Eric and I watched Battlestar Galactica: Razor just before Christmas. I was incredibly disappointed. Many spoilers ahead.
The arc with the Pegasus and Admiral Cain was one of my favorite parts of Season 2. I saw Admiral Cain as Adama’s dark shadow - she had had similar challenges and tests, but failed and paid for it with her humanity. It also got deeper into a perennial theme of BSG - what is a person? In the first season, President Roslin does not hesitate to toss a Cylon out of an airlock. Does this mean that Admiral Cain is within her rights to torture another Cylon?
I was hoping that Razor would be a kind of Shakespearean tale of Admiral Cain’s fall. Hell, her name is Cain in a show fraught with Biblical symbolism. Sadly, Razor totally failed. Instead of telling the tale of Cain’s fall since the Cylon attack it gave her a cheesy and pat childhood trauma backstory. Instead of getting into the question of whether a robot can be a person, Razor turned Admiral Cain’s torture of Number 6 into a brutal lover’s revenge. And instead of telling an alternate story of the Cylon attacks, Razor does a paint-by-number retelling of what is narrated in Season 2 and wastes time on an unnecessary flashback from the “present” (which takes place from the end of Season 2).
Anyway, I found very little redeeming about Razor, though I did enjoy spending time in the BSG universe (especially with Starbuck before they ruined her character with crappy soap opera romance). What did you fellow geeks out there think? And do you think Season 4 is going to be any good?
December 30, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Ah, but did you watch the commercial breaks? “It has been revealed…that Helena Cain and Gina Invier are lovers! Brought to you by Quiznos. Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm — toasty!” (Toaster?) We just rewound and watched them over and over again.
“It has been revealed! …Brought to you by Quiznos” definitely needs to be a phrase I use more often.
December 30, 2007 at 6:02 pm
We didn’t see any commercials, since we got the DVD off Netflix. This is the first time that I feel like I missed out. “It has been revealed…that the Cylons occasionally skin people alive! Mmm mmmm mmm - toasty!”
December 30, 2007 at 9:01 pm
I may have the tape still, if it’s not all full of Project Runway. I’ll mail it to you once I confirm Roommate J has watched it… (side benefit: 1.8 episodes of Project Runway)
Regarding the story itself: it didn’t un-jump the shark for me, but it didn’t jump any MORE sharks. I kind of gave up in the middle of last season and decided that anything really good after that point would be gravy. This wasn’t gravy, but it was just annoying rather than eye-pokingly bad. But I can see how if you were really intrigued by Admiral Cain (I wasn’t, particularly — I was just glad that the pathologist from Homicide: Life on the Street continued to have a career) it would be more disappointing.
Um, what instrument would you like to play in the band Kara Thrace and Her Special Destiny? I want to play a key-tar.
December 30, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Oh, yeah: the tape also has the SciFi channel “GAY PEOPLE ARE OK” PSA right after the conclusion. So be sure to watch that.
December 31, 2007 at 7:04 am
Here’s one - seriously, I was on the floor at each one, and was disappointed there were not more of them. For me, it was all right. It wasn’t up to Season 1, 2, or early 3 snuff - and I really wanted to watch Cain transform rather than be evile right from the beginning. In many ways, her minion’s story should have been hers. But, still, I’m seriously jonesing for season 4 - I have high hopes, and re-watching old Ron Moore DS9 is making me love him all over again. I have faith. Or some. But then again, I usually do.
January 1, 2008 at 4:21 am
I really liked the Kendra Shaw character, not least because actor Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen is an Aussie and speaks like one. And it was interesting seeing Starbuck relate to her, since she’s normally out-butching the blokes. Like jebyrnes I’m really hoping they pull it all together in season 4…
January 2, 2008 at 5:54 pm
The commercial was AMAZING. Especially with the close-up of the arm squeeze. In honor of that squeeze, I will play the accordion in Martini-Corona’s band.
Daniel - I agree with you about Kendra Shaw. She was the best thing in Razor. I’m just not sure why she needed to exist - like jebyrnes, I would have much rather seen Cain’s transformation than hers.