Deus ex Machina
I've been watching Battlestar Galactica (thanks pmb), and I must say, it's a very good show. I qualify this by the fact that every time the scene changes and different characters come on screen, I get excited and think "ooh, that's my favorite character!"
The show is not without it's flaws. I don't really care about the science aspects - it's a space opera and I'm willing to "just go with it" when it comes to FTL, sound in the vacuum of space and other stretches of credulity. What bothers me are certain weaknesses and inconsistencies in the plotting.
While I realize that religion/faith/spirituality is a big theme in the show, it's still a cop-out when Deus Ex Machina saves the day (or even more annoyingly, resolves a story thread).
I love the fact that Doctor Baltair is a tool. He's not a good scientist, he's not a good doctor, and he's not a good person. He thinks he's a lot smarter than he really is. And he's totally nuts. Awesome. So it is very cringingly satisfying when he points to a random spot on the map when asked to identify a vulnerable area on the Cylon tillium refinery. It's lame that he turns out to be right. This instance of DEM is almost excuseable because Baltair "finds God" in the aftermath, but it's still annoying.
The other plot point that really bugs me is the conclusion to "Ressurection Ship" where the female admiral is ganked by the Cylon instead of by Starbuck. It's just way, way, way too easy and convenient for the "good guys" to completely avoid getting blood on their hands, yet still reap the benefits of the admiral's murder. This could have been handled much better. For instance, Adama orders Starbuck to do the execution, Starbuck refuses. Admiral orders her XO to execute Adama and he goes for it. Starbuck figures it out, and holds the admiral hostage until the XO stands down. Adama and Roselyn place the admiral under arrest. Episode ends with the admiral in the brig, maybe in a cell between the two captured Cylons. Or set up a situation where Baltair is once again fearful of being exposed as a collaborator (however unwitting) in the Cylon invasion and decides to use the Cylon captured on Pegasus to solve his problem - he releases her and the Cylon kills the admiral before anyone gets a chance to order executions.
Finally, one thing that has bothered me ever since the PR episode where the news crew films a news documentary about the Galactica's crew... In season one, the fleet is jumping away from the Cylons every 33 minutes, but the Cylons keep finding them. When one of the ships in the fleet turns on them, they figure out that they are being tracked, presumably by a Cylon on board the vessel. They destroy the renegade ship, jump away and are safe. OK, that works. At this point we aren't aware of any other Cylons in the fleet.
The problems start creeping in when other Cylons start appearing as infiltrators. I'll buy that Boomer in deep-cover mode was not in a position to give away the fleet's location. But what about the Cylon Starbuck tortures and Roselyn sends out the airlock? OK, he was in hiding and seemed to have a different sort of mission so maybe that works. But there's really no excuse for the Aussie newscaster being a Cylon. WTF. Obviously she's broadcasting the location of the fleet, or else how would the raiders who buzzed the ship to pick up the show know when and where to show up?
The thing that bothers me is that the issue of why the Cylons are ruthlessly hounding the fleet like they were in the first few episodes is never addressed head-on. I don't mind some aspects of a plot being left as an exercise for the viewer, but this is something that the command personnel would be talking about ALL THE FRACKING TIME. Yet they just count their lucky stars and go on their merry way.
"Ressurection Ship" provides some explanation for why the Cylons have backed off - the fleet is far enough away from Cylon territory to prevent the toasters from reincarnating, so the Cylons have fabricated and deployed the resurrection ship to establish a moving beachhead that will allow them to start attacking in force again. The good guys find it just in time and buy themselves a bit more time.
Anyway, on the whole I really like the show - it's small faults simply stand out because, for the most part, the show is excellent.
The show is not without it's flaws. I don't really care about the science aspects - it's a space opera and I'm willing to "just go with it" when it comes to FTL, sound in the vacuum of space and other stretches of credulity. What bothers me are certain weaknesses and inconsistencies in the plotting.
While I realize that religion/faith/spirituality is a big theme in the show, it's still a cop-out when Deus Ex Machina saves the day (or even more annoyingly, resolves a story thread).
I love the fact that Doctor Baltair is a tool. He's not a good scientist, he's not a good doctor, and he's not a good person. He thinks he's a lot smarter than he really is. And he's totally nuts. Awesome. So it is very cringingly satisfying when he points to a random spot on the map when asked to identify a vulnerable area on the Cylon tillium refinery. It's lame that he turns out to be right. This instance of DEM is almost excuseable because Baltair "finds God" in the aftermath, but it's still annoying.
The other plot point that really bugs me is the conclusion to "Ressurection Ship" where the female admiral is ganked by the Cylon instead of by Starbuck. It's just way, way, way too easy and convenient for the "good guys" to completely avoid getting blood on their hands, yet still reap the benefits of the admiral's murder. This could have been handled much better. For instance, Adama orders Starbuck to do the execution, Starbuck refuses. Admiral orders her XO to execute Adama and he goes for it. Starbuck figures it out, and holds the admiral hostage until the XO stands down. Adama and Roselyn place the admiral under arrest. Episode ends with the admiral in the brig, maybe in a cell between the two captured Cylons. Or set up a situation where Baltair is once again fearful of being exposed as a collaborator (however unwitting) in the Cylon invasion and decides to use the Cylon captured on Pegasus to solve his problem - he releases her and the Cylon kills the admiral before anyone gets a chance to order executions.
Finally, one thing that has bothered me ever since the PR episode where the news crew films a news documentary about the Galactica's crew... In season one, the fleet is jumping away from the Cylons every 33 minutes, but the Cylons keep finding them. When one of the ships in the fleet turns on them, they figure out that they are being tracked, presumably by a Cylon on board the vessel. They destroy the renegade ship, jump away and are safe. OK, that works. At this point we aren't aware of any other Cylons in the fleet.
The problems start creeping in when other Cylons start appearing as infiltrators. I'll buy that Boomer in deep-cover mode was not in a position to give away the fleet's location. But what about the Cylon Starbuck tortures and Roselyn sends out the airlock? OK, he was in hiding and seemed to have a different sort of mission so maybe that works. But there's really no excuse for the Aussie newscaster being a Cylon. WTF. Obviously she's broadcasting the location of the fleet, or else how would the raiders who buzzed the ship to pick up the show know when and where to show up?
The thing that bothers me is that the issue of why the Cylons are ruthlessly hounding the fleet like they were in the first few episodes is never addressed head-on. I don't mind some aspects of a plot being left as an exercise for the viewer, but this is something that the command personnel would be talking about ALL THE FRACKING TIME. Yet they just count their lucky stars and go on their merry way.
"Ressurection Ship" provides some explanation for why the Cylons have backed off - the fleet is far enough away from Cylon territory to prevent the toasters from reincarnating, so the Cylons have fabricated and deployed the resurrection ship to establish a moving beachhead that will allow them to start attacking in force again. The good guys find it just in time and buy themselves a bit more time.
Anyway, on the whole I really like the show - it's small faults simply stand out because, for the most part, the show is excellent.