BattleStar Galactica - SPOILER WARNING - Page 43 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

llama64 · 03-21-2009, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cowperson

Minor note, the setting where they landed sure looks a lot like southern Alberta. It was like they were walking across the pasturelands around here. Seriously. They certainly weren't in Africa. I wonder if that was Saskachewan, southern Alberta or, I seem to remember, something about Mission BC area.

Cowperson

I thought the same thing, "Africa" looked a lot like Southern Alberta. Not sure where in BC they could get that kind of rolling landscape, but then alot of it could be CGI.

"The Plan", as far as I can determine was to blindly destroy all humanity because it disgusts Cavil. This final season destroyed any and all mythos surrounding the Cylons, revealing them to be led largely by a vengeful, petty leader hell bent on overcoming his biological limitations and becomming more machine like. They never explain how badgering the Humans for 4 years fits in with this beyond being a silly plot device.

The only "Plan" that emerges seems to hinge on these so called "Angels". The Cylons are just as lost and confused as the Humans.

The show had a great premise and a stellar crew/cast, but as each season played out, it became apparent the writers had no frigging clue what they should do. The finale drove the nail in the coffin when it didn't end with Adama on the bluff overlooking the plains. Everything after that moment was pure and utter confusion.

Moore said it best in the special before the show: "It's the characters!". That was the mistake he and the other writers made. BSG was not about the characters, it was about the plot and about the premise. Soon as they got away from progressing the plot, the show got hard to watch.

Third season is the perfect example of what I'm irritated about.

simonsays · 03-21-2009, 01:31 PM

I don't know, I was a little disappointed in the finale. Not that it was bad or off putting, and I didn't mind the way the loose ends were tied up. But... There was so much posturing/getting everything into the right position in this last half season and very little of it had anything to do with the way things were resolved.

I just don't think that the series ever recovered from New Caprica. There were some great episodes in seasons 3 and 4, but I think thematically, character wise and pacing wise the show never really lived up to the lofty heights of the first 2 seasons.

The flashbacks in this episode (and the previous one) didn't really add much for me. It didn't really matter why Roselyn entered into politics, it didn't really matter why the Admiral stayed with the fleet. Apollo and Kara have been starcrossed since day 1, and while it was fun to watch it didn't bring anything new to the table. Although I did enjoy the Anders flashback where he's in the tub and inadvertently gives us some insight into cylon philosophy.

I was a little let down when Hera is wandering the halls of the Battlestar and we got the cuts to the opera house, I just kept wondering, "Really, that's it? This is the premonition that haunted the President for years?" It literally seemed like no big deal. No menace, no revelation, just two characters escorting Hera from the frying pan into the fire. Which in itself is alright, but it wasn't something that Hera couldn't have managed on her own.

I don't want to nitpick too much because it wasn't bad. I'd even argue that we got a finale worthy of the last 2 seasons. It was somewhat satisfying, but I find it hard to believe that 38,000 people would be willing to throw away all of their history and accomplishments for a chance to start over. "Those who don't learn from history..."

Well at least the epilogue wasn't a slo-mo Hobbit pillowfight.

I just hope that Tigh and Ellen managed to smuggle a lifetime supply of liquor out of the fleet, because I just don't see those two enjoying the the pastoral life.

Yeah_Baby · 03-21-2009, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simonsays

I just hope that Tigh and Ellen managed to smuggle a lifetime supply of liquor out of the fleet, because I just don't see those two enjoying the the pastoral life.

"Maybe they 'invented' the thing."

worth · 03-21-2009, 02:02 PM

i kinda wanted everone to go down in a blaze of glory with the ship. The finale seemed a little too tidy. But I still enjoyed it.

Shazam · 03-21-2009, 02:08 PM

Deep Thought's going to be really pissed off if the Golganfrichans mess up Earth Mark II.

