Blog: Articles filed under Battlestar Galactica

Well here we are, the end of an era. Battlestar Galactica is over, which has made a lot of people very angry for various reasons.

Spoilers ahead.

I‘m too young to have seen the original Battlestar Galactica when it was on television, and I never watched the reruns. I’m not into it. The “reimagined” series ignited my interest, however, and I’ve watched the show since its miniseries became the backdoor pilot for a new television series.

To this day, my favourite episode remains “Kobol’s Last Gleaming”, the first season finale. It represents the best aspects of Battlestar Galactica’s storytelling techniques: the high stakes conflict, the spiritual and ethical themes interwoven into the story, and of course, the effortless use of the episode’s score to enhance the most emotional moments of the episode. Tonight’s finale was cast in a very similar vein to the first season finale, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much.

The show has received massive amounts of criticism in the last half of this season. To be fair, the Writer’s Strike caused the last season to be split in half, placing much more tension on the mid-season premiere than the writers had originally intended. From there, it was a slippery slope into the lands of Exposition, Retconning, and Plot Device that left many fans confused and upset. And I’d have to agree—the last episodes of season four, for the most part, are among the most terrible episodes in Battlestar Galactica’s run.

To the creative team’s credit, the finale did tie up most of the loose ends. It left just enough loose ends to keep things interesting—although it’s strongly implied that a “God” exists, we don’t learn exactly who Head Six and Head Baltar are—angels from on high? More importantly, we’re left wondering about the exact nature of Kara Thrace. Allusions to Mormon mythology aside, I understand those—like my dad—who are dissatsified with the lack of closure for Kara. But I wonder if an answer is actually superior to the question? Speaking of answers, however, I enjoyed the answer to the opera house vision. They dealt with that very artfully, mixing prescience with Cylon projection.

The first hour of the finale was just, in the vernacular, “frakkin’ awesome”. It was full of head-spinning action, Cylon centurions on both sides, old-school Cylons, and Baltar had a gun! Cavil had some great last moments, including when they almost had a chance for a Cylon-Human-Cylon peace.

I will never forgive Galen, no matter what Tigh says. And I will never sympathize with Boomer or forgive her for her choices. She had a chance for redemption until she kidnapped Hera.

Baltar, on the other hand, was more interesting. Right to the end he served his own self-interest—I have no doubt that he chose to go on the rescue mission to show himself that he could be heroric, and to save himself from being the pet of that annoying cult of his. I know I would have done the same thing in his place. Yet Baltar and Caprica Six manage to reunite and understand their place in “God’s plan” (if such a God exists). I loved the moment when Head Six and Head Baltar appeared to both of them.

The second hour was much like that part in Lord of the Rings between the end of the book and the last page—useless conclusion, in other words. Yes, it’s important for closure. I didn’t enjoy the idea that they would “abandon technology”—but whatever, I suppose if Lee thinks it’s a good idea, it’s got to be a good idea—right?

Overall, however, Battlestar Galactica’s final episode redeemed the series for the problems with the episodes preceding it. We received resolution to most of the major storylines. And we got some sweet special effects and amazing action scenes.

For those of who are reading this and haven’t watched an entire episode of Battlestar Galactica, you may be wondering why I watched this show. You may not even like “that sci-fi stuff.” You might think it’s uninteresting, or you might be passionately opposed to such “juvenile” tastes. The key to understanding a fan’s passion for Battlestar Galactica is to understand that it is science fiction—it’s the type of science fiction you get in novels by masters of science fiction, as opposed to the adventure-based space opera you find on television (sorry Stargate).

Science fiction is all about exploring ourselves, as humans, and our responsibilities as a species and to the universe. Battlestar Galactica showed us that science fiction television shows can be set in space, have killer robots, yet be relevant to current events. I’m not going to launch into an extended diatribe about how it tackled “relevant issues”—you can read blog posts aplenty about that, sure. If you doubt it, however, just remember that the cast of Battlestar Galactica were at a panel at the United Nations. Over the course of its four-year run, the series took a look at difficult issues about humanity—a laundry list would not do it justice.

