Battlestar Galactica: Final Season (SPOILERS)

Wow - I am completely floored that you guys didn't like Friday's episode, which I thought was FANTASTIC in every way. I was so tense and stunned during the whole thing. Brilliant stuff. Well written, well acted, and it makes a whole lot of sense that people are just falling apart. Sick of the infighting? That's what people do. Lot's of commentary on our current situation here on Earth. Just so much good material in the episode!

Meanwhile, I understand why people wouldn't like the previous episode before this one, with Tigh and Six etc., but come on! One filler episode and you are slaying the whole show?

Seems kind of silly to me.

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Seds, don't get me wrong: What I didn't like about this episode was keeping it in the context of there only being a few episodes left. Given the way they've been hawking these final ten episodes, having a whole episode on a wayward revolution and infighting seems like a disproportionate amount of time on something that seems secondary *compared to all the huge questions they still have to answer satisfactorily in seven episodes.*

So, for me, the issue isn't so much the episode itself (I think I've said elsewhere that it's perfectly LOGICAL that the infighting would happen given what happened on Earth), but the timing and lopsidedness plot-wise ... since most of us can hear the ticking clock in the background all the time now.

If we had umpteen seasons left and we were mid-series instead of at the tail end, I am sure my view would have been more like yours. But honestly, right now I don't need to see Gaeta with bags under his eyes anymore acting bitter and taking over the ship. I GET IT, MOVE ON. Nothing to see here! Now ... show me more of this whole cylon-filled Earth thing! And what's up with two Karas? And where are they going to land? And what's up with the bad cylons who are still out there? And what about Ellen and the five? Where are their 2000 years of memories?

Oh wait -- we have to take time out to show Gaeta sneaking around behind everyone's backs to launch a revolution for a whole episode..... Be right back!

Now, if they USE this plot development to launch us into how the series might wrap up (Tigh and Adama get thrown out the airlock and land on the real Earth and then tell everyone it's great and there's this game called the Super Bowl going on down here in Florida, so hurry on down, guys!) ... THEN I will eat my words of gripage.

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Yeah, we'll have to see where this goes. It has to have a purpose. They knew when the show was ending and constructed these episodes accordingly; I doubt there's no larger point to it, even if it only ties in somewhat.

Anyway, as an episode, yes, it was very good. But moving the story forward...eh...not as much (with the caveat above, of course).

Very torn on everything. It's still a great show and I'm still going to watch, but the first two episodes this year convinced me that the ending was going to go a certain way, and that it wasn't necessarily a way that was terribly satisfying or entirely rational. I hope I'm wrong -- I sure have been before, when it comes to BSG -- but I'm having trouble pulling all the plot strands together in my head in any way that feels both consistent and interesting. I feel like we're going to get some goofy circle of life explanation that sort of whitewashes a lot of the questions we have.

I'm by no means sure of this; I'm just afraid of it.

Also, the fact that Gaeta led the revolution feels a bit odd to me. We'd better hear more about why, because as-is it feels like a bit of a 180. He can collaborate with the cylons on New Caprica, but now he's so disgusted by an alliance that he has to kill people and overthrow his commander? Really?

The only way this makes sense is if a) he's doing it out of guilt for working with the cylons before, or b) he has a larger motivation/allegiance/etc.

I'm betting on a), which fits, but at the moment they haven't given us any reason to believe it. Other than that it's the only that makes sense, I guess. If that's what's going on, and it's part of a larger character arc, and they do it right, I'll be impressed. But at the moment we're just sort of dangling in the wind with this stuff. People are just doing things, and we don't really know why or how it fits in.

Wow - You two are the only people i have run into that feel this way about the episode.

- All my friends and family thought this was one of the better episodes in the entire series.

- On TV.com, which collects reviews and has ratings for each episode, this is one of the highest rated episodes of the entire series, with a 9.7/10.

- Starbuck, Apollo, Rosalyn and Adama are all back in action, which was refreshing.

- The writing was air tight.

- Gaeta's actions absolutely and completely make sense. I thought the reasons why were covered wonderfully in the episode. They wouldn't make sense with Gaeta's character on New Caprica, but let's face it, the guy has been to hell and back since then. Betrayed, maimed, and a lot of what he trusted completely blown away. He is a completely different person at this point, and he is partially RIGHT about the alliance. I understand his actions, I just don't agree with them.

Some of these concepts can clearly be applied to Starbuck, as well.

I hate to say it, but I have trouble accepting any complaint about a show that sounds like the following:

"The show isn't going where I expected it to, so that's bad"

I mean, it's fun to speculate and stuff, and attempt to out-think the creators/writers, but haven't they gained our trust at this point with 3+ seasons of stellar material?

Come on folks, we are movie fans! Stuff like this gets resolved in two hours in films! They have plenty of time left to resolve these and other issues.

Consider this: What if they had moved right into exploring what happened to Earth, with the entire cast just swallowing an alliance? THAT would have warranted complaints, for sure. These reactions on Gaeta and Zarek's part are completely realistic, and they have been building up to some sort of coup by Zarek for a while now.

Seds, I'm not saying I have trouble with the concepts they're showing. I have trouble with how long they're showing them ... and what they're avoiding in its place.

