Spoilers ahead
First, let me say that I started watching BSG really late… As in, “last summer late”. I watched each episode through Netflix and DVDs
I don’t think I ever really “got” what other people enjoyed in this show, but I do have to say that I did enjoy most of the finale episode last night. Just about everything was resolved, although I’m not sure what the “angel” Caprica 6 and Baltar were around 150,000 years after they landed on the new earth. I’m also not sure why Cavil blew his brains out instead of going out while trying to take everyone else with him. Also not quite sure why Adama felt the need to isolate himself at the end either. The “let’s charge the weapons just in case/accidental firing of those same weapons” was a bit hokey… And I never did like Rosalyn’s character – probably even less so last night.
As far as the rest goes, I enjoyed it, and the choices that were made. I really liked how Moore pulled together the cathedral sequences, I liked that Tory finally got what she got coming to her, I liked the way that Kara’s story line was resolved. Especially that, I think – staring us right in the face the whole time, and I didn’t have any idea that might be what was going on.
It was a fitting ending to the series. What about you die hard BSG fans? What did you think?
well, others will surely disagree, but i thought it was utter, complete crap; it reminds me of when i’m reading a compelling book, and the ending seems like it was just thrown together to meet a deadline- really irritating, especially combined with the crowing the cast and writers have been doing in the press recently about how wonderful the finale was going to be.
It seems to me that the plot holes were big enough to allow the Galatica to pass right through it. You mentioned ‘head’ Baltar and #6 being around now and the Cavil suicide, but a disappearing Starbuck explained what exactly? And Hera as mitocondrial ‘Eve’? (who btw lived 140K yrs ago, not 150, and who was NOT modern humanity’s only common ancestor). I could go on and on, but i’ll stop in the interests of your sanity and my own… thanks for the opportunity to rant!
I love how people have learned to suspend their disbelief.
Especially where sci-fi (the second word is ‘fiction’, by the way) is concerned.
If you didn’t get into the characters, you were not going to like the show. The show was about them.
Totally agree with (b) above. The final episode was superficial, thrown together and above all, banal.
The glaring inconsistency of Cavill acceding after a brief and facile plea to his better nature and then shooting himself ??? Starbuck an angel? She who was consistently honest in her contempt for such superstitious nonsense; the last silly opera house sequence in which Hera is tamely handed back to her mother – belies all the previous tension and rationale for these scenes….
This final season was overall much weaker than the earlier ones – writing out the President who was one of the most interesting characters was a big dramatic mistake. This season gave far too much time and significance to Gaius’s pseudo religiosity whereas earlier seasons gave short shrift to him and this sort of maudlin nonsense. Angels and God’s plan an so on! What was once a tough and complex series died last night in a welter of maudlin silliness!
two things i hated:
1) abandoning all technology and starting “fresh” – thus not passing on any lessons learned at all and dooming the future humans (that would be “us”) to repeat the same mistake. Given all their troubles (and their knowledge of what happened in the 13th colony), I would think they would be concerned about not repeating the cycle.
2) death of the skin jobs. After all the sacrifices of the rebel cylons, I would’ve wanted a better fate for them than to become extinct 150K years ago. Even the “bad” cyclons – Cavil and the rest – I thought demanded some sort of happy ending given that the writers put so much into developing their characters and showing how they became flawed and their wish for betterment. Seems like after all that time they put into making the “bad guys” more human and developing their characters, they just kill them all off anyways.
I have been reading, hopefully, good quality written Science Fiction for years. The gap between the great SF writers of the past and the present and the usual junk that passes for TV scripts, is well known.
I did find BG interesting and entertaining. The series ending, however, was disappointing to the say the least. To coin a phrase it was “not logical”. The fate for the main characters and the survivors of the colonies was clearly naive and had more to do with the Producers ideological and philosophical leaning against technology and science than a realistic rendering of could have happened had the situation been real.
I found it ridiculous that the script had Adama deciding to deliberately scatter his remaining population all over their new virgin world like so many petri dishes, cut off from help and support, to supposedly better their chances of survival.
