The Cylons Have a Plan: Battlestar Galactica and Plot Holes
Believe it or not, this post is related to theology. It’s just hidden.
One thing I’ve found is that I seem to be very sensitive to plot holes. I’m going to define “plot holes” as things in a story that don’t make sense within the logic of the story. Harry Potter flying on a broom is not a plot hole. A plot hole would be Harry Potter failing to remember a spell he used two books ago that would have gotten him out of his current jam. (Not that I know of any such incident.)
I kept hearing about how great the new Battlestar Galactica is. And I’ll admit it’s interesting viewing. I’m a little bit into season two now.
But early into season one, quite early actually, I got that sickening feeling in my stomach that the writers were building up mysteries that they didn’t know the answer to either. This is a common problem in these new style complex shows like Lost. The writers make up more and more “interesting things” but fail to connect them together into a rational logical whole.
When the writers do this, it really bugs me and causes me to lose my interest in the show. (I stopped watching Lost at the end of season two for exactly that reason.)
Now my experience is that I’m willing to suspend my disbelief over plot holes to some reasonable degree. If a story or show is really good for other reasons, I’m willing to ignore a few small plot holes or — better yet — make up reasons for why they aren’t really plot holes after all.
But past a certain point, nothing can save my interest in a show.
I have been told I’m weird in that I judge my enjoyment by whether or not a story is logically coherent. But the truth is that I don’t seem to be alone. Many people stopped watching Lost by the end of season two and only started again once the writers decided to come up with a logical ending and start writing towards it. People can intuitively tell if a story makes sense or not.
I don’t think most people say “oh, I hated that show because it had plot holes.” But I do think shows with plot holes will get labeled “silly” or “that’s just weird” and the over all enjoyment is diminished.
I’m convinced that the reason The Matrix died after episode two was because the ending of episode two (the part with The Architect) was in fact a massive plot hole — a full on contradiction — and that it was impossible for the story to recover after that.
Which brings me back to Battlestar Galactica. I can’t make heads or tails of why the Cylons do what they do. It seems contradictory to me and I just can’t see how it’s ever going to turn out to be logically coherent.
Is it really possible to reconcile all of the following points that have been raised so far by the end of season one?
- Number Six is in Baltar’s mind and manipulates him to the Cylon’s ends.
- Yet these ends have included outing the existence of more than one hidden Cylon that acted shocked that they got caught.
- Come to think of it, if the Cylon’s went to all the trouble of having some chip installed in Baltar’s mind so that Number Six can talk to him, why did they not provide a way for him to get off of Caprica in the first place? (It only happened because a selfless solider gave up his place on a ship that accidently crashed.)
- And if they do have a chip in his mind? Why bother with the whole “Number Six in your dreams” thing and why not instead put a tracker / locator on the chip so that they can follow the fleet and destroy them all?
- If they reason to the last question is “they Cylons don’t want to destroy them” then why did they Cylons in the first episode say they did when there were no humans around to trick?
- If they don’t want to destroy the humans, then why do they keep almost doing so?
- Later Number Six managed to material, accuse Baltar of being in league with the Cylons (he is, sort of) and present evidence.
- Just as Baltar finally realizes he has to accept the Cylon God (which is strangely a monotheistic God while the humans are polytheistic) evidence is — within seconds mind you — found that the evidence is a fake. What would have happened if Baltar had held out for 10 more seconds?
- Of course Number Six can’t be found after that because it would have spoiled the plot. Do I really believe the writers know what happened to her? Or was she just conveniently translated up to writer’s heaven for the sake of the plot?
- The Cylons intentionally kept one human on Caprica alive to get him to have a child with a Cylon girl.
- Yet their plan seems to have been that that Cylon would fall in love with him and start to work against their plans. Can you plan to have your plan go wrong?
- A replicant of that Cylon is also on the Galactica and thinks she is human, though she is worried she’s a Cylon.
- She is ordered to destroy a Cylon battlestation, which she does. It was guarding Kobol and we needed to go to Kobol to advance the plot.
- In doing so, she discovers more replicas of herself, proving she’s a Cylon.
