We watch the BSG finale with GWCers from around the country and world this week, then podcast live from the first GWC National Meetup in Frisco, TX. Highlights: Well, as far as I’m concerned this cast’s highlight is the audience. Together we make sense of BSG’s wrap-up episode, diving into deep issues like who is Starbuck, whether technology controls the nature of man, why freedom is worth the risk, and what might happen next. Thank you so much to all of you who attended the taping and all of you who listened live. (And we’ll see you back next week for the leadup to new Trek!)
Downloading now. Really excited to get this this early.
Thanks for all your hard work, Guys.
Chuck must have stayed up all night editing to get it out early this morning!
With the live audience, it’s like NPR’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me.” Awesomeness.
ps. Thanks for puttin’ in the extra effort to get it out so quickly, especially with the meetup in progress! It was nice to have it to listen today. Very cathartic.
“So Say We All!”
Wow. What a great ending to the podcast. Thanks for all the BSG podcasts! It wouldnt’ have been the same without you all. I look forward to the new beginnings of Galactic Watercooler.
And, on a completely unrelated note, yes, Lee had quite the hair in this episode. He was like a lion, which also matched extremely well with where they ended up. Where did he find time to die his hair before they went to battle?
I guess my only complaint is that many of the audience/hive mind comments were inaudible.
<mumble mumble mutter mumble mutter mutter>
Audra: “That’s awesome!”
Me: Wha? 
Wow!
Celebrations:
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Awesome send off of the Galactica. She is one tough old bird. It was sad to see her literally fall apart as she entered our Earth’s orbit.
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President…Romo…Lampkin!
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Tory gets payback!
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Athena and Helo live!
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Cottle speachless!
Questions:
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How far is Earth from this black hole/singularity? Did the black hole cause Galactica to jump much farther than normal?
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What happened to Baltar’s armed and ready love groupies?
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Lee stated he thought his father was leaving for good (I took it to suggest that Adama might commit suicide after Lora died…). When Lora died, I expected Adama just to crash the Raptor into the ground. Did Adam return to Lee or just sit on the mountain and die?
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What was the meaning of the V on Lora’s grave?
Interesting:
According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve):
* Mitochondrial Eve (mt-mrca) is the name given by researchers to the woman (Hera?) who is defined as the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) for all currently living humans. Passed down from mother to offspring, her mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is now found in all living humans: every mtDNA in every living person is derived from hers. Mitochondrial Eve is the female counterpart of Y-chromosomal Adam, the patrilineal most recent common ancestor, although they lived at different times (I guess that leave out Hotdog's kid).
* She is believed to have lived about 140,000 years ago in what is now Ethiopia, Kenya or Tanzania.
Disappointments:
Adama barfing all over himself, was this the actors idea or was it in the script?
I do not buy that all 35,000 Colonist would in mass agree to the whole “lets abandon ALL technology.” That a pretty idealistic and unrealistic strategy to follow. I could see things being primitive initially…but would everyone realistically abandon ALL technology (for example: Medical) voluntarily? 150,000 years ago most humans didn’t make it to 30. Humans that did were either physically tough…or extremely lucky.
In this scenario (think Roanoke or Jamestown colonies) disease, starvation, and exposure to the elements would kill off a lot of the colonists within a few years. Especially if they willfully abandoned ALL their technology and spread themselves around the Earth in small groups. How many of the 35,000 could hunt without the aid of a gun? Farm enough to feed a themselves? How fit would the civilian colonists be after 4 years of sitting in tin cans and eating green goo? How would the locals react to their arrival?
Humans were on the food chain back then and not necessarily at the top. Without technology, long term survival would be difficult, if not impossible except for the hardiest Colonists.
This was such a great podcast. Loved loved loved hearing from everyone and hearing the Hive Mind at work on a live podcast. It felt like a round table discussion and so many people echoed a lot of the same feelings and thoughts that I had for the finale. Thank you so much for getting this out early, it is really a lifesaver on Saturdays when I am bored to death at work. I miss BSG already 
But REALLY looking forward to the next podcast arc and you three crazy people that make me laugh, to think, to geek out, and even compelled me to sign up here just to post with all you awesome people. Thank you!
Wow, not many posts so far… probably because everybody but me is at the meetup! (Sniff… I had to work.)
I’d just like to self-horn-toot by pointing out that I called the prehistoric earth ending and Hera being mitochondrial Eve a couple of weeks ago in this thread. (Of course, I conveniently won’t provide links to all my predictions that turned out to be utter craaaaap…)
Did the Head Six and Baltar remind anyone else of Daniel and Marty from Chapterhouse Dune? (Before Herbert’s son and writing partner ruined the book by writing a sequel and tying those characters into their asinine prequels… IMNSHO.)
Audra: there’s no Mitochondrial Adam because mitochondrial DNA is passed only from the mother to sons and daughters. And Isis was an Egyptian goddess, although yes, the Romans had a cult about her too. Of course, they practically had cults about used toothpicks…
I thought it was pretty funny when that Canadian day player they got to play Sean said to Laura Roslin, “Kinda awkward, huh?” Canadians (myself included) can never pull off saying “huh?” It just doesn’t come out natural. We overemphasize the first “h”. I could hear him trying really, really hard not to say, “Kinda awkward, eh?”
Kudos to the makeup people for keeping Helo’s scar on his temple ever since the mutiny.
Geez, how would you like your last moment alive to be someone drawing a big “X” on your forehead with a Sharpie? You just know that poor grunt is thinking, “Oh, craaap, I’m in for it now!”
RIP Cartwheel and Ladykiller, we hardly knew ye.
Now THAT’S our Earth.
Gaius Baltar: From Ho’s to Hoes
For the Frakin’ win!
Well played sir.
While I agree with your argument in part (it is unlikely that they abandoned ALL tech … they simply abandoned the ability to produce more, IMHO) there are a couple of points I’d like to make.
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No one really knows what happened at Roanoke. There are a lot of theories (the best one, supported by genetic evidence) is that they abandoned the colony after starvation and disease killed many/most and, instead, joined the local Native American tribes.
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Jamestown was built in a brackish, alluvial tidewater region. It was disease central … for a people who didn’t understand disease vectors.
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As I said, I don’t think they abandoned all tech. Just the most blatant examples (the Raptors became temporary houses and building materials, etc.) and, more importantly, the ability to produce more. I’m sure that they kept their guns for hunting … at least short term.
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It’s a stylistic choice for ending the show. I mean, there are quite a few elements of this (or any other Science Fiction show, for that matter) that, while obeisant to their own internal logic and physics, lost touch with the physics of reality As We Understand Them Now almost from the get go.
Check this out:
http://io9.com/5178837/spike-and-angel-debate-the-bsg-finale
Spike and Angel debate if cavemen and astronauts got into a fight who would win? Sound familiar?
And we shall stand upon this Earth and we shall call it “This Earth.”
Can you add an audience to all your podcasts from now on?
It makes it come alive.
Youre alive arent you?
They obviously survived.
The best podcast, and best outro to a podcast I’ve ever heard.
You guys rock. It has been such fun listening to you guys for the short time I have been on. I look forward to the Trek Arc!
So Say We All!!
Did Deana stay behind on the first Earth??? I thought Tigh talked her out of that…