A/R Episode 8 "Flesh and Bone"

I’m pretty proud of myself because I managed to rewatch 3 BSG episodes today, so be warned!

• I don’t have many observations to post as such, but Flesh and Bone sparked a few questions in me:
  If Bill knows how Leoben works, why does he send Kara over to interrogate him instead of going himself? (Okay, the obvious answer would be “for plot reasons”, but Bill can’t know that, can he?)

• Could Boomer shooting Bill have been prevented if Tyrol had taken Sharon’s concerns of being a Cylon seriously?

• Would the fleet – as represented by Kara – have condoned the same methods of interrogation, i.e. torture, if a human had claimed to have planted a bomb on one of the ships? On that note, I find it interesting that Kara had no scruples torturing Leoben for answers but is obviously shocked when Laura orders him out the airlock.

• Could Leoben’s obsession with Kara on New Caprica and his desire to break her be at least partly the result of her interrogating him?

• Why does Baltar not expose Boomer as a Cylon? Is it just because of what Head!Six predicts about her reaction to the news?

• How can Laura be so sure that Leoben tells her the truth when he says that there’s no bomb? He could have been just frakking with her mind (Note: it could also be that the time until the supposed explosion had already run out anyway and I just missed that )

Discuss!

I am somehow incapable of quoting your message, Easter, so I'm just going to write this awkwardly.

Firstly: Bill sending Kara instead of himself? I'm guessing that he wanted to stay in CIC in case the bomb actually did go off. Either that or he thought "Leoban's crazy. Who's even crazier?" and came up with Starbuck.

Could Boomer shooting Bill have been prevented if Tyrol had taken Sharon’s concerns of being a Cylon seriously?

That's an interesting point. I suppose it could have been prevented but Sharon would have still been taken to Baltar's Cylon Detector and he would have just lied about it again. If he said that she wasn't a Cylon, there isn't any other way for them to prove otherwise.

Would the fleet – as represented by Kara – have condoned the same methods of interrogation, i.e. torture, if a human had claimed to have planted a bomb on one of the ships? On that note, I find it interesting that Kara had no scruples torturing Leoben for answers but is obviously shocked when Laura orders him out the airlock.

I don't think that the Galactica crew are completely against torture or at least 'forceful persuasion'. There have been a couple of instances when they 'persuade' human criminals to tell the truth. Besides, most of Galactica beat up their own friends. They probably don't have any reservations against doing the same to enemies.
It always made me wonder with the airlock scene. Starbuck has just spent the best part of the day drowning Leoban and now she's upset because he's being airlocked? What did she expect to happen?

Why does Baltar not expose Boomer as a Cylon? Is it just because of what Head!Six predicts about her reaction to the news?

I could give many answers to this question. Most of the answers revolve around Baltar being lame/afraid/a coward etc. I assume he's so used to Six telling him what to do that he just follows her without question.

How can Laura be so sure that Leoben tells her the truth when he says that there’s no bomb? He could have been just frakking with her mind

It's Laura Roslin! She can smell when someone's lying.

brokencircle wrote:I am somehow incapable of quoting your message, Easter, so I'm just going to write this awkwardly.

1. Firstly: Bill sending Kara instead of himself? I'm guessing that he wanted to stay in CIC in case the bomb actually did go off. Either that or he thought "Leoban's crazy. Who's even crazier?" and came up with Starbuck.

Could Boomer shooting Bill have been prevented if Tyrol had taken Sharon’s concerns of being a Cylon seriously?

2. That's an interesting point. I suppose it could have been prevented but Sharon would have still been taken to Baltar's Cylon Detector and he would have just lied about it again. If he said that she wasn't a Cylon, there isn't any other way for them to prove otherwise.


How can Laura be so sure that Leoben tells her the truth when he says that there’s no bomb? He could have been just frakking with her mind

3. It's Laura Roslin! She can smell when someone's lying.

1. But did Bill already know of the bomb when he picked Kara? As far as I remember he was looking for someone to interrogate Leoben in general and he started talking about a bomb after the interrogation had already started (Then again: keeping track of timelines is not my strong point, maybe I'm mixing something up again.)

2. You're probably right. Still, if someone had been at least a bit suspicious, she wouldn't have had access to CIC - at least I hope they wouldn't let suspected Cylons run around the command centre...

3. ROFL!