Season 3 episode 18

[Jezrah]

I think one of the best signs of how well-written BSG is, is in how effectively we get pulled into things in the same way that the characters in the show do. Once the characters found out that cylons looked human, they began suspecting everyone around them of being a cylon. I find myself doing the same thing (not everyone around "me"--I like to think I have a better hold on reality than that--I mean every new character in the show). He probably will end up not being one, but I can't help but suspect that Baltar's new lawyer (with his uncanny ability to see through people and then manipulate them--especially Caprica 6) is another one of the final five cylons.

From a writing standpoint, that's hard to do without being obvious about it. Usually we feel like we're being manipulated. Take almost any cop show as an example. They almost always present us with someone who really "looks" guilty to try to throw us off the trail, but after a while you get to the point where you say, "Oh, he can't be the guy because they're trying too hard to make him look like it. The real bad guy will be someone less obvious." I never get that feeling with BSG, though. They've done such a good job establishing an overall culture of suspicion, without being obvious about it (the characters rarely get into that "is he a cylon or not" debate anymore) that we get caught up in it. Anytime someone new comes into the series, we can't help but wonder. Is he, or isn't he?

[adriscoll27]

I just feel that there's no way the super cool guy with sunglasses will be a cylon. Maybe it's b/c I have managed to convince myself that we already know the final 5, so it will be more shocking to find out who they are. It's sort of anti-climatic to introduce a new character to be one of the final 5.......that's just my opinion. But, I suppose that the plot can't be solely about what I want!!!

[NikBot]

i guess he may be too obvious a choice to be a cylon, but he's def. up to something... his ties to papa adama, etc. i guess i feel like his motives should be more than just wanting fame, but maybe he's just a huge manipulative egomaniac who wears sunglasses inside!

[Jezrah]

I'm thinking that only one of the final five is a current main character. D'Anna only seemed to recognize one. Besides, there are only a very limited number of primary characters, and even fewer that could potentially be cylons (once you rule out age, parenthood, etc.). I think introducing the concept of the final five was a calculated move on the series' part so they could keep the mystery alive. We know who all the rest are because we've seen them at one point or another, so they couldn't surprise us anymore (or the humans in the show--I think they've see all the 7 cylons as well--the series needs to keep their paranoi alive as well). Having that mystery worked well for the series before. We met D'Anna as a reporter before we knew she was a cylon. And we met Dean Stockwell's character as a priest before we knew he was one. So now we have the final five, so they can do things like that again. They have to be really careful, though. They can't pull that gimmick again, so they only have 5 dramatic, cylon-revealing moments left for the entire run of the series. I have faith they'll make the most of them.

All that said, I don't know if I want the new guy to be one or not. On the one hand, he seems almost too obvious. And I kind of like the idea of suspecting him only to have him turn out to be human. The more times I do that, the more I'll let my guard down and be surprised when a real cylon suddenly pops up.

On the other hand, I like the idea that a cylon could be coming in and causing so many life-altering changes with the main characters (like Apollo--is he heading permanently towards law and politics? Will he ever be in a viper again? Especially after watching Starbuck "die?")