There Must Be Some Way Out of Here

(SPOILERS follow)

So, the much lauded Battlestar Galactica, or BSG to its friends, finally reached its big old climax for Sky One viewers last night ending a few days of self-imposed internet spoiler avoidance between the US broadcast and yesterday’s UK premiere. I’m not sure what I was expecting but there was some satisfaction to be gleaned from the “…and they (almost) all lived happily ever after” ending. After five years of unremitting bleakness, the expansive rolling countryside and marvellous vistas of ancient Earth provided a powerful juxtaposition and signature point to the show.

For four series (depending on how one counts it), I have been enthralled by the ongoing fight for survival as the last remnants of humanity attempt to escape from their Cylon antagonists and now, given that the end is known, I am genuinely looking forward to going back to the start and revisiting it all over again, as I am sure that there will be plenty of rewards for the observant viewer that probably just passed me by first time around.

In the final stories, it was a clever mechanism to include flashbacks to life on Caprica before the attacks. It wasn’t really apparent from Part 1 of “Daybreak” last week, what exactly the purpose of these could be but, as the extended part 2 unfolded and the former life ambitions of the crew, living in blissful ignorance of what was to follow, were revealed, it was a surprise to see how these ambitions were fulfilled, albeit in unexpected ways. Each of the characters had a wonderfully complex story to tell, from which most other TV shows could learn an awful lot.

Adama’s story was closely intertwined with that of Roslin. Both lonely in different ways, back on Carpica, they were both thrust in to unwelcomed leadership roles through nothing but happenstance. Simultaneously battling their own demons (Adama’s alcoholism and Roslin’s cancer) their struggle reflected that of everyone around them. While the war raged and with their leadership consistently challenged, we saw the two of them coming to rely on and, eventually, loving one another. Roslin’s inevitable death was all the more heartbreaking given the journey we shared with them. That would probably have been enough of a story for many TV-makers to base their whole show upon, but not BSG.

Starbuck and Apollo were the two characters most fondly remembered from the original series way back when, so, as the news about casting and series details for this “re-imagining” began to be released, it was Starbuck’s new look (i.e. as a female) which caused the hardcore uber-fans to revolt. I seem to recall stories of a panel at the San Diego Comic Con being quite tough. Where are those naysayers now, I wonder? Lee ‘Apollo’ Adama always struck me as someone with strong principles but without any great plan for his life, stumbling from one endeavour to the next, whether it was Viper pilot, or lawyer, or politician. Even his doomed marriage to Dualla seemed a little random. So, the final outcome as a wanderer and free spirit on the “new Earth” seemed very fitting.

Apollo’s on-again, off-again relationship with Kara ‘Starbuck’ Thrace was another highlight of the show for me, and the finale allowed us to go back to their first meeting, which portrayed a “forbidden love” angle that explained a lot about why things panned out the way did between them. Kara’s journey was another great story within the story. All the way back at the start of series two, as she is sent on a mission back to Caprica, it was clear that Starbuck had some significant role to play in the destiny of the show, a role that caused immense frustration to her and further led to her continued bottling up of all her real emotions while feeling the need to lash out and “man up” in the testosterone-filled environment in which she worked. Her “death” at the end of series three followed by her return, echoed John Sheridan’s return from Z’Ha’Dum in Babylon 5 and will no doubt be debated for years to come. It was genuinely touching when she declared her love for Anders and then checking that Lee was at peace before her “ascension”.

There had been such a strong sense of religiousness throughout the series that it came as no surprise that the finale included and, indeed, embraced such concepts. Throughout the series, humanity’s belief in “the Gods” compared to the Cylon’s preference for the “one, true God” cleverly allowed the writers to explore religion in a way missing from much popular science fiction. I hesitate to cast aspersions or flaunt stereotypes about deeply personal issues like spiritual belief, but I am guessing that BSG’s conclusions (that Starbuck was indeed an angel, and that the prophecies and the visions of Balter and Caprica Six were the work of whatever God(s) these people chose to believe in) may have flown in the face of the atheist/agnostic stereotype that form a large part of any loyal, sci-fi audience. Part of me (as I fall directly in that category) felt the need to have some more tangable, real-world explanation but, in the cold light of the next day, I’m quite pleased it was left that way. It was fitting that Baltar, whose own journey had been the backbone of BSG’s religious subtext, gave the speech about God’s work and concluded his transition from heathen scientist to man of faith.

The development of the Cylon race, was also very clever. Slowly, over the years and splendidly enabled by the addition of the twelve human models, the Cylons themselves were explored by the writers and changed from one-dimensional robots (that I remember most fondly from the title sequence of the A-Team) to a complex, multi-facetted race with all the inner conflict and divisions and diversity of any of the genre’s alien races.

The brief snippet that we saw “150,000 Years Later”, was a puzzling inclusion towards the end of the show and it was a bit of exposition that seemed, on first viewing, a little unnecessary. The fact that the planet was genuinely Earth was clear to the viewer from the maps and the Neanderthal-type locals clearly set the time period. I guess the revelation that the fossilised remains of Eve were actually Hera and that we’re on our way to creating our own Cylons and repeating the cycle all over again needed some kind of signpost but it still seemed a bit superfluous. However, it’s not quite all over yet. Production is well under way on another TV Movie, called “The Plan” which will be directed by Edward James Olmos himself. According to Wikipedia he states “When [‘Battlestar’ fans] see ‘The Plan,’ they’re all going to have to go back and watch the entire series again.”. You know, I think I will.

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Tags: Adama, Anders, Apollo, BSG. Baltar, Caprica, Cylons, Daybreak, Earth, Roslin, Starbuck