love Battlestar Galactica by Jonathan Mann. You can find a link to his Patreon here. Jonathan creates a song a day, which seems bananas to me, but he’s been doing it successfully for a while.
New to the show? Battlestar Bros. is a mostly-loving review of SCI-FI’s (you can’t make me spell it the other way, I’ll fight you) greatest show, Battlestar Galactica. Join Pat, Mike, and Matt as they journey from Caprica to Earth, making observations both salient and snarky along the way.
You can find the show on Twitter as @BattlestarBros. You can find Pat as @Th3Hypn0Toad and Matt as @mat_ledge. Mike doesn’t Tweet, which might be for the best.
Battlestar Bros. is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://battlestarbros.wordpress.com/
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June 17, 2018Episode 38: Hero
http://traffic.libsyn.com/battlestarbros/BSB038.mp3
In the beginning … Admiral Adama made bad choices. Turns out, he’s still making bad choices.
This time on BSG, Lt. Daniel “Bulldog” Novacek just happens to escape a Cylon prison and just happens to find Galactica out in the middle of space and there’s nothing suspicious about that at all.
In our analysis, Pat is pretty sure the Cylons didn’t give a frak about Bulldog’s mission.
Matt tries, but fails, to get lost in the retconned drama.
Mike is willing to go along with it all as long as Adama and Tigh make up.
Some observations and links of note:
If you want a rundown of all the continuity errors in this episode, you’ll find one here. In defense of the episode’s timeline, writer David Eick said, “We actually did check it, and there was nothing in the show’s continuity that makes events in “Hero” inconsistent. We also all really liked the idea that Adama had been assigned to the Galactica as a punishment, which is why we did it.”
Relatedly, I’m not sure whether we’ve defined the term “retcon” before, so here you go just in case.
“The Defector” is a very good Ron Moore-written episode of Star Trek: TNG that does a lot of the same things you see in “Hero” … and it does them better.
Listen up, this might be the most important observation we have about this episode: the painting of President Baltar has square corners. WHERE’S THE CONSISTENCY, GALACTICA?
You aren’t gonna see Lt. Novacek again, so … glad we bothered to introduce that character I guess?
As always, our intro/outro song is I Love Battlestar Galactica by Jonathan Mann. You can find a link to his Patreon here. Jonathan creates a song a day, which seems bananas to me, but he’s been doing it successfully for a while.
New to the show? Battlestar Bros. is a mostly-loving review of SCI-FI’s (you can’t make me spell it the other way, I’ll fight you) greatest show, Battlestar Galactica. Join Pat, Mike, and Matt as they journey from Caprica to Earth, making observations both salient and snarky along the way.
You can find the show on Twitter as @BattlestarBros. You can find Pat as @Th3Hypn0Toad and Matt as @mat_ledge. Mike doesn’t Tweet, which might be for the best.
Battlestar Bros. is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://battlestarbros.wordpress.com/
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June 10, 2018Episode 37: A Measure of Salvation
http://traffic.libsyn.com/battlestarbros/BSB037.mp3
“Hey humanity, it’s the Cylons here. We’re gonna follow you to Earth. Is that okay? Do you mind? Baltar’s helping us. He’s gonna … oh, you’re gonna genocide us? Oh. Okay.”
This time on BSG, Good-Guy Helo prevents a potential Cylon genocide, while Gaius learns that all D’Anna needs is love.
In our analysis, Pat acknowledges the weight of Athena’s loyalty.
Matt attempts to figure out the Cylon virus’s mechanics.
Mike pities poor, tortured Gaius (as does D’Anna).
Some observations and links of note:
Here’s some more info in case your Catholic school, like mine and Mike’s, didn’t teach you to surrender yourself to The Cloud of Unknowing.
The Cylon virus is based loosely on encephalitis, though the exact mechanics of how it could spread via download remain mysterious.
According to U.S. law, yes, Helo is super guilty of treason. Don’t tell Saul.
The Three and Gaius stuff seems like a pretty textbook case of Lima Syndrome (essentially, reverse Stockholm Syndrome)?
As always, our intro/outro song is I Love Battlestar Galactica by Jonathan Mann. You can find a link to his Patreon here. Jonathan creates a song a day, which seems bananas to me, but he’s been doing it successfully for a while.
New to the show? Battlestar Bros. is a mostly-loving review of SCI-FI’s (you can’t make me spell it the other way, I’ll fight you) greatest show, Battlestar Galactica. Join Pat, Mike, and Matt as they journey from Caprica to Earth, making observations both salient and snarky along the way.
You can find the show on Twitter as @BattlestarBros. You can find Pat as @Th3Hypn0Toad and Matt as @mat_ledge. Mike doesn’t Tweet, which might be for the best.
Battlestar Bros. is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://battlestarbros.wordpress.com/
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June 03, 2018Episode 36: Torn
http://traffic.libsyn.com/battlestarbros/BSB036.mp3
Gaius is cold. He is shamed. He is … not quite lying naked on the floor. After all, the Cylons gave him a shirt last episode.
