This is why I don't want to watch BSG, okay?

[wombat_socho]

Brad Templeton, he say: "The worst ending in the history of on-screen SF." (David Thompson)

Some chick at Suicide Girls was even more blunt.


See, here's the thing. Up to a point, I'm willing to cut people some slack on a bad ending, if the show preceding had huge hits of awesome (Deep Space 9, Moonlighting) but when you get a gigantic turd like the BSG ending, no. I'm really glad at this point I didn't watch any of the show except for the ep that probably should have been the real ending, because if I'd followed this show for five years and gotten an ending like this, I probably would have smashed my TV. Also, like the reviewers previously cited, I want God to stay out of the plot. Yes, I'm a practicing Catholic, but all the same - there's SF, there's religious fiction, and while the two can certainly mix, it's not a good idea to have YHWH or Allah or, you know, God as a character. It's hard enough trying to write stories about people who are smarter than oneself, as Charles Stross avers.

This may be a tad harsh of me, given that I didn't actually see the final episode, but let's face it, people, there's plenty of stuff in this world you don't have to experience first-hand to know that it sucks. When I was told "Oh, yeah, they just pitched all their high-tech stuff into the sun," I knew all I had to know. While you can certainly write entertaining novels about societies that for one reason or another do the Luddite thing (Joe Haldeman and David Weber both have done it) it didn't ring true to me and I hadn't even experienced all the factionalism and stuff in the previous five years.

tl;dr, Ron Moore screwed the pooch and I saved myself a lot of time not watching a good series that ended really really badly.

Comments

[qob.livejournal.com]

see, I liked the ending. I had to skip a season where it was just a huge slough... much of the series was pretty bataan death march-y to me, but I liked the end... maybe cuz it was an end

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

And that's cool. I'm not saying "Good Lord, this series stinks! Nobody watch it!" I'm saying the ending stinks and I'm not going back to watch the rest of the series. Other folks can do what they like.

[onsenmark.livejournal.com]

Hey, the end of new!BSG was better than Galactica 1980, you have to admit.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

I was in Germany when that was on, and never saw the re-runs.
If you're right, though, 1980 must have been super oogly.

[therevdrnye.livejournal.com]

Much worse than that. It was "Keep the name `Galactica' but have all the action on Earth in 1980 so we can use standard back lot shots and not spend anything on sets or scenery... or scriptwriting, for that matter."

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

Ouch. All of that might have worked except for the last part.

[therevdrnye.livejournal.com]

Concerning suicidegirl review:

ST:TNG's "All Good Things" was good?

Ow. I mean, really. It wasn't as flawed as the finale of BSG, but it wasn't good.


The review did hit several nails on the head accurately. I have no idea why Dean Stockwell's Cylon character shot himself rather than one or more of the people (Cylon and human alike) that he must have believed had somehow contrived to trick him (he was not the trusting type, and didn't have a good position from which to understand why everything suddenly went sideways...). The decision by the ENTIRE 30,000 plus survivors to abandon technology is unbelievable. I don't care if it *was* supposed to be God's will, humans supposedly have free will - and *some* of them would have refused to give up technology. And yes, the launch of the nukes - which was part of the original battle plan, but which had failed because the pilot had been killed and her craft disabled - was particularly contrived.

On the other hand, I had no problem with how Kara's story ended. It has nothing to do per se with God's will. It has a LOT to do with the original Galactica's series bible. The "Ships of Light" - which either were or were piloted by angelic beings, and who opposed the Evil One (Patrick McNee!) - were not one of the old series better ideas, but they *did* bring the dead - in that case Apollo, who was, of course, Richard Hatch - back to life after he had been struck down by Iblis, who in that story was not allowed to kill those who had not given themselves to him. I think that a lot of the new show's religious overtones were rooted in that story... in any case, Kara Thrace *died* during the 3rd season. Dead. Kaput. As in pushing up daisies. And her ship are sent back to the fleet to lead mankind to its destiny (within the scope of the show, anyway), and once she has done that, and after she has had a change to talk one more time with Apollo, he turns around and she isn't there - because in some sense she never really was.

Still, on a positive note, the finale did make the final message of BSG clear - Jimi Hendrix is God.

Crap

[therevdrnye.livejournal.com]

Last overly long sentence should start "She and her ship are sent back..."

Re: Crap

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

Duly noted...as for "All Good Things", you know what a low opinion I have of ST:TNG. (For those who don't, I basically consider the series a waste of time except for the episodes that focused on Klingons and a handful of others. So their finale wasn't great, but it didn't stink on ice like BSG's, either.)

[otherles.livejournal.com]

I thought Eric Clapton was God.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

HMQE2: "Sir Eric, what exactly is it that you do?"
Clapton: (shocked) "Er, I'm a guitar player, Your Majesty."
HMQE2: (nods) "Ah, I see." (turns to Brian May) "And you, Sir Brian. Do you also play guitar?"