Cowperson · 03-21-2009, 03:29 PM

Some found the Hybrid's prophecy uncanny:

The denial of the one true path, played out on a world not their own, will end soon enough. Soon there will be four, glorious in awakening, struggling with the knowledge of their true selves, the pain of revelation bringing new clarity, and in the midst of confusion, he will find her. Enemies brought together by impossible longing, enemies now joined as one. The way forward at once unthinkable, yet inevitable. And the fifth, still in shadow, will claw toward the light, hungering for redemption that will only come in the howl of terrible suffering. I can see them all. The seven, now six, self-described machines who believe themselves without sin, but in time, it is sin that will consume them. They will know enmity, bitterness, the wrenching agony of the one splintering into the many, and then they will join the promised-land, gathered on the wings of an angel. Not an end, but a beginning.

Hey, they found Earth. That's what they set out to do.

I thought the finale would have a definite end but yeah, you could see this being developed into Earth II.

It is true that it is likely unnatural for humans to simply scatter across the planet, alone or in small groups. In that vein, I love the series Coyote where it portrays a new human colony on a strange world but also follows the likely human scenario of banding together for mutual protection/strength with, yes, a few setting out to explore.

Or perhaps we should give these particular humans the same break we gave Major Dick Winters from Band of Brothers, who, after living in peril for years in WWII, retired to small patch of land in Pennsylvania "where I could live in peace for the rest of my life."

Breaking up as they did, it's not unnatural to suppose that through two or three generations, as was the case with the Coyote series, technology began to lose focus to what could be done with the land.

Or maybe Lee was out there blasting Neanderthals with a shotgun. Did they shoot the Raptors off into the Sun as well. Man, I'd love to dig one of those up in my yard. Time to get the shovel out.

Cowperson

simonsays · 03-21-2009, 05:02 PM

The more I think about the finale the less I like it. I'm fine with the mythology aspects, the angels and such, I don't mind earth 2.0, or Hera being Eve.

But by deciding not to learn from, accept responsibility for, or even acknowledge the history of humanity the survivors are essentially saying 'Frack it, I quit.' It's a betrayal of the courage and determination that the early seasons of BSG chronicled.

I could accept this ending if it was forced onto the survivors, if they were stranded on Earth2 without their ships or tech or tools and had to make do. But to choose this? No.

T@T · 03-21-2009, 05:13 PM

This thread made me PVR last nights finale, I thought it was boring as hell. and I'm a huge sci-fi fan.

simonsays · 03-21-2009, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Kara just disappearing really threw me for a loop, and probably messed Lee up for the rest of his days.

Kara's disappearing seems to be because Kara 2.0 was an angel of some sort. I can't guarantee it. But I can't come up with something better.

To me Lee was the biggest washout in this. He was the biggest believer in humanity and the effectiveness of democracy. And he was the one who figured that 'starting anew' was the best thing. What?

Lee is a guy who is almost defined by his desire to stand on the shoulders of giants and improve upon what he sees. How does that translate to the 'plan' that he lays out?

I don't know, it didn't end right in my eyes. But I'm sure that many people loved the finale, and I don't want to disparage them at all. It just didn't work for me.

Cowperson · 03-22-2009, 10:23 AM

A lengthy interview with Ron Moore regarding the season finale at The Watcher. Moore talks about the lure of doing the less obvious and ticking off the common fan. It seems lots of people wanted more death in the finale. . . . . so he went with "hope." The link also includes The Watcher's final comments on the show. Good reading on a snowy morning.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune....lmos.html#more

Cowperson

Bigtime · 03-22-2009, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T@T

This thread made me PVR last nights finale, I thought it was boring as hell. and I'm a huge sci-fi fan.

Had you watched any of the other episodes or seasons? If not I'm not surprised that a huge sci-fi fan wouldn't like it. Battlestar was if anything a drama that was just dressed up in sci-fi clothes.

Grunt · 03-22-2009, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Had you watched any of the other episodes or seasons? If not I'm not surprised that a huge sci-fi fan wouldn't like it. Battlestar was if anything a drama that was just dressed up in sci-fi clothes.

