Adama's interview

Television, Movies Games and Books BSG-2003
#1

This bugged the hell out of me at the time, but in the general hubbub of all the subsequent events got shifted back somewhat in priority.

Now, I think we can reasonably assume that the writers had a distinct purpose in developing the back stories in Daybreak. And it’s equally reasonable to suggest that time was an absolute critical commodity. Not a second was to be wasted. The expositions… of Tigh and Ellen’s cosiness, of Baltar’s troubled relationships with his father (and Six), Laura’s flesh-driven political epiphany, the Kara, Lee, Zak threesome, Anders philosophy in the tub, and Adama’s job interview.

The thing that threw me during the polygraph test was one of the ‘control’ questions: “Are you a Cylon?”

Where did this come from? I smelled a rodent immediately, even though it was laughed off. Think of the context: Supposedly no-one knew Cylons had taken human form. It had been forty years since a Cylon had been seen outside a museum. And back then, they was rather easily identifiable. Duh. Cylons were not news, they were basically forgotten - hence the museum.

Why this seemingly silly question? It’s a definite non sequitur, like being asked yourself in a polygraph test: “Are you a Viking?” or something equally bizarre.

I guess my ‘X-Files’ senses turned on somewhat. Is there a conspiracy on Caprica? Did some people know of human-form Cylons? Were government agents (or others) seeking to uncover them? Or (as in X-Files) working with them?

Given the importance of time, of how little there was to finish telling the story, having a silly aside like that seemed jarring, out-of-place. Unless there was a purpose. But buggered if I know what it was - in retrospect…

#2

I seriously doubt there was any real connection. In a polygraph test, one is typically asked a ridiculous question, in order to calibrate further responses. Given the fact that almost no one knew about the human-form cylons at the time, “Are you a cylon?” would be a pretty ridiculous question.

#3

Same thing happened to me. I was waiting for the reveal (whatever it would have been) in that moment. I think though it was just a control question…

#4

Well, when Adama was asked if he was a cylon, he gave the guy a look, and the guy even said it was a control question. Like is name Bill adama, the answer yes is used as a positive. Are you a cylon? No is used as a positve (by positive i mean honest answer.) the police do the same thing now they just use other things like… is my hair purple?
I also think that Bill Adama’s hatred of everything cylon And being asked that particular control question helped him make his decision to go back to the fleet.

#5

Adama would likely be one of the only people in the colonies who had any inkling that the cylons were experimenting on people, which is probably why he acted so strangely when asked.

#6

Very good point. Probably brought up the old memories, and may have revived the feelings that there is still good to be done ‘manning the guard’, so to speak, as a Commander in a lonely battlestar…

#7

There you go. And no doubt he relayed that info to senior military officers, who in turn relayed it to senior government officials. By the time of the attacks, the higher ups clearly knew that the Cents wanted to and had tried to make humanoid Cylons (and “got away” with their lab) - but did not know whether they had succeeded.

As we all know, it was Adama’s experience at the very end of the first war that helped him figure out what Leoben was at the Ragnar Anchorage.

#8

That scene bugged me a lot more than the ending.
I didnt get the point of it or why he was there.

#9

I know. I said that it was supposedly a control question.

Yes. That’s what I said.

But it’s too ridiculous. Remember, it’s 40 years since Cylons were even in the consciousness of the Capricans. And there was no knowledge that Cylons had meat form. (Even if, as OT says, Adama had reported the intel regarding experiments 40 years earlier, NOTHING happening in society in the intervening years would still have taken ‘Cylons’ out of the minds of people.)

It is a question, even a ridiculous control question, which is totally implausible. Like asking: “Are you an ironing board?” Or, “Are you an Australopithecus?” Or indeed perhaps: “Is your hovercraft full of eels?”

We have to assume that it was important… If it was not asked in hindsight or flashback we could say it was ironic foreshadowing. But it wasn’t. So what was the point? Just wasting three precious minutes? We know Adama stayed with the Battlestar. We know he had a back history with the Cylon War.

#10

I smell a SyFy movie event!

#11

The lonly back story that had the slightest resonance for me re the denoument was Boomer’s. The rest were - OK, that was, um, well written and acted.

#12

Yeah, I agree. Actually I was dissapointed I wanted to see Adama’s reaction to what Boomer said. Would he maybe have finally forgiven her or atleast respected her?