my niece still keeps making these efforts to be with her, deep down hoping that that will change. And i fear that my niece will never truly be 'whole' until she has that reconcilliation.

It's interesting to hear to say that; someone very close to me had an abusive upbringing and while he's very fortunately not in the position of knowing that his parents don't love him, he is currently in the middle of trying to work out how to deal with the fact that his abusive parent will never, ever agree that what happened was wrong, and how to deal with the fact that the other failed to protect him. I very much hear you that what the person needs is reconciliation and validation of what happened. And from this vantage point (i.e. stuck in the middle of trying to work through it; being this guy's sole support network, effectively) it's kind of impossible to see how it can end when that reconciliation and validation isn't realistically within reach.

I suppose it's good to know that you have a similar opinion - I do wonder sometimes how much my vicarious experience in this area means my opinions differ from others' and if they're...well, detached from reality or something.

I guess the point I was trying to make was that Kara's need for her mother's acceptance is born out of her continuing screwed-upness, understandable and hardwired into us as that is. I think the episode strayed perilously close to saying that's what would have happened if she'd gone back, and that it would somehow have permanently fixed Kara or that it would have lessened the effects of her abuse; made it okay because they were close at the end? My reading of the scene was that it was a complete fantasy - a story Kara was telling herself to feel better - not a way of actually facing up to her issues. And, you know, since she was about to die - yay for her. I'm glad she found a way to make peace with her subconscious, even if it was based in fiction.

the Cylons have been compared to the Muslims in their religious fundamentalism? If one wants to chat about religious fundamentalism, start with the Christian/Catholic religions lol.

Aaah, the crusades. Good times. Good times...

I thought it was pretty clear that the Cylons were C/C while the HUmans, well, their religion is kind of all over the place and they don't quite understand it.

Yeah, I thought that too, but I'm sure I have seen comparisons as the opposite. I think a lot of them stemmed from the episode Flesh & Bone where Kara tortures Leoben as a prisoner - so there were obvious parallels there with Guantanamo Bay, etc. and that specific situation did cast Leoben as a muslim. Which I why I loved it - confusing an issue is always better than simply reversing it if you want good discussion on it, I feel.

That said, since the suicide bombings on New Caprica I think it's fairly clear the intent is confusion rather than direct parallels. It's not an opinion I've seen widely in a long time, actually. I should stop being such an old-timer!

Also, I feel the humans' religion is very gnostic.

I loved when Athena guides them to the something or other, noting that the Cylons know more about the Human religion than they do.

Aaah, yeah. Great moment!