Indianapolis was great. Pregnancy is scary. Couples Retreat and Year One are good. Battlestar Galactica was a good series, but there were huge Are-You-Retarded? oversights everywhere.
That's not really the point, though.
On the flight back, R and I decided to kill time by doing one of the crossword puzzles on the back of the US Airways magazine. Not only was it a fun couples' activity, but it was a fun activity. We did really well, which sort of surprised me, because I remember having a really hard time with crossword puzzles when I was younger. (Also, wanting things to be in pen but having a hard time writing down answers I'm not 100% sure of with permanent ink... but that's a craziness for another day.)
So... I think I have found a new hobby.
More importantly, because the Philly Metro has crossword puzzles and it's available for free basically everywhere, I have found a new hobby to replace smoking.
Whenever I feel stressed, or need to take a break, I'll just work on the daily crossword puzzle.
It is, theoretically, perfect.
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So you finally watched the series finale? I want to hear your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteOkay. So, if anyone is reading this who hasn't seen any of the series yet:
ReplyDelete****SPOILER ALERT****
Sorry. I'm still pissed at that kid who ruined a major plotline for me because of his stupid LJ icon.
Okay, so my thoughts on the season finale were the same as my thoughts on the show: Okay, could've been better. (R has a better opinion of the show AND the finale, btw, so you should seek him for something less cruel.)
The battles/fighting was awesome, as it was during the whole show. I liked the Adama/Laura ending (although, seriously, she should've died a long time ago). Baltar was unnecessary as usual, but it was nice to see him act like a human being (at the end, when he cried about his dad). A lot of the flashbacks were, like, "Okay, so what?" and, besides the Kara/Lee one, I thought they were kind of unecessary. The fact that the whole "Kara Thrace is the harbringer of death" was dropped was annoying (the angel thing, okay, I'll give it to them); the fact that after the Quorum get shot, all of a sudden the rest of the fleet let Galactica do what it wants, including wasting the FTL drives/weapons/resources on saving some little girl that means dick to humanity (normally I wouldn't care about this point, except the entire show made a big deal about military vs. civilian ideals); Cavil shooting himself, when he knew there wouldn't be any ressurection, seemed highly out of character; the whole "let's not use technology anymore" thing the crew did and the "IT COULD HAPPEN TO US" thing at the end of the episode was cheesy.
There's probably more, but a lot of it probably has to do with before the season finale (i.e., what they did to Kara Thrace's character; Gaius Baltar, period; Adama not even relieving Tyrol/Tigh of their high command positions for a little while after finding out they're Cylons; the fact that NO ONE looked into fact that Cylon blood apparently cured CANCER; etc. etc. etc.)
I did like the doctor, though. I think the doctor, Tyrol and Helo were my favorites.
As far as how everything ties together, I actually need to see the last episode again to piece everything together to see if it makes sense. I couldn't piece it together the first time.
OK my thoughts on the finale are best explained by me yelling obscenities at no one in particular, and I think writing them down will not come out the same. I'll try and think of stuff.
ReplyDelete1. Angels? ANGELS?? Fuck you, Ronald D. Moore. You make one of the smartest shows on TV, then write yourself into a hole and have no way out of it.
2. Ronald D. Moore has specifically said that Starbuck is "whatever you want her to be". If there has ever been a bigger cop-out, or lazier writing, I haven't seen it.
3. RDM sticks himself in a cameo role to show up on screen at the precise moment Head6 and HeadBaltar (or should I say Angel6 and AngelBaltar? grumblegrumble) are talking about "god". Pompous ass.
4. Totally agree about Cavil's end.
5. They let Starbuck be whatever, but didn't explain her seeing visions of her dad at the piano. They had such a great opportunity to just name him Daniel and call her the daughter of a cylon and make her the important one, not Hera. But no, that would make too much sense.
6. The visions of the opera house they were all seing since god-knows-when had the lamest payoff ever.
7. They knocked the giant colony to the edge of the black hole with 6 nukes? It's a BLACK HOLE. A black hole sucks things in. Why was the colony not SUCKED INTO THE BLACK HOLE???
8. Really? Fly all your technology into the sun? Do you really think that's going to get you anywhere useful?
9. They implied that Tyrol walked all the way to Ireland and became the first Irishman. Good for him.
10. Not enough people died.
11. It was stupid.
If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. At this point, it's been about 6 months since I've seen it, so it's not as fresh in my memory as it once was.
