Thoughts on the conclusion of Battlestar Galactica

[levertovfan]

While I'm happy that they justified the metaphysical parts of the show's mythology (the shared visions, questions of who is or is not an angel of God, and conflict between a monotheistic and polytheistic worldview), overall, I'm disappointed in the conclusion of the series. Here is my song about the end of the show:

"Be good to your computers
And your computers will be good to you.
Don't be good to your computers
And they will stage a revolt against you and nuke your civilization to bloody, bloody hell.

But don't worry about that
Or the casualties
Because God will provide
You with a whole new planet of genetically similar aliens to reproduce with.

Chorus: This has all happened before; it will all happen again 3x

But if the civilization that develops on this new planet
Develops spaceships and travels to outer space
Avoid the centurion civilization on the right
EDIT: originally in my song, but should be deleted now that I hear Cavil died and that half of the cylons didn't get resurrection. How did I miss that?
And your cylon half-sibling ancestors on the left.

Their case of the grumps, which seems chronic,
May have developed into a vendetta that will nuke you and your civilization to bloody, bloody hell.

Repeat Chorus."

The salon.com review said it best. The strength of Battlestar Galactica as a show was moral ambiguity. This ending didn't have any. It had a hit-you-over-your-head-with-a-computerized-mallet storybook moral (i.e., the first verse of my song). The strength of Battlestar Galactica was also humans and humanoid cylons who acted like humans: flawed. EDIT: removed I'm really supposed to believe that Cavil will just walk away with the resurrection technology and not bother the humans or his cylon progenitors again? I'm also supposed to believe that all of the humans will voluntarily give up technology to go live a pre-industrial life?

Battlestar Galactica, as a series, rocks. I will continue to recommend it to people. But the conclusion? Not so much. I'm not sure exactly the ending I wanted the makers of BSG to use to conclude the story, which *was* epic, but I had trusted them to do better than this.

Comments

[my-sihaya.livejournal.com]

it's very, very, very quick -- but Cavil shoots himself in the middle of the ruckus. My take was that the whole colony thingie got blown to hell, so at least no murderous cylon half-siblings to worry about. Centurions could still be a problem, though.

I also had trouble with the "give it all up and live as hunter-gatherers" thing. After a lot of thought I could sort of buy it, as a group of people who had really just been through hell and back 60 times maybe just decides, "fuck it, even if I die here the view is nice." But I still don't buy it 100%.

I am still pissed that they didn't explain how Kara resurrected. If a character dies and comes back to life and then finds her own dead body, a storyteller has a responsibility to the audience to at least suggest how that happened.

I'm withholding final judgment until I see it again, but overall I felt it was okay, with some glaring errors, and the whole here's-the-moral-of-the-story-kiddies! part kind of annoyed me.

I think they did a good job recapturing the emotional power of the miniseries and first few episodes of the first season, for what that's worth.

[exle0002.livejournal.com]

My comments:
1. Cavil's cronies didn't get resurrection, so I don't think we as an audience are supposed to worry about that. (And Cavil is dead.)
2. Kara was resurrected as some sort of instrument of god/angel, right?
3. As I mentioned on facebook, saw it coming, but then they fooled me into believing that I was wrong.
4. I agree... the moral was lame.

[levertovfan.livejournal.com]

My mistake about Cavil now edited in the text.

The new Kara was apparently an instrument of God/angel, just like the Caprica Six and Baltar that have been haunting their opposite this whole time.

Also, I'm not super happy with Caprica and Baltar (or Ellen and Tigh, while we're on the subject) getting a happy ending.

[macerio-dante.livejournal.com]

"Also, I'm not super happy with Caprica and Baltar (or Ellen and Tigh, while we're on the subject) getting a happy ending."

If I might inquire, why not? Personally, I thought it was fine, at least in part because a) they were flawed, b) they still had redeeming qualities, and c) they came around in the end. I know that some people in my circle that watch it have an issue with (c) considering all of the horrible things that those four (among others, admittedly) did along the way. (I too have some problems with (c), but can easily lose it b/c I still have this annoying tendency to believe that most people can be redeemed.)

I guess there's a lot I'm willing to buy; the only thing that annoys me is, not that they gave up technology, but that someone who has already had the benefit of a civilization building itself up, upon the bones and bloodied bricks of its forefathers, could be so absolutely stupid as to believe that giving up technology by itself would solve the problem. (cf. the argument "money is the root of all evil" cliche...) That's the only part that really made me want to hit my head on my desk until the pain stopped.

... I just finished and needed to vent.

[levertovfan.livejournal.com]

They came around in the end? To what? Through what processes? Caprica and Baltar through *very* briefly protecting Hera? Ellen and Tigh through what?

[macerio-dante.livejournal.com]

Well, I had a response. And it was very long. So I emailed it to you instead.