When a character suggested an ideal site, next to a flowing river, for their new city, it was “decided” that they would not simply repeat their past. Really? And do what? As it turned out they began to fragment.
The new President of the Colonies leading a line of people clearing carrying only what they could carry; Gaius Baltar, despite his many flaws, an irreplaceable source of science and technology, wonders toward the horizon with his #6 girl friend, literally crying that he’s a Physicist , not a farmer. They’re not equipped for a camping trip, let alone surviving. It might have been poetic to imagine them all scattering across their new Eden, but it was childish for the scripts writers to even consider how their beloved characters could possibly survive.
Although it was lovely to see the child Herra frolicking in the grass. It was later revealed that our present world discovered that she was a key genetic source for humanity. Did they also find teeth marks where the nearest hungry predator bit into her neck? After all the script mentioned they discovered her remains in Tanzania.
These increasing scattering bands were in the middle of a Savanna, for Chirst’s sake. Were they armed? Assuming they survived their descendants would have no knowledge of modern weapons or how to build them; no history to guide them in farming and animal husbandry; many would perish due to their ignorance of the simplest elements of medical science.
No, common sense dictates that such a group would stay together, build their city, build schools for their children and industries for their sheer survival, and more importantly, remember their history so they would not make the same mistakes.
Instead the script had the “Angels of a Higher Power” lamenting our modern society looking painfully familiar, finally hoping that the “chaos of modern complex systems” might somehow prevent everything from happening again.
The script, no matter how artfully done only showed that the writers had no feel for real people who only wanted to live, to love, and to survive and prosper.
Any comment? If so, write to Vincent L. Diaz @ vldiaz@san.rr.com
I agree with Diaz above. It didn’t make sense, on the new primitive earth, to just disperse the remaining population of Battlestar around the continent with no real means of survival. In real human nature, a colony would stick together to help each other live in their surroundings and survive the years. I can’t imagine being in the meeting when someone says to me, “Hey, I know you’re new here but I need you to go wander in the dark, uncharted forests for me. I know you have no knowledge about this new planet nor how to survive on it….uh….good luck.” Hell, I don’t even like going to the movies by myself.
It would have been better if everyone had died when the nukes went off during the ship battle. The cycle of death had to end somehow. Why not with…death. A dark ending but it would have been more poetic and a better denouement – to end all Cylon and Human fighting with their lives. No more “resurrection” code. No more “Gods-this” and “Gods-that”. Almost like the story of the Matrix where Neo changed the outcome of war(s) with his death. At that last second, just before the nukes hit Battlestar, Starbuck and Sam email the location of earth to the remaining fleet and THEY learn to live better lives by the example Battlestar has set over the years…etc..etc. I’m no writter, but I’d sleep better with that ending.
I finally watched it last night and I was satisfied with it, although I m still processing it all. I believe the conclusion is that the road to redemption is a journey full of choices, that reaching your full potential depends on your ability to live and learn and adapt. It was just allegory and it has been done before: we are all connected to something eternal and universal, we all have a purpose and a destiny, and we all have free will. We will fulfill our destiny but how that journey is spent and whether we achieve redemption depends on the choices we make to get there — that is what will determine whether we achieve ultimately peace (happiness, Zen, whatever).
The attack was not on technology but on our tendency to use it as a lazy cop-out to not own up to our responsibilities to ourselves and the world at large. So, we start anew and try to make better choices. We will arrive at that same level of “progress” but we might approach it with compassion and integrity and then the results change as we have.
I don’t see the death of the cylons as that simple. They lived in their children and their children. Hera was just the first, “we” the current product of that adaptation. NOT the final result, just iteration.
This was the allegorical equivalent of a degustation menu on history, politics and religion.Good sci-fi is an exercise in philosophical debate. It is not supposed to give you all the answers but help you pose the right questions. If you are not willing to make that journey yourself, the genre is lost on you and may I suggest sticking to procedurals. They’re easier to digest, like cotton candy.
I found many of the flaws stated above. I would have found it satisfying to have a 1 year later -100 years later – 10,000 years later before jumping so far into the future.
The ending was the worst mish-mash of Deu ex Machina cum psuedoscience and religionism I have had the misfortune of watching since the LAST BattleStar series collapse (war of the gods).
