Mar 25, 2009 11:42 AM
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Wed Feb 10
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I admit it; I was blown away by Battlestar Galactica's almost-perfect series finale. But that doesn't mean that there aren't some things that I won't miss about the show. Spoilers!
Popularizing The Word "Frak"
Yes, yes. It's like "fuck" but in space. We get it already. "Frak" has become nerd cliche by this point, overused to the point of becoming annoying, especially on non-nerdy TV shows when they want to drop a little geekage for one of their characters. Like all good TV show catchphrases - and that's really what this one was - it's had it's day, and it's time to slowly let it slink into the shadows at least until Caprica.
Being Treated As Art With The Self-Conscious Capital A
The one sour note in the finale? That would've been the epilogue, where AngelSix and AngelBaltar practically looked into the camera and said "It's not just science fiction, do you see? It's actually about the real world!" before we get Jimi and the robot clip show. Galactica has always had a tendency to get its pretension on, and that's one of the things that made it so wonderfully ambitious... but along the way, everyone else started getting very indulgent of that pretension. Yes, it transcended its SF roots to become a human drama that anyone could enjoy, but the self-congratulatory SciFi Channel specials? A little bit too much, even for self-promotion. And don't get me started on the UN thing.
That Music
Yes, people may have had a problem with the use of "All Along The Watchtower," but that's not the music I'm talking about here. Bear McCreary is a fine composer whose work on the first couple of seasons of the show (and, for that matter, on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Eureka) was amazing. But as his work got more ambitious on BSG, it also started to overpower some of the scenes, or just take the viewer out of them altogether with unexpected touches (All I'm saying is this: Bagpipes are never a good idea. Especially digital bagpipes). Although he managed to keep things under control in the finale, I dread to think where he would've gone if the show had continued for a fifth or sixth season.
Lee Adama In General
Where to start? With the way that his character never really gelled in any particular direction (even when that direction was "directionless")? Or how about the weird lack of purpose that he served in the show all along (Was there ever really an Apollo-centric story arc that didn't feel tacked on to some other plot?), or Jamie Bamber's performance that regularly mistook frowning for emotion? But, no; I'd rather talk about the lasting impression that I'll have of Lee Adama from the finale: His giant, giant hair. You can tell the true impact of a character when the thing that he'll really be remembered for is that he was fat for a bit during the show's third season, and it was this spirit of style-over-substance that must have led Bamber and the show's creators to send Apollo off with a hairstyle that can only have been a tribute to the late '70s era that spawned the original show in the first place. Not for nothing was he one of the few characters who didn't really have any kind of dramatic moment in the series finale; anything else might have made you suspect that he was there for some reason other than to look good. Dualla could've done so much better.
Battlestar Galactica
Okay, this is slightly unfair; I thought BSG was a wonderful show, despite all of the above, one that engaged my heart and my mind and poked and prodded in all the right ways, questioning and exciting and entertaining (if you can use that word for such a constantly depressing, pessimistic show) at all times. But if there's one thing that the finale accomplished, it was finishing the story. By the time it was done, I felt as if everything that needed to be said had been said, and said beautifully... and then there was the trailer for Battlestar Galactica: The Plan (and, for that matter, the trailer for Caprica). Maybe it's just me, but I don't think that the show needs an epilogue or a prequel spin-off, and the fact that it's getting both just feels more than a little like SciFi can't say goodbye to such a successful show, and have no problem with a little bit of graverobbing to try and keep the good thing going a little longer than it should. I'd love to miss Battlestar Galactica; I just don't feel as if I'm going to get the chance, sadly.
Send an email to Graeme McMillan, the author of this post, at graeme@io9.com.
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