TVSquad

I'm also thinking there's no way we're saying goodbye to Starbuck. They would have killed her in a different and more interesting way. Given all the junk about her "destiny" (and the effort to remind us about it tonight) do we really think this is how she goes? She is "destined" to fly too low and not care?

Not likely.

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I'm almost fearing saying this (because rabid Lost apologists will jump all over me for it) but, this episode reminded me of the most boring of Lost episodes. What with it's boring flashback and go-nowhere story. BSG usually does a great job of at least moving the plot forward, even in a slow episode. Sadly this episode didn't go anywhere. There was no real explanation for Starbuck's paintings and then she died...disappointing.

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Frak.... frak... FRAK!!!
Sorry, I can't think of anything else now... i'll be back in the morning, after a full night of cursing...

http://digg.com/television/TVSquad_Review_Battlestar_Galactica_Maelstrom

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i never would of thought they would kill starbuck. it's disappointing that her whole "destiny" thing turned out to be her accepting death or whatever. i really wish it had been something a bit more important the the shows plot... i don't know, maybe she will be back. recent interviews with katee don't sound too promising though.

i wish they would put up the podcast sooner, i'm eager to hear moore's thoughts.

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Eick said in Ausiello that events in episodes 16 (this one) and 19 affect the Starbuck/Apollo relationship. So, she's definitely not gone. Maybe she's dead and a spirit now? But I think it's more likely a Cylon captured her. Two reasons:

1) She was hovering near the eject lever.
2) We saw the Cylon heavy raider from *Apollo*'s perspective at the very end (0:53 on my Tivo timeline), so it appears it was really there.

My theory is that they captured here and perhaps she's the Cylon? I thinking the "Starbuck is not a Cylon" spoilers are really foilers to throw us off that way of thinking because it would seem like an obvious move otherwise.

I dunno, maybe I just don't want to believe she's dead :-/

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This guy says that no IMDB info proves she's either dead or a Cylon:

http://tinyurl.com/3xmv6a

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Adama's reaction did me in ...deep. *tears*

Kara gone or not? Errr I want Assollo dead but damn EJO owned the acting in the end scene.

Whatever happens, between the continuity, the referal to dead characters, lines from the miniseries (nothing but the rain), and the use of old sets (the hallways of memory, Kara's place on Caprica), I am in fan heaven.

On this show death matters a great deal and it rips my heart in pieces whether the death is "earned", necessary, and logical *or not*.
For a moment it matters and it is as entertaining as it is emotional. I can't ask for more and I do not accept less as a viewer. *cough*Lost*cough*

*returns to her tissues*

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most all of this episode seemed way too drawn out. like once we got to the part of her mom and dying i was like "c'mon let's get this over with." and "they better be going somewhere with this." turns out they were kinda going somewhere with it. i mean it was a big moment, just not really done in any big way.

i'd say adama saved this episode. EJO's scene at the end was the only real emotional moment i thought. everything else seemed forced as hell.

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malren, quoting IMDB as a source is like saying "I know this guy, who has a sister, whos friend's cousin's next door neighbor told him that Starbuck is a cylon"

IMDB is fan information supported. Anyone can get most anything posted there. Just because she doesn't have anything listed does not mean she does not doing anything else. However, I say she is still on the show.

Updated "beings of light" anyone?

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I'm kinda totally afraid to read the comments. When you mentioned a contract detail being spoilery, I became paranoid, but thankfully the review mentioned nothing. But, as the most spoiler paranoid person on earth, I'm afraid to read the comments.

I love the suspenseful bliss that allows me to wonder if Katee Sackhoff asked for a ton of money and was let go, or if there was an announcement about how her contract's been extended. I just hope that if she comes back, it's not in a stupid way.

http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com

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Future Spoilers Follow, so avoid if you're a spoilerphobe

"What do you hear Starbuck?"

I was about to make this post an ode to Starbuck, but I figured I might get flamed for it. I'm with those who think that they might have just over hyped this episode a bit. When I was told again and again that they would be changing the way BSG worked, I expected something like last season's finale (Hell, my roommate, who doesn't read spoilers or anything online, basically quoted Moore/Eick to me when he called me at work at 10:00 CST to tell me what I missed. I, FWIW, promptly hung up on him).

"Nothing but the rain"

Where does this leave us? Obviously the next several episodes will deal with Baltar's trial. Is Lee's motivation to defend Baltar (Which, I'm assuming based on the previews) borne out of Starbuck's death? There's apparently more to come (get it, Moore to come, HA! bad puns rule!) with Starbuck/Apollo based on Eick's comments, but what does that mean. As powerful as EJO's final scene was, I almost felt cheated out of Apollo fulfilling his promise about the wall of pictures (wasn't that a nice turn around about Kat from Starbuck... Nice to see the circle completed from that episode).