Sure, Battlestar Galactica couldn’t keep everyone happy. That’s to be expected. Yet it resonated with enough people that it generated great debate. Yes, Battlestar Galactica is one of the best television shows ever because it made people think—not just about plot lines and character arcs, but about what it means to be human, what it means to evolve, and to question the nature of our world and our beliefs. Many television shows strive for such a legacy—few achieve it.

One week from now, we will be witness to a great thing. The premiere of the fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica. This is the sort of thing you’ll tell your children about. Even if you don’t watch it now, you’ll want to retcon your memories so you can claim you were always a fan.

Why is BSG great? Because it’s the only science fiction show that isn’t a science fiction show. Unlike Star Trek, Stargate SG-1, etc., BSG isn’t a science fiction show set in space.

“What?!” you say. “Of course it is. They have space ships. And robots. And … and …” No, it doesn’t. BSG is a drama that happens to be set in space. The issues it deals with are the same issues we face today—in fact, the show is a thinly-veiled critique on controversial contemporary issues, particularly the war in Iraq. The conflicts the characters deal with, especially the morally ambiguous questions that arise as a result of a prolonged war, are relevant to us in every way. All they do is remove it one step from us, putting it in space. The technology isn’t even that much different. You’ve got guns, not lasers, phones, not communicators.

So if you look past the brittle sci-fi exterior into the heart of the show, which is the characters and the drama they face, you’ll see something that anyone can watch. It’s real. It’s edgy. It doesn’t hold back. The writing is amazing; the acting is amazing, and the plot twists keep you wondering what will happen next.

Am I sad the show is ending after four seasons? Yes. Am I enraged, like I am about jPod? Not at all. In fact, the show’s creators say they are totally behind this decision, and I agree with their reasoning: they want BSG to end while it’s great. Because they have a goal (finding Earth), logically the story has a conclusion (hopefully involving the arrival at Earth!). So now it’s a matter of getting us there in the best, most entertaining, most breathtakingly awesome way possible.

Don’t let us down, guys. You have a huge audience watching. And some of us may be Cylons.

Almost a year ago, I blogged about the season 2 finale of Battlestar Galactica.

I was upset then, or shocked would be the term, I guess. I got over it though, and the finale was one of the best episodes thus far. This season’s finale, however, has raised that bar to a whole new level.

In case you haven’t realised yet, this post contains severe spoilers that may blind those who have not seen the episode. If you don’t want the surprise ruined, stop reading right now. I mean it. Don’t you dare peek below this line. If you do, I’ll have to send someone over to your house. That’s right—I know where you live. Want to fight about it? Oh, you do, do you? Eh? Eh?

Anyway.

The music at the end of the episode was awesome, as was the pull back to the entire galaxy and subsequent zoom in on Earth. However, aside from the technical details, the episode itself was … whoa.

I was fairly sure Tigh was a Cylon, since he was hearing the music. Tori surprised me, and Anders too, although in retrospect I can see where the pieces start coming together. I loved this season finale, especially for the part where they realise that they are Cylons and go back to doing their jobs anyway. You know what I can’t wait for? Not for Adama’s reaction to finding out Tigh is a Cylon—no, that will be interesting, but what will be more interesting is the look on Cavil’s face. Realising that he took out the eye of a guy who is another Cylon … this is going to put a crinkle in their plans for humanity.

Frankly, I expected Baltar’s acquittal. It just wouldn’t be Battlestar Galactica without Baltar around as a testament to humanity’s darker side, to its weaknesses. He survived—which is, as Lee pointed out, what this has been about from the beginning. Surviving. Finding Earth. And Starbuck? Yeah, she isn’t dead. But where did she go? Is she really back, or is Lee just hallucinating? The finale brought up a lot of questions. Who is the final Fifth Cylon? Gaeta, with his betrayal of Baltar? Roslin, with her sharing of visions with the known Cylons on the ship? I dunno. I guess we have to wait until January to find out.

Gah! January. I’m kind of disappointed by that, but then again, there isn’t much I can do about it. We do get two hours in between to tide us over, little windows into the BSG universe’s past—flashbacks that apparently set up season four. I don’t know what it’s in store, but it’s good television, so I’ll keep watching.