- The replicas don’t try to hide this fact from her, even though she’s suppose to not know as part of the plan. Can a plan include having itself go wrong?
- On the other hand, maybe they wanted to her to find out she was a Cylon. But if that is the case, how did they know Commander Adama was gong to send her and not someone else? Can they mind control him? If so, why all the bother? Just have him blow up the fleet.
- She then blows up the station (killing the other hers supposedly though this is ambiguous) and then flys back to the Galactica and promptly tries to kill the Commander.
- Now mind you, she’s had about a billion opportunities before this point. Why now? The only obvious answer seems to be that now that she knew she was a Cylon, it was too late plotwise to have her Cylon programming come out so the writers had to have her do it at that moment.
- But if this was her real purpose for existence, it sure would have made a lot more sense to have done it during the first episode.
- The Cylon station was guarding Kobol. That was why it had to be destroyed.
- The number Six in Baltar’s head made it clear she wanted him to find Kobol and that was part of the Cylon plan. She had told him to be on the ship going to Kobol. (Hinting that the Galactica would be destroyed, so he needed to be elsewhere.)
- But if the Cylons wanted him to go to Kobol, why did the Cylon’s shoot his ship down? Are they so all-powerful that they happened to know that they could shoot down his ship and crash him onto Kobol without killing him? How did they know this? And how did they plan for their station getting destroyed just after he successfully crashed landed? What would have happened if the Commander had sent the Cylon girl to do this first?
- If the reason they didn’t blow up the station first is that they didn’t know, why did they conveniently forget to scout the area first when they always do that normally?
- The Cylons then start hunting the humans on Kobol, trying to kill them. How does this square with Number Six wanting Baltar to find Kobol and discover what is there? (Number Six lamely says, “what happens on Kobol is out of my control.” Huh? Some plan!)
- And if that was part of the Cylon plan, why did they have a Cylon ship guarding it in the first place? Why not, oh I don’t know, just remove the Cylon ship from guarding Kobol and let the humans think they found it unguarded? The only answer seems to be that it was more dramatic this way.
- And why not have the Cylon that thinks she is human not destroy the Cylon ship? Instead have her just claim she did and then have the Cylon ship move to somewhere else? She is, after all, programmed well enough to kill her own commander against her will! Why not just have her kill her co-pilot, claim the Cylons got her, and then lie? Do the Cylon’s not care about their own ship and all the Cylon’s on it?
- A number six tries to stop Star Buck from getting the arrow that allows them to find earth. She almost kills her and only a last minute burst from Star Buck saves her life through shear luck. But isn’t that part of their plan to let them find this information? (It’s not clear yet if it is or isn’t. But why else risk letting them come to Kobol at all?) Did they plan on Star Buck barely winning the fight by shear luck?
Well, you get the point. There doesn’t seem to be any way possible to explain it all. If there is, I’m going to be very impressed. But most likely the writers are just making things up as they go along and pasting it all together one piece at a time. And I’m losing my interest in the series faster and faster. They’ll probably have to all just wake up from a dream at the end. (I’ve heard rumors that the ending was lame, so I’m already bracing.)
Instead, the writers seem to be aiming at short term emotional impact. It’s cool to have Star Buck have to fight Number Six, so she will have to, even if it doesn’t fit into the plot logically. It’s cool to have the Cylon girl that thinks she is human discover she isn’t, so she’ll be selected for the mission and won’t be killed against all odds. It’s cool to have Adama shot at that moment, so previous better moments will be ignored. Etc. Emotion over logical coherence, if you will.
Note: Please don’t post any spoilers here until I’ve decided for certain I’m not going to finish the series. I still want to give it a chance.
Filed under: We transcend your bourgeois categories | No Tag
Ivan Wolfe
March 12, 2010
I won’t post any spoilers, but I’ll say the first two seasons were very cool and well done, and the last two seasons were -
well, interesting is the most positive word I can think of.
This is not spoiler, but to give you an idea of how the last two seasons played out, Ron Moore actually said “Who gives a $#!+ about the plot? Let’s just focus on the characters.”