"Then get your gun and bring in the cat."

I'm not so sure about the contract stuff that Keith mentioned (In fact, I had thought I stayed fairly well up on that sort of thing, so Keith, if you could elaborate, with appropriate spoiler warnings, I'd appreciate), but I do find it a bit ironic that one of the main flashpoints for the fan's contempt for this show (you know, before it came on and they realized how badass it is) was Starbuck, and that she was well, a she, and now she's gone. I don't know I'm rambling a bit, but I have lost my favorite character on my favorite show, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Either way, at least Moore and crowd gave me a reminder of why I love this show: Its complex but real relationships. And how you ask? With a call back to the miniseries, where it was used itself as a callback.

Goodbye, Starbuck (You know, for now)

"Boom, Boom, Boom...."

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My guess is that Starbuck will make a few return appearances next season. First there could be a flashback episode. And second, another episode where another character on the show is visited by an "in-head" Starbuck.

We have an in-head Six (who Baltar sees) and an in-head Baltar (who Caprica Six sees). Each of these in-head characters has a real counterpart. So we haven't had a character yet who exists only in the head of another character, but has no real counterpart.

Now I haven't decided which character would be the most suitable candidate to have Starbuck appear in their imagination. Apollo would be too obvious, I think.

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Talk about a ridiculous way to end the plot about her paintings. If she really is dead, then the amount of time they spent on her paintings is ridiculous. If this had been an episode of Lost, the negative comments would have already been flying. I would go even to say the entire episode was a bad Lost rip-off punctuated with the flash-back character dying. Even more so, nothing has really happened in the past few episodes. And it sure seems that nothing is going to happen next week with Baltar's trial. Do we really need to see father and son fighting over something for the 100th time?

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I'm not spoiled at all, but close watchers of this show have to know that RDM and company aren't going to lay down all of this history with Starbuck only to kill her off in a meaningless way. She's too tied in with Leoben and the destiny of the show. There are too many things in the show pointing to her making some kind of repeat appearance, and not just in a flashback.

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Well, I'm done.

I had digital cable here in the southwest just to watch this show, I loved the thing and Starbuck was my favorite character.

I feel abused and neglected as a fan in season 3, I've watched my favorite show start to resemble some teenage soap opera, I've watched my favorite character get gutted like a fish with a dull knife and now tossed into the trash.

It's like some sad nightmare that a show that was this damn good for 2 seasons can get written into the ground this quickly. Not only am I done with the show, I am calling my local cable company tommorrow and giving them their damn box... no reason to watch sci-fi now. No reason to buy season the season 3 DVD's and if I ever see Ron Moore's name attatched to anything in the future I will run like hell.

Watching his crap is like dating some hot chick who gives you a night of passion, and then waits for you to fall asleep and takes a baseball bat to your head.

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I've told Keith before, STARBUCK IS A CYLON, and so is Baltar! he didnt listen!!

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I'm torn.

I trust the execs on the show that they have a plan unlike the peeps at "Lost") and that they wouldn't build all this up just to toss a major character and a plotline out of the window. I believe that Starbuck will be back, and things will again heat up. THAT SAID, this was such a slow episode, and -- as i do with "Lost" -- I found it easy to skim through this episode on TiVo in about 20 minutes.

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I hope she comes back somehow (as a Cylon, please, not a a damn ghost or whatever). If not, then she become BSG's Mr. Eko.

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It's possible she's still alive. Apollo was far enough back and visually impaired enough by the cloud cover that he might not have seen her eject if she did and get picked up by the Raider. I think the fact that her Viper was physically damaged the second time she had a collision would indicate that something was out there, even if nobody else ever picked it up. The fact that Apollo called off the rescue ships means they probably made no attempt to confirm her death or recover the body (if that's even possible where they were).

I don't know any of the details about the actors contracts or whatnot, personally, I don't like knowing that kind of stuff. For me, it takes you out of false reality these shows try so hard to create. I do appreciate this sites efforts to hid that information to keep those of us who don't want it from stumbling across it.

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Hey Zed, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

I thought this was a great episode, and even if Starbuck is dead, which I doubt she isn't, this show has been terrific. Like another reviewer said, deaths on this show count, and they are done for a reason, not for a stunt. This isn't JJ Abrams running the show. It's Ronald Frackin' D Moore. This guy knows how to write and wrote some of the best Star Trek episodes there are. The guy knows what he wants to do with this show.

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