(Season 4, Episode 11 – “Sometimes a Great Notion” – Mid-Season Premiere)

Beginning population: 39,651

So, was it everything you were hoping it would be? Still trying to wrap your brain around what you just saw? You’re definitely not alone.

One of the big “woah!” moments of this episode was the reveal that the planet was last inhabited by Cylons. A lot of people already came up with this as one of several probable revelations about the planet; I know I wasn’t all that surprised. What was somewhat surprising was that the planet was nuked 2,000 years ago … and Cylons, including skin jobs, existed. I think we’re all a lot more shocked at that news than the Colonials. That would be like us … I dunno, finding a 2,000 year-old computer on the moon. What a mind frak!

Read the rest of this entry »

Since the last Frakkin’ Clack, the final two Battlestar Galactica webisodes made their way (officially) online. In my experience, webisodes usually don’t reveal anything “big” or plot oriented that regular viewers of the televised show would necessarily miss. This time, though, we got a juicy nugget of info in episode nine that relates back to episode 13 of season three (“Taking A Break From All Your Worries” – ), with what Baltar whispered in Gaeta’s ear.

I recall, back when “Worries” aired, that there was a lot of speculation and discussion about what Baltar could have said to Gaeta to make him lash out so violently. I don’t think writer Jane Espenson was clear on whether that decision was made long ago or just now for these webisodes. Rather than spoil it for you, go check out the webisode and find out what Baltar said.

Read the rest of this entry »

polyGeek

The word “fuck” is one of the strongest in the English language. Not only does it describe the act of love making or passion between two people, but it is also used in anger, frustration, disappointment and amazement. It can be  as utilized as a verb, a noun and an adjective. In general, “fuck” is an incredibly versatile four-letter word.

Except in non-pay television — for it is there that the word is persona non grata. Sure, cable networks such as AMC, TNT and FX air programs that feature many of the other seven words you could never say on television. However, because of the bad rap “fuck” has gotten, they have decided against using it. Because of this limitation, show creators and writers have had to come up with some variants of the word. In the past, words like “Shazzbat!” (Mork & Mindy) and “frell” (Farscape) were used as substitutions. Most recently, two more replacements have appeared that are very similar to the real-life swear word: “frik” and “frak.”

Being not only television lovers but occasional linguists here at CliqueClack, we decided to compare these two fake swear words and determine which one equally fares with “fuck” in terms of use and versatility. So, now that we’ve gotten that out of the frakkin’ way…

Read the rest of this entry »