Jacob on BSG

I read Television Without Pity every now and then, skimming through recaps of TV episodes I've already seen. This might sound odd, but the detailed synopses often pluck the best insights out of the forums and add some of the reviewer's own.

But Jacob, who's in charge of recap duty for Battlestar Galactica, is worth reading all on his own. His recap often veers into long philosophical tangents, and he eruditely ponders the Cylon religion. Consider this non-recap, supplemental tangent, which I hope doesn't give anything away, but be warned if you haven't watched the recent episode:

"Karl's wife said it was something called the Prayer to the Cloud of Unknowing, whatever the hell that is." Two things here: number one, it's a reference to an old religious text, and you know how much I love those. It's about what you think it's about: the veil, or "cloud of unknowing," that exists between us and God's true will. (I'll spare you my thoughts on how that connects to the whole Cylon persona/vapor-condensation thing the Hybrid was talking about.) Its use here is pretty inspired, considering that Cylon existence, as could be inferred from a race of robots, is predicated on information: even their concept of reality is constellated in terms of moving information around, bringing last week's forest into this week's conversation and so forth. So to look beyond the veil, to see the place beyond resurrection, true death, and see only "unknowing," well, that defines God. You can look it up—it's about as interesting as most old religious texts, which depends on you—but here's the prayer that serves as prologue...

Not just "And then he said. And then she said." His speculation is a fascinating adjunct to the show.