Nina's Known Universe

Original US Airdate: February, 18, 2005





***These articles are full of Spoilers from the entire series to date as aired in the USA...Continue At Your Own Risk--Moreover, the format assumes the reader has seen all of the episodes and specials aired through the first half of season 4, up to and including “Revelations”***



^Borrowed material is duly credited^




Read the Prior Episode Commentaries Here




Re-Watch the Episode Here First




^Time Line^



***



^Day 24:^"Caprica" Valerii and Helo make love for the first time.


"Shelly Godfrey" implicates Dr. Baltar in the attack on the Colonies; she later disappears.




A woman who calls herself "Shelly Godfrey," a possible cylon 6, physically arrives on Galactica and accuses Gaius Baltar of treachery.







***



Imperial Commentary




Alrighty then, finally we come to the episode with Shelley Godfrey and now that I have seen it again I am 100% convinced that Shelley was in fact Head Six manifested solid so that everyone could see her. How else would she have known about Dr. Amarak? Only President Roslin, Baltar, Billy and Head Six knew about that. More to the point, how would she have just vanished?



The folks over on the Wiki board had originally thought that Head Six was in contact with the other cylons in the Fleet...however, Head Six told Baltar in the last episode (Litmus) that the Cylons didn't know about her and him.



From what I have seen up to the end of the first half of season 4, Head Six doesn't lie, her words could be taken as gospel, not to be too cliche. There may be a few ways to interpret some of her comments, but generally speaking, the only comment yet to come true is the one in regard to Humanities End. (An end can be many things.)



So if the cylons didn't know about Head Six then she obviously was not in contact with them and therefore Shelley Godfrey was not a cylon but was in fact our virtual goddess solidified for the purpose of forcing Baltar to give himself over to her and to her God.



In addition to getting Baltar's faith, the little charade over the mysterious disk, faked images and false...cough...accusations, served to create an air of false trust in Baltar. Basically along the lines of our own Double Jeopardy laws, being that one cannot be tried twice for the same crime. Now that he has been accused of treason and proved innocent, it won't be until the Cylons occupy New Caprica that the thought of his duplicity comes up again.



Speaking of the Double Jeopardy rule, it made a great movie with Ashley Judd and showed just how dumb it is to fake your own death while framing your wife for your own murder. Because she can now kill you for real and get away with it. (evil laughter)



Personally, other than his cowardice at not admitting he was duped by the cylon Six, something that he could have told Roslin right away, racked with guilt, tears in eyes, throwing himself on their mercy, I feel the only thing Baltar is truly guilty of is being a self centered horn dog. In fact, the one thing he struggles with over and over until after his trial at the end of season 3, is his inherent quest for self preservation. Only after he joins the Bunny Squad and offers up his life for that of the child, do we begin to see the changes in him. But we won't go there...until we get there.




The reality is that he did not in fact conspire with anyone. He had a hot blond, he wanted to get laid, she was posing a corporate network administrator with amazing programming skills, and he needed her help to finish the defense network's latest upgrade. He assumed she wanted to poke around in the defense mainframe to get some inside information so she could bid on some contract or another.



During the mini, Caprica Six had accused him of knowing the truth and just not admitting it...which seems unlikely. A man like Baltar is too self absorbed in his own little world to notice anything about anyone else's motives. So at the worst his first crime was Corporate Espionage, his second was covering up what he knew. Had Baltar told them immediately about his blond girl friend..they would have never believed Shelley...in fact I doubt she would have ever appeared - at least not in that form. Of course its also unlikely he would have been given the freedom/power he had and would have then been of no use to the Devine Head Six.



Shelley's attempt to seduce Adama at first seemed typical for a six, but now that I think about it, I believe that 'Shelley' was intentionally being obvious to make sure they didn't execute Baltar before discovering the disk was faked. As Gaeta said at the end, once the image was fully rendered the markers were so obvious, it was as if she wanted them to be found. Furthering the idea that it was all just a ploy to get Baltar to embrace the faith as well as make it more difficult for anyone to accuse him of treason.



The biggest question remains even now. Why Baltar? Why would God or any divine being choose Baltar for their conduit in whatever grand plan is playing out. Perhaps it was simply that despite all his actions and talk to the contrary, Baltar did in fact love Caprica and by association, loves his Head-Six.