Also, I'm on another forum where everyone seems to agree with me that this last group of episodes is not making any of us happy ... given what we've seen to this point. So it's all anecdotal at this point.

Right now, my feeling is that they had better have a GOOD reason for Earth NOT working out at ALL and taking us up and away from it so damned quickly. THAT alone has to be part of the good plot endings of the series -- and frankly, no, I don't want that to be simply that everyone's now cranky, unhappy, selfish, and looking out for Number One. The turn, while understandable, is awfully fast (in viewer time).

And with each remaining episode where they ignore the Earth questions and the Final Five questions and the Kara questions, I get increasingly concerned that they are not meaning to address any of these issues fully at all ... all in favor of taking the show back to its "we hate the toasters" days.

I LOVED those days ... but I honestly don't want to see the series end like that NOW. That was then, this is now. Bear in mind that these people are all acting logically and understandably ... reacting to a plot twist that the WRITERS imposed on us in the first place by making Earth uninhabitable.

If they did not write this plot twist for some OTHER reason, then yes, I will be disappointed.

If they wrote it so that it will dovetail in with other things and wrap things up nicely (not happily, necessarily, but accurately and satisfyingly), then I will not be disappointed. At all.

Wow, GREAT frakkin'/frackin' episode. I'm glad they seem to have swung full circle with the revolution business ... And, judging by the amazing previews of next week's episode, they're now moving into the kinds of questions and answers I've been waiting for.

Six more episodes to go!

C'mon, people... Is no one watching this show but me??

Just watched it last night. Loved it! Damn, I hope these people write another great show after this one ends! I was a bit sad to see Gaeta go, but, both those clowns totally deserved it. Great allegory on misguided righteousness, I thought.

Friday's ep totally blew my mind. It was a strong conclusion to threads that began back in season 3. I was breathless for much of the last two episodes. I don't think an actual cylon invasion could tear me away from the end of this series.

I love that after everything, we are shown the humanity in Gaeta again, and reminded that this was a person who believed he was doing right. It's one thing this show does really well: keeping the balance between good and evil fluid enough to spark serious thought.

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Review: Cabin in the Woods 8/10

Episode: "No Exit."

I just want to say that this episode has single-handedly restored my faith in the writers of this show (despite a lot of chatty exposition by three characters, Ellen, John, and Sam).

I'm going to have to watch this episode three or four times to remember it all.

I'm totally loving the religious symbolism in this show. They've referenced religion in general and specifics from various ones, but the recent surge of Christian symbology has been great.

Specifically:


That's good eatin'.

Ive just got into this and im really loving it, fair play.

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Oh, I forgot to mention that I knew it was going to be a good episode when it started off with an entirely new opening sequence.

Question: What did Ellen mean by saying she created Cavil in her father's image?

My guess is that the Organic Memory Transfer thing they talked about, which was developed by the Centurions and re-created by the Final 5, results in taking a human and putting them in a new (possibly cloned?) body. Ellen's father, I gathered/guess was the first case of a person being put in a new, synthetic body, and Ellen made the body to look like her father. Which, when you think about Cavil blackmailing Ellen into...erm... doing "the swirl" on New Caprica, is super-frakked. Ew.

What do you think she meant?

Wow. Holy exposition Batman! Talk about dense. I re-watched a number of scenes, and am going to go through this one again over the next day or so. I think I need to give it a little time before jumping in. Back soon.

Yeah, that was one helluva a freakin' trick eppy that. That my friends is why this is one of the very best Sci-Fi shows around. Very good stuff indeed. I can't believe they are going to kill this show off. Sigh...

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We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...

Well, the writers/producers/creators/whatever decided to end it after 4 seasons. I don't think it's being cancelled or anything.

I think it's probably for the best, too. These sorts of stories seem to be better when they have a set end date. I think it gets them thinking about where it's actually all going, and prevents that horrible dragging-on feeling that some shows get when they overstay their welcome. And, as much as I love BSG, I think it might rely too much on revelation and unfolding plotlines to go on forever. It's a fine line between compelling drama and soap opera.

Yeah, I've watched it a second time but still am not picking up half of what's there. I might have to sit with a notebook and pen, using the "pause" button to jot things down that are said. Crazy!

SD, I guess what puzzled me about Ellen's statement is that she's obviously referring to a human (since she made Cavil in his "image"), but she's a cylon. Who would be her "father"? The human being who first made her and/or the Final Five themselves? This is the stuff I know I missed -- those beginnings of who created whom first, etc.

Tori made light of it by saying that any time you go back far enough, it's a human's fault, but I'm unsure right now where the lines are.

And the idea of an eighth model made by the Five is interesting. Sam mentions eight, not seven. Then Ellen tells us a bit more. Daniel. But his copies were intentionally messed up by Cavil. Sounds like there are none of Daniel left, but is that so? Is this just a stray tidbit thrown at us that has no more to it? Or is there one Daniel left somewhere?

And of course there is now this "colony" where the machinery and technology to recreate the resurrection abilities exist. But Ellen won't willingly give up that information -- is that right? Which is why Cavil is now going to slice open her brain and retrieve her memories of how to do that?

Gotta watch it a few more times....

PW ... Let's hold out hope for their prequel series, "Caprica," then.