BSG Finale (full of raging naked spoilers)

That is true, that Moore should have had tighter control on the focus. But I do wonder if part of the problem is that it wasn't until season 4 that they said "this is it, no more after this". There was simply too much material to kind of cram in before the end. Cavil just shooting himself without any actual resolution of his character (and right after an almost 180 degree about face on his agenda) is a good example of just tying something off without bringing it to a reasonable conclusion.

X-FILES actually ended much, much worse. And it had similar problems- way too much left at the end, all resolved in very unsatisfying way. But it had what, six more seasons than BSG?

The trend toward serial drama is cool, but when these shows go for so long I think it's harder to reign in everything. shows with self-contained episodes don't have this much trouble.

Oh boy, when LOST ends...I can't wait to hear the outcry that's going to create. I've only watched a few shows, but it's so dense there's no way that's going to be tied up in a way that suits everybody.

LOST has played it pretty smart--they resolve "mini-mysteries" all the time.

The past two seasons they've addressed many of the dangling plotlines and gave satisfying conclusions or explanations to them. If they weren't a part of the grand plan all along, then they certainly do a good job covering that fact up. I'm not sure I've ever seen a show pull it off so well.

In fact, there's almost a danger that they'll have explained so much by the time the finale gets here that the resolution actually might be anti-climactic. I'm thinking right now and there are actually only a few "large" mysteries actually left!

Ken B. wrote:

The past two seasons they've addressed many of the dangling plotlines and gave satisfying conclusions or explanations to them. If they weren't a part of the grand plan all along, then they certainly do a good job covering that fact up. I'm not sure I've ever seen a show pull it off so well.

Completely agree, and I think a lot of the credit for this goes to the fact that the writers negotiated with the network about exactly when the series would end. They got a commitment that the show wouldn't be canceled and also gave themselves a 48 episode deadline over three seasons. It's a lot easier to figure out which questions need to be weeded out from the larger arcs and actually do it when you've got that much time to play with.

I don't know enough about BSG's developmental history to know if this was a problem they faced. How many episodes were left to be written when the end date was determined? I can be a little forgiving, but only so much. We still have all the pap that occurred between the mutiny and the finale where only small steps were taken that could have been used to flesh out and/or resolve some of the stuff that got crammed into the finale. Maybe it's a case of Moore not trusting the other writers, so only delegating minor elements to appear in their final episodes while taking on the lion's share of the resolution himself.

-MMM

One issue was, it wasn't clear for some time (I forget how long) whether there was going to be just a fourth season or a fourth and fifth season (although the combined length of the two might've come out about the same since I think SciFi wanted two shorter seasons or one longer one).

As I've said elsewhere, I've always liked this series in phases rather than seasons per se. The first season is an exception, being tight from start to finish for me. I liked the second season up through the middle; the last three episodes of Season 2; the New Caprica arc of Season 3 and probably most of the first half of the season generally; and about the first three-quarters of Season 4 plus the finale. At its worst for me, BSG was lackadaisically plotted--a few episodes lacked virtually anything like a narrative structure. Some plot lines ended up being red herrings (Saul and Six's baby); some hooks early on ended up feeling more like straitjackets (e.g., 12 models). Do I wish it would've been better? Sure. I think having four 13-episode seasons without weird delays in scheduling would've best served this show. Still and all, it was the best I've seen. Though I have dearly loved B5, BSG is richer in nearly every way, even though B5's larger story arc is much more coherent and came off largely as intended from Day One.

Id love to see a continuation of the Earth stuff

Consider:

Toasters stay roaming the galaxy in the Basestar, could come back

Instead of all humans going caveman, maybe half and half, with the other half using the tools and equipment left on the planet/ figher planes etc. I'd give that series 1.5 episodes before they're going clan war on each other!

And don't forget Head Roslin haunting Will Adama.

And whatever happened to the Cylon disease?????

Lets pitch this to Scifi!

Call it LOST, ON EARTH

I want to quote Chris Farrell here from his review of the game BSG. He expresses exactly how I feel about the show. To me BSG is the WORST Sci-Fi show ever to air on televison.

Oh yeah, and one other thing, one of the reason that the show ultimately turned me off was its one-note tone: dark. It had no emotional range and just got boring. Real people are sometimes funny and crack jokes when they're under stress. BSG characters always take themselves so excruciatingly, painfully seriously. I mention this only because playing BSG the boardgame was a rich mine of humor, and if only the show had been able to capture some of the humor we found in the game, maybe it wouldn't suck.

