This Week in the Mercury
Saturday, March 21, 2009
TV Talkback: The Final Episode of Battlestar Galactica!
Posted by Erik Henriksen on Sat, Mar 21, 2009 at 12:51 AM
As I mentioned last week, I'm not gonna be around for tonight's big Battlestar series finale. Over the past season, I've insisted on taking up valuable Blogtown real estate to offer my dumbass commentary on each week's episode—but this week, I'm taking a vacation from the Mercury in both its physical and electronic forms, so you bastards are on your own. (Plus, I kinda just want to watch the finale, and not spend the whole time thinking about the significance of each scene and wondering if I need to memorize certain lines of dialogue so I can put 'em in a blog post later.)
HOWEVER! I wouldn't leave you hangin', folks. So: Below, please find an entire comments thread for the taking, where anyone who godsdamn pleases can talk about tonight's series finale, "Daybreak, Part II," debate the merits of this past season, argue about exactly how badass Tigh is, and/or discuss the epic show as a whole. I'll no doubt be weighing in at some point (my dumbass commentary has to go somewhere, dammit), but this one's for you guys. Have at, Blogtown Battlestar fans.
Spoilers ahoy.
4
CAT, motherucker, you need to get back to me with some actual contact info. It doesn't need to be real info, just relevant info.
Also, you owe me a beer. And I think I owe you one. These are debts that must be repayed.
Also, you owe me a beer. And I think I owe you one. These are debts that must be repayed.
5
FUCK THAT EPISODE AGGGGGGGH.
Apparently I'm on the wrong end of the nerd consensus with this one, and I will get back to y'all after I've sobered up and watched it again. But I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine how fucking stupid the last ten minutes of that episode were. Gaius and Caprica did stroll around the Now whilst sinister little cgi robots did sinister little dances, right?
Don't get me wrong: First hour, space fights, awesome. But the ending made me want to pick up where Starbuck left off being interesting and go shoot some bitches in their faces. I didn't need every single loose end wrapped up, but I found the last half of that episode manipulative and simplistic. Plus, what a bad time to include those flashbacks. I was already feeling like a lot of my time had been wasted this season, and the flashback sequences reinforced that.They would have been so amazing earlier in the season; here they just seemed like filler, re-establishing things we already knew (or already should have known) about those characters. Plus, who bones Hera to make the future? Cavemen? Grr. Time for grilled cheese and some aspirin.
Apparently I'm on the wrong end of the nerd consensus with this one, and I will get back to y'all after I've sobered up and watched it again. But I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine how fucking stupid the last ten minutes of that episode were. Gaius and Caprica did stroll around the Now whilst sinister little cgi robots did sinister little dances, right?
Don't get me wrong: First hour, space fights, awesome. But the ending made me want to pick up where Starbuck left off being interesting and go shoot some bitches in their faces. I didn't need every single loose end wrapped up, but I found the last half of that episode manipulative and simplistic. Plus, what a bad time to include those flashbacks. I was already feeling like a lot of my time had been wasted this season, and the flashback sequences reinforced that.They would have been so amazing earlier in the season; here they just seemed like filler, re-establishing things we already knew (or already should have known) about those characters. Plus, who bones Hera to make the future? Cavemen? Grr. Time for grilled cheese and some aspirin.
6
Dear Miss Hallett, I don't think the Gaius and Caprica we saw strolling around were the Gaius and Caprica we all knew. I think we're supposed to assume they were chip Baltar, and Chip Six.
So they were the "angels", or whatever hand of god type thing they are supposed to be.
I assume Gaius and Caprica died 150k years ago in a shitty hovel. Does that make you feel better?
So they were the "angels", or whatever hand of god type thing they are supposed to be.
I assume Gaius and Caprica died 150k years ago in a shitty hovel. Does that make you feel better?
7
More like shitty novel. Maybe no one went poor underestimating the intelligence of the masses, but they sure do burn their reputations and waste my fucking time.
Fuck TV for ever.
Fuck TV for ever.
8
@jamdox,
Wow... some harsh words. In no way could the finale ever live up to the expectations people had. Overall, I felt it was good. Not A+ good, but good. I thought it was the right balance of closure and open-endedness.
Wow... some harsh words. In no way could the finale ever live up to the expectations people had. Overall, I felt it was good. Not A+ good, but good. I thought it was the right balance of closure and open-endedness.
9
No, my expectations were moderate. Tying up all the loose ends with lowest common denominator knots and spraypainting the mess with "see, god DOES have a plan!" and "yay, back to nature!" and "OMG robots are going to take over!" boilerplate crap is about as bad as you can do.
See, I didn't expect them to make all/most/any of the pieces fit together. You're corresponding with a guy who like the end of Neon Genesis Evangelion. But I'd have settled for Sopranos.
Just don't treat me like a moron. Oops, too late...
See, I didn't expect them to make all/most/any of the pieces fit together. You're corresponding with a guy who like the end of Neon Genesis Evangelion. But I'd have settled for Sopranos.
Just don't treat me like a moron. Oops, too late...