Also, all of your concerns about the show are valid. Try not to get your hopes up, and you may somewhat enjoy the end.
Also – read my essay “Why your Mormon Neighbor Knows More About This Show Than You Do” in the collection Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Mission Accomplished or Mission Frakked Up?
I’m biased, of course. but hey! I think it should be required reading to understand the show better (though it was written before the show ended).
Anyway, a good post, and I’d like to say more, but you’ve said to avoid spoilers.
Bruce Nielson
March 12, 2010
Ivan, thanks for at least letting me know my concerns are valid. I’ll do my best to turn off my logical coherency detector for the rest of the show. (Assuming this is even possible.)
I’ll let you know when I’ve finished it (not any time soon, probably) and then you can talk more freely about it.
Vader
March 12, 2010
I gave up on the new Battlestar Galactica after just a couple of episodes, when it was clear the Cylons had been transformed by the new writers into evangelical Christians.
It did not help that I caught an episode of the original series on late-night satellite, and, to my surprise, quite enjoyed it. More than the new series.
I kind of feel the same way about the original Star Wars trilogy versus the sequel trilogy.
Bruce Nielson
March 12, 2010
Dang! You’re right! They are Evangelical Christians! How the heck did I miss that?
I did realize they were religious fanatics, but I forget the rule of Hollywood that all religious fanatics are either Muslims if it’s a war movie or Evangelical Christians for all other types of movies.
Lon
March 12, 2010
Without giving any spoilers, you have one very big IF assumption about what the No. 6 Baltar’s sees is… And if your assumption is not correct? Well, then a lot of things change.
Ben Pratt
March 12, 2010
How dare you criticize BSG/LOST blah blah blah best show EVAR blah blah!
Actually, I am much the same. Rarely does the statement “______ is a great book/movie/show!” made to me lead me to think “I would enjoy reading/viewing this book/movie/show.” My biggest beef is when an artist invents a world but only barely beyond the narrative, such that asking *any* question about the world that strays from the narrative causes the whole structure to fall apart.
Ivan Wolfe
March 12, 2010
Lon -
some things change. But really, the basic complaint he has is the same. Go read this essay on Baltar’s “Head Six” to see just what the problem with her is (jump to the list and read all the things related to Baltar and his visions of six):
http://ideas.4brad.com/battlestar/story-bsg-god-gog
(Note: Bruce, do not read this unless you want massive spoilers).
Ivan Wolfe
March 12, 2010
[Just to alleviate any panic - that URL does not have any spoilers in its title. The series has been talking about God since early on, and I can tell you that the title of the URL is for the whole essay, of which only a small section deals with Head Six (or H6).]
Bruce Nielson
March 13, 2010
I like the series enough so far that any rational way of fitting 60% of the problems together would go a long way for me. I’d probably forgive the other 40%. I’m just not sure I’m even going to get 10% of my questions answered at this point. BSG has probably already crossed the “point of no return” whereby I know a show is making it up as they go along.
Consider my favorite coherent show for comparision, Babylon 5. It’s not that there are no plot holes in the show, but they I literally can’t remember what they were and they were super minor things anyhow. And the show had a wonderful final episode to boot.
Cat
March 19, 2010
Must. not spoil things.
xbxr
April 5, 2010
I think something like Q from Star Trek is playing with both Cylons and humans. And head Six has nothing to do with the Cylons. That clears up quite a few plot problems. Then add in that the Cylons are totally cracked and that fixes the rest.
huzzah
May 8, 2010
All space shows are awesome. Any show about space can do whatever it wants.
Bryce peel
February 6, 2011
Hey I have seen the whole new show and some of your plot holes are really just because you used your idea of what was going on as what was really happening. Sorry if that’s confusing… Honestly I only read the first few of your supposed plot holes and I don’t remember there ever being evidence of a chip being put In baltars brain. Also later on six’s consults also takes on the form of Baltar, and near the end they finally meet again and this line of the plot is resolved. Even if the answer is totally wierd.
If you want to know the answers to these plot holes that arnt really plot holes email me. Also watch the WHOLE series or at leas most of it before poking holes in it’s plot because some of the stuff you write makes me laugh. I would be happy to answer anyones questions.
