Daybreak

[star_lace]

It's been more than a month since the finale and I am only now prepared to post my review. Initially, it was impossible to write because every time I started, I was filled with rage. I'm still in a bit of disbelief that a show which set such a high standard for itself ended on such a weak note, and when I think about it too much, it still makes me

Comments

[lyssie]

because I trusted the writers
This will always make me confused. How anyone could trust a man who consistently admitted to them pulling shit out of their asses from even the first season confuses me.

[star_lace]

It honestly didn't bother me that they didn't have a concrete plan. I assumed he knew the general direction they were headed and I trusted that they'd find a way to pull it all together. Writing without a plan doesn't necessarily bother me in and of itself...it was the absolute failure to make it work that pissed me off in the end.

[lyssie]

The thing is, not having a plan is fine--but the sheer amount of "this would be COOL" that was on display from day one told me they had no ideas for their ending. (to be honest, I stuck around to see how many explosions I would get)

Farscape, btw, was a "let's do THIS!" show, with very little planning, except they sat down and worked out each season and made sure to integrate past episodes and continuity. The latter being something BSG suffered a lot from by not doing, despite its claims to be a non-episodic show and to have an overall plot arc.

[star_lace]

In the end, it was abundantly clear that I had far too much faith in RDM. I really did believe that he'd pull it together in the end...well, believed it until 4.5 happened. The problem was they decided to pull big, HUGE, "omgs this is SO cool" arcs without figuring them out. Those same things that kept me (and many others) engaged ended up being the ruination of the show. I think they would have gone out on a much stronger note had they not attempted to cultivate huge mysteries that were never thought out.

[emmiere]

I highly doubt anyone would have accepted this bullshit if Adama had just disappeared.

*raises hand* I, uh, can't speak for everyone, but... ;)

No, you make a lot of good points. I've managed to reclaim most of it, or at least start the process, to keep it being my show, but I can't get back the fact that I was genuinely emotionally detached from almost the entire finale while watching, until the end which was mostly RAGE.

Epic post is epic, so I'll keep my comments short to say I completely agree with this:

If you want to do cool things like kill characters and bring them back, fine...but you better have a damn good explanation for itI actually don't mind in the slightest that they didn't plan it out from the start. It's fine, and I sometimes really liked what they came up with. Even some of the ideas the ended up with weren't awful, just really lazily executed. But, yeah, figure it out and if you have to rely entirely on retcons to bring it back to your predetermined ending, then it's a bad idea no matter how awesome it

[star_lace]

*raises hand* I, uh, can't speak for everyone, but... ;)

*laughs* I'm so with you. ;)

I'm glad you've been able to reclaim most of it. I'm still working on that. I think I just have to erase 4.5 from my brain to reclaim my show.

I couldn't agree with you more re: planning it out and needing retcons to have it make sense. I don't inherently hate the fact that they didn't have a plan...sometimes that can lead you in cool new directions. I do hate that they took us in those directions without ever bothering to figure it out. *sigh* Still trying to let got of the rage... lol

[cujoy]

It's always hard when a show you love failed. I was way over attached to this, and now I'm struggling to reclaim what I loved about it through Revelations. It's always nice to have like minded people around to remind you.

Good review, I agree with most of it, and I agree with emmiere above, if you have to rely on Retcons to get to your predetermined ending, than you've failed at storytelling.

[star_lace]

I was way over attached too and watching it fall was so heartbreaking. I'm struggling to remember the good and not strip the merits of the first 3.5 seasons just because the end was a mess.