An observation of science fiction fans...
I've noticed something from reading reviews of the BSG finale, both in the MSM and on blogs. The casual sf fan, or even the non-sf fan that just likes the show for the story and not for the technological flash, seems to have enjoyed it. A lot of the harder-core sf fans have hated it. I think it boils down to the following:
Many "serious" SF fans are some close-minded SoBs.
They can take FTL travel and Artificial Intelligence and life on other planets in stride, but put a little God in there and they lose it. "That's impossible!", "What a cop out!", "Lazy storytelling!", etc...
FTL drives aren't deus ex machina but a steady spirituality introduced and fleshed out over the entire four year run of the series is? Come on...
Mark Perigard of the Boston Globe wrote: "When did my grounded sci-fi show turn into “Supernatural”?" It did in Season One, with the President's visions and the Arrow of Apollo. In Season Two, with the search for the Tomb of Athena and the revelations found there. In Season Three, with the temple on the algae planet and the Eye of Jupiter and an entire star choosing just that moment to go nova in order to show the next step in the journey to Earth. Pretty much all of Season Four, most notably with Starbuck's resurrection. From the beginning with the constant importance of dreams and the unexplained "head Cylons", through the middle with the introduction of the Hybrids and their prophetic visions and the emergence of Starbuck's mysterious backstory, to the end with the rise of religious cults and the point where technology starts to fail, leaving a little Cylon/human girl as the last hope of both races. Hell, go back to the original series and the Beings of Light and even there you'll find a quasi-deified greater power that has looked out for mankind since long before the founding of the Colonies.
Battlestar Galactica is and always has been a spiritual show. If you can leave your prejudices behind and look at the finale from an unbiased perspective, you'll see how it all hangs together with everything that has come before it. If you can't get past that personal dogma then I feel sorry for you, because you're not letting yourself enjoy what most people seem to agree was one helluva powerful ending.
Many "serious" SF fans are some close-minded SoBs.
They can take FTL travel and Artificial Intelligence and life on other planets in stride, but put a little God in there and they lose it. "That's impossible!", "What a cop out!", "Lazy storytelling!", etc...
FTL drives aren't deus ex machina but a steady spirituality introduced and fleshed out over the entire four year run of the series is? Come on...
Mark Perigard of the Boston Globe wrote: "When did my grounded sci-fi show turn into “Supernatural”?" It did in Season One, with the President's visions and the Arrow of Apollo. In Season Two, with the search for the Tomb of Athena and the revelations found there. In Season Three, with the temple on the algae planet and the Eye of Jupiter and an entire star choosing just that moment to go nova in order to show the next step in the journey to Earth. Pretty much all of Season Four, most notably with Starbuck's resurrection. From the beginning with the constant importance of dreams and the unexplained "head Cylons", through the middle with the introduction of the Hybrids and their prophetic visions and the emergence of Starbuck's mysterious backstory, to the end with the rise of religious cults and the point where technology starts to fail, leaving a little Cylon/human girl as the last hope of both races. Hell, go back to the original series and the Beings of Light and even there you'll find a quasi-deified greater power that has looked out for mankind since long before the founding of the Colonies.
Battlestar Galactica is and always has been a spiritual show. If you can leave your prejudices behind and look at the finale from an unbiased perspective, you'll see how it all hangs together with everything that has come before it. If you can't get past that personal dogma then I feel sorry for you, because you're not letting yourself enjoy what most people seem to agree was one helluva powerful ending.