10
"Gaius and Caprica did stroll around the Now whilst sinister little cgi robots did sinister little dances, right?"
I had problem with this, too. The show made it's "do not usurp god by making life" Frankenstein bull-shit theme very, very clear. When they kept saying "this has happened before and it will happen again," I thought the criticism of modern technology was pretty obvious. Do they really need a "get it dumbass" moment at the end, though?
@Rusty!: I got that, and no, it doesn't make me feel better.
I had problem with this, too. The show made it's "do not usurp god by making life" Frankenstein bull-shit theme very, very clear. When they kept saying "this has happened before and it will happen again," I thought the criticism of modern technology was pretty obvious. Do they really need a "get it dumbass" moment at the end, though?
@Rusty!: I got that, and no, it doesn't make me feel better.
11
"I assume Gaius and Caprica died 150k years ago in a shitty hovel. Does that make you feel better?"
The hovel part, a little. Angels, no.
The hovel part, a little. Angels, no.
12
Alison, I don't think the flashbacks were as much filler, as they were sleight-of-hand. I think Moore was trying to make us forget that he was rendering some of the character's arcs completely irrelevant (see Gaius).
As for the episode: it's not enough that Moore's a fascist? He has to be a fucking primmie too?
That ending... that fucking ending. When the camera was panning up on Adama, I was at least ready to give Moore credit for bringing the show to a decent emotional conclusion. But no! Moore then has to come back and insult my intelligence even more, in the most stupid possible way.
Also, on the subject of themes: I think one of the more interesting questions BSG asked was what really made someone a human. Well, now, after watching the last few episodes, we know! Being human makes you human. Being a cylon makes you a toaster who needs to get taken out back and shot, so we can all go on and live in our great primmie utopia.
As for the episode: it's not enough that Moore's a fascist? He has to be a fucking primmie too?
That ending... that fucking ending. When the camera was panning up on Adama, I was at least ready to give Moore credit for bringing the show to a decent emotional conclusion. But no! Moore then has to come back and insult my intelligence even more, in the most stupid possible way.
Also, on the subject of themes: I think one of the more interesting questions BSG asked was what really made someone a human. Well, now, after watching the last few episodes, we know! Being human makes you human. Being a cylon makes you a toaster who needs to get taken out back and shot, so we can all go on and live in our great primmie utopia.
14
Some great moments in the show, but ultimately it was all just god. God started the war, Starbuck was god, head six and baltar are god (angels, wtf ever). Anders was guided by God. It was all god. Don't try to be god. God will keep making us go through the same shit over and over until we get it right. God, god god... goddamit.
For an atheist, especially, this is a very disatisfying conclusion. I agree with the above comments about insults to intelligence too, even taking the god crap out.
For an atheist, especially, this is a very disatisfying conclusion. I agree with the above comments about insults to intelligence too, even taking the god crap out.
15
I'm an atheist too, and I asked Mark Veirhoven (sp) at the Bagdad how serious they were about the religion stuff.
After getting miffed that I accused them of unseriousness, he said that they were just exploring issues of religion, and not really advocating religiosity.
Well, that's hard to square with this last episode, isn't it?
That's the nature of BSG's failure, that it tried to turn what had been an exploration into the reaching of a destination. The specifics: subjecting us to a bunch of preachy crap.
After getting miffed that I accused them of unseriousness, he said that they were just exploring issues of religion, and not really advocating religiosity.
Well, that's hard to square with this last episode, isn't it?
That's the nature of BSG's failure, that it tried to turn what had been an exploration into the reaching of a destination. The specifics: subjecting us to a bunch of preachy crap.
16
"Well, that's hard to square with this last episode, isn't it?"
not if you consider it an allegory based on Paradise Lost which is a book about exploring issues of religion.
Which is why I wrote that blog post up there.
not if you consider it an allegory based on Paradise Lost which is a book about exploring issues of religion.
Which is why I wrote that blog post up there.
19
It appears a lot of the problems people are having with the show comes with the idea that "God did it," That God was pushing pieces around a chessboard and when you look at it, sometimes those motivations behind chesspieces don't make sense.
But that's kind of a problem people have with God in general, right? This is an allegorical show, innit? ;)
I was satisfied with this ending, and almost all of the answers to almost all of the questions. And the questions that weren't answered are the ones we can't answer now. What is God? Who the fuck knows? The show doesn't, either. It sorta paints him as this mad scientist running experiments, waiting to see if his creation is gonna finally learn.
Did we?
Should Battlestar Galactica be answering that question?
I think the problems with the finale are largely problems people have with the concept of God in the first place. Which the show ALSO addresses in the finale, with both Baltar's speech, and Head-Baltar/Head-Six's comments in Times Square.
I think people are making the same mistake right-wingers made when they looked at the New Caprica arc, and left-wingers made when they were watching "Measure of Salvation." and stating that the show is pushing a specific ideology when it is instead merely presenting it in their story and letting you draw your own conclusions and think on those mindsets for a minute. The finale, to me, merely reframed the questions about the concept of a higher being that people have been asking for quite awhile, and presented them in a new way.
