I enjoyed the sappy Kat hero death. Rather more enjoyable since I won't miss her.

Yup. Right there with you.

I got it wrong, it's actually RIO, for Radar Intecept Officer. Goose was Maverick's RIO, for example. They watch the radar, alert the pilot where the enemy ships are, what direction they're coming from, how many. RIO's don't have weapons. Pilots, I'm told by the militarily-informed people in my house, fly the plane and shoot. RIOs do everything else: eyes, communications, monitoring ship status, etc.

ETA: Further, I'm informed by BSG fans in my house that in Helo's case he would be a DIO, because they don't use radar, they use Dradis.

Thank you, Beverly, and thanks to you too, Sail. I wouldn't have known either the RIO abbreviation (although I would know RIO the Buffista) or the DIO one, anyhow.

The thing about BSG is that they don't have to do things the way current U.S. military would do it. I mean, there's no reason a Colonial DIO can't do things a U.S. RIO cannot.

Because thinking back, her name on this ep is a big reason why I was so surprised that Kat didn't miraculously pull through. (I thought she did a great job, but if I were hiring freelance writers for this show, I don't know that I'd immediately go, "Okay, and in this episode Kat dies of radiation poisoning...let's bring in Jane Espenson!")

Right? I mean, I was totally expecting something leading up to a Starbuck/Apollo affair, or the actual affair, or something along those lines. I was also expecting it to be lighter. There were nice JE touches, though, and now that I type that, I can't remember a one, but I know I commented along those lines to DH, last night.

I don't really like Kat, and am a little glad she's gone, but did appreciate the touching send-off. I'm still not all the way through the first half of season 2 on the DVDs though, so she's almost nobody to me, in the first place.

screams

Heh. Don't try to hide your feelings, Juliebird.

I like to think of myself as stoic and restrained, did something slip out?

*innocent cow-eyes*

I thought that scene with the paper shortage comment was a JE touch.

Who was the First Wave guy?

I just rewatched: did you guys notice that Kat called Hot Dog "baby" in the teaser? Also, in the credits the Sebastian Spence character is called "Narcho" when he used to be called "Whiplash". Of course that could be a name/call-sign thing.

Sebastian Spence was the lead on First Wave.

Oh, okay. I only know him from SPN. And I do keep thinking that he's going to be more important than he has been - just because he's fairly recognizable. Perhaps that's just an aspect of the Vancouver Effect.

Oh, and on re-watch: when the first group of civilians come in, I could SWEAR I saw the kid who played Boxey among them.

Did SG-1 watchers notice that Kat's drug runner dude was Fifth?

OK, I love Jane and all, but that episode kind of blew. And I'm talking as one of few people who liked Kat in "Scar". I'm starting to hate these asspulled "character arcs" in which we learn in one episode (with little foreshadowing) that OMG! That character had all these hidden emotional pains and secrets festing inside and hey! why don't we use this nonsensical plot device to showcase their angst? Death optional! (Also see: Lee and his hooker girlfriend and WTF pregnant fiancee, and Chief with his out-of-nowhere suicidal impulse and violent streak.) The worst thing is, I vividly remember when this show used to develop relationship angst organically. Now, it just feels sloppy.

I'm also damned tired of the way they keep losing civilian ships to amp up character angst. It worked when Lee was forced to fire on Olympic Carrier. Here? The loss felt irritatingly gratuitous.

I rolled my eyes a lot when Adama put Kat's name in the CAG slot on the white board. Talk about shooting for unearned emotional payoff. Or maybe I'm just a heartless bitch.

The only thing I liked about this episode was the Cylon basestar scenes. Especially the Baltar/D'Anna/hybrid scene. I need to watch it again to see what the hell's going on there, but hopefully it's a seed for interesting future plot development. I find myself fascinated by the hybrid, even though she's such a blatant rip-off of the Agatha character from Minority Report (which, unlike many other Buffistas, I adored, Tom Cruise factor and all.)

I don't understand why they went with Jupiter as the husband of Hera. I mean, if it's Hera why not Zeus? And if it's Jupiter why not Juno?