1,2,5. YES. At the beginning she was awesome. Then she sort of went crazy with her destiny stuff and she lost a lot of her appeal... but still had potential, since the plot was still forming. And then... angel? They should've just made her a Cylon. (I was also bothered at how Leobin, who was all into her and saw her discover her own dead body, WAS NEVER SEEN OR HEARD FROM AGAIN in the series). The scenario you mentioned in 5 would've actually been awesome. Also, how she just disappeared at the end? Really?
ReplyDelete3. Did you ever see some of the show commentaries? That guy think he's the best thing that's happened to humanity. He's like the Kanye West of Sci-Fi drama.
4. I have to see this scene again, R tells me it didn't happen this way, but I remember in the scene where he has Hera by gunpoint, I thought Baltar was all "There's gotta be something greater than us pulling the strings" and ALL OF A SUDDEN Cavil's like, "Okay, I'll listen to you." I know I hate on Baltar, but seriously... Cavil, a super atheist, of all people (Cylons), listening to Baltar? And THEN he kills himself?
6. Oh yeah. I forgot about that. For a while, I thought it was going to be that Athena and Laura would DIE and Baltar and 6 would raise the child in the new land and boom, end of show. Not that it would lead to another scene. That... actually might've been a better ending.
8. I also wondered how Adama got rid of his shuttle? And really, I doubt everyone would've gone for this giving-up-technology idea.
10. Haha, yeah, you're right. More people died during the MUTINY. I really was expecting Galactica and most of its crew to not get out of this.
12. I'm glad Tori died. That bitch deserved it. Her character bugged me SOO much. And I'm glad that Tyrol did it.
My main problem with the finale boils down to this: it was very, very poorly written.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the writers wrote themselves into a HUGE hole by bringing Starbuck back from the dead. I understand she's one of the most popular characters on the show, but if you're going to bring her back you NEED TO provide an explanation. Simply saying "she's anything you want her to be" is NOT sufficient, it's lazy.
Then, what happened to Leoben? And what happened to the fact that in the beginning of the series, the cylons (especially him) seemed to have super-human strength? Did they all of a sudden forget that they could break out of chains and throw heavy shit around?
Yes, Cavil, of all people, all of a sudden bending to the will of Baltar and his religious speech? The writers knew how they wanted Cavil's arc to end, but their laziness took over when they actually sat down to figure how to get there.
I remember wondering about Adama's shuttle myself. Did he say something about throwing it in a volcano, or did I just make that up? Either way, it was stupid.
One of the biggest, most important lessons you learn in history class is "those who forget history are doomed to repeat it". Obviously, that is what RDM was trying to say with his little montage of dancing robots, but still, why the hell would you FLY ALL OF YOUR TECHNOLOGY INTO THE SUN? Who gives a crap about Lee Adama anyway? once they landed, everyone split up. Are we really supposed to believe there was not a SINGLE DISSENTING VOICE when he was like, "so hey guys, I'm gonna lay out the dumbest plan ever. Who's in?"
Just thinking about it makes me angry.
Haha, I like you when you're angry!
ReplyDeleteI agree about Starbuck, super lazy. I thought they had her return planned out... such a shame.
Do you remember when the lawyer guy made a comment that he couldn't believe that there, indeed, was not a single dissenting voice in the, what, 35,000 people left? Because they totally asked everyone? AS THOUGH WRITING THAT LINE FOR A CHARACTER MADE THE WHOLE THING OKAY.
I actually forgot about the superhuman strength of Cylons... it was sort of lost when they wanted to start making the "Look how cruel we humans can be to the Cylons, who nearly destroyed humanity but they don't deserve TORTURE" point. Which was, what, after Pegasus?
Unfortunately, I felt your last grievance all the way from the mutiny up until the end. Certainly they didn't kill (or even find) everyone who agreed with Gada... but apparently, after the mutiny was over, everyone was totally okay with martial law and buddying up with the Cylons. This was not the same fleet who denied the Galactica resources in season 1 because they were pissed about Tigh declaring martial law.
I actually thought that they were giving Galactica Cylon parts because they had a secret plan to control Galactica. I mean, not that I want the baddies to win... but still. Would've been a little bit cool?
Also, flying all the technology in to the sun works to end the cycle of human-cylon violence is just like abstinence-only education works to end teen pregnancy. In other words, it actually makes things worse.
I am picturing Edward James Olmos hurling a shuttle into a volcano with his bare hands, though. Someone needs to make a poster of that. :)
Whoops. I think I meant Season 2, when Tigh took over for a while and fucked shit up proper. My memory of the show is getting sketchy.
