Wanna talk about the BSG finale? Feel free to do it here!
My thoughts below the fold. Spoilers below, obviously!
On the whole I liked it.
I liked that Caprica Six and Baltar are angels working for a higher force but that they do not know how everything will turn out. They're powerful, but not omniscient. They've done this before, many times, but they know it could turn out differently this time. I liked that they are more than a couple in real life - they really are "soul mates". Actually, there are four couples. Swingin!
I liked that they let the centurions go, because it opens things up for a new series later.
I liked the resolution of the "opera house" visions. It'd been obvious for a long time that Galactica itself was the opera house, but I did not expect that the opera house scene would play out so directly. I was expecting this to be a bit more allegorical, a bit more puzzle, less perfect prediction, so I was surprised that the twists and turns of the hallways matched, and that the same characters were doing the running, etc.. Not a huge surprise, just a bit of "well look at that, just like they predicted."
I liked the way Roslyn ended her journey.
I like that they didn't really resolve Kara. I guess we can that assume what returned from the nebula wasn't the actual Kara, but was a ghost of sorts. The real Kara did find Earth, but died there. The ghostly Kara returned, and as predicted was the "harbinger of death" - but for the cylon skinjobs - and led humanity to its journey's end. Reading on-line about this, it turns out that there is precedent for this kind of spirit thing in the original (1970s) series. Maybe would've been nice to get a little hint of that precedent this time around, too, though.
All Along The Watchtower... Still trying to figure out why that was the song. Ideas?
Edit: oh yeah, duh: the Six and Baltar angels are the Joker and the Thief of the song. They are looking for a way out of the cycle of destruction. The rest of the lyrics just fall into place.
I'm not sure how Adama managed to convince 30K people to give up their technology and try to eke it out as farmers. But, they did try it once before on New Caprica, so maybe that's not too much of a stretch. The alternative of being essentially defenseless in space probably helped.
I didn't really like the Hera rescue bit. The battle was cool. But using Galactica as a battering ram seemed like a bit much.
You?
Loved it. Kara was essentially an angel that everyone could see as far as I could tell. The battle was fantastic and the ‘special mission’ – a Raptor with a clutch of nukes – a surprise. When they agreed to a ceasefire with Cavill I was actually disappointed – Cally’s death coming back to haunt that b*tch Tory was just brilliant. I watched what followed (Tyrol killing her, the base getting nuked, etc.) with an open mouth.
I always knew deep down that the Earth they found mid-season wasn’t ‘our’ Earth – there were no shots of continents, no moon, etc. When Kara jumped them I wasn’t surprised where they ended up, but still yelled out when I saw the lunar surface. :)
Using Galactica as a ram was pretty cool IMHO, it is (was!) a Sci-Fi show, so ‘a bit much’ when you have FTL and synthetic people is subjective. :)
I thought the Opera House part was too contrived to be honest – the original visions were more menacing and played on 6/Baltar as villains whereas it turned out they were all just trying to save Hera. It was done well though, and Baltar’s speech to Cavill was some long overdue atonement.
They could of done a lot more with the 13th Cylon (Daniel?) idea, but by all accounts this is something that will be followed up in ‘Caprica’.
I will miss BSG but I’m glad they finished it now rather than let it become shite over the next few years (see most of the Star Trek spin-offs). This was a brave move.
Can’t wait to watch it again on Tuesday in HD.
I always thought that the ending would be a far bleaker tale and am surprised that most of the main cast survived (apart from Laura obviously). I’m not complaining though.
One thing – what was with those retro Centurions on-board the Cylon base?
One thing that irked me. Why did Adama have to leave Lee and go and live on his own? The guy has a frakkin’ SPACESHIP parked outside his cabin!
It might also of made sense to of killed Helo and Sharon off and let Baltar and Caprica Six raise Hera – more fitting given the prophecies, shared dreams, etc.
Digging around the web it seems others are irked at the whole GOD thing, but I thought the whole ‘higher power’ ending was in keeping with the show.
but I thought the whole ‘higher power’ ending was in keeping with the show.
yeah. it’s been pretty clear from the first season that there’s something supernatural (or at least inexplicable) guiding the fates of both human and cylon. i’d have liked it if they found a naturalistic way to resolve it all but it fits that they didn’t… though maybe 6 + Baltar are just representatives of a higher civilization, and not really supernatural ?!
what was with those retro Centurions on-board the Cylon base?
there were some of them earlier too. maybe in Razor (?)
Why did Adama have to leave Lee and go and live on his own? The guy has a frakkin’ SPACESHIP parked outside his cabin!
i’m sure he’ll stop by on Sundays for dinner and reminiscing.
It might also of made sense to of killed Helo and Sharon off and let Baltar and Caprica Six raise Hera – more fitting given the prophecies, shared dreams, etc.
yeah. that’s true.
Warren Ellis provides a condensed version.