By the way email is bp41501@gmail.com.
Russell
July 17, 2011
Point 1
Okay, so I’m up to episode 9 of season 1 and I just can’t get over some things. There were fifty billion humans alive when the Cylons attacked. Of that 50 billion humans, some fifty thousand survive. That’s a survival rate of 0.000001 (which in biological terms IS extinction). Of those survivors, there are FIVE Cylons within the fleet (so far), one of which is an officer. Because of the randomness of the survivors (i.e. ships that just happen to be far enough away to survive, or get lucky enough to take off) the penetration rate of Cylons to population must have been enormous (in the hundreds of millions). But there are only nine models!!! More over, there were twelve battle stars and the only one that survived has Boomer on it. Someone may argue that the ships that survived did so because they had Cylons on them, but if that were the case, why didn’t the infiltrators just destroy those ships?
Also, if the Cylons can morph back to new bodies, why doesn’t one just disable the Galactica, morph back and give the location of the fleet? Why did Boomer just destroy the water hold and not the main drive system???
Point 2
I forget which episode it was, but when the Cylons were following them for five days straight, why didn’t they just pick off the outlying ships each time they showed up; why engage the battlestar directly? A simple flanking movement would have been sufficient to deal with the battlestar and get at other ships at the same time.They would have destroyed most of the fleet in five days. This isn’t complex, these are basic basic basic engagement tactics.
Point 3
As to Vaders comment, I think the thing that has finally killed it for me is the evil monotheists’ thing. I was hoping there was some substance to the theology subplot, which is one reason I started watching BSG. But honestly Hollywood, the whole one dimensional fanaticism thing is getting old and I have yet to meet a Christian or a Muslim as shallow as that. Who knows, maybe abortion and homosexuality are the best thing since sliced bread. But if you’re going to smear someone, try to do better than a euphemistic “doody head”.
Ed
September 3, 2011
Russel, On Point 1: There were sleeper agents in many high up places in the fleet. If you were trying to infiltrate somewhere, you would place people in all the large militairy vessels, wouldn’t you? Chances are that several cylons would be on big starships in preparation for the attack.
The cylons on the ships would then infiltrate and try and commit sabotage. The few cylons on the fleet would be shot down trying to destroy everything.
Also, they can’t just “morph”, they have to kill themselves to return to another body. They won’t just kill themselves when they could sabotage the fleet. What if the fleet jumped while they were downloading?
Also, Boomer wouldn’t take out the main engines because she is fighting her cylon side. Also, the engines would be checked regularly, meaning she would be caught.
On your 2nd Point: They did shoot at the civilians, but the civilians jumped before galactica, allowing for a faster escape. Also, the vipers intercept missiles going for the fleet first, so Galactica gets hit instead of the civilians. Finally, the Cylons want to take out Galactica so that they can easily take out the others. They’ll put all missiles of the battlestar, not wasting valuable assets on inconsequential civilian ships of no threat.
And on Point 3: The whole “God” thing is explored much further in later seasons. I don’t want to reveal to much but there is more depth in the series. the Cylons aren’t evil monotheists. Really, you need to watch more to see that there is a much more complicated set of events that links all the gods, both cylon and human.
James N Smith
September 13, 2011
By now if you decided to finish the series, you’ve probably discovered two things. Many of your initial plot holes were not satisfactorially answered, some were not addressed at all, and fans of the show will do some amazing mental gymnastics to say that there are not any plot holes at all. I will not give any spoilers, since I don’t know how far you’ve gotten, but to comment on a few you named, I always did wonder what happened to the Number 6 that appeared in season 1 and outed Baltar. Second, if there were seven models running around they couldn’t have infiltrated too many high level places since once you got high enough everyone would know who you were, placing any other duplicates in a rather pecariously situation.
You became skeptical a lot sooner than me, but I caught glimpsed of the guy behind the curtain manipulating the strings around the middle of season three. I mark BSG in the end as an important though flawed step in elevating SF on television to the next level. The next level should be to put as much care into the SF part of a show as they did to the characters (at least in the beginning).