This time on BSG, Starbuck and Colonel Tigh are taking their PTSD out on the Old Man’s crew, and Adama ain’t having it. Meanwhile, Gaius learns more about the Cylons, leaving us all (especially Gaius) a bit confused.
In our analysis, Mike asks where we’d project.
Matt details his Cylon conspiracy theories.
Pat knows not to bring kids near Starbuck in her current, post-Leoben state.
Some observations and links of note:
You have two choices. You can listen to actual music from this episode, or you can listen to Torn. No judgments either way. But no clicking the other link after you choose one; you have to live with your choice (just like the New Capricans, see what I did there?).
My nerds are nerdier than your nerds. Behold, the virtual Enterprise-D. For balance, here’s a picture of Diamond Harbour, New Zealand.
“That man doesn’t exist anymore, Bill.” – Lee, I think.
Caprica Six has had enough of your bullshit.
If you like these post-New Caprica episodes, but you feel like they don’t have enough Batman in them, I can recommend some comics that play in a similar space. Post-No Man’s Land Bat-comics had a similar divide between those who deserted Gotham and those who stayed.
As always, our intro/outro song is I Love Battlestar Galactica by Jonathan Mann. You can find a link to his Patreon here. Jonathan creates a song a day, which seems bananas to me, but he’s been doing it successfully for a while.
New to the show? Battlestar Bros. is a mostly-loving review of SCI-FI’s (you can’t make me spell it the other way, I’ll fight you) greatest show, Battlestar Galactica. Join Pat, Mike, and Matt as they journey from Caprica to Earth, making observations both salient and snarky along the way.
You can find the show on Twitter as @BattlestarBros. You can find Pat as @Th3Hypn0Toad and Matt as @mat_ledge. Mike doesn’t Tweet, which might be for the best.
Battlestar Bros. is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://battlestarbros.wordpress.com/
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May 27, 2018Episode 35: Collaborators
http://traffic.libsyn.com/battlestarbros/BSB035.mp3
You give people back their spaceships, and they immediately start airlocking each other.
This time on BSG, a perfectly legal death squad takes it upon themselves to “deal with” the remaining New Caprican collaborators. Also, Gaius gets a shirt.
In our analysis, Mike finds it hard to find the moral high ground, with everyone standing in the mud.
Pat gets inside Starbuck’s head and finds it a scary place.
Matt figures out which Cylons are on Gaius’s side.
Some observations and links of note:
It doesn’t seem like anyone’s following these guidelines when it comes to easing Starbuck back into real life. While Saul didn’t go through exactly the same thing, he could also use some care.
7 frakkin’ pounds, Mike. That’s all that Lee lost.
It took us about three minutes to remember Seelix‘s name, and then another three minutes to all be on the same page about who she was. Be happy that Pat cut that audio. Also, Seelix is the worst.
Pat was right. Behold: the chaise longue. Gaius’s is pretty fancy.
Ctrl + F down to Act 3 if you want to read about James Callis ad-libbing those great lines at the end of his scene with Caprica Six.
As always, our intro/outro song is I Love Battlestar Galactica by Jonathan Mann. You can find a link to his Patreon here. Jonathan creates a song a day, which seems bananas to me, but he’s been doing it successfully for a while.
New to the show? Battlestar Bros. is a mostly-loving review of SCI-FI’s (you can’t make me spell it the other way, I’ll fight you) greatest show, Battlestar Galactica. Join Pat, Mike, and Matt as they journey from Caprica to Earth, making observations both salient and snarky along the way.
You can find the show on Twitter as @BattlestarBros. You can find Pat as @Th3Hypn0Toad and Matt as @mat_ledge. Mike doesn’t Tweet, which might be for the best.
Battlestar Bros. is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://battlestarbros.wordpress.com/
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May 20, 2018Episode 34: Exodus
http://traffic.libsyn.com/battlestarbros/BSB034.mp3
These 14 months on New Caprica just flew by. We laughed, we cried, we gained new perspectives on our favorite characters. But we’re left with one last important question: Where’s Galactica?
This time on BSG, Admiral Adama returns to shepherd his people off New Caprica.
In our analysis, Matt struggles with the “baby stuff” and refuses to believe Kara could succumb to Leoben’s mind games.
Mike admires Gaeta’s resourcefulness and Baltar’s self-preservation .
Pat sympathizes with Ellen’s situation and questions the necessity of her death.
Joe mourns the loss of the Battlestar Pegasus and the Adamastache.
Some observations and links of note:
The Cylons may have made a mess of things on New Caprica, but Doral’s idea of providing toilet paper probably could have helped morale.
The AV Club does a decent job of reviewing this episode. Just be warned, there are a few spoilers towards the end.
In his podcast, Ron Moore explained the reason behind the destruction of the Pegasus was a mixture of studio costs and set space limitations.
Regardless of your thoughts on Ellen, you can’t deny the power of her death scene. Here’s a clip of Michael Hogan and Kate Vernon talking about the behind the scenes filming of that scene.
I hadn’t realized it had a name, but I frakking loved The Adama Maneuver.
