Battlesta Gallactica - Final season TBD and Spoilers

[Perry]

Well what the hell?

Totally pissed.

 

Loved they way they tied the ship into the Opera House and the Cylon battle, but then, in the last half hour, Ron Moore dropped his pants, lowered to a squat and took a healthy, steaming dump right in my TV room.

CRAP.

[Light Warrior]

What can you expect from Ron Moore.  The guys's made a living out of going "Frak you" to the audience and getting us to keep coming back for more.

The finale is a solid 10/10 until the last 45 minutes, then things get murkey.  There was a fan forum aired after the show here in Canada and the opinions are mixed.  Some thought the ending was too somber, but I expected nothing else in that regard.  Every character gets something of a send off.  Then there's the angels and God stuff which I don't know how to grade.  On the one hand it works in the philosophical element where we are supposed to compare out reality to the show, but I can't quite forgive the lack of explaination for Starbuck.  I also question the sudden religous bent after a show that has always been scientific not supernatural.  Was an explaination dropped to give us those mostly pointless flashbacks?

Of course, the upcoming Caprica series and The Plan movie are caveats to avoid giving away the whole big pitcure plan right now, in fact with Caprica I'm kind of glad they still have some plot threads left open to keep us guessing in that show.  That and years of anime have left me forgiving of such out of left field attempts at depth so I'm not disappointed.

[Perry]

The finale is a solid 10/10 until the last 45 minutes,

Yep, could not agree more. Hell, after the first hour I had felt that I got my two hours worth. I looked at the wife and said -
"Damn, we still have another hour to go"

It was that filling and productive ... and good.

...
then things get murkey. 

Understatement.

As you brought up, the show always had a certain underlying (or in the forefront) theme, which is the aspects of humanity: Love, Survival and Philosophical Reasoning / Religion. The belief of the Monotheistic vs. Polytheistic ideologies was often entrenched in the show and really made more powerful with the “fight for survival of the species” aspect. However, the show never seemed to be about Supernatural elements.

Now some may argue that point or judgment, but that is how I always understood the show. The “ghosts” were not ghost’s as much as angelic bits of subconscious. Holy guides if you will. And yes, I can understand if you ask what the difference is. Hard to explain, but those that have watched the show should know what I am trying to say.  The show, as religious as it was, was never supernatural, or more to my point of aggravation and ire, this show was never paranormal.

Until now.

What a crock.

I can almost … almost deal with not being shown what Thrace actually was or what we suspected her to be, and fine … some writers like to “let the readers/viewers make up their own versions of what happened” , but ending her story like this was nothing short of a non-lubed anal intrusion.

If they would have had her walk out of scene, slowly disappearing into the horizon (or some other visible means of exit) I would still be pissed at the open-endedness of it all … yes pissed, but at least then I would not be feeling like I just watched the last episode of the X-Files. Now, I am pissed doubly so. Vanished? Poof? Ghost?

And a ghost that interacted with everyone and everything? A ghost that could fly a ship? a ghost that could land that older Viper and have everyone touch said Viper, proving it has density and therefor a real F'n ship?

BULLSH!T

And then the last 5 minutes … sweet lord why? Why have the "Not Baltar" and the "not 6" there talking? Why have them talking ... explaining that crap to us? They leave us "guessing" (with a sore ass) on the important stuff, but now they want to drone on about this?

 

Here is my ending …

Go over the hill, see the city, see the text -150,000 years later (just like the show) and then show the walking robot on the television … the end.

There. You have “us” evolving to repeat the same Cylon process over again. You show the viewers what will transpire, without actually showing them.

AARRRHHHH

and, damn it ... Starbuck … just … what the hell?

Boooooooo.
Booo-Hisssss
Poor ending …

Stop watching this show as soon as they land on the planet … just stop it and walk away and you will be much happier than I am today.

[Light Warrior]

Maybe if they had dropped those flashbacks to answer (or even acknowledge the question) what is "God" and why are we all on this path, but Baltar and Caprica were too accepting of "God" at this point.  I guess if it weren't for Starbuck it wouldn't even be a large issue.

The last bit didn't bother me much.  It established what most of us figured from the beginning: the Galactia was our creation myth, but not in the way we expect.  Not Adam and Eve but Mitochondrial eve and an explaination for the jump in evolution.  The rest justifies that we aren't in an endless cycle, and can through free will break it if we learn from the past and not make the same mistakes (okay it hits us over the head with it, but still...).  Olmos said he wanted to end things with a shot of the twin towers before they fell to kind of drive the point home that we're in such a flashpoint of history, but the idea got shot down.

I wouldn't call the last 45 minutes garbage, as even the problematic parts are only a small part of it, but that lack of finality, particularly on the question we've had for two years now, knocks it down a point.

[Perry]

I still think you are being way too kind.

I am not even bothered by the holy trinity aspect, as much as I am about the MAJOR plot holes that were never answered.