ReplyDeleteOh wow if I had any artistic skill whatsoever, I'd be all over that.
ReplyDelete"The Plan" comes out on DVD next week. I'm still not sure whether or not I want to watch it. Have you seen the "Caprica" pilot? I went into it with VERY low expectations, but came out pleasantly surprised.
I haven't seen it... it didn't look all that interesting to me, but if you think it's worth a watch, I'll definitely look into it. Is it supposed to be a series? (Also, I hate to sound like an ignorant douche, but what's The Plan?)
ReplyDeleteIt's supposed to be a series, premiering next year some time. I'd say it's worth a watch, I was very skeptical at first but ended up liking it. There's also a surprising amount of nudity in it, which is always good.
ReplyDeleteThe Plan is the movie—that was supposed to air this month, but instead is going straight-to-DVD—that tells the story of the Second Cylon War (aka the pilot) from Cavil and the other Cylon's perspective. May be interesting, or may make me want to scratch my own eyeballs out. uess I'll have to wait and see.
Well, I am outnumbered 2 to 1 here, but I like a challenge, and I would be remiss if I didn’t defend this show and its finale. I loved the show. So now I will take up the cause absurd cause of internet argument about television shows. It was a VERY well done miniseries. It delivered fantastic, largely realistic action with more attention to scientific detail and mundane practicality than any other large sci-fi franchise. It had quality dialog and characters, and an EXCELLENT plot. Although I concede that it would deviate from character at points to serve the plot. It had a great commentary on the f-word, had extremely seamless gender integration (use of the word ‘sir’ and strong female characters were regular, not rare, over-the-top, or gimmicky [except femme fatal cliché 6]). Finally it was a great visual homage to the original show, if you actually compare the two.
ReplyDeleteIt also raised more issues politically and morally. I find other sci-fi franchises, (TNG - sorry) to raise issues in an obvious and sophomoric way, and take the traditionally lefty view: democracy always good, military often bad, and torture always puppy-kicking evil (and then Gordie gets them out of the trait-altering subspace anomaly by routing a tachyon burst through the main deflector dish). In BSG issues like tyranny, torture, and genocide were raised in a SYMPATHETIC way, as they were potentially of existential necessity. Things like democracy, social mobility, and individual rights were decidedly inconvenient, and were fought AGAINST by the protagonists. Not your average show.
Usually miniseries (and for that matter movies) with this many hanging threads, devices, and plot lines have god-awful bailout wtf endings (except Evangellion). So that’s what was expected of BSG, and frankly I have a hard time not expecting it from Lost, but I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt for now. So as with movies, a lot of this is an expectations game. The ending wasn’t a perfect, but I thought it was decent and tied up most, but not all, extraneous issues. While plenty of this was imperfect at least the majority of elements were addressed.
1 Angels
Why is this a new complaint? They were a deus ex machina device from the beginning to get Baltar and Caprica to do things that make no sense. But seriously, what the hell else could they be at this point? Hallucination (that knows more than it should)? Chip in their brain (That the doc couldn’t discover), ‘Whatever you want them to be’ (ie cop out?) The list of plausible explanations is pretty short. He wrote himself into that corner first season, I’m not going to hold it against him in the finale. I’d love it to be some amazingly clever rational explanation, but the religious thing was one plausible explanation and it fits. In the rules of this universe, God exists. If that explanation was unavailable for those two, then the eye of Jupiter, visions, and countless other things wouldn’t tie out. Furthermore I don’t think its ill fitting, they’ve been playing with the God or not question the entire show. Finally, its worth noting, that this was a theme in the original show too. http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Beings_of_Light.
2 Starbuck
See 1 – if those two are angels, why not. Sarbuck2 being an ‘angel’ is just as feasible as anything else. That’s how I justify it. At least they call attention to it and unambiguously establish that the first was dead. Putting argumentative points aside, I will totally give you guys that the RDM statement is a total douche cop out. Furthermore, that ‘Angel of Death’ ominous aspect was TOTALLY dropped – it went nowhere – why the tease? It was a hole, they dropped it, I’m 200% behind you on that.
3 RDM’s Ego
Agree with Jess. The commentaries were very, ‘thank you and you’re welcome’, and ‘BSG is the voice of a generation’. I guess this what an EP credit and a non-stop flow of nerdy convention tail does to a man.
