'Battlestar Galactica': The end

At the moment, I can't think of a show that has gone off the air recently with more pleas from viewers to continue and reverence from its creators, critics and backers than "Battlestar Galactica."

Ron Moore was right about seeing all three hours of the finale together.  Like a long-distance runner, it seemed to take the first hour to hit its stride.  Once it did though, it broke out into an Usain Bolt-like gallop, stretching its neck out at the finish line before taking its time to cool down for the last 20 minutes or so.

We talked last week about how we already knew who the characters were after so many seasons, and how flashbacks were possibly unnecessary.  I still stand by that in terms of when we got to see their backstories, but viewing everything in its entirety, you can appreciate the relationships and understand the decisions made throughout the series with much more clarity.  Anders' quest for perfection, Adama's battle against retirement, Lee's and Kara's immediate and forbidden attraction, and Laura's loss and eventual resurgence all played into who they became later. Mary McDonnell said that watching the finale made her want to go back and watch the whole series now because it created an awareness that may not have been previously there.  True.

SPOILER ALERT for those who don't get that this is a recap and commentary on the finale!

So, picking up from last week's episode, now is when the running begins. After giving the presidency to lawyer Romo Lampkin, and giving the fleet to new Admiral Hoshi, the battle for Hera and humanity unfolds on three dramatic fronts.  Adama, Tigh and the Galactica crew jump right into point-blank view of the Cylon base star, and each begin to fire.  The space fight, with all of the damage that seemed to have been inflicted by both sides, was spectacular to say the least.  The effects people went above and beyond with a cinematic quality worthy of the "Star Treks" and "Star Warses" on the big screen.

After Anders, who was hooked up in the CIC, successfully got the other hybrid controlling the Cylon base star to stop firing, Cylon raiders and vipers went at it as well.  All the while navigating through an astroid belt and mindful of a black hole nearby.  That's just ... wow.

Galactica used itself as a weapon, ramming into the base ship.  Awesome. Lee Adama and Starbuck led separate physical assault teams onto the base star with Helo and Athena and friendly Cylon centurions.  The battles between the different types of Cylons were pretty comical.  And, along the way, Boomer came through.  She killed a No. 4 Cylon (Simon) and helped give Hera back to Helo and Athena.  Noble. Then Athena shot her, and she deserved to be shot, and she knew it.

The visions.  Finally, the Opera House is revealed.  As the boarding party is ambushed, a scared Hera flees after Helo is shot.  I wondered if this was the end for Helo as he pushed Athena away and told her to go get Hera.  Laura Roslin, who had given herself massive amounts of drugs to stay effective during the battle, got a vision of Hera being lost, so she ran after her.  As she and Athena searched for Hera, images of the little girl and Roslin and Athena cut between the base star and the opera house.  Laura thinks she has her, but again, Hera runs.

In steps Six and Baltar -- yes, he stayed behind and they fought side by side.  They finally recognize that each of them sees a mental image of the other, but don't have time to dwell. Both are astonished to see Hera just standing in front of them.  As Six, Athena and Roslin converge, Six is first to grab Hera, and she and Baltar retreat with her.

I got a bit lost here, but it's probably a mystical lost.  The duo stepped through an airlock, and suddenly they were on the CIC.  Won't try to explain it, but it happened, and when they arrived, they looked up to see the final five standing there in glowing glory. Yay, it's over! D'oh! In steps Cavil as he grabs Hera.

Now, two things happen that were out of character, but fit perfectly.  Not so much out of character, but against what we've known.  Baltar, through his gift of flowery speech, manages to say the right things about the Cylons and humans needing each other, sharing, or ultimately dying off.  The question of who God favors most is brought up, and Baltar says He doesn't have any favorites.  Cavil buys it all, and a final truce is born.

Though it soon shatters.  The final five agree to give the Cylons resurrection, but they have to mind-meld through Cylon goo in order to share the data.  Two minds who shouldn't mix, Galen and Tory, do.  When Galen finds out Tory killed Cally, he severs the connection, and kills Tory.  Galen Tyrol was always, to me, the steady heart of the ship, and to see him go straight instinctual -- wow, but ultimately understandable.

This causes panic, and shots ring out once more.  The truce is ended, but because of a slip of Racetrack's hand aboard a Raptor with nukes, the Cylon base ship is destroyed. Galactica needs to go quickly as asteroids batter them.  Starbuck has to jump the ship, but to where?  To the coordinates provided by the mysterious song.

