Well now, this is a little overwhelming. I’ve got three hours of this show — the FINAL three hours — to talk about, and it’s tough to know where to begin. Alright, first, let’s start with the screengrab above. Twenty geek points for anyone who knows who the bearded man is in the picture, minus twenty if you didn’t say Ronald D. Moore. It was only a matter of time before the man made an appearance.
Alright, I know — I’m stalling.
Let me start with what was good, then end off with what was bad. (*GASP!* Yes, the bad).
The Good
The first half of the two hours of this episode (it really did flow like one episode, so let’s just call it one) were exactly what I was hoping for. It was clear that all of the budget saved for this episode was put to good use in these effects sequences. My eyes were glued to the TV. I could tell those in the chat thought the same, since the chatter was pretty quiet during that time.
This next part is really strange, because it’s a part I really liked while at the same time sorta hated: Tyrol’s revenge against Tory and everything falling apart from there. You could see it coming with her warnings to the group, and then it just happened. Not only did that happen, but everything leading up to that moment — the ominous “final five” in the white robes, the opera house, the “deal” with Cavil — was all for absolutely nothing. Even Cavil had had enough of it and put a bullet in his own skull. I’m betting Moore absolutely LOVED that he pulled that stunt on us fans.
The Earth reveal, starting with the ships coming over the Moon. The final moments on present-day Earth, with the what-the-frak-are-they Balatar and Caprica chatting together about the future, the Ron Moore cameo and then, of course, the Hendrix version of “All Along the Watchtower.”
And … that’s about it. Not much there, right? So let’s get into …
The Bad
Everything past them finding Earth, then before the final four minutes or so, was snooze-inducing. Not only that, but I spent the entire second hour wondering if I liked the idea that these people were our ancestors and that they’d make these really strange decisions. This is also around the time that the chat I was running heated up, and not because everyone was cheering — we were getting bored and getting confused.
Speaking of those strange decisions, the quick thinking behind sending all of the ships into the Sun to start anew and … AND letting the Cylon Centurions go on their merry way with even less thought was just … wow. I’m still trying to wrap my head around that. To think Adama would lose even a second’s sleep over completely destroying the Centurions in one fell swoop is mind blowing. As one person in the chat said, why not land them on the dark side of the Moon, just in case? Adama said the Centurions returning was a risk, yet he decides to neuter any chance they’d have to defend themselves.
Hear that? That’s the sound of my hand palming my face.
Now for that part I mentioned above that I liked, with Tyrol ending Tory. The part I didn’t like was that we learned that pretty much that entire exchange leading up to that moment was for nothing. Tory was nothing. Cavil was nothing. Saving Hera, the opera house, Roslin’s visions, Baltar and Six saving Hera … was for nothing. They found Earth without any of them and the survival of the human race didn’t need Hera at all. It was all nothing.
Now there’s Starbuck. We still don’t really know what the frak she was, though we can assume, I guess, that the Kara who came back from the dead was actually an angel all this time, as was Head Baltar and Head Six. Angels … really. I’m going to have the notion of them being angels sit for a while longer — writing anything about it after a half-hour of thought isn’t doing it justice. However, Kara being an angel in the same way the Head people were is against the apparent “rules” we’ve seen. Kara was interacting with things and people — touching and moving things that people could see.
Also, wasn’t Head Six, you know, kinda evil?
We still don’t really know how Starbuck — the first Starbuck — arrived at the first Earth. No idea what happened there. We also got no further knowledge about Kara’s father, Dreilide Thrace. Maybe he’s God?
The thought of all of these people starting from complete scratch, then not passing on their knowledge to the natives of the planet is hard to fathom. Well, so is the thought of our ancestors coming from another planet, but that’s beside the point. Sending the ships into the Sun felt way too convenient, as was thinking everyone would be completely fine and on board with the idea of starting out as savages.
Wow, that’s a lot more bad than good, isn’t it? I’ve got to say, this finale doesn’t go up there in the books as one of the best. I’m not even sure it’ll be all that memorable. We ran a poll in the chat during the episode, and only a third of the people thought the episode was amazing. This should have been amazing, and it could have been. But don’t ask me how I would have made it better — that wasn’t my job.
In any case case, it was a fun bunch of years covering this show for you all. I started this out long ago on TV Squad, then leaving there to finish up the series here. Thanks to those of you who followed me over, including (but certainly not limited to) Dorv, bsgfan2003 (what will you call yourself now?!), Oreo, Tim-1 and akbar fazil. We’ve had some great discussions and I’ve enjoyed reading every comment you’ve posted. I’m not sure I’ll be covering Caprica when it premieres, but hopefully you’ll join in on other shows I cover now and in the future.