What is it? Did NO ONE learn from the exquisite “Babylon 5”?
WRITE THE STORY FIRST!
Then make the series.
I’m a BSG moocher. I was dragged into watching the series by a coworker and became obsessed. For me, whether the wandering around on the Savannah was hokey or not, whether it was impractical to dreamily wish our old ways away with a pledge not to build near running water is moot. What I think is fitting about this finale is that all the questions WEREN”T answered. That there are still little loose threads hanging forces us to dwell and ponder long after BSG is gone. That the writers did not seek to define the forces at work, but rather hint at them is critical in keeping the buzz and our minds teeming. Take Star Wars for example. It was awesome!….until Qui Gon defines exactly what the force is. The all powerful mystical force that you can either believe in or not is actually tiny beings called midichloriens?!?! Ruined.
While I wonder how Adama will eat on his mountaintop retreat, I can’t help but think that someone who has spent the last few years of his life caring for humanity should have some time alone. Kara could only be an undefinable force that is understood but not quantified. And Cavil’s calculating failed him in his moment of extreme emotional duress. Can I just say that Gaius Baltar is a great Byronic hero! I love that guy!! In summation, sucks to transparency, yay for nuance!
I agree with Diaz, but I will go a step farther that no one seems to have brought up.
First off, the people on board the ships have become accustom to a number of modern convienecieis such as clean running water, flush toilets, beds, medical care and so on. Let’s not forget that the episode was written by a guy (my wife and I belong to a living history group so this came up almost immediately) , but I find it extremely improbable that the women in the fleet would want to go au naturale especially when it comes time for their period/ child birth so why on earth would they give up modern amenities. So when the final episode aired I couldn’t believe that so many would want to give up all these benefits, just because one person said we should get back to nature.
Second, why would a civilization give up on a common spoken and written language. Teaching the language would go along way to communicating the lessons of the past, medical knowledge, farming techniques, home construction and so on.
Thirdly and most simply put, there is strength in numbers, so why would splitting up be a good idea.
In my opinion, I think they should get all the writers and cast and crew back together and reshoot the last half of the episode. And instead of showing up on Earth 150,000 years in the past, Galactica should appear in Earth orbit in the present day and be a warning for us that if we create artificial intelligence that they should be treated like equals and not slave labor.
Well, I’ve not read everything posted, but enough to get the general consensus that most people did not like how “the story” ended. Points as to the plausibility of abandoning technology, etc. may have some merit, but I thought things ended quite well.
To me what made the show fun and the ending successful was how things connected. I don’t think the point of the show (again from my perspective) was to demonstrate “this is the most reasonable thing(s) the character’s, the plot, etc. would have done” as much as to reveal how “the cosmic god” was trying to direct humanoid life, be it human or cylon, to survive. To the Real Six’s question to Head Six at the end, “That’s it? All god wants us to do is survive?” (I’m sure that’s not the exact quote, but you get the idea), I believe sums up the whole show!
Now you may not like that, but I find it intriguing b/c you were constantly trying to find out the big question(s): “Is there more than 1 god? If so, what does that mean in ref. to the Lords of Kobol? Who is Head 6 (and later Head Baltar) and what is her (their) purpose? Who is god? What is his (later its) purpose?” To me, the show gave clues throughout to answer those questions, but you don’t ultimately get those answers until the end of the show and I think that is exactly what the last episode did.
If you are looking for definitive answers then you must believe the show had a different purpose than answering the above questions. Think about it, if the show was about the questions above, then you can’t have ultimate, definitive answers; I mean come on, you’re talking about god! I loved the fact that all of things weren’t directly explained, but rather implied. Example: Hera and the notes that Kara inputs to FTL to our earth. How did she know that? The show doesn’t say it explicitly, but it does imply it: god influenced her.
Or what about Kara, who the flip was she? Show never explicitly says, however it is implied: she was resurrected for a purpose, she was the harbinger of death, she would lead mankind to its end or another way of saying it “lead ‘em to earth” or as each title stated in the last season “in search of a home” and that’s what Kara did. After that, her purpose was finished, so poof, she’s gone. Did god cause this? I think so, but it’s left to your own interpretation, some good old post-modern thinking!