Which turns out to be Earth, or a planet with Africa- and Australia-shaped continents.  Make of it what you will.

After all that action, a slower, drawn-out ending plays out.  Those under Adama decide to forsake technology, and allow Anders to pilot the ships into the sun.  The group seeds the planet, setting up small civilizations in different parts of the world, eventually agreeing to help the tribal natives already on the planet. Starbuck disappears (literally).  Lee wants to explore. Galen wants solitude. Helo and Athena want to teach Hera to hunt and other things.  Ellen and Tigh just want to be together. Six and Baltar will be farmers. Laura Roslin finally dies as she and Adama sightsee on the new world, and Adama buries her next to where he decides to build a house.  The 150,000-year jump (and Ron Moore cameo) didn't really help us know exactly what 'head Baltar' and 'head Six' are (keepers of fate? angels?), but it at least ended with a notion that what the "BSG" characters did affected future change probably for the better.

Sorry for the length, but it was a two-hour special, and it was the end of an epic series whose scope went far beyond the Sci Fi Channel audience.  I watched it at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences with a few hundred "BSG" fans, media, cast and crew.  Mary McDonnell spoke and was eloquent.  Edward James Olmos spoke and was inspirational. Ron Moore spoke and was emotional.  Eloquent, inspirational and emotional are not words generally associated with science fiction programs, and I watch and love a lot of them.  The other elements of action, space travel and advanced technology etc. are present, but it's the eloquence of the storytelling, the inspirational tone of the show, and the contemporary emotional range of the characters and situations that will, like Olmos said in a speech preceding the screening, probably never be matched by anything those associated with the show ever produce.  Lots remained unanswered ... but I didn't care. There were standing ovations for the cast, writers, crew and even network executives by a crowd that could've been jaded by having seen every nook and cranny of the show.  I haven't felt a sense of loss like this (not only from TV but from society) since "Buffy" ended, so here's another ovation from me.

-- Jevon Phillips

P.S.  Among the crowd in the after-mingling, I spied Magda Apanowicz, a Canadian actress who will play Lacy Rand in the new "Caprica" series.  Her enthusiasm and reverence toward writer Jane Espenson, and later toward Grace Park, were fun to see.  Hopefully that show can stay afloat, and not sink in the wake of "BSG" expectations.  Good luck!

-- Presenting the president: Mary McDonnell
-- Katee Sackhoff on the final days of 'Battlestar Galactica'
-- Review: 'Battlestar Galactica' finale
-- Edward James Olmos: Send UN troops to Mexico!
-- Poll: Does 'Battlestar Galactica' deserve the Emmy for best drama series?
-- James Callis on 'Battlestar Galactica' finale: 'You can't be disappointed'
-- What's next for the cast? | Ron Moore speaks ... and speaks

Photos: Sci Fi Channel

Comments

[Laura]

Howmanoid, I couldn't agree more! It was like they took any hope or redemtive quality of 'the nature of god' and threw it to the dogs! There was no holy spirit, the essence of what was. We get to our future with no sign of any of the characters..and everyone at the pit-fall and fear of all human condition, being forgotten, no longer 'apart of the plan', as if our beloved characters and their baggage were toxic, suggesting we coould be too! Having inner six almost mock the entire epic the characters fought so hard for. Either having the characters as they were over time come across the cabin and earth maybe kept Laura alive a little longer would have surfised, or in the future seeing Romo walk Jake across broadway, Tori buying flowers, and Adama reading the tabloit would have lifted the spirit...being truer to quantum mechanics as the universe manifests, parallels itself through dementions of time, proving to us there was something bigger, no technology involved. They didn't have to be the same or know of anything, but just being there would have been the comfort I needed for our modern day crossroads, making the inners (baltar/six) not a satire, but a hopeful truth.

[Jae]

What a cheesy and overblown way to end one of the great dramatic series of all time.

[Vincent J. Mesa]

Hey Mustangace, are the Sarah Conners Chronials going to be renewed for another season by Fox network?

