Thoughts about the BSG finale (spoilers)
First of all, Kara Thrace AKA Jesus vanishing into thin air without a real explanation is such a frakking cop-out that it almost ruined the finale for me. I was expecting that her mysterious Cylon dad Daniel was somehow behind her resurrection (I had this whole theory that he had made his way to Nuked!Earth a decade or so before the Galactica fleet made the same journey, and discovered some resurrection technology or some such). But any explanation would have been appreciated. Instead, it's, uh, God. Except that he doesn't like to be called that, so maybe he's the Devil, or Veejur, or Bob Dylan, who knows. And Head!Six and Head!Gaius are angels. I'm assuming they really are angels because they were so preachy at the end of the episode.
However, that whole mess only almost ruined the episode for me, because the rest of it was all kinds of kick-ass. Sure, not everybody got to go out in a meaningful fashion (sorry, Cavil) but a lot of the characters' endings were really well-done. Boomer makes a choice and faces up to the consequences without fear. Racetrack redeems herself for the mutiny by NUKING THE FRAKKING DEATH STAR. Tory does not get away with murdering Cally. Tyrol is an utterly broken man, which makes sense given all the bad stuff that has happened to him (and the bad choices he made, including choking Tory just a little too soon), so his decision to become a hermit makes a lot of sense. Anders gets that last perfect moment of action and reaction. The Tighs live happily ever after, which is as it should be, as do the Fighting Agathons, and I personally thought Hera becoming mitochondrial Eve was pretty damn cool. Laura dies with dignity, and Bill (presumably) builds that cabin in his few remaining years so he can hang out watching awesome sunrises with her grave. Lee deciding to become the Ferdinand Magellan of the Stone Age is kind of meh, but whatever. But coolest of all, Gaius Baltar, having given up all his lies and genuinely repented, settles down with Caprica Six to become a farmer, just like dear old Dad. I know this means he basically is never punished for his many many sins, but he was a magnificent bastard so I don't care.
I'm glad they went ahead and ended this series while the acting and writing was still at or near peak levels. No Buffy season 7 or latter-day X-Files crap. I give huge kudos to all the actors, and to Ron Moore and staff, for turning in some top-notch serialized television. It wasn't perfect, but no television drama except for The Wire has achieved perfection. Neo-BSG was, however, a very well-done portrait of two societies and their peoples undergoing a gigantic trauma and its aftermath, dealing (often poory, but usually believably) with the consequences and with each other. I'm grateful I got to watch it.
However, that whole mess only almost ruined the episode for me, because the rest of it was all kinds of kick-ass. Sure, not everybody got to go out in a meaningful fashion (sorry, Cavil) but a lot of the characters' endings were really well-done. Boomer makes a choice and faces up to the consequences without fear. Racetrack redeems herself for the mutiny by NUKING THE FRAKKING DEATH STAR. Tory does not get away with murdering Cally. Tyrol is an utterly broken man, which makes sense given all the bad stuff that has happened to him (and the bad choices he made, including choking Tory just a little too soon), so his decision to become a hermit makes a lot of sense. Anders gets that last perfect moment of action and reaction. The Tighs live happily ever after, which is as it should be, as do the Fighting Agathons, and I personally thought Hera becoming mitochondrial Eve was pretty damn cool. Laura dies with dignity, and Bill (presumably) builds that cabin in his few remaining years so he can hang out watching awesome sunrises with her grave. Lee deciding to become the Ferdinand Magellan of the Stone Age is kind of meh, but whatever. But coolest of all, Gaius Baltar, having given up all his lies and genuinely repented, settles down with Caprica Six to become a farmer, just like dear old Dad. I know this means he basically is never punished for his many many sins, but he was a magnificent bastard so I don't care.
I'm glad they went ahead and ended this series while the acting and writing was still at or near peak levels. No Buffy season 7 or latter-day X-Files crap. I give huge kudos to all the actors, and to Ron Moore and staff, for turning in some top-notch serialized television. It wasn't perfect, but no television drama except for The Wire has achieved perfection. Neo-BSG was, however, a very well-done portrait of two societies and their peoples undergoing a gigantic trauma and its aftermath, dealing (often poory, but usually believably) with the consequences and with each other. I'm grateful I got to watch it.