Battlestar Galactica 4.0 contains episodes 4.1 through 4.10, first broadcast on SciFi between April 4 and June 13. These ten episodes began with Starbuck, just back from the dead, trying to convince everybody that she’d been to Earth and knew how to get back. They ended with Bill Adama gripping radioactive soil. In between Gaius Baltar promoted Cylon Jesus, Laura Roslin was kidnapped, Lee Adama ascended to president of the Colonies and a Saul Tigh emerged from his skinjob closet to save the Cylons' enemies.
DELETED SCENES:
4.1 “He That Believeth In Me” (7:53) 1) Kara is surprised to learn Roslin’s cancer has returned since she died. 2) Sharon, too familiar with Cylon deceit, explains that Kara would already out an airlock if it were up to her. 3) Kara tells Anders about her visions of Leoben in her Caprica apartment, and wonders if the Cylons didn’t regrow her in a Caprica Petri dish. And Kara tells Sam she would “put a bullet between your eyes” if she ever discovered he was a Cylon.
4.2 “Six of One” (15:29) 1) A longer version the Husker-on-Starbuck strangling scene that ended with “We’re doing the wrong way!!” 2) Kara, in stir, begs her guards to acknowledge her. 3) Sharon Agathon gets a welcome back kiss from Six. 4) A slightly longer version of Lee’s snoggy farewell visit to Kara’s cell. 5) Bill announces he wants to fly Kara’s viper. 6) Kara learns in a particularly moving scene that she’ll be looking for Earth in a sewage-recycling ship.
4.3 “The Ties That Bind” (1:05) 1) Tyrol has a vision of strangling his wife to death.
4.4 “Escape Velocity” (3:35) 1) Right after the service for Tyrol’s wife, Tory tells Tyrol that Baltar is being persecuted because somehow the humans know he’s preaching to the Cylons. She exits telling Tyrol to think about what Baltar is telling them.
4.5 “The Road Less Traveled” (6:23) 1) Imaginary Six fades to nothingness after bidding Baltar, now a true believer in the One Cylon God, farewell. 2) Suspicious of Kara’s new alliance with Leoben, Sharon tells Helo the Kara who rescued them from Caprica is not the Kara commanding them now. 3) Kara tells Karl about the Leoben/Mother visions she had as she died.
4.6 “Faith” (3:53) 1) Helo says goodbye to Athena. 2) As a hairless Laura tells Bill there might be something to Baltar’s preachings, Adama wonders if he’ll ever see Kara’s crew again.
4.7 “Guess What’s Coming To Dinner” (6:00) 1) As Adama discusses Kara’s alliance and Gaeta’s wounded leg, Kara flashes back to the hybrid’s prediction that Kara “will lead them all to their end.” 2) Baltar and Tory have a pillow-talk about Baltar’s treatment of Roslin.
4.8 “Sine Qua Non” (2:30) 1) Romo tells Lee he’s a solo act. 2) Romo suggests to Lee that a good replacement for Roslin might be a famous movie actor. 3) Romo and Lee debate the viability of a Galen Tyrol presidency. 4) Bill and Saul survey the damage to Adama’s model ship.
4.9 “The Hub” (10:20) 1) Roslin and Helo have a conversation about which of Sharon’s memories the Cylons possess. 2) Roslin and Helo discuss the dishonesty of chatting up D’Anna without the other Cylons present. 3) The Agathons and D’Anna stumble upon a dead hybrid. 4) D’Anna causes Sharon to point her weapon. 5) As Roslin tends to his wounds, Baltar claims parentage. 6) On the way to bring D’Anna to Roslin, Sharon is shot dead by a Cavil.
4.10 “Revelations” (4:43) 1) President Lee Adama asks his father if Lee can lead the Final Five negotiations with D’Anna. 2) D’Anna asks Tory why Anders, Tyrol and Tigh haven’t defected to the Cylon side as well. 3) Tigh confesses his position on the stand-off to Dualla. 4) Roslin, a captive of the Cylons, explains to Baltar why he’s not the Final Cylon. 5) Baltar pleads with D’Anna to end their conflict peacefully.
PODCAST COMMENTARIES:
4.1 “He That Believeth In Me.” Series mastermind Ronald D. Moore.
4.2 “Six of One.” Moore.
