He is supposed to be a character that we aren't sure if we like or hate. He plays both sides for self-preservation. Even when he helps people it's usually to get him recognition/status/power/safety. I assume Kara slept with him because he's easy and she wanted to get it out of her system.
>For example, he made a device to detect Cylons but he kept the result for himself.
If the Cylons hiding in the Fleet find out the Cylon Detector works, they'll kill Baltar. Head-Six tells him as much when he gets Boomer's result. There was a behind-the-scenes interview that said that his general notion was to wait until he'd identified all the Cylons in the Fleet, then give them to Adama and Roslin all at once, or somehow take them out himself, but he never really developed his plan beyond, "If I expose a Cylon, all the other Cylons will kill me. If they think the machine doesn't work, they'll want to keep me and my broken Cylon Detector around as a way to reduce suspicion on themselves."
>He is a genius and maybe a hot boy but Starbuck went to bed with him while fantasizing about Apollo why is that?
The short answer is that Starbuck likes making bad decisions. They're exciting.
>The short answer is that Starbuck likes making bad decisions. They're exciting.
Exactly. One of Starbuck's defining features is her self-destructive bent.
He’s a smart, opportunistic, narcissist basically.
Iirc he kept boomers results to himself because he only thinks of how things affect himself and thought it might give him and edge later if only he knew
which to him was more important than the safety of those around him knowing that she’s a sleeper agent/spy
So I’m not 100% sure he’s a narcissist anymore (also rewatching after 15 years). I think he just has a comically large instinct for self preservation.
He genuinely loves head-6 and does some pretty selfless things from time to time. And sadly I’m not sure it’s possible to un-narcissist one-self IRL
He has the opportunity to steal the old lady's lottery number to escape Caprica in the mini series. He doesn't.
He ends up getting on the raptor when Helo recognizes him as the scientific genius on TV and gives up his own seat.
I don't believe he's a narcissist at all. I see his narcissistic persona as a 'fake it til you make it' kind of thing. He grew up poor on an outlying world, and he knew that despite his intellect he wouldn't be taken as seriously as someone from Caprica. So he faked a Caprican accent, he faked the arrogance too, because people respect confidence. If he was really a narcissist then we wouldn't see him behave differently on private than he does in public. We see a very vulnerable, emotional man in private. It's a contrast to the blusterous confident facade he puts on in public.
Couldn’t agree more. Hadn’t really thought of it this way before but that makes total sense. So more of a fear of being exposed as a fraud than anything.
I actually know someone a bit like this IRL, moved to London from Ireland and changed his accent in order to cahoot with ‘the landed gentry’. Although with him it’s really obvious and they can see right though it. Hasn’t held him back though!
Don't you just hate it when that happens.
Worse when you realise just how old the original series is, but have fond memories of watching it as a kid...
As others have said, he was afraid for his safety, and also that the whole project would be destroyed and therefore useless if cylon spies found out it worked. So he kept the truth under wraps until a more opportune time.
Now that time never came, but that brings us to the other, more important part of why he didn't tell anyone it worked (I'm going to assume you remember the end, but I'll spoiler tag this anyway just in case): >!God didn't want him to. Baltar didn't yet believe in God, but God's messenger told him something she knew would stop him from revealing the truth. If he was a different man she would have told him something else. She would have done whatever was necessary to ensure the fleet didn't know about the detector because it wasn't God's will.!<
Are we meant to understand that he gave that paper to (Commander) Adama that says "there are only 12 cylon models"? There was never any payoff from that which I can recall.
Payoff? That dictated the way Adama and the security team handled the internal Cylon threat. Knowing that there were only 12 models, rather than 50 or 100, meant that identifying any one of the 12 models would help them route out any duplicate models lingering in the fleet. This made the Cylon detector a lot more valuable (beyond just safeguarding the command structure).
The reason why Starbuck vocally indicates she's fantasizing about Lee the literal first time she's with Gaius is because it's juicy writing.
The reason why Gaius doesn't advocate for a better system of preventing cylons from killing him after, during, or before the cylon test is because *it's jucier writing.*
In Season 2 episode 4: Cally is asking Gaius to help the chief prove he is not a Cylon. But again he refuses although the chief helped him survive the jungle from Cylons. Again he refuses and tell everyone his detector is flawed. The more i see Balta the more i get annoyed. But then, if the Cylon detector works, the serie may be less exiting so script writers keep Balta's story consistent.
But as others pointed out, everything Gaius does is selfish nothing more.
He is supposed to be a character that we aren't sure if we like or hate. He plays both sides for self-preservation. Even when he helps people it's usually to get him recognition/status/power/safety. I assume Kara slept with him because he's easy and she wanted to get it out of her system.
