Musings of the SciFiPastor

Some folks have asked me what I thought about the BSG finale.  I’ve had to take a few days to process it, but I think I have at last settled upon some opinions.

First off, I love the show, and I am going to miss it.  Sure, it’s just a show, and yes, its fiction.  Nonetheless, this series is probably the greatest science fiction experience ever to grace the television screen.  It was more than entertainment.  Like a lot of science fiction, it enabled us to look at our post 9/11 world through different eyes.  And after four years, these are characters that many of us care about.

Overall, I liked it.  Overall.  I have some gripes, but first here is what I did like [SPOILERS AHEAD]:

1. I have to pat myself on the back to say that I predicted the remnants of the fleet would settle on a planet, call it Earth, and become our progenitors.  I just didn’t think so many in the fleet would survive.
2. The first hour was some of the knee-slappin’ awe-inspiring best space battle special effects EVER on television.  VERY tense.  Loved the Galactica ramming into the cylon colony to unload the marines.  Galactica’s final jump which crippled her and nearly blew her apart was also sad but awesome.
3. I liked Baltar’s final character arc.  He finally acted selflessly and heroically.  The scene at the end where he embraced his heritage and implicitly forgave his father was very touching.
4. It was good that Laura Roslin succumbs to her illness in the end.  I love her character, but it added some gravitas to her story arc and to the outcome of the series.
5. Driving the fleet ships into the sun once the colonists were offloaded somehow felt poetic.  It had a finality to it that added weight to the ending.  Pretty much eliminated the possibility of a trilogy movie deal, as well.
6. I liked seeing the old-style centurions again.  And it was good that they gave the remaining centurions the baseship and allowed them to pursue their own destiny elsewhere.
7. Finally, I liked the closing shot that implies we may be continuing the cycle in our world today with the creation of robotics and artificial intelligence.  Good, sobering thought to leave us with…. All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again…..

By the way, did you catch the cameo of Ron Moore (BSG’s creator) at the newsstand in the final scene?

My gripes about the finale have to do with the way many of the loose ends were tied up (or not tied up, as the case may be).  The hook on the previews said, “You shall know the truth…” but how much of the truth did we really learn?  What did what we learn fit with what we already knew?

More on that tomorrow.