I’m glad I didn’t spend four years watching the show (only the last year). I think this has to go down as the worst finale of a series in the history of television.
I remember how angry people were at the end of Babylon 5, but this was so much dumber. The only character I really cared about was Starbuck, and that’s what they did to her character? Right.
Oh well.
Update: okay, maybe calling it the worst finale in history was a bit harsh. Keeping it spoiler free, these are the things that really bug me:
- The meaning of the Opera House vision: um, really?
- Baltar's big speech: wasn't remotely convincing (though it had a brilliant line "I may be crazy, that doesn't mean I'm wrong"). And had no real effect. It reminded me of Sheridan's "Get the hell out of our galaxy" speech that ended the Shadow War in Bablyon 5. Thematically, I know how it fits in, but it just didn't work for me.
- Cavil's action: was required to move the plot where it needed to go, but no.
- Lee Adama's decision: also required to move the plot where it needed to go, but totally unbelievable.
- Fate of Starbuck: Ron Moore admits this is the one he knows some people will hate. Count me in on that.
So much of Season 4 seemed rushed (the mutiny and its aftermath should have been a 5-10 episode arc at least), and I think the finale suffered from it. Maybe in time, I'll grow to like it.
Update again: though it probably isn’t necessary at this point, some spoiler space:
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I should probably state up front something obvious. When dealing with even really good science fiction/fantasy, you have to suspend just a little bit of belief. I mean, a major plot point of Season 4 of BG is that the final five lived two thousand years ago on ‘bad Earth’ and travelled back to Caprica only to just miss the conflict (I’m reminded of the Monty Python ‘The Bishop’ sketch, where the Bishop always shows up too late to stop a disaster, but I digress), and so you already have to buy into some plot points.
Having said that, having watched this episode about 8 times now, though I don’t hate it as much as on the first viewing, some things still stand out, and not in a good way:
- Sam can turn off the defenses of the Colony but can’t stop the Cylon fighters from launching. Doesn’t anyone at the Colony understand ‘su root’ to turn the defenses back on? Just wondering.
- Galactica rams the Colony. And doesn’t get damaged. Right.
- Cavil decides to launch an offensive with what should be a couple of million of centurions, but none of them make it to the command center.
- What’s her name is proud of Baltar because…he shoots a dead Cylon a couple hundred times? Wish women that hot had standards that low. Then again, I lived on South Beach for a few years, so maybe that tracks.
- The Opera House vision: okay, so they played this out as being so frickin’ important, and it turns out that it involves a whole bunch of people trying to get a little girl into the command center. That was the entire point of the attack on the Colony, yes? So, where’s the conflict? Athena and Roz and what’s her name and Baltar are all trying to do the same thing, get the little twerp to stop running away long enough to carry her to where she needed to be anyway. As if Baltar was not going to take the little twerp into the command center if it didn’t match the vision.
- And once they carry the little twerp into the command center, she is immediately taken by Cavil. Who has no centurions with him.
- And then Baltar gives his little speech, which accomplishes….nothing. Nothing he says means anything, until resurrection is offered. So, what’s the point? Besides the brilliance of the “I may be crazy, but that doesn’t mean I’m not right” line, there is nothing about his speech that impacts anything.
- Since Cavil doesn’t have his thousands of centurions with him, he eats his gun. Nice plot reset there.
- Not to mention the whole ‘dead pilot hitting the nuke missile launch’ thing. Nice.
- But here we get to the biggest problem: the entire fleet agrees to let their ships slip into the sun so they can inhabit happy Earth. No fucking way. You couldn’t get a kid to drop their IPod, you think the entire fleet gives up all their technology (well, except the tech that lets Adama fly to where ever)? Totally unreal. First time a cougar attacks them, think they want that lazer gunny thing? Entirely unbelievable.
- Not to mention, you don’t think people are worried about the ‘we let the Centurions take the BaseStar’ thing, knowing their own past, to give up every possible defense if they came back?
- And they give all this up to hump people who have no culture? Right.
I still like the show, but the ending is still pretty pathetic.