Tonight was the beginning of the end, the first hour of the three-hour Battlestar Galactica finale (with the remaining two to follow next week). And it was very tough to know what to make of just this first piece without the rest to follow. Still, I'll give it a go.
So far, I must confess I'm a bit disappointed. Tonight's hour wasn't bad, but it was rather strange. My reaction mostly had to do with the flashbacks to Caprica, prior to the holocaust. Many of the scenes were neat for long time fans of the show to see and geek out over -- Starbuck's relationship with Zack Adama, for instance. Other scenes had strong emotion to them, like watching Laura have to clean up baby shower gifts for her now-dead sister.
But unforunately, what struck me more than any of that was the simple question: why? Why bother showing us this material now? Whatever dramatic content the scenes had was completely self-contained; the flashback material didn't appear to have any emotional resonance with events transpiring in the present. It was simply "here they were then; here they are now," with neither corrolation or contrast between the two being offered. I felt like all this material might have been better presented as a single episode called "Before the Fall," aired sometime far earlier in season four. Or perhaps as a separate movie like "Razor." But unless there's considerably more significance to this material coming in the last two hours, I really don't see what all of it is adding to the experience.
As for events in the present, everything was running up to what we'll see in a week's time. There were a few nice moments, but not really any fantastic ones. The sight of Adama's quarters all boxed up, Baltar's admission to Lee that "I wouldn't trust me either," a visibly shaky Roslin showing up on the hangar deck at the end of the hour. All nice, but Battlestar Galactica has given us better before. (Speaking of that hangar deck scene, I do have to give praise for staying true to the nature of the show. Not everyone volunteered for the resuce mission. Indeed, it seemed like barely one-third did. Hooray for playing the likely truth, rather than the gooey television moment... just as Galactica always does at its best.)
Still, it seems very possible to me -- even likely -- that tonight's hour will look better once seen in the context of the last two to which it is tied completely. So until then...
1 comment:
I thought it was a ballsy move (for lack of a better term) to waste chunks of time with the flashbacks. almost in defiance of the impending finale they do not seem to be worried about throwing in those scenes. but it was a stretch when the three sisters were giggling and sighing on the couch, I was borderline furious with the apparent lack of importance to the whole thing.
I liked how Tyrol fessed up and was in the brig. I was wondering if he was going to try to keep it a secret or not though it might have been easy for others to figure out. his "your wife's a robot" "no she's a person" conversation with Helo got me thinking... maybe it's not so much Hera, but maybe there was an anomoly with Athena that allowed the "miracle?" it might be too late for the show to explore that possibility since the original Athena's body was killed in the first Hera rescue mission if I remember correctly.
it sure seems like the Galactica won't survive the finale. you can't have a show without the title character. I find it odd that the character I am rooting for to survive the finale the most is the actual ship. one thing's for sure, "suicide mission" on this show means a lot of characters are gunna die... blaze of glory anyone?
the mole
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