[Kevin]

Laura, you missed the point. The WHOLE THING is about the redemption of humanity by God and his angels. And that this pattern has been repeating for millenia and will continue until we get it right (though Six did say she thought we might get it right this time).
The best part is that this echoed parts of the original series (only done MUCH better). In the first series, Starbuck DID die and was "resurrected" by beings he could only describe as angels. And I loved the moment when Kara vanished. She was only there because God needed her to be there. Hard to realize that Ron Moore STARTED with the angel idea 5 years ago, knew that Baltar and Six were seeing them, guiding situations to the final showdown. WOW
I thought the whole thing rocked. If Ron Moore is keeping control of "Caprica" you can be sure I'll watch it also.

[Sheldon]

Note to Brannon Braga and Rick Berman:

This is how you end a frakkin' TV series! You morons!

[Adam Rote]

I could not have summed up the show any better then the Quote "I haven't felt a sense of loss like this (not only from TV but from society) since "Buffy" ended, so here's another ovation from me".
thanks for putting the emotions & BSG ride into words for me.

Artist
Adam Scott Rote

[Michael D. Kennedy]

I think the line "This has happened before and will happen again." is perfect for the show! It was not a deep plot line, it was confession by Moore knocking off "Gall Force" to end Battlestar Galactica. I really don't think I am stretching too much with the idea either.

The details of the story are a little different check it out and see if this story arch sounds familiar?

Gall Force was little '80's Japanese animation ditty about two scientifically advanced space fairing races locked in a cycle of war and destruction. They battle for millennia, dooming them to extinction after there home worlds are destroyed. The surviving members of the humanoid race (solely female yep no guys), hatch a plan move and start again in a new solar system. Yep you guessed it, that would be our solar system, say a few hundred thousand years ago?

So on the way they battle their enemy, who are not machines but rather something more like a Blue whale with arms and legs. During this little Armageddon there is backstory involving the races trying to genetical merge to try and procreate and maybe end their hatred of each other. Well somewhere in middle act two of this masterpiece "the plan' works and one of the heroines of the story gets pregnant. "The first successful union of 'so and so' and 'blah and blah." sound familiar? This offspring would be "The key to both of their survival," hmmm... let me think? Where did I hear that?

They battle, they sacrifice, people die trying to get to their new home world. The story diverges a little their hybrid is the first "male human." And after a little growth spurt winds up being stranded with a female here on Earth and start their new careers as Adam and Eve give rise to humanity. Meanwhile the rest of their species continue their dance to oblivion after the relocation plan goes south. Leaving no trace of their existence. The is no direct reference to "God" but there is a strong them on "Fate" permeating the story.

In the epilogue, the movie cuts to "'80's modern day" show that race had survived. With cameos of the characters as their "descendants." Battlestar pulled the same story device to end BSG with angel Baltar and Six.

But hey maybe it's just me.

[Don Amidon]

The boarding party (with Hera) had returned to Galactica when Helo was shot and Hera ran off.

Roslyn, Six, and Baltar were chasing Hera around Galactica, not the basestar.

[Bored]

Worst ending ever. Moore just got lazy. The filler (Caprica days) proves Ron ran out of ideas. BTW, what exactly was the point of (a) the big lead up to the Opera House, (b) Starbuck vanishing (other than Moore not being able to explain the story line), (c) the point of the final five--these buggers live thousands of years to come actoss as fools, given to emotions? THIS IS THE WORST EPISODE EVER

[Grr]

Awesome show, but that was the worst most anticlimactic ending of all time, ever, period. In my several decades of being alive, this has to be the worst ending for a series, I can't emphasize that enough. Two thumbs down on what could of have been a great ending, thanks Moore, I wasted my time watching the show.

[steve newman]

WOW ! , over the last few years i was loving and hating BSG, i was a hugh fan of the original as a kid and when i heard that they were remakeing it of coarse i wanted to check it out and i admit i didnt really like the mini series because it wasnt the series i remembered but as the series came i began to love it and hate some of it but let me tell you , you couldnt end a series any better. buffy ended well , friends sucked , and many others fell apart at the end , but this one was the BOMB ! starbuck a ghost all 4.5, six and baltar dream conterparts the good angel and the bad angel . and them actually creating our earth great job its almost MORMON LIKE but glen larson is mormon so it would make since on the mythology..... i hope caprica does well !

[james]

I have one thing to say:

Deus ex Machina

It's been the signature of a epically failed plot for thousands of years and yet Moore fell right into it. It cheapens an otherwise amazing sci fi series.