As always, our intro/outro song is I Love Battlestar Galactica by Jonathan Mann. You can find a link to his Patreon here. Jonathan creates a song a day, which seems bananas to me, but he’s been doing it successfully for a while.
New to the show? Battlestar Bros. is a mostly-loving review of SCI-FI’s (you can’t make me spell it the other way, I’ll fight you) greatest show, Battlestar Galactica. Join Pat, Mike, and Matt as they journey from Caprica to Earth, making observations both salient and snarky along the way.
You can find the show on Twitter as @BattlestarBros. You can find Pat as @Th3Hypn0Toad and Matt as @mat_ledge. Mike doesn’t Tweet, which might be for the best.
Battlestar Bros. is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://battlestarbros.wordpress.com/
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May 13, 2018Episode 33: Precipice
http://traffic.libsyn.com/battlestarbros/BSB033.mp3
Peace is impossible without trust, and trust is impossible without understanding. There’s no understanding, no trust, and no peace on New Caprica.
This time on BSG, the Resistance continues their suicide bombing campaign, the Cylons get fed up with humanity’s stubbornness, and Nu Sharon shows the way toward a brighter future.
In our analysis, Pat wishes all mothers, and especially Starbuck, a happy Mother’s Day.
Matt enjoys watching Roslin straddle the line between compassion and resistance.
Mike joins Lee and the Cylons in calling New Caprica a lost cause.
Some observations and links of note:
Been waiting for Chekov’s Ovary to pop back up. This was one of the creepier ways it could do so.
Obligatory examination of suicide bombing as a tactic and the responses it provokes. Heavy stuff, but worth reading.
Is killing a Cylon actually murder, if you know they’ll be back? Worth considering in light of this episode’s “Cyolence.”
According to this episode’s accompanying SCI-FI podcast, it seems like it’s actually Head Six in that “Sign it!” scene … Pat’s take on it seems better.
There’s some disagreement about humans’ minimum viable population … the number is estimated as low as 160 and as high as thousands. Lee’ll just have have to make do with what he has, I guess.
“I may be a criminal lunatic, but I’m a human criminal lunatic!” – Tom Zarek, probably.
As always, our intro/outro song is I Love Battlestar Galactica by Jonathan Mann. You can find a link to his Patreon here. Jonathan creates a song a day, which seems bananas to me, but he’s been doing it successfully for a while.
New to the show? Battlestar Bros. is a mostly-loving review of SCI-FI’s (you can’t make me spell it the other way, I’ll fight you) greatest show, Battlestar Galactica. Join Pat, Mike, and Matt as they journey from Caprica to Earth, making observations both salient and snarky along the way.
You can find the show on Twitter as @BattlestarBros. You can find Pat as @Th3Hypn0Toad and Matt as @mat_ledge. Mike doesn’t Tweet, which might be for the best.
Battlestar Bros. is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://battlestarbros.wordpress.com/
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May 06, 2018Episode 32: Occupation
http://traffic.libsyn.com/battlestarbros/BSB032.mp3
“What’s the deal – with humans? Why can’t they just accept the Cylon?”
This time on BSG, we learn where our heroes are four months into the Cylon occupation of New Caprica. It’s … not pretty.
In our analysis, Mike elaborates on the occupation’s real world parallels.
Pat goes to bat for Ellen “I really do love my husband” Tigh.
Matt loves watching Lee literally eat the scenery.
Some observations and links of note:
My nickname for Tigh, for about the last nine years, has been “Admiral Eyepatch.” This is the episode where he begins to earn the name.
A bit on why this episode’s recap was so very long and how difficult that Cylon roundtable scene was to shoot.
“What’s our actual plan here?” asked both the Cylons and the United States.
On the Leoben/Starbuck creepy-as-frak nonsense: “It’s a fascinating, fucked-up set-up which is only made even remotely watchable by the fact that Starbuck is still, well, Starbuck.”
I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist: “Boil ’em, mash ’em, stick ’em in a stew.”
The Adamastache has its own Battlestar Wiki page, which is delightful. Also delightful, the page on “Baltar’s Sexy Treason Stubble.”
As always, our intro/outro song is I Love Battlestar Galactica by Jonathan Mann. You can find a link to his Patreon here. Jonathan creates a song a day, which seems bananas to me, but he’s been doing it successfully for a while.
New to the show? Battlestar Bros. is a mostly-loving review of SCI-FI’s (you can’t make me spell it the other way, I’ll fight you) greatest show, Battlestar Galactica. Join Pat, Mike, and Matt as they journey from Caprica to Earth, making observations both salient and snarky along the way.
You can find the show on Twitter as @BattlestarBros. You can find Pat as @Th3Hypn0Toad and Matt as @mat_ledge. Mike doesn’t Tweet, which might be for the best.
Battlestar Bros. is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://battlestarbros.wordpress.com/
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Battlestar Bros. is a mostly-loving review of SCI-FI's (you can't make me spell it the other way, I'll fight you) greatest show, Battlestar Galactica. Join Pat, Mike, and Matt as they journey from Caprica to Earth, making observations both salient and snarky along the way.

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