That is true, it's very humourless. I don't think I laughed a single time through 4 seasons of the show. At least not at the show, I've had plenty of laughs making jokes about the show. Hell, Hot Dog has become a recurring joke in every game of BSG now.

But that's fine, it's supposed to be grim, dark, and hopeless. I like that tone, and if it suddenly had a disco dancing episode or some goofy comic relief character then it wouldn't work. Farrell's comments are indicative of, I think, the most lamest and idiotic way of thinking about a TV show- that EVERYTHING that happens in these people's lives takes place on the screen. Farrell's a smart guy, but to cite the show as being somehow deficient because we don't see a scene where the characters are cracking jokes is just dumb. Can people not fill in the blanks and assume that the characters wouldn't be lighter in less tense, more day-to-day situations that _shouldn't_ be shown in the context of the show? I mean, we see these people _at work_ at in tense, stressful situations. WHY THE HELL WOULD THEY NOT BE SERIOUS?

It's like the arguments that people levy against any show where they draw in conjectured out-of-script stuff to complain about what actually happens on screen. It makes ZERO sense to do that, and it makes me think people have no imagination and just want to be shown EVERYTHING.

But that's fine, it's supposed to be grim, dark, and hopeless. I like that tone, and if it suddenly had a disco dancing episode or some goofy comic relief character then it wouldn't work. Farrell's comments are indicative of, I think, the most lamest and idiotic way of thinking about a TV show- that EVERYTHING that happens in these people's lives takes place on the screen. Farrell's a smart guy, but to cite the show as being somehow deficient because we don't see a scene where the characters are cracking jokes is just dumb. Can people not fill in the blanks and assume that the characters wouldn't be lighter in less tense, more day-to-day situations that _shouldn't_ be shown in the context of the show? I mean, we see these people _at work_ at in tense, stressful situations. WHY THE HELL WOULD THEY NOT BE SERIOUS?

It's like the arguments that people levy against any show where they draw in conjectured out-of-script stuff to complain about what actually happens on screen. It makes ZERO sense to do that, and it makes me think people have no imagination and just want to be shown EVERYTHING.

Farrell is not doing what you say at all. Farrell simply points out the truth that the show does not entertain and is boring. The acting is the worst on the planet.

The actors that posed for the game "Last Night on Earth" are Oscar winners compared to those emotional drained fools on BSG.

the*mad*gamer wrote:

Farrell is not doing what you say at all. Farrell simply points out the truth that the show does not entertain and is boring. The acting is the worst on the planet.

He didn't say that, and the opinions you've projected onto his are wrong.

-MMM

Farrell is not doing what you say at all. Farrell simply points out the truth that the show does not entertain and is boring. The acting is the worst on the planet.

So everybody that liked the show- including the largest female viewership of an SF show ever- were all bored and not entertained?

Anyway, Farrell is specifically citing how the "characters take themselves too seriously", which isn't even possible since they're characters, and he also compares them to real people, who have lives that aren't dictated by a screenplay or performance. He's doing EXACTLY what I said.

So everybody that liked the show- including the largest female viewership of an SF show ever- were all bored and not entertained?

Please cite your source for this

Nevermind. I found it

Recently declared as "the most feminist show on TV" by Elle Magazine, Battlestar scored its best-ever female audience to date, with 606,000 women 18-49 tuning in. The show was the #3 cable program in primetime among F25-54s and #4 among F18-49s.

Didn't realize Barnes and Octavian were such feminists. But I guess they got sucked in as well as a lot of men did with the feminization of America. Also helps to explain Barnes pink cell phone! HA!

Women couldn't deal with the high level of Kirk's testosterone, with him sleeping with all the aliens and it seems they wanted Kirk to apologize for being a man.

Then the next step was to feminize Picard on the next generation by having him play a flute. But he was still a too bit too manly, after all he still drank Romulan ale.

Now we come to BSG, the most feminist show on TV.

I will stick with the A Team and Classic Trek

BSG= Designing Women in Space

Michael Barnes wrote:

That is true, it's very humourless. I don't think I laughed a single time through 4 seasons of the show.

"Bitch stole my ride" was pretty funny ... but you have to go way back for that one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLN8JUta-m8