Battlestar Galactica Final Thoughts

March 23, 2009

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.

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Posted by Chad Payne

Fresh Writing for TV

February 18, 2008

Well, finally, the writer’s strike is over. I haven’t heard what the final arrangements were, but I hope that the writers all get their piece of the pie. They deserve it.

I don’t really follow a lot of television, and I can’t stand any of the reality shows. But I am looking forward to fresh episodes of the few that I do watch, such as Shark and 24.

My favorite, must-see, “please shut-up and stay out of the room when it’s on” series is Battlestar Galactica. After an incredible start to the third season, the rest of the season lost momentum. But with this fourth and final season, the journey should be pretty amazing, as all of the mysteries are solved.

Speaking of 70s and 80s series revivals, I have pretty much lost interest in Bionic Woman. Same basic story each week, and not much to care about in the characters. The same is true of the new Knight Rider sequel. I caught about the last two-thirds of it last night, and it was pretty lame, in my opinion. KITT was pretty cool, but the problem was the the rest of the acting was about as robotic as the car itself.

By the way, I didn’t know until this morning that Val Kilmer did KITT’s voice. Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

Well, since 24 has been pushed back to next year, I guess I’ll just hang on until Galactica starts up again in April. With humanity’s fate in the balance, it should be an interesting year.

What are some of your favorite TV shows, and why? What are you most looking forward to seeing new episodes of?

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Posted by Chad Payne

What If?

May 19, 2007

If there is one thing that I cannot stand, it is closed-mindedness. You know, when we think we fully comprehend the situation and it is entirely evident to those around us that we don’t even have a clue? It’s sort of funny when we think about how we engage in such attitudes and behavior in order to give the appearance of competence and comprehension, but in the end we only make ourselves look like cocky, closed-minded nincompoops. (Don’t shout me down when I’m preaching good!)

If you have known me for any length of time, you know that I am a fan of science fiction. I am a sci-fi junkie, in fact. Star Wars started it all for me in 1977, and I never fully recovered. Where other guys sit around cheering for football or NASCAR, I am closely following the latest challenges besetting the ragtag fleet carrying the human race to a place called Earth on Battlestar Galactica. (That’s the new one, not the orginal-yet-campy version with Lorne Green).

Why do I enjoy science fiction so much? Well, yes, the special effects are really cool. Like, did you see when the spaceships first emerged in the skies in Independence Day? Whoa, dude! That was awesome! But I digress….

Actually, one thing that makes sci-fi so intriguing to me (a term I picked up from Mr. Data on Star Trek:TNG) is that science fiction allows us to ask the question, “What if…” In fact, the sci-fi channel highlights the letter “i” in “sci” and “f” in “fi” in order to ask “if” every time the network offers it’s logo.

For example, what if humanity continues to rely upon computers and technology, developing increasingly advanced machines that eventually learn to think for themselves? It’s a very real issue in today’s world, and it is one that has been explored in the realms of science fiction for years, via Terminator, the Matrix, and, most recently, the aforementioned Galactica.

Fanciful questions, indeed, it may seem, but when was the last time you asked, “What if…?” When did you last allow yourself to consider possibilities that had previously been outside of your frame of reference? When was the last time you allowed yourself simply to dream of the impossible, or at least, the improbable? When did you last turn the prism a little bit so that you could see the light reflected in a whole new way?

If you and I are going to have any kind of an impact upon this world around us, we must be willing to ask “what if.” We must be willing to lay aside our excuses, cast off all blame and bitterness, and – dog-gone it – get up and do something!

What are your dreams? What would you do if time and money were not issues in your life? Get up and go after those dreams! Live your life! Live it!

To quote William Wallace in Braveheart (not science fiction, but a great movie nonetheless…) “Every man dies. Not every man truly lives.” What a great quote! I have made the decision that I am going to live every day until I die. Not merely exist to suck air, but truly LIVE.

We may sit around on our stump all of our lives waiting for Ed McMann to show up at our door and make us rich. Well, chances are that he ain’t coming. Let’s begin to dream a little bit. Let’s spread our wings. While everyone else is content to waddle around on the ground, you and I were made to fly. So take to the air and soar!

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Posted by Chad Payne