4.3 “The Ties That Bind.” Moore.
4.4 “Escape Velocity.” Moore.
4.5 “The Road Less Traveled.” Moore.
4.6 “Faith.” Moore and writers Bradley Thompson & David Weddle.
4.7 “Guess What’s Coming To Dinner.” Moore and writer David Angeli.
4.8 “Sine Qua Non.” Moore and writer Michael Taylor.
4.9 “The Hub.” Moore, writer Jane Espenson, and editors Michael O’Halloran and Andrew Seklir.
4.10 “Revelations.” Moore, Weddle, Thompson and Seklir.
FEATURETTES:
* “The Journey” (20:54) The actors who play Six, Agathon, Valerii, Tigh, Dualla, Anders, Gaeta, Baltar, Apollo, Starbuck and Roslin discuss the evolution of their characters over the seasons. Members of the crew name their favorite characters (a lot of votes for Baltar here). The impact of the writers’ strike is discussed. Kevin Smith, moderating a panel at Comic-Con, asks Ron Moore if the final ten episodes will just feature the characters complaining, “Why didn’t we stay where we were?” Moore responds “There’s a fair amount of that,” and “then the story continues in unexpected ways. There’s just a tremendous amount of upheaval.” Writer Mark Verheiden promises “enormous surprises” in the final episodes. Some clips:
* “Cylons: The Twelve” (15:56) Each of the Cylon models are examined in numerical order, predictably skipping over Seven. Learn the actors playing Tyrol and Tigh did not cotton to the revelation that their characters were actually Cylons -- while the actress playing Tori squealed when she learned. The final Cylon is graphically represented with a metal centurion. “It won’t be a guest star,” Ron Moore tells the Comic-Con audience of that final Cylon.
* “Season 4.5: The Untold Story – Untold” (1:22) Players pointedly disclose nothing of the final 10 episodes.
* “Inside The Secrets Of The Behind The Making Of The Music Of Battlestar Galactica Revealed” (billed on the DVD box as “The Music of Battlestar Galactica”) (22:34) Producers, editors, post-production supervisors and actors pretend not to know who series composer Bear McCreary is. When writer Jane Espenson learns he creates the series’ music, she declares, “He must be the most talented bear in the world!” Ron Moore tells a disappointed McCreary that “not everybody can come to the wrap party.” (I gather this was shown at McCreary’s April concerts at the Roxy in West Hollywood, Calif., where it doubtlessly elicited many giant laughs.)
* “‘Caprica’ Sneak Peek” (1:34) “Our name is not Adams,” the father of Bill Adama discloses in the trailer for the coming prequel series.
OTHER EXTRAS:
* The entire extended, unrated “Razor” TV-movie that bridged seasons three and four, containing the same deleted scenes, commentary and other extras as the separate DVD issued Dec. 4, 2007 (currently selling for $12.98. Find an in-depth examination of the “Razor” DVD here.
* Ten video blogs by series producer David Eick.
25-year-old Billie Piper, who also plays the hottest of the “Doctor Who” sidekicks, gets naked assaying the title role in Showtime’s “Secret Diary of a Call Girl.” Great news, as there are few people I more enjoy seeing naked.
Piper plays Hannah. Belle is Hannah’s hooker name. The show works for lots of reasons, not the least of which is Hannah is an extremely likable hooker. She’s funny, she’s smart, she’s beautiful, she’s kind to her customers (even the ones who don’t deserve it), she seems to love her work and she has a great work ethic. She evokes Inara Serra, the gorgeous space-hooker on “Firefly.”
Crucially, Belle is an expensive hooker. A recent university grad, she doesn’t have a history of childhood sexual abuse, she’s not addicted to narcotics, and she doesn’t have a real pimp. She has an “agent” named Stephanie, who takes 40 percent off the top and can be more than a little rude, but generally proves an efficient procurer of wealthy clients. Belle made north of ₤100,000 last year.
Based on a blog-turned-book said to be written by a real high-priced London call girl, “Secret” teems in its early episodes with fascinating and surprisingly authentic-sounding details of Belle’s trade.
Hannah apparently got into hooking because it was more fun and paid much much much better than office temping. She seems to like most of her clients but also revels in the challenges of the job and in her skill-set, which includes a faculty for discovering and exploiting her clients’ psychosexual triggers.
