And so Battlestar Galactica, one of television’s greatest shows, has come to an end, signing off with a rousing finale that highlighted both how wonderful and how frustrating it could be. The series was as maddeningly imperfect as its characters but at its best it was among the most resonant and meaningful works of art I’ve seen in any medium.
From the miniseries that launched this reimagining of the 70s cheese-fest of the same name through the midway point of Season Two, Galactica delivered at a level previously uncharted in the sci-fi genre. Viewers expecting cardboard-cutout heroes and villains and rubber-suit aliens were instead met with brutal morality tales and deeply flawed protagonists. It was often tough to watch, but always rewarding.
The series faltered a bit after its high point (the epic ‘Pegasus’ arc), hitting peaks and valleys over the rest of its run. Much of it was pure genius, especially the New Caprica episodes, which put our heroes in the role of insurgents who resorted to suicide bombing their occupiers. These morally complex story lines played off real life events in ways other “reality based” shows wouldn’t dream.
At other times, as in much of the first half of Season Four, the writers seemed to lose their way, forcing characters into storylines that didn’t quite fit and stretching thin plot points over multiple episodes. I was particularly upset with the treatment of my two favorite characters, Kara “Starbuck” Thrace and Gaius Baltar, over the last two seasons. Fortunately some, though not all, of those missteps were remedied by the finale.
I’ll remember the show best for those characters and the other wonderful people (and cylons) who graced my screen. Galactica did particularly well by its female characters, giving meaty roles (and often more than one) to Mary McDonnell, as the tough-as-nails president of the colonies; Grace Park, as both the sleeper agent Boomer and the cylon with a heart of gold Athena; Tricia Helfer, as a neverending parade of Number Sixes; and not least Katee Sackhoff, who assumed the role of hotshot fighter pilot Starbuck (played by a man in the original series) and turned it into one of television’s most memorable portrayals.
I won’t go into details of the final season or the season finale itself. The show ended on a high note, with the latter half of Season Four featuring a powerful mutiny arc as tense as anything since ‘Pegasus’ and an explanation of the cylon mythology that actually made sense. The final episode was packed with action, pathos and even humor and, though it did falter in places and wrap some threads up in ways I’m not thrilled with, it was powerful, poignant and satisfying.
I’ll leave the last words to Entertainment Weekly‘s Marc Bernardin, who wrote a recap of the season finale that I agree with almost to the letter. [Note: Don’t read the recap until you’ve finished the series, as it obviously contains heavy spoilers, but this quote is spoiler-free]
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it here: I don’t begrudge Ron Moore his recalcitrance in ending Battlestar Galactica. It must be a simultaneously hard and joyous thing, making your way to the end of such a storytelling journey. Do I wish I’d gotten more answers? Sure. While not as reliant upon mystery and riddles as Lost, Battlestar Galactica had its share of lore, of arcana, of threads that seemed to be attached to the end of something larger. And we got a lot of those answers — that Cylon episode earlier this season delivered the goods (and The Plan promises to deliver more) — but there are still some that nag.
But some questions get answered, and some just lead to other questions. Such is life, such is Battlestar Galactica.
It’s hard to summarize four years of a television show. It just is. It’s hard to take in more than 80 hours of television and make any kind of real judgment about it. There’s just so much to consider: the high points and the low, the nooks and the crannies, the roads taken and those left untraveled. BSG has been, for me, a revelatory experience. I grew up on science fiction and watched as Hollywood slowly knee-jerked and focus-grouped it into a shadow of its former self. Ron Moore, David Eick, their stellar writing staff, their multifaceted ensemble, and their nimble production team have rekindled my love for the genre. They’ve shown me that passion, dedication, and talent, all in service of a man with a vision, can work wonders.
To borrow from the original Big Willie, Battlestar Galactica was a television show; take it for all in all, I shall not look upon its like again.
Meet Me In Montauk 
We’re only a couple of episodes into the last Battlestar season, and I must admit it’s been a slow and tough reentry into a show I once considered a favorite. I agree that there is most always satisfaction that comes from watching this show – even when there isn’t always entertainment. The thing is… I want both. And, yes, BG has delivered some rousingly entertaining episodes, even whole seasons, during its tenure. But there have also been some undeniably, unnecessarily grim episodes. I’m not suggesting, of course, that characters should break out into song in the midst of mutiny and the prospect of complete annihilation, but cracking a joke or two would certainly make them more realistic 😉 Too often over the past few seasons, it seems the show has opted for INTENSITY for the sake of intensity, when a subtle and understated approach would work just as well. Sometimes that heavy-handedness irks me to no end. Other times, I just accept it as part of the BG universe.
Regardless, I look forward (somewhat 🙂 ) to watching the rest of this season, so we can engage – on and off blog – in a more complete dissection of what the series ultimately got right and where it went wrong.
Relentless intensity and grimness I can take. I don’t recall a lot of humor in my favorite episodes of the series (though Baltar has always been good for some laughs). I’m bothered by character motivations that seem forced and poorly conceived subplots.