4 Cavil
ReplyDeleteThe Cavil thing I could justify. Its the classic HAL9000 character makeup. He’s purely machine and proud of it and tries to act hyper-rational, but its really just a thin justification for a sentient character rife with human flaws. He envious, petty, and cruel. I think a hyper-rational person COULD concede (and in Cavil’s case resent) Baltar’s point about an outside force pulling the strings in light of everything that’s happened. Clyons certainly do have some concept of monotheism that he’s run up against before. Furthermore, it doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch for me to add cowardice to his list of traits, which would explain suicide instead facing an uncertain death, and why he would concede and call off fighters in a standoff for the sake of self-preservation.
5 Alternate Starbuck
Well, they didn't. That does sound REALLY interesting though, but I have trouble piecing together how some other things would have to work if that was the case, we should definitely discuss that one
6 Opera House
At least they HAD a pay-off. I hadn’t expected, nor thought of a way they could make sense of it. It was plain, vanilla, and mild, but all of the pieces fit.
7 Black Hole
I’m not an astro-physcist, but plenty of things can stay in orbit around gravity wells. As far as my limited understanding of orbit, as long as they kept enough velocity, they would be fine. They explore that specifically, among other things in this article:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/sciencenotfiction/2009/03/20/battlestar-galactica-watched-the-finale-exclusive-interview-with-kevin-grazier-science-advisor/
8 Flying Tech into the Sun
This was a stupid idea. I’m with you guys. The idea of a society the dependent doing this is ridiculous, and the notion of political unanimity is ridiculous. Furthermore, I agree that while tiddy and just a tad cute, the whole ‘it could happen to us’ thing is indeed VERY cheesy. I totally concede that. One final related note its not hard to image a hundred ways Adama could have gotten rid of the Raptor and or the Viper. He could have jumped the Raptor it to the fleet, or into the sun. He could have blown them up with dynamite. He could have flown off into the sunset. Whatever, its an omission, not a mistake.
9 Tyrol the Irishman
I don’t see the problem with this. It’s a cute funny little twist. Furthermore, they explicitly said that a Raptor would take him there.
10 People dying
No accounting for tastes. They went for the feel good ending rather than going for broke and killing off everyone. They probably didn’t want any additional sad to distract from the President’s death.
11 Disagree
12 Tori
Totally had it coming, thought it was a very clever way to throw a wrench in that plan, and I thought it was very logical that each of the five would have a fifth of the piece to prevent Cavil from killing any of them.
13 Strength of Cylons / Cylon Blood
ReplyDeleteAs Jess said – they backed off the super-human strength and started equivocating season 2 onward. Once it was clear they would get the green light for more than one season of aliens killing humans they wanted to lay their hippie down and start humanizing. Also it might be one of those things that was just forgotten, but not actually inconsistent, I can’t think of any skinjob situation after season 2 where that would even come up. To be honest it’s a fair complaint, it should have been paid lip service if nothing else, but it’s a not a flaw of the finale.
The Cylon Blood thing is a different story, that was crap, they dropped like a bad habit. That was some BS.
14 Saving little girl
Yes everyone signing on to save one little girl was pretty hooky. But I don’t think its TOTALLY outlandish considering the captains cult of personality and loyalty, particularly regarding those wanting redemption from the coup, etc. In another, hookier show EVERYONE would have went. Gallactica’s inability to jump made it expendable, and there is a probably a limit as to how much ordinance they could have fitted to the civilian ships and the bay-ship. If they just scuttled it, it would have surely wasted plenty of fixed weapons, supplies, facilities etc – so what the hell, why not do it. It was also ALL volunteer, so you can’t say anyone was being forced.
The only fair complaint is the Quorum’s disposition on this, as clearly a portion of the small arms, vipers, raptors, missiles, nukes, bullets, medical supplies, and personnel were appropriated (albeit the personnel were voluntary).
15 Dead Quorum
That brings us roundly to the issue of the quorums fate, and I concede this is an issue. We don’t KNOW that a new quorum wasn’t elected and effective, but it was bad writing, should have paid lip service to dissent, a de facto iron-fist dictatorship, or the election of new officials, and their opinion on the final mission.
Well that it, my long-winded defense. I concede that there are definitely problems, but none of these flaws ruin it for me. I would have taken writing genius, which they decidedly DON’T have, to tie up it up in a Cylon trick twist, or a totally rational, secular, skeptic ending. I think this ending was fully alright, 6/10. Low expectations probably helped.