I'm a Lapsed Catholic who is agnostic at BEST, by the way, so don't mistake me for someone trying to sideways-proselytize. But this show's always been really strong at making you take a HARD look at your belief systems and question the strength of those convictions, be it Helo's short circuiting Adama/Roslin's attempt to kill every last Cylon in "Measure of Salvation," or Tigh's suicide bombing missions on New Caprica.
Why should it be any different when the concept being tackled is God Himself?
..or itself. It doesn't like it when you call it that.
More...
But that's kind of a problem people have with God in general, right? This is an allegorical show, innit? ;)
I was satisfied with this ending, and almost all of the answers to almost all of the questions. And the questions that weren't answered are the ones we can't answer now. What is God? Who the fuck knows? The show doesn't, either. It sorta paints him as this mad scientist running experiments, waiting to see if his creation is gonna finally learn.
Did we?
Should Battlestar Galactica be answering that question?
I think the problems with the finale are largely problems people have with the concept of God in the first place. Which the show ALSO addresses in the finale, with both Baltar's speech, and Head-Baltar/Head-Six's comments in Times Square.
I think people are making the same mistake right-wingers made when they looked at the New Caprica arc, and left-wingers made when they were watching "Measure of Salvation." and stating that the show is pushing a specific ideology when it is instead merely presenting it in their story and letting you draw your own conclusions and think on those mindsets for a minute. The finale, to me, merely reframed the questions about the concept of a higher being that people have been asking for quite awhile, and presented them in a new way.
I'm a Lapsed Catholic who is agnostic at BEST, by the way, so don't mistake me for someone trying to sideways-proselytize. But this show's always been really strong at making you take a HARD look at your belief systems and question the strength of those convictions, be it Helo's short circuiting Adama/Roslin's attempt to kill every last Cylon in "Measure of Salvation," or Tigh's suicide bombing missions on New Caprica.
Why should it be any different when the concept being tackled is God Himself?
..or itself. It doesn't like it when you call it that.
22
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
More...
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
23
What a piece of shit. Most of this season sucked, but this was by far the worst. Also note that those flashback sequences that took up half the episode were not filler, but a fucking commercial for their upcoming prequel, which will probably be even shittier than this last season.
24
RE: the return to nature.
It was a show about thousand year old killer robots and nuclear war. Is it terribly surprising that it closed with the twin themes of "maybe lets give up our tall buildings and spaceships if it means putting some distance between ourselves and the immortal killing machines/nuclear bombs" and "ok, now we have tall buildings and spaceships again, but maybe lets try to not have the immortal killing machines/nuclear bombs"?
It was a show about thousand year old killer robots and nuclear war. Is it terribly surprising that it closed with the twin themes of "maybe lets give up our tall buildings and spaceships if it means putting some distance between ourselves and the immortal killing machines/nuclear bombs" and "ok, now we have tall buildings and spaceships again, but maybe lets try to not have the immortal killing machines/nuclear bombs"?
25
Most Shakespearean comedies took the "fight" to a pastoral place, like Arden or somewhere by the sea, in order to resolve the conflict.
It's nothing new.
It's nothing new.
27
Glad to see I'm not the only one disappointed by the finale of BSG. Crap is an understatement. What a let down to a brilliant series. Bloody clueless script writers should be the ones being put into a ship and shot into the sun!
Can I have that 60 mins back please?
Can I have that 60 mins back please?
28
I had such high hopes with BSG. After watching the mini-series I was very impressed. It seemed different from other sci-fi shows that had come and gone. This show had real stories with fine acting and an inherent sense of purpose and direction. When the 1st series started it only confirmed my high hopes. The 2nd series came and I was still riding this wave of enjoyment and respect for what genuinely seemed "a different type of sci-fi show". Then the 3rd series happened. Then the 4th. Then this finale. Such a frackin let down. Such pretention. it developed into a combination of mystical crap, bizarre pointless one-off episodes and ideas and concepts that were never explained or brought to any ready conculsion throughout. The best things about the whole series were: Baltar, The Cylons (especially the centurions), the battles, Adama & Tigh - everything else was pretty much tripe in the end. And the MOST annoying thing, the overwhelmingly pull-your-hair out and scream out loud until you frackin cry thing was...that I spent most of this WHOLE series wondering who the last "human" cyclon was going to be...abnd it ended up being Tigh' frackin blonde slapper of a wife...YES her!!!...NOT Baltar...not Adama...not Starbuck..not even frackin President Roslin...but Tigh's annoying shiny face-lifted-until- she-splits frackin wife!!!....ARGHHHHHHHHHH I have wasted hours of my life and 4 years watching this programme and I will NEVER get them back.
If Battle Star Galactica has shown me one thing. It is that there is definitely NO God...(or Gods).
Yours angry and disappointed
gibgod
all emails regarding BSG gratefully received: stevegibsonuk@hotmail.com
If Battle Star Galactica has shown me one thing. It is that there is definitely NO God...(or Gods).
Yours angry and disappointed
gibgod
all emails regarding BSG gratefully received: stevegibsonuk@hotmail.com
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