Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Battlestar Galactica Finale.... WOW!

I am not a big TV watcher, but there are a few shows that I have programmed into my Tivo. One of them is the Sci-Fi Channel version of Battlestar Galactica. This past Sunday was the season finale of Season 3, and let me just say that my mind nearly exploded by the time the end credits rolled across the screen!

First of all, let me just say that BSG is probably one of the BEST shows on TV, regardless of genre. Yes, it is on the Sci-Fi channel, yes it is set on a spaceship. Those two facts are enough for the majority of the TV-watching populous to ignore the show, including the Emmy voters. However, if you look past your prejudices, you will find a show that is brimming with great acting, innovative directing, and scripts which are thought-provoking in so many ways. Most impressively, unlike Star Trek, it is gritty and realistic and it doesn't have plot resolutions that hinge upon either time travel or pseudo-particle physics ("let's reconfigure the deflector dish to emit a tachiyon pulse at the resonant frequency of the big bang"). Most of the episodes deal with the struggles of individuals and societies dealing with the moral problems caused by a near-genocide of the human race. It is a human story that happens to be taking place in space. In fact, that sci-fi element of the show allows the writers to deal with contemporary issues without the baggage that would otherwise accompany a more "realistic" setting.

Now that I am done preaching to the unconverted, the rest of this post will talk about the aforementioned episode. If you haven't seen it yet, I would suggest that you skip the rest...

First, I will have to say that Lee's testimony at Baltar's trial was the high point of the episode. The past few episode's I really thought Lee got shafted by everyone. Here he is helping to make sure that the most hated man in the fleet gets a fail trial and a vigorous defense, which is certainly a noble, if misguided, gesture on his part. Nevertheless, his father, whom I used to admire, called into question his integrity, and his wife actually leaves him (and it is amazing that she chose that moment to leave him after all of his other transgressions). And don't forget about Roslin who used to adore young Lee like a son (and he may end up as her stepson when all is said and done), but who now probably will never talk to him again. Lee had been crapped on over and over again leading up to that moment, and finally he got his opportunity to stick it to everyone in very impressive fashion. After his speech, I would have voted "not guilty" too, just like his dad eventually did. I hope Papa Adama swallows his pride and apologizes to his son for doubting his honor and integrity.

Second, the whole thing with the music was just mindblowing. When they started quoting lyrics, I turned to my wife and said, "they are totally ripping off _All Along the Watchtower", which of course they were! I am still in shock that crazy Saul, Anders, and Chief are supposed to be three of the Final Five Cylons. I've had my doubts about Tori all along, so I wasn't THAT surprised about her. Personally, I am a little let down that the Final Five are just additional humanoid Cylons. I was hoping that there would be a more spiritual explanation for the Final Five. I thought they were going to be shared deities between the Cylons and the humans, or something like that. I didn't think that they would be actual Cylons. I was hoping that they would be misinterpreting hearing the song, and it didn't really mean that they were Cylons. However, I came across an interview with Ronald Moore which states that they are, in fact, Cylons. That, of course, means that Chief and Cally's kid is a hybrid, too, I guess. I am holding out hope that there is more to this reveal than what meets the eye, but we'll see. I have my own pet theories on the Final Five, but I will save those for another day.

Finally, we have the return of Kara Thrace, a.k.a. Starbuck. A few episode's back she appeared to meet with an untimely demise, much to the chagrin of her legion of loyal watcher-fans. Now, she returns suddenly to tell us that everything will be okay, she has been to Earth, and she will take everyone there. Obviously, this is quite a cliffhanger. What happened to Kara when she supposedly died? How did she end up on Earth? What the frak is going on here?! My own pet theory is that she is some sort of mind projection that Lee is seeing, not unlike the way that Baltar sees visions of Six. I would hate to think that the writers would pull some supernatural stuff to bring her back from the dead, or send her through some wormhole that convienently sent her to Earth. That seems too pedestrian for the writers of this intelligent show, so I hope they come up with something a little more creative than that.

Anyway, there is enough content in that last episode to keep we fans of BSG speculating for months to come. Certainly that is all that we will have to keep us busy since the next season doesn't start until 2008!

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