I think the angel complaint is more towards what they did with Starbuck than the imaginary Baltar/Caprica. Angels were NEVER mentioned in the show until Baltar analyzed dead-Starbuck's blood. Also, the angels that Baltar and Caprica-6 saw were only in their heads -- Starbuck was seen by EVERYBODY. They may have written themselves into a hole a long time ago with her (by bringing her back from the dead without figuring out why), but they could've gotten out of it a plethora of ways -- i.e., her dad being a Cylon. The fact that they chose possibly the worst way out of it is, for me, a mistake.
ReplyDeleteAlso, even in this world where there's a god (and I could probably argue up and down that there ISN'T and what this show does is present a zillion different sides of the god debate), angels are still pretty cheesy. :P
The opera house thing bugged me because it didn't LEAD anywhere. The implication was that it would lead to a climax -- I thought that's why they were bringing it up over and over again. It lead to another situation which THEN lead to a climax. It was just unsatifying.
Cavil, I still think, was a cop-out. You're making inferences on his character based on other things (he's known to jealousy => he can be cowardly, thus it's reasonable he can kill himself). That, to me, doesn't cut it. If he was a coward, then they should have shown that earlier. It wasn't that Baltar said "Look, you're fucked anyway" and Cavil said "Okay, let's make a deal." Baltar tried to convince him that there's a GOD, and Cavil bought it. If they had shown his lack-of-faith faltering before, okay, but all of a sudden, in the heat of battle, this man who's always been a cruel, insensitive, god-hating hardass, he's ready to reevaluate his beliefs? I'm sorry, but that just doesn't work for me. Also, Cavil killing himself unceremoniously, to me, was a SEVERE cop-out. Even when Cylons ressurected they were squeamish about dying. The fact that he was trying to ENSURE the survival of his race after ressurection was no longer an option, to then just kill himself at the drop of a dime? It's not like he was about to get shot by someone else... he had every chance of trying to escape while everyone was focused on Galen killing Tory. Sorry, I still don't buy it. :P
Galactica jumped to the colony; even if the ship was expendable, the drives were still intact and could be used for another ship. If the entire rest of the fleet agreed that this was a good idea, so be it, but why didn't they pay lip service to this issue. And the fact that everyone agreed to destroy the technology (I know you agreed that this was ridiculous)... it seemed that a lot of the foundation that the show was based on: human vs. cylon, military vs. civilian were dropped. Saying "it would take away from the action of the season finale" or "they just omitted it, but it did happen"... okay, fair enough. But whether they forgot about it or just didn't feel like mentioning it, I still think that was a bad idea.
I don't think the Tyrol thing was meant to be a complaint.
The fact is they shouldn't have killed her the first time. But you say thats the WORST way to explain it - what are the others? I can't think of any. If she is a Cylon, then it wouldn't make sense in the context of the rest of the Cylon/final five plot. Furthermore, how does Starbuck's dad being anyone/anything explain a second, identical back-from-the-dead starbuck? I totally agree that the Angels thing is CHEESY, but while I appreciate the enthusiastic atheism/skepticism, the evidence is overwhelming that for the purposes of this series that some God/gods/supreme race, whatever was pulling some strings. I challenge you to prove otherwise with evidence from the show.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Cavil I think "Look, you're fucked anyway" and "Okay, let's make a deal." IS one approximation of what they said. You can justify it pragmatically. Also I would like to draw some distinctions when we are talking about 'believing' in God. If Cavil was an atheist, he didn't believe, fine - but its possible for a rationals atheist to admit that forces beyond your understanding or control (even be they scientific) are bearing on a given situation. Its a rational argument, not a reevaluation of atheism. You used the phrase 'god-hating', and I think if you take that mean belief AND resentment, I think thats a possible fit for Cavil too. That he knew something was there, but resented not having control and resented how other Cylon's beliefs undermined his control. I don't think making an 'okay, weird shit is happening' concession is a 180 on his beliefs either way. Its not like he fell to his knees and started praying. Anyway regarding the suicide, I think I explained myself, also keep in mind that after the Tori thing, resurrection was lost forever, so mortality was now a certainty whereas before he could still hold out hope.
But for the record - I totally agree it would have been better writing to have any of the other 50 armed people or deadly situations around them to kill him. Why not Ty, after the Tori thing, wtf all bets are off - he took his damn eye.
Finally regarding the mission I agree lip service should have been paid to the resource issue, and the Cylon integration issue. It was omitted, which doesn't mean it wasn't considered, but its a shitty thing to edit for time when you have the corny 'it can happen to you' bit tacked on the other end.