Conflict comes with trying to balance her professional life with her personal, which proves more difficult when her ex-lover (now best friend) in a later episode announces his intent to marry his new girlfriend.
The opening credits, set to an Amy Winehouse tune, are supercool.
“Diary” garnered the highest ratings ever for an original series on Britain’s ITV2 late last year, and has already received orders for second and third seasons. (The second season hits Showtime Jan. 18.)
… any viewers of Secret Diary of a Call Girl will swear this is a slippery male fantasy. I say take Belle at her word, in her world, and you will find a rather fascinating drama. … The series shows the darker side of Belle's work without getting into that porno-punishing crap so often disguised as morality lessons. The series, like Belle, is far too smart to succumb to such an average attitude.
… that rare show that can balance sophisticated humor with graphic vulgarity. It’s titillating without being truly trashy, because it also has heart—for that, thank Billie Piper (formerly of Doctor Who), who brings wit and warmth, but also a crisp and unpredictable edge, to the tricky role of Belle by night/Hannah by day. … Her torrid misadventures have a comically surreal quality, and yet the character is grounded in a pragmatic realism. …
… most fascinating simply as a story about work. In TV comedies, the nuts-and-bolts details of jobs tend to fade into the background. In Call Girl, you learn that prostitution at Belle's level comes with the same demands and annoyances as any other career catering to the high-maintenance wealthy. The show is, in a way, not about sex but about making it (so to speak) in the service economy. …
… "Call Girl's" greatest flaw is not that it's exploitative but that it's surprisingly dull. … If anyone can breathe new life into the world's oldest stereotype, it's Piper, last seen in "Doctor Who." With that luscious angular face and knowing sidelong glance, her Belle is quite convincing, to us and we suspect herself, as she explains not only the allure of prostitution but also its various rules and foibles. …
… It tries for depth once in a while, but the occasional moody, wordless montages of the show’s title character, Belle (“Doctor Who’s” Billie Piper), are just self-indulgent, not indicators of complexity. The real pleasures of this half-hour show come from its sly sense of humor and from Belle’s practical yet adventurous approach to her job. …
… an intriguing and eminently watchable half hour that has a lot going for it … The series works well on a number of levels. Piper will no doubt be the new nerd queen for sci-fi fans in this revealing portrait (though, truth be told, the nudity is limited, though present). She's excellent as Belle because she has a dry wit about her. …
… if brisk, eloquent writing, and sharp, ironic humor don't bother you, "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" is one of the most imaginative and dryly witty grown-up shows to come along in a while.…
… As she charms clients, haggles with her madam and tries to hide her secret life from her family, Belle is such an intriguing yet understandable character that her story would be riveting even without the sex scenes, which are stylized and sensual, even comical — and abundant. With "Secret Diary of a Call Girl," Showtime lives up to its promise to give subscribers TV worth paying for. …
… an intelligent and funny comedy/drama … I’ve seen eight episodes and highly recommend them to those who can appreciate this sort of show, especially when Belle frequently breaks the fourth wall to address the camera. The sex scenes are tastefully filmed and edited and not gratuitous. Pursuers of the purely prurient should seek elsewhere. The occasional bare breast or naked backside hardly even registers. …
… Future episodes elevate the Belle and Ben relationship to a more complicated place, which bears some promise and may give "Secret Diary" the distinction it lacks in early episodes. …
… You would hope the result might be thoughtful and revealing, but the series is really just a tame peep show for fans who think Piper is a cutie. … Piper milks what she can from trite dialogue by raising her eyebrows to the camera or simply leering. …
… The show has a smart approach similar to that of AMC's conman drama "Hustle," playing off staid British manners and a star character at peace with living on the wrong side of the law. … Piper is a commanding presence …
contains episodes 4.1 through 4.10, first broadcast on SciFi between April 4 and June 13. These ten episodes began with Starbuck, just back from the dead, trying to convince everybody that she’d been to Earth and knew how to get back. They ended with Bill Adama gripping radioactive soil. In between Gaius Baltar promoted Cylon Jesus, Laura Roslin was kidnapped, Lee Adama ascended to president of the Colonies and a Saul Tigh emerged from his skinjob closet to save the Cylons' enemies.