Even after learning the truth that she was a cylon, he still loved her. And after she sacrificed herself to save him, perhaps as he ran for his life his mind could not let the thought of her go so the divine chose him, and chose her form, knowing that would be the trigger he could not resist. That and the fact that Caprica Six is very devout to her faith, so perhaps she was also chosen.



I always enjoy Baltar's little rants. His lack of faith is similar to my own, though I am not quite as adamant about it as he is. Preferring the chicken soup approach...it may not do any good to have some belief, but it can't really hurt. Personally, my issues have always been with interpretation rather than faith. But that is for another blog.



For the purposes of staying withing this show, I believe what they believe, and the message they are sending is that yes, there is a higher power manipulating the events of the last survivors of humanity. What that power is, remains to be seen. A higher power could be as simple as a more advanced race. Or it could really be a true God. Either way, someone or something is pulling strings.



The episode starts off with Baltar studying blood samples, snarkily chiding Head Six about not seeing the hand of God anywhere in the one he is inspecting. Further stating that with so many samples to go through that surely he would eventually find God. Being trapped in his own personal religion...that of the Mystic Cylon Detector.



If you notice, whenever Baltar gets a bit stressed and starts ranting, that is when his virtual playmate starts to seduce him. Only this time her efforts to use her wiles to get him to admit that her God is the only God causes him to rant further...which of course pisses Head 6 off, sending her storming from his fantasy bedroom.



You have to love the comic karma that even his fantasies turn against him. When Dualla knocks on the hatch he is still lost in his daydream. He then jokes to Dee that "I talk to myself...hang me." Later in season 3, he actually tries to hang himself. Once snapped back to reality he is lead to the CIC, where Shelley Godfrey is waiting for him. The timing of her arrival lends further credibility to my theory that she was Head Six made solid. Even Tricia Helfer was not sure what Shelley Godfrey was and likely they won't tell us. Then again...they might.



Also in this episode we have a recovering Kara Thrace, whom after Lee and Tigh both show up to tease her in sick bay, their efforts based on reverse psychology, playing on Starbucks ego, finally finds her strength and hobbles down to the hangar deck where the Chief and Cally have been trying to get that captured brainless raider to work.



Starbucks notes make no sense to them. Cally giggles as she reads them to the Tyrol "to pull on the long red veiny thing attached to the goo filled sack"...or something like that. Maybe that is just what I heard? LOL



Boomer gets a bit creepy, or rather creeps out Tyrol when she suggests treating the raider as a pet vs a thing. She lovingly caresses its head while musing over its purpose. That the cylons designed it to be a fighter. She then leaves in a huff when he stares blankly at her from under the raiders belly.



It is only after Starbuck crawls inside the raider herself that she realizes it was her foot that pushed the right ligament, not her hands. I seriously wanted to die laughing when Starbuck told Tyrol the raider was a girl and he said to go ahead and crawl inside 'her' "if you don't mind 'her' goo all over your face, she is all yours sir" LMAO!! After she brings it to life, the chief says "don't shoot anything."



President Roslin collapses from taking too much medicine for her cancer. Billy panicked and ordered the Doctor be summoned over the wireless which caused a media frenzy. Politics, my Gods, why can't they make a show about survival where people function as a unit because that is the only way to survive and no one clings to this petty ideology that we must have a government. People only need a government so they can blame someone else for their woes rather than taking responsibility for their actions like grown ups should.



We want free trade but are so greedy we make it impossible to have a fair system. We refuse to punish those that go out of their way to screw someone else - to me the worse crime a person can do is one of personal gain to the detriment of another - assuming that other is an innocent - you can screw all the bad guys you want. ;)



Down on Cylon Occupied Caprica - Helo and Sharon are running from the cylons, it is day 24. Later in this episode, they will finally get busy in the rain, Helo's devotion to her (presumably) allows her to get pregnant. The cylons believe that love was the missing factor in procreation. At least for the cylons - humans have no trouble procreating with or without love...like locusts.



Helo and Tyrol both loved Sharon but Tyrol loved his crew and his job more. When the two relationships are lined up, you can see why Helo was able to impregnate his Sharon while Tyrol didn't get his Sharon pregnant. Then again, since she was/is a sleeper, it is possible they were using protection.