With that … *cue dramatic Bear McCreary music*
What do you hear?
Nothing but the rain.
Then grab your gun and bring in the cat.
Boom, boom, boom.
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Clacked by Keith McDuffee
on Mar 21, 2009 @ 00:26
“However, Kara being an angel in the same way the Head people were is against the apparent “rules” we’ve seen. Kara was interacting with things and people — touching and moving things that people could see.
Also, wasn’t Head Six, you know, kinda evil?”
Here is how I see that Keith.
Kara- The universe in its attempts to get “course correction” used Sixinthehead and BaltarintheHead to help things along. It realized that to do so a little more of a physical presence was needed to get things going in the right direction. Enter Reborn-Kara. Recreate her and give her a shiny viper (think about it… making a viper is a hell of alot easier then creating a human) to have her pop back in and make things move the right way.
As for Evil SixintheHead… she was both. Look at everything she has ever done and you will see both good and evil come from her lips. And technically, Kara does not break the head characters rules.
Think back to Balter in Athena’s future cell. When we see SixintheHead in her gym clothes instead of a sexy outfit… she does move a chair. One could argue that was in Baltar’s head but it is food for thought.
Sorry for all my random thoughts. The whole thing is still churning in my head.
The finale for me gave us the last parallels to the original show. You have to admit that as much as the new show tried to be different from the original, it many many times honored the original and gave us parallel creations.
Reborn-Kara: Ship Of Lights
Footage of robots at end: Footage of Moon Landing
*POST AUTHOR*
Don’t forget the original music as the ships were sent off into the Sun.
True, but I guess I didn’t consider it since we have already had the original theme as the “Colonial Anthem” used before.
Its all been said before (and will be said again?).
The longer I live with the finale, the more I like it. Do I think we would have been better served learning these things about our heroes via flashbacks in earlier episodes? Sure. Do I think, though, that they do serve a purpose into one last glimpse into their lives? Absolutely.
RDM released his podcast today, and he hammered home something that I read in an interview posted elsewhere in these comments: “Its the characters, stupid.” This show has been about character development over plot from day one. This finale continued that theme until the end.
I must preface with this: These comments that RDM and the team couldn’t come up with answers, and just made it confusing for the sake of art, frustrate me to no fraking end. Like the finale or don’t, but there’s no need to shit over the people that made it.
What was Kara? What answer would have been good enough?
Why let the Centurions go? Find me another moral solution that doesn’t demonize our heroes.
The show’s exploration of its religious themes have always played an important role in the show, and I expected them to in the finale.
Great to see the little things here and there… Admiral Hoshi and President Lampkin. ‘Nothing but the rain…’ The Colonial Theme (Which I, again, missed).
Cavil killing himself makes sense to me. Manipulation and control were his themes, and there was no way he’d make it out of the CIC, let alone the ship, let alone the colony, alive.
Chief/Tory: Good pay off, but even I will say that I don’t know if Cally was worth trading the peace for. OR, I can say that Cally was the difference between finding Earth, or just repeating the Cycle of Balance.
The coda: If there’s something I’m iffy about, its this. Instantly, BSG became a morals tale. I’ve loved its take on topical subjects before, but effectively saying, “Watch out for your toasters” was a bit of a let down for me.
Though, the coda did contain the exchange between Head Six & Baltar essentially saying that “It [God] doesn’t like being called God.” What does that mean?
I like this, and the several other open questions that were left for us. Those that think that The Plan will answer a lot of these questions will be sorely disappointed.
Its been a great run. I reference the Guest Clack I did the other day, and how much I appreciate this community. Tim-8 (sorry, its sticking, at least with me): I hope you find a show or two to stick around in the discussion. Akbar, I love Serenity. BSG: I’m still not saying it. Keith: Thank you for knowing what you’re talking about, and doing what you do.
Now that I have had time to chew on it, the Cavil suicide makes sense to me. Cavil reminds me of that thing in Lord of the Rings that was blind and toothy, that threw daggers with it’s words. I think Gandalf called him Faithless and Accursed. Cavil was a monster, and a mouthpiece for what is evil in the universe.
This BSG song cracks me up.
http://io9.com/5185829/your-new-battlestar-galactica-fan-anthem-is-here?autoplay=true