And I think that’s what the whole show was about and what it did. Clues, clues, clues, and then in the end, you realize these two “angels” of god try to help humanoid life finally overcome its own flaws as connected to technology and yes there is a definite slam on technology but only in a sense of its use not its existence, without forcing its (god’s) will on life. Instead, it’s more like, “Okay, Kobol didn’t work, let’s try it again on Earth 1, nope, let’s try Caprica, nope, how’s about Earth 2? We’ll just have to wait and see…
Final note and I’m done: To totally slam the “abandoning of technology” as implausible, to me doesn’t really jive. Remember, they did try that on New Caprica before the Cylon invasion and that wasn’t working out real well…And I don’t recall anywhere in the end that anyone said, “Hey, let’s abandon ALL technology” instead it was “let’s focus on our culture, heritage, language” as the main contributions and let life work its own way out…. Hmmmm… sounds like what “it” or god wanted.
Thanks for reading
It was just bad folks. Loved the series – but this last season was sub-par. The final esisode was the worst final episode of any series I have ever watched – which made the contract to the beginning of the series amazing. Starbucks end was terrible and made no sense. The character deserved better. Wrapping it up in general with “gods plan” was a major cop out and it was clear to me by the end that they threw the series together with all kinds of surprises with no idea how they were going to wrap it up. The fans and the series deserved far better – MOST of the ideas I’ve seen would have been a much more fitting end. The writers frankly should be ashamed.
The most heart wrenching moment of the last episode was watching the ships fly off into the sun. Everything was going fine until Lee came up with his silly primitive-chic idea. This ending seems to be an attempt to cater to the more superficial manifestations of green party sensibilities. Technology itself is not the problem, (indeed it may very well be our salvation) human greed is. To turn one’s back on the virtually infinite possibilities of space seems more tragic than if all the characters had simply died.
Well, I gotta say. That was the best series I’ve ever seen, next to dexter and entourage anyway.
The ending. Ahh the oh-so ”dissapointing” Ending.
I personally liked the ending. It is imo a way of saying ”be free, follow your dreams, let go of the past ”.
Granted I think the WAY alot of ut was done did’nt make so much sense. But some endings were perfect.
Adama’s ending suited perfectly. The guy has kept the human race going in his hands for how ever many years it took to get there. It was his time to relax. To be himself and away from the stress of playing god.
Separating everyone makes sense. On a world like that’ If you are looking to repopulate such a big space. Yo gotta spread (no pun intended….)
Losing the technoligy makes even more sense. It is the technoligy that nearly wiped them out in the first place. It’s the technoligy that brough thtem there. hy pass it on to a new untouched world that would surely rinse and repeat?
Anyway my ranting done. Brilliant. I’m gonna miss BSG!
best series I’ve ever seen. I think all the preceding comments merely reflect the commentators lack of imagination.
To me this series is designed to pique the imagination of the viewer.
I got the service from the library and watched all four years and about two weeks. It’s definitely the way to watch it.
I also know that I’m going to think about the series and its alternative resultant possibilities for a long time to come.
My thanks to the writers!
I loved the series, save for the third one that others have called…and I agree…”Battlestar 90210″. Frankly, while I understand it was about the characters, and I can suspend disbelief a bit, I don’t think they were acting like people would. I would certainly not be “bitching” at my partner for not spending time with me, when they are busy protecting the remaining humans from destruction. Bit stupid in that way.
Loved everything about the show save for above, and the technology into the sun bit. That seemed hobbled together rather quickly and cheaply. As an earlier poster said. “what the hell could they learn from that, other than to just do it all over again”. They should have kept all the tech, with the lesson learned and a shared history.
But nope, let’s start over doomed to repeat it!
If anything, the message is…STOP trying to be something you are not, and just go with life. It’s funny how order, actually forces chaos to reappear.
I want to know what Hera was looking up in space for at the end of the show? Seems like a shadow was around her. Could it been a spaceship she was looking at? After the 150,000 years why is her body the only one they found? Could the Cylons have come back to kill everyone?