Last night was the Canadian premiere of Battlestar Galactica, season 3. It was fantastic as television episodes go, but only okay by BSG standards—it was no “Kobol’s Last Gleaming”. The main problem was not enough action, too much talk—they had to spend too much time explaining what had happened during the four months that elapsed over the summer. It was too rough of a transition into the BSG universe for me. That said, I did enjoy it and I’m sure that the season will pick up as we see more episodes.

Air Farce is still no longer funny, but luckily both This Hour Has 22 Minutes and The Rick Mercer Report are carrying on the tradition of Canadian political satire. I‘ve also been watching The Colbert Report lately. And tomorrow The Hour starts again, so I can actually catch up with the real news! Doctor Who starts tomorrow as well, but unfortunately it conflicts with Stargate Atlantis. Why?! Why must you do this to me?!

Drama class is putting on a play; we’re doing 7 Stories, by Morris Panych, and I got cast as the lead role of “the Man”, who is a jumper. That’s right: I spend the entire play on a window ledge (on the seventh storey) trying to decide whether or not to jump while zany characters interrupt me. I have a lot of lines to memorise. But it’s a fun play.

And the epic novel writing continues, as much as it can. I really want to finish this second draft. I need a title. Blah. That’s what I feel. Very blah. I’ve been tired so far this weekend, and I really should relax, since it’s Thanksgiving and all. Happy Thanksgiving! Oooh … turkey. Mom’s turkey. There’s no excuse to eat like turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Can’t blog now. Must … eat … delicious … food.

What…is this?

What is…this?

(Spoilers ahead. If you haven’t seen Battlestar Galatica’s season finale yet, don’t read this.)

“One year later.”

One year later?!

I realise that I haven’t made many blog posts about Galatica, but that’s been because I have just been so overwhelmed after each episode that I didn’t want to blog. (Or I was lazy, take your pick). But this was the season 2 finale, and…wow. I must say, I did not see that coming.

Wow. I didn’t want Baltar to become president any more than the next person, but I honestly started to yell at the TV when Roslin, Tigh, and Dualla fixed the election! As much as I don’t want Baltar to win, what they did was wrong.

But then…they skipped to one year later! And my reaction was, what is this?! Because that’s not what I expected at all—maybe from a soap opera, but not from Galatica! I think I‘m still in shock.

And then the cliffhanger. Wow. What happened to Brother Cavil’s reprieve?! And Starbuck…all the crew split up….

Now I have to wait until October.

Anyone with a time machine, please stand up.

That was the episode of Battlestar Galactica last night. It was frakkin‘ awesome (to use the vernacular). To put that in perspective: my dad didn’t fall alseep during the episode!

It started off okay, but the music was a bit weird. I grew used to it, however, and the episode only got better. I think part of the reason that it was so cool was due to the fact that the Pegasus has “counterparts” to our Galactica crew. We got to see these more stringent, less ethical counterparts and how they operate—and it endears us that much more to the Galactica crew.

Best part of the episode: when Commander Adama’s on the phone with Tigh and Kallie is next to him. Tigh tells him about Helo and Tyrol’s court martial and impending execution, and you can literally feel Adama’s anger. You can also feel his regret, because it’s that moment when he finally stops lying to himself. Something had been upsetting him ever since the Pegasus arrived—this wasn’t a sudden decision; it was just the final culmination.

Then he orders that marine strike force, slams the phone down, and stalks away. He’s committing mutiny, but you love him for it, because it is so obvious that he is the hero.

That was probably the best single part of the episode. But nearly every character got some nice development—I didn’t see Gaida around, surprisingly. But Helo and Tyrol had a sort of “bonding moment”…if you call killing the Pegasus interrogator while attempting to defend the Cylon whom you love a “bonding moment”, I mean. And then Baltar’s overtures to the tortured Number Six aboard Pegasus were a nice conclusion to the episode. Notice the absence of the hallucination-Number Six during that scene…he actually got to do something on his own for once.

I can’t wait for next week. *fast-forwards time.*