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BSG: Return of the King

I know I’ve been slack and not kept up with the last stretch of episodes. Of the three between “No Exit” and “Daybreak”, I really liked “Someone to Watch Over Me” and was underwhelmed by “Islanded in the Stream of Stars”. I’ll probably go re-watch the former and hopefully review it, while glossing over the others.

But seeing as it was the finale, I don’t think I can delay writing something about “Daybreak”. Possible spoilers after the jump.I’m not sure this was a particularly fitting ending for what I consider one of the best science fiction TV shows in years. Even given its history as a human drama instead of a purely military sci-fi fan blitz, it’s far too soppy and barely pays lip service to its genre and history.

While perhaps providing interesting perspective on the history of the characters concerned, the flashback sequences in Part 1, they didn’t really speak to the immediate plot. After three and a half years, I would like to think I sufficiently understand the motivations of the main cast in any series.

The main action of exodus from Galactica and preparations for invading the Cylon colony are mundane but necessary for us to get to the climax: attacking the colony and retrieving Hera. The invasion sequence is great. Plenty of space action, plenty of ground fighting, and a return to the Opera House first seen on Cobol back in season 1.

Then we get to the final confrontation. I liked the inversion presented: the human forces attack the heart of the cylon colony, only to have the final confrontation in the heart of their own fortress — Galactica‘s CIC. There, the final scene of the Opera House sequence plays out.

Baltar preaches a sermon about how everything has been driven by an unseen (perhaps holy) force. There are too many unexplainable coincidences for it to be anything else, apparently.

Cavil negotiates with the humans and Final Five. Everybody seems to be getting what they want until Galen learns that Tory was the one that flushed his wife, Calli, out an airlock. He interrupts the transfer to kill Tory, resulting in a lot of shooting.

Cavil commits suicide, and Starbuck uses the cylon music to jump Galactica to a planet — our Earth, at the dawn of humanity.

Up until this point, I was going with the flow, but was bugged out with how neatly everything seems to fit. I understand that the narrative requires everything to fit together, but Baltar hadn’t sufficiently developed from a cynical exploiter of people’s hopes to full-on prophet of the angels to be convincing. Also, I’m not sure why Galen would kill Tory on the spot. He certainly hadn’t been angsting over Calli for quite some time.

Anyway, after arriving on Earth, we are treated to an interminable series of “going to settle down here” scenes. Again, I understand the need to wrap things up, but it’s boring and more than a little mundane. Personally, I thought that the establishment of a high-tech civilisation a-la Atlantis could link to the Greek motif in the BSG mythology, and also set things up for a new series.

Anyway, that’s it. What did you guys think of it all?

4 replies on “BSG: Return of the King”

I have my own thoughts of course, and I imagine that I may get around to writing them.

“Baltar hadn’t sufficiently developed from a cynical exploiter of people’s hopes to full-on prophet of the angels to be convincing” -> Well, I’m not sure. I think that it’s a mistake to view Baltar -too- simply. He’s been capable of believing in higher forces while simultaneously cynically exploiting other people for -years- now. He’s a conflicted character – villainous not because he’s evil, but because he fails his higher nature.

I have a theory about why Head-Six stuck with this particular guy that doesn’t fall back simply to “Destiny!” but I need to wrangle it into a more coherent form first. 🙂

“Also, I’m not sure why Galen would kill Tory on the spot. He certainly hadn’t been angsting over Calli for quite some time.” -> Galen has barely had his emotions under control for months – he’s been extremely erratic and prone to impulsive, emotional action. And even before Calli’s death and his self-discovery, Galen has shown that he was capable of sudden, violent rage.

“Personally, I thought that the establishment of a high-tech civilisation a-la Atlantis could link to the Greek motif in the BSG mythology, and also set things up for a new series.” -> I disagree. I think that the series needed an -ending-, something that unequivocally said “The story of these people is over.” There needed to be resolution. Cycles of history are one thing; the possibility of Lee Adama doin’ stuff on the Atlantean High Council… eh, I prefer him as a wanderer.

There will be prequel-type new series, anyway. Plenty of room for that.

James’s last blog post..Wednesday

Your points regarding Baltar and Galen are valid. It is unfair of me to dismiss several years of character development, but I do feel that this ending was somewhat rushed. I haven’t had that sense of building tension, in the same way that previous climaxes were constructed. The last few episodes have been more… depressed and introspective, and this lack of drive had an effect on the way I blinkered my view of the finale.

The resolution phase didn’t seem like enough of an ending. In the same way people complained about how Jackson’s RotK never seemed to end, I just couldn’t muster the energy to care about how the fleet (and the characters that I had a lot of attachment to) would just fade away and meld into my own ancient history.

Maybe my Atlantis idea was a bit too grand, but perhaps there was a middle ground that could somehow be explored?

I thought the last episode wrapped things up neatly and logically, even if not too interestingly. The angels were ok, although starbuck wasn’t really explained in that context. And I can’t believe Calin would committ suicide just like that, and that people would just give up technology. A crash landing on earth might have been more plausible.

I liked the angels. They are the tangible evidence of that “higher power” that guides the narrative. I kind of wish we saw more from Caprica 6’s point of view, so we can see what Angel Baltar is telling her.

A crash landing might have been more satisfactory, but I don’t know about plausible. There were plenty of working ships in that fleet.

Given how neatly everything’s been wrapped up, I can’t help but wonder what the two feature-length movies that are apparently on the cards are.

We already know that the “Caprica” TV show will be a pre-war look at the rise of the Adama family.

David’s last blog post..BSG: Return of the King

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