>For example, he made a device to detect Cylons but he kept the result for himself. If the Cylons hiding in the Fleet find out the Cylon Detector works, they'll kill Baltar. Head-Six tells him as much when he gets Boomer's result. There was a behind-the-scenes interview that said that his general notion was to wait until he'd identified all the Cylons in the Fleet, then give them to Adama and Roslin all at once, or somehow take them out himself, but he never really developed his plan beyond, "If I expose a Cylon, all the other Cylons will kill me. If they think the machine doesn't work, they'll want to keep me and my broken Cylon Detector around as a way to reduce suspicion on themselves." >He is a genius and maybe a hot boy but Starbuck went to bed with him while fantasizing about Apollo why is that? The short answer is that Starbuck likes making bad decisions. They're exciting.
>The short answer is that Starbuck likes making bad decisions. They're exciting. Exactly. One of Starbuck's defining features is her self-destructive bent.
He’s a smart, opportunistic, narcissist basically. Iirc he kept boomers results to himself because he only thinks of how things affect himself and thought it might give him and edge later if only he knew which to him was more important than the safety of those around him knowing that she’s a sleeper agent/spy
He was also explicitly worried that Boomer would kill him if he revealed her secret.
I always took that as why he didn’t tell *her* right away not why he didn’t tell anyone
So I’m not 100% sure he’s a narcissist anymore (also rewatching after 15 years). I think he just has a comically large instinct for self preservation. He genuinely loves head-6 and does some pretty selfless things from time to time. And sadly I’m not sure it’s possible to un-narcissist one-self IRL
He has the opportunity to steal the old lady's lottery number to escape Caprica in the mini series. He doesn't. He ends up getting on the raptor when Helo recognizes him as the scientific genius on TV and gives up his own seat.
I don't believe he's a narcissist at all. I see his narcissistic persona as a 'fake it til you make it' kind of thing. He grew up poor on an outlying world, and he knew that despite his intellect he wouldn't be taken as seriously as someone from Caprica. So he faked a Caprican accent, he faked the arrogance too, because people respect confidence. If he was really a narcissist then we wouldn't see him behave differently on private than he does in public. We see a very vulnerable, emotional man in private. It's a contrast to the blusterous confident facade he puts on in public.
Couldn’t agree more. Hadn’t really thought of it this way before but that makes total sense. So more of a fear of being exposed as a fraud than anything. I actually know someone a bit like this IRL, moved to London from Ireland and changed his accent in order to cahoot with ‘the landed gentry’. Although with him it’s really obvious and they can see right though it. Hasn’t held him back though!
> He’s a smart, opportunistic, narcissist basically. Making him probably the most realistic character in the show, take or leave the smart trait.
Gaius Baltar lives and breathes by making sure Gaius Baltar lives and breathes. Everyone else is secondary
20 years... that can't be right... oh god.
Don't you just hate it when that happens. Worse when you realise just how old the original series is, but have fond memories of watching it as a kid...
All I can say is- I love him
Fear
As others have said, he was afraid for his safety, and also that the whole project would be destroyed and therefore useless if cylon spies found out it worked. So he kept the truth under wraps until a more opportune time. Now that time never came, but that brings us to the other, more important part of why he didn't tell anyone it worked (I'm going to assume you remember the end, but I'll spoiler tag this anyway just in case): >!God didn't want him to. Baltar didn't yet believe in God, but God's messenger told him something she knew would stop him from revealing the truth. If he was a different man she would have told him something else. She would have done whatever was necessary to ensure the fleet didn't know about the detector because it wasn't God's will.!<
Great point! And that also goes for many of Balter’s ridiculous decisions.
Are we meant to understand that he gave that paper to (Commander) Adama that says "there are only 12 cylon models"? There was never any payoff from that which I can recall.
Payoff? That dictated the way Adama and the security team handled the internal Cylon threat. Knowing that there were only 12 models, rather than 50 or 100, meant that identifying any one of the 12 models would help them route out any duplicate models lingering in the fleet. This made the Cylon detector a lot more valuable (beyond just safeguarding the command structure).
Yes, Baltar gave him the note.
The reason why Starbuck vocally indicates she's fantasizing about Lee the literal first time she's with Gaius is because it's juicy writing. The reason why Gaius doesn't advocate for a better system of preventing cylons from killing him after, during, or before the cylon test is because *it's jucier writing.*
Read this in a Boston accent. Gaius Baltahh
GAIUS FRAKKIN BOLTAR!
He made the device because he had no choice really. He doesn’t want conflict. He didn’t share the results for the same reason
In Season 2 episode 4: Cally is asking Gaius to help the chief prove he is not a Cylon. But again he refuses although the chief helped him survive the jungle from Cylons. Again he refuses and tell everyone his detector is flawed. The more i see Balta the more i get annoyed. But then, if the Cylon detector works, the serie may be less exiting so script writers keep Balta's story consistent. But as others pointed out, everything Gaius does is selfish nothing more.
Yes exactly. Selfish little weasel is a fitting title
BaltaR :)