Baltar didn't truly love Caprica until season 3 and even then I think he loved the one in his head more than the real one. Saul on the other hand saw her as his Ellen and he loved Ellen dearly (despite her being a big whore). He transferred that love to Caprica in the Brig...thus getting her pregnant. (Mid-season 4). Making the first cylon-cylon baby. Yet another possibility is that Saul being one of the special 5 makes him more human and thus able to reproduce with another cylon. The mind reels. (At least mine does.)



This episode was riddled with subtle comedy. Baltar whispering at Gaeta through the bathroom stalls, then barging in on Shelley Godfrey while she was sitting on the toilet. At the 2008 ComicCon in San Diego, Tricia Helfer was on the BSG Panel and said that when Baltar flung the stall doors open that the door cracked her knees...damn long legs...I know how she feels. This is also the episode with the ever famous "No more Mr. Nice Guias!!" comment. LOL



Baltar continues to fight for his innocence, never certain that the disk was faked. He knows he never planted any explosive but he still carries guilt over allowing Caprica to access the mainframe in the first place. He goes so far as to claim Shelley is a cylon agent sent to discredit him and put a stop to the cylon detector he is building.



"Being convicted in the court of public opinion without trial" is what Baltar tells Adama is happening to him. Walking through the halls of The Galactica as passers by whisper things like 'traitor' and 'toaster lover'. In an act of desperation he pulls a fire alarm so as to gain access to the lab and delete the image of himself now burned into the monitor. The MP's show up just in time to stop him from chucking a stool at the last screen.



In the brig, President Roslin goes to visit Baltar and basically says she knew all along he was involved in the attacks 'somehow'. She points out that all they really have is their instincts, since anyone could be a cylon. Baltar says he doesn't wish to be executed based solely on her 'gut' feelings.



Cue the lightening, down on Caprica...Helo professes his love, Sharon jumps his bones, meanwhile on the B Star G (thank you Kevin Smith), Boomer opens her locker to find the word 'Cylon' painted on her mirror. As she frantically wipes it off, the other Sharon frantically consummates her relationship with Helo, glowing spine and all.



Back in the brig with Baltar, he kneels and prays to the 'One true God' begs for salvation and promises to carry out 'his divine will'...tears...sobbing...more tears and promises then appears Head 6 as if on cue, being the hand of God herself. She tells him all will be well just as Gaeta arrives to free Baltar.



Gaeta had reran the security checks thus determining the photo was a fake. His admiration for Baltar behind his industrious actions. Stating that had he waited in the first place, once the photo was fully resolved, the markers were glaringly obvious. Likewise, at about the same time Head Six returns to Baltar's side, Ms Godfrey vanished into thin air, the only evidence of her presence; a pair of glasses, oddly similar to those that Roslin wears.



The president issues a formal statement to the press exonerating Baltar (apparently her intuition is ignored for the sake of political posturing and 'keeping your enemies closer'). His head 6 states that he is even more popular and powerful than before, he had his trial by fire, and they-the fleet, would have trouble accusing him of treason again. Baltar asks if that was the plan all along, to build him up in the public eye by first tearing him down? When Head 6 doesn't reply, he says "Who am I to question Gods Plan?"



Following Head 6 up the stairs to the bedroom he asks about whether or not Shelley was ever even there...Head 6 responds by dropping her dress and smiling seductively over her shoulder...as Baltar chases after her in his mind he states with a perverted grin "Gods will be done".





***



thank you for reading
~99



^Additional^ notes copied from http://en.BattlestarWiki.org regarding this episode - full text is available here.



* A week has passed since "Litmus".



* Boomer is accidentally revealing more and more of her Cylon nature.



* Helo has passed another test on Caprica; he’s now sexually active with his Sharon.



* Gaeta admires Baltar and may be his one true friend on Galactica.



* Baltar appears very close to completing his Cylon detector.



* Cylon Raiders may well be purpose-bred, semi-intelligent bio-machines.



* The Colonials use QWERTY keyboards.



* According to the "The Story So Far" special, which summarizes the first two seasons, it was another crew member who wrote "Cylon" on Boomer's mirror. However this has not been stated by any other source.





***



In the next episode, 'Flesh & Bone' Starbuck learns of her Special Destiny from the cylon LeOben, the same model that Adama beat to death on Ragnor Anchorage, this copy was found hiding on the Gemenon Traveler. Additionally, President Roslin experiences vivid dreams involving this cylon before he is even found.





***



Thank you for reading,
~99



***