Exactly. I'm a huge SciFi fan too, but BSG really isn't a SciFi show. It's really more of a military drama with added fantasy elements.

I was really, really worried that I would hate the finale, but I actually really, really enjoyed it. It kind of reminded me of DS9's finale in a way - tons of action in the first hour, and then a more touching - goodbye to the characters - in the second hour... except the DS9 finale was a piece of crap, and this wasn't. I felt like the final hour was a really satisfying way to say goodbye to the characters we've followed over the last 4 years, and not the big pile of cheese that I was afraid they'd end up doing.

Great show...

Cowperson · 03-22-2009, 12:37 PM

Now that it's over, an Entertainment Weekly writer has her "Top Ten Moments from Battlestar," with quite a few funny lines, including this one: "Laura Roslin, meanwhile, channeled The Real Housewives of Caprica City, and got cougariffic on a former student."

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20267160_2,00.html

The writer's number one favourite moment was the killing of Ellen Tigh.

I'll have to think about my top ten favourite moments as well.

Cowperson

Yeah_Baby · 03-22-2009, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cowperson

Now that it's over, an Entertainment Weekly writer has her "Top Ten Moments from Battlestar," with quite a few funny lines, including this one: "Laura Roslin, meanwhile, channeled The Real Housewives of Caprica City, and got cougariffic on a former student."

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20267160_2,00.html

The writer's number one favourite moment was the killing of Ellen Tigh.

I'll have to think about my top ten favourite moments as well.

Cowperson

Some good ones in there. Totally agree with Roslin's thank you. Pretty powerful stuff in that scene.

jeremywilhelm · 03-22-2009, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeremywilhelm

They probably end up on our planet and name it earth as well.

Id just like to note i said this a couple weeks ago and was called silly...

haha, anyways, that was about as satisfying a finale as could be. Kudos to the shows writers.

I hope caprica is good.

Flame On · 03-22-2009, 08:19 PM

Late to the party for the finale. Think I was putting it off because I didn't want it to end or be disapointed and I wasn't with the latter.
I have to say I really thought the finale did about as good a job as it could do.
Hard to finish that whole thing off without stepping on a few preconceived ideas I/we might have had. I could have done without so much of the opera scenes or the glowing 5, but I liked that they left a lot of interpretation up to us.
Have that empty feeling now that something I enjoy/ed so much has come to an end.

Flame On · 03-22-2009, 08:34 PM

Just going over some of the posts regarding the finale I've had some similar thoughts too, in regards to the settling of earth.
I wasn't too happy with all the groups splitting up. I mean I understand they wouldn't all settle in one area. But why wouldn't friends/family groups stick together?
I mean Adama fights that whole saga, risks everything, essentially to be free and he did this for his people and his family. Then accomplishes it and is "see ya Lee" and as far as he knew Starbuck. I just thought it odd that all the BS crew/civies goes through all that together for each other and then they all just say bye and go their seperate ways.
Having said that, it's more of a curiosity than a criticism and I really liked the finale and series.

worth · 03-23-2009, 07:00 AM

I really like the way Kara disappeared at the end. I thought that was great.

Does anyone know why Caprica is coming out on DVD? Why isn't it being played on TV first?

Bigtime · 03-23-2009, 08:41 AM

I continue to reflect on the episode, and the only thing I would change (asides from the Ron Moore cameo, which he himself has admitted was a mistake) would be the ending montage of robots. They could have simply fired up watchtower and had the camera pan as it did to that one shot of the newscast showing the "advances in robotics", and then cut back to head Baltar and Six walking down the street. Didn't really need the whole montage of different robots.

mykalberta · 03-23-2009, 09:18 AM

For me, compared with some of the episodes this season, the finale was fantastic. Whe whole music->numbers thing was obvious, but they used it in a non obvious sense.

Still not 100% sure why Tyrol Killed whatshername. Callie basically screwed hotdog, then made the chief care for the kid (like out of some weird trailer park romance novel). It wasnt his kid, and its suspect whether he actually loved her given he almost beat her to death.