Re: The end of Battlestar Galactica.
Basically, because I'm very cool on the finale specifcally and BSG in particular (I like it, but it's frustratingly inconsistent) I'm going to offer the following for consideration, because really, how much more of a man without a country can I be?
When all the talking is done about the quality of BSG as a series and how very necessary that something like it existed to move SF TV out of the doldrums it had been left in when the Star Trek franchise quit trying around 1999, it wold behoove that for all the good it did and for all the occasional good it was . . .
. . .It wasn't perfect. Far from it.
If "Daybreak" is remembered for anything, it should be that BSG half got where it was going, although for every "bold" and "daring" thing they did, they did a dozen things that sabotaged themselves (the lack of coherent forward led to bits both "ropey" and "embarrassing") and the fact that not all that much of a price was paid in the immediate term and in terms of the potential future, for all the talk of "breaking cycles"--he said, trying to avoid major spoilers--everything was presented as inevitably unfolding again and again, which kind of makes you wonder "well, why bother?"
And c'mon--the robot montage at the end was wrongheaded and incredibly stupid.
So remember BSG as being good--because on its best days, it was. But also remember how it could disappear up its own rear end whenever spiritualism (human or Cylon) came to the fore, how it seemed very ad hoc and sloppy at times even when we were assured They Have A Plan, how the creators of the show introduced the now-chic notion that even if an episode is edited into a less than coherent package for broadcast, it'll all be OK if you watch the DVD cut, the deleted scenes, webisodes and consult the commentary (This is, perhaps the single most destructive thing wrought on serial TV in general, as it liberates the creators from having to put what should be in to be understandable in the first place because hey, they'll buy the DVD anyway and we can fix it then. Maybe.) and for all its alleged "edginess," for all the "chances" it took, for all it went the opposite way from "traditional" SF television . . .
SPOILER: The cute kid ended up being the most important character at the end of the show. They just didn't have a robot dog this time.
And there's nothing particularly "daring" about doing something that hackneyed, is there?
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I don't think the auxiliary material was that important; the "Face of the Enemy" webisodes in season 4 gave Gaeta a stronger motivation for launching the Mutiny, but it's not as if you don't get his perspective in the actual episodes.
The only time I can recall BSG faltering specifically due to deleted scenes was Starbuck's post-Cain subplot where she couldn't get Roslin and Adama to green-light a rescue for Sam and the others; it was important enough to appear in the Previouslies despite never having been screened.
I'm honestly out of comments re: the finale. It was disappointing, it did a few things right and quite a few things wrong, and I'm not sure how it's going to affect my view of the series overall until I give the whole thing a second look (and that won't be happening for a while).
Hm, seriously? I heard more nonsense from BSG fans telling me if I'd just sit down and watch the deleted scenes and the webisodes and listen to Moore's commentaries that all my questions would be answered.
I believe my response was "The hell with that--I have up having reading lists once I got my degree. It's a TV show, not a college course."
THAT DROVE ME NUTS. When that showed up in the "previously on" that was about the time I gave up on the show (that and the end of Season 2, which I thought wouldn't ever be topped for arbitrary plot twists that would piss me off. How wrong I was) Again--it's a TV show, not a college course, and to expect fans to chase after all the place where you swept stuff under the rug, man . . .screw that.
I'm still rather annoyed by it, but more the way people keep hailing it as a complete and utter work of genius and trampling those who question, even in the slightest, any of the (*ahem*) logic that went into the finale, or, upon reflection, the whole series.
No, I'm pretty sure that's not true. Hell, in some cases I found I prefer the original - the extended cut of "Pegasus" actually had Cain's lieutenant raping Sharon, so, you know, I'd rather not. :)
I'd say there's a limit to what creators can expect from their audiences with regards to additional material. It should be a supplement, not required to make basic sense of the story.
You're referring to the discovery of New Caprica? I have to admit, I didn't mind it that much; in fact, I found it odd that it took them so long to find a habitable planet that wasn't Earth, because granted, they're rare, but if you could have twelve life-supporting colonies in a single solar system, how hard could they be to find?
That's the way with any fandom, though. I'm sure there's no shortage of people calling for Moore's head either. I try to stay as objective and fair as possible, because - like I said - there were still some things about the finale that I liked. It wasn't a totally negative experience.
I just refused on a matter of principle, really--if you can't present a coherent product from the beginning, the problem isn't mine, it's theirs.
The problem is, I think they've already won that battle and people gleefully stroll off and absorb it all. I can only guess this magpie-like need to grab everything is a tendency that infects collectors of every stripe . . .
Well, more the scene that was on the "previously on" bit more than the New Caprica stuff, but . . .I found the whole New Caprica detour to really be nothing I was interested in--a thudding allegory to current events--I could tell where it was generally going from the moment they got started, and I just didn't care all that much to watch them plod through it.
Well, if there are people calling for his head they're a vocal minority at best from what I can tell. I dunno, for me, I've pretty much just checked out of the debate, myself.
I guess it comes down to whether or not you're expected to access the supplemental material or whether it's just a bonus. I mean, for the purposes of the fourth season, "Razor" isn't really necessary either - that doesn't make it any less fun.
I'm told "Razor" is actually pretty good. It's in the dregs of my Netflix queue, so I'll see what I think there--as BSG lost a lot of its energy for me at the end, it might be where it went.
Well, when the creator's shrug their shoulders and say "OK, this'll count in terms of characterisation, we don't have to do it in the actual shows" that's what makes my blood boil.
It really is - by focusing on the story of the Pegasus, it manages to isolate everything great about the series while pushing out the more amorphous elements (well, aside from a bit of Hybrid babble).
Yes, I can certainly see how that sort of shortcut would be frustrating, especially if there's no visible reason for that material not to be included in the actual core narrative.
I'm looking forward to this more and more. The more spiritual bilge that BSG wallowed in, the more put off I was. It was like when Pink Floyd built an actually wall between themselves and the audience, really. :)
It's a breach of the author/audience contract, I think, and that kind of thing is a surer way to alienate you from your audience than anything I know.
Looking at "Razor"... I just don't get it. They went from having Adama fight a Centurion in mid-air as they plummet towards a planet to God's Love in less than a year. "What The Hell, Show?" indeed.
That's what I'm talking about. It's not like BSG did action poorly or anything, so why the hell did they seem so reticent about going for it at times?
To be fair, the relative rarity of full-out battle sequences made things like the Battle of New Caprica or the Colony raid all the more exciting. :)
True, but there are times when you need to bite the bullet and pull the trigger . . .or vice versa. :)
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