-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Gaius Baltar is such a fascinating character
- Thread starter Kraftwerk
- Start date
- Status
It's Reyn Time!
Member
For those who felt the ending ("God did it!") ruined the series for them, try this.
Find an original series wiki and read up about Seraphs and the Ship of Lights. Then rewatch the moment Starbuck dies.
Then find a wiki for the reimagined series and read up on the lore for the Lords of Kobol (and lore regarding Kobol itself). It's heavily suggested that the 13th Lord of Kobol is the Cylon God, a human who took the evolution of (in particular resurrection) technology to its logical conclusion.
There's a third race in the reimagined series from the very first episode. Try rewatching with that in mind.
Find an original series wiki and read up about Seraphs and the Ship of Lights. Then rewatch the moment Starbuck dies.
Then find a wiki for the reimagined series and read up on the lore for the Lords of Kobol (and lore regarding Kobol itself). It's heavily suggested that the 13th Lord of Kobol is the Cylon God, a human who took the evolution of (in particular resurrection) technology to its logical conclusion.
There's a third race in the reimagined series from the very first episode. Try rewatching with that in mind.
I recently finished Battlestar Galactica, and I love Gaius. The changes he goes through is simply incredible. So many shifts in his character an demeanour. And no matter what he does I still stood by him, constantly rooting for him.
I don't think I have ever come across a character similar to him in any other medium.
A true boss. Look at DAT suit.
Any other Gaius fanatics on gaf?
All hail Gaius!
Rooted for him? He's a piece of shit why would you root for him?
Gaius was one of the best characters, if not the best in the show.
I'm currently re-watching the entire thing with my girlfriend who hasn't seen any of it. I'm still loving 2nd time around his primary sense of personal self-survival taking priority over every other potential motive in his actions.
I'm currently re-watching the entire thing with my girlfriend who hasn't seen any of it. I'm still loving 2nd time around his primary sense of personal self-survival taking priority over every other potential motive in his actions.
StanTowers
Member
He knows about
.
farming
PhoncipleBone
Banned
I wouldn't say I rooted for him, but yet I wanted him to continue getting away with it. The character was so fun and Callis was so great at it that I just loved seeing him keep slowly cracking.
ThisWreckage
Banned
He's fascinating because he embodies self-preservation. He unwillingly sells out humanity and damn near destroys the human race because he thought with his dick. If anyone knows this he is a dead man. But it's not that simple. Sure, he played a large part in the destruction of humanity, but he is simultaneously a genius. So he's a fuck up and a potential savior.
FriedConsole
Banned
I agree the Gaius story line was the most interesting of the series for Season 1-3. By season 4 it didn't really matter anymore. This and Boomer's baby which was the crux of the earlier seasons were forgotten by the end for people hearing "All Along the Watchtower".
I still don't think the writer's strike mattered. They had no idea of where they were going all along.
I still don't think the writer's strike mattered. They had no idea of where they were going all along.
I only really linked TV Tropes because I couldn't find a YouTube clip of the actual Simpsons "A Wizard Did It" moment, thanks to Fox's aggressive policing of YouTube
How does the "God Did It" explanation really hold up to the common criticism that God sent Starbuck back with the coordinates to Earth....but only for the sake of telling them to the crew at the absolute last minute when all hope is lost? Most of God's decisions make little sense. It's more the "Mysterious Ways" explanation than it is "A Wizard Did It".
Making things up as you go along is not necessarily bad storytelling. But it does become bad storytelling when you've written yourself into such a corner that you can't explain the previous mythology with anything besides divine intervention.
I don't think that anyone is saying that the ending was amazing writing only that the idea that they "made it up as they went along" is something bad. All fiction and more specifically all TV shows "are made as they go along" especially Breaking Bad. Nobody has all the neat details of where they want a character to go or where they want a story to end, you simply go with the flow and try your best to stay true to the characters and the story.
For example, in BB Vince Gilligan admitted that when they
introduced the M60 in the opening of Season 5
Jack and his gang of Nazi's weren't even thought up as the primary villains at this point
Imbarkus
As Sartre noted in his contemplation on Hell in No Exit, the true horror is other members.
I am still fascinated by the mystery of original Baltar:
.gif)
Why did he betray the humans? Why did the cylons even take orders from him? Where did the cauliflower head Imperious Leader go? What is this show even about?
John Colicos created this role, and made it memorable, even if the character itself made no sense. He made a good Klingon too:
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
I believe that's the part where he checks for who's a Cylon and who isn't. I don't even remember who's results those were (not his own, I think), despite watching this show nearly religiously.
samus i am
Member
Well said OP, I loved the ridiculous facial expressions he was always making.
slightconfuse
Banned
He was great till he lost direction and just faded away to the background .
Early reason gains was amazing
Early reason gains was amazing
Gaius was definitely my favorite character throughout the series. I think up to about season 3 he was absolutely fascinating; after that his story seemed a bit aimless until the end of the final season. I actually thought early on that he might end up being the cylon god somehow.
Supermanisdead
Member
good god, how i hated this dipshit. so fucking annoying!
Bobby Roberts
Banned
Man, the original show is so terrible. Colicos was fun as hell to watch, but nothing about him ever made any sense.
I love the little toy Cylon helmet they gave him when he'd go out on missions.
FriedConsole
Banned
Starbuck was awesome. Boomer/Athena was annoying because Grace Park is a terrible actress despite her character being interesting. The fact they multiplied her roles was frustrating. There was a reason Grace Chen's characters were moved to the back for Starbuck because Kara Thrace can actually you know...act.
I love Grace Chen on Hawaii Five O tho. Her bad acting fits with everyone else's bad acting and the cheese of that show.
IdreamofHIME
Member
He was an asshole that doomed humanity to get his end wet and then slimeballed his way into screwing the remnants of humanity to avoid being blamed for his crimes.
He's not jesus, he's Hitler.
He's not jesus, he's Hitler.
teruterubozu
Member
Bobby Roberts
Banned
How did he survive the inital explosion? Was that a loop hole? Seems to me they planned on making him a cylon then changed their minds somewhere in between
Bobby Roberts
Banned
She stood in front of him and shielded him from the debris of the window shattering.
I don't think they ever planned to make Gaius a Cylon. I know at one point they were kicking around an idea of actually introducing the "Cylon God" and they were gonna reach out to Dirk Benedict for that, but that idea got junked before Season 1 started.
At least I think that's the story.
No, he's jesus. Or a prophet, idk.
- Status