How, if Thrace is this holy spirit, was she able to produce a freakin old Viper?
How, after producing this old Viper, were others able to touch it?
How, if she was this spirit (knowingly or not) was she having father issues?
How she just vanished and Lee seemed confused, but was okay with it?
How do you get thousands of people to just give up on any form a technology?
Why was Hera so important, to the Cylons, again?
Caval, so obsessed with imortality, just blows his own head off?
How, if Earth 2.0 was so close (within one FTL jump) to their "main hub", the Cylons never found it in the first place?
The purpose of imiginary (vestial) Baltar and 6 walking around 150,000 years later? Why then?
"He doesn't like to be called God" ?

Sweet jesus man, these are major srew jobs.

I get tons of what happened, I even really like some of it (being precursors to our evolution, hence solving that missing link problem). Hera being found as the Mitochondrial eve, I am assuming (which does nothing to show her importance to the Cylons, and no ... I am not buying that first human/cyborg mix), the death of Rosilyn.

There were plenty of good, but the no answers, new questions, total way of just assuming "God willed it, so that is the purpose and resolution" answer the show gave ... sorta gave ... is a total cop out, piece of crap!!!!!!
 

[Light Warrior]

I won't argue any question involving Stabuck or God.  Those were dropped (I think intentionally to screw with us) but as for others:

Technology: At this point in galactica's timeline, I wonder just what technology would be overly missed aside from indoor plumbing and electric lights.  Given the refrugee status of the fleet I'd imagine most people are well past the loss of the technology most of us take for granted.  They don't have TV (just occasional raido), computers, stoves and fridges.  I'll admit a weakness to Galactica was the lack of time spent with the civilian fleet, and I won't argue that most people are fooling themselves as to the life they'd have, but I'd imagine that for most people, they'd notice no real difference, and after 4 years for bulkheads, are probably looking foreward to et back to nature.

Hera: I assume you mean to Cavel, I just chalk it up to him thinking learning how to breed would be easier than to pry resuraction from the final five.

Cavel: I think he chickend out at the sight of his last hope for a more machine based life get vaped.

Earth 2.0 : the colony moved recently (just prior to the civil war) so there probably wasn't time to survey the sector.

Baltar and 6: Why then?  Because that was the equivilant to "now" for us.  In fairness, since we don't know just what they are, there's know way of telling if they just showed up then, or have always been watching.

Am I being too kind: probably, but after ten years of various animes with vague and ambiguious endings, I've kind of gotten used to shows and movies that don't spell everything out and end on more questions than answers.  I grant every person the right to be pissed off by it though.

I am REALLY looking foreward to the comentary track for this one though.

[Rich]

Wow.  Clearly, I'm in the minority here, but I frakkin' LOVED the finale.  Of course, I'm not one who needs all the answers, so it stands to reason I wouldn't have a problem with not all the answers being presented.

Hera was important to the Cylons because without resurrection, they needed to learn how to organically reproduce.  That's a no-brainer.  Cavil, knowing that all five of the "final five" had a part of the answer to resurrection, saw one of them get killed and knew he had no chance at that point.  His army was decimated, Hera was gone, and the secret of resurrection died with Tory (which was AWESOME--to see Tyrol get his revenge made me smile), blew his head off.  It makes sense to me.

The reason, to me, that Starbuck was having "daddy issues" was that she was MEANT to find the path to lead Galactica from the Colony to new Earth, and if Caprica Six's phantom self didn't know what she was until the last episode, why should Starbuck, who only recently was resurrected?  Her ship, her form--those are the unexplainables.  It's a creation story, and just that, a story, like the christian bible, the muslim q'ran and all the others--they don't always make sense, or have solid logic.  The point is that there will be those that believe--as Lee does by the end of this whole thing--and those that don't--like Chief--that there's a higher power.  Lee's okay with Kara disappearing because he believes in a higher power.

I loved that Baltar and Caprica Six are the Greek Chorus in this whole show.  Stands to reason that Baltar should be able to project like the Cylons--we're all the same, anyway, if you believe the creation myth!

Best series ever.  Ever.  And I get to watch it again, and experience it with my wife, as she watches through the series for the first time. 

[Perry]

Glad you liked it, but again, it is NOT that I have to have all the answers for me to consider something good ... but to leave THOSE QUESTIONS ... Come on.
 

[Rich]

Not implying that you do, Perry.   

[Perry]

Not implying that you do, Perry.   

Yeah, Sorry. Took that all kinda wrong.
(Still pissy, I guess !)
 

[Jeff]

(Still pissy, I guess !)
 

Maybe your expectations were too high.  I thought the season was falling flat until this episode.  This tied it all together for me and I really liked it.

I think Starbuck represents Christ and not the Holy Spirit (only human who died and ressurected; plus she ascended when her work was done).

Overall, not what I expected but thats ok.  I was happy with the ending.
 

[Wg2100s]

wonder if they will now come out with the complete "Battlestar Galactica"dvd collection?

[Light Warrior]

I think that's a given eventually.  End of 2010 the lastest, though it might skip DVD for blu-ray.  Since I've bought the sets seperatly, I don't care.

[Rich]

Can't remember where I heard it, but BSG is supposed to be the first complete series released on Blu-Ray.

Personally, I'm hoping for a Galactica replica case that will house all the blu-ray discs.  I want that to happen.

MAKE IT HAPPEN!

*whew*

Sorry. 

[Perry]

I guess that is the one good thing that came out of the Disappearing Starbuck, I can save money not getting the last season 


yes ... still bitter.