Battlestar Galactica | The Series Finale (Extended Cut) | Full-Length Commentary
Added 2023-02-15 20:01:01 +0000 UTCCommentary for Battlestar Galactica - The Series Finale (Extended Cut)
We watched the 2 -1/2 hour Extended Version of Daybreak from our Bluray Set.
This is a watch-along, you need your own copy of the series to sync with.
*Video is done processing, sorry for the delay today*
Comments
I think those people don't really understand what the show was saying about the nature of the greater power pulling strings behind the scenes. See my comment below.
HawaiiMongoose
2023-02-16 11:12:06 +0000 UTCOn a separate note, with respect to what other science fiction series approach the very high bar set by BSG, the one at the top of the list from my perspective is clearly The Expanse. If you folks want to take another reaction journey that features big themes, intricate plotlines, terrific writing and amazing acting, and some darned fantastic (as well as scientifically accurate) special effects, The Expanse has you covered. One thing most fans of the The Expanse will admit is that it does have a slow start. The first few episodes are focused on world-building and introducing characters, and there's a lot to absorb. But by the end of episode four most watchers are hooked, and after that it just keeps getting better, and better, and better. Really an amazing show.
HawaiiMongoose
2023-02-16 11:09:29 +0000 UTCOkay, so you asked us to comment about what we liked best about the show. I could write a seven-paragraph response, but if I had to pick one thing that's top of mind after watching the finale, it's the way that the writers cleverly used the final two lines of dialogue in the final episode to address one of the biggest questions posed by the series. That question is, what is the "greater power" that's been selectively and purposefully intervening in key events before and throughout the Human-Cylon war for the purpose of ensuring the birth and survival of Hera? What is the entity that's been tasking beings who can transcend space-time and are apparently immortal -- the so-called "angels" -- to facilitate the creation of a hybrid Human-Cylon species (us), with the apparent goal of exploring whether this will break the age-old cycle of violence between sentient biological life and sentient machine life? What is this thing that was able to resurrect Kara so that she could fulfill her destiny? Is it really God? The answer is... up to the viewer to decide. The choice is neatly encapsulated in the final exchange between the transcendent being who looks like Gaius and the transcendent being who looks like Six. After she asserts that "God's plan" includes the possibility of something surprising occurring with respect to the future fate of Hera's offspring, he replies "You know it doesn't like that name" and then when she responds with a sharp glance he muses "Silly me... silly, silly me." His response makes clear that the greater power influencing events does not view itself as divine -- suggesting it is no more than a very evolved and scientifically knowledgeable natural entity -- but also acknowledges that nothing he says can shake the faith of a true believer like her that the greater power is in fact God. And perhaps the most important revelation of this masterfully written final dialogue is that the transcendent beings possess free will to decide for themselves how to view BSG's greater power, and they DON'T ALL AGREE, echoing a fundamental truth of our contemporary human condition.
HawaiiMongoose
2023-02-16 10:52:28 +0000 UTCone thing I hate about series that go for 8-10 seasons or more, is they always run into issues, either because actors don't want to sell there soul to the series and be acting for half of there life and you also end up with staff changes alot, such as writers, directors, producers which cauese a terribly inconsistent mess of a series, "Supernatural" I am reffering to you. Or walking dead?
Artimes
2023-02-16 08:24:16 +0000 UTCChatGPT. Pandora's box has been opened. We can't close it, so it will be interesting to see how humanity navigates this.
Kristin D
2023-02-16 04:56:59 +0000 UTCOn this rewatch, I just realized that the music playing while we watch the fleet fly into the sun is a very slow rendition of the original BSG theme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHp9oZPqs8E&t=26s I'm right there with the Mrs. with the tears. It's hard not to with this show.
Kristin D
2023-02-16 04:20:08 +0000 UTCA lot of people, it seems, either hate or don't understand the ending, and I don't understand them. So allow me to explain, its quite an interesting profound narative with complex themes and things are resolved in a way you don't expect. Battlestar Galactica takes place 150,000 years in the past. But even before that, Human life evolved on Kobol, and created Cylons which rebelled against them, resulting in the destruction of their planet. The survivors and the Cylons eventually made peace and went their separate ways. The humans found the 12 colonies and became known as The Colonials. The Cylons, the thirteenth tribe of Kobol, found the first Earth and eventually created biological bodies. The Earth Cylons eventually made their own Centurions which rebelled against them, but 5 survived and decided to go to the 12 Colonies to warn them to not make the same mistake. They didn't have ftl jump drives so they traveled at close to the speed of light using sub-light propulsion. Due to time dilation time slowed down for the 5 during their journey, but they arrived at the 12 colonies several thousand of years later. Unfortunately the Colonials had already created their own Cylons and were already at war, so the 5 Cylon survivors from Earth offered a deal to the Colonial Cylons, to help them, if they made peace. The First Cylon War ended. There is another big plot point to be made. Head Six and Head Baltar were the Alpha and the Omega, steering humanity and the cylons toward a shared destiny. Starbuck was something akin to an angel. The 5 created the other 8 Cylon models for the Colonial Cylons, but Cavil betrayed them, killed one the 8 models permanently out of jealousy, and suppressed the Earth Cylon's memories, implanting them in Colonial society in a misguided attempt to teach them how evil humanity was. Then the 7 Cylon models attacked The Colonies. Helo and Sharon fall in love and have a half-human half-cylon child, Hera, and the other events of Battlestar Galactica happen. At the end they find OUR earth, and find that Humans had separately evolved there as well. The ancient religions are based on the Colonials' religion. All humans on Earth today are descended from the primitive Earth humans, the Colonials, and the surviving cylons after the Cylon Civil War. But Hera is literally every single persons on Earth's great great great great great great great great .... grandmother. Today we have technology and are close to creating AI again. "All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again." The question is, does it have to? Can we treat real AI like the sentient self-aware entity that they will be, as the children of humanity, or will we be destroyed by our own creations?
Artimes
2023-02-16 03:13:53 +0000 UTCI did mention this before, but probably would have been a more fullfilling way to end the series with this Series finale, as opposed to the "plan" film, because the plan is just like built-up exposition for the series finale. It takes place about 3 episodes prior to the finale. This episode delivers a far more climatic ending of the story as a whole.
Artimes
2023-02-16 02:51:23 +0000 UTCBest moment - the adama maneouvere
Pokerpope
2023-02-16 02:36:55 +0000 UTChttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e1_QhJ1EhQ
Martin Nicholls
2023-02-16 01:17:14 +0000 UTCOne of the early episodes in s1 Mr Movies said something like "they're us, Cylons and humans, thousands of years ago" or something along those lines, I found it amusing at the time. Water trick wasn't working so well for Mrs Movies near the end there. You mentioned a whole bunch of episodes back you thought that Gaius is supposed to be some jesus-like figure, I think they might be more implying Moses-like (although Lampkin seems to be fulfilling the Moses role at the end of the finale). I don't know if you're familiar with Sam Esmail, I know you've seen a lot of TV if you've seen Mr Robot that was his baby (I'm a massive fan even though he did block me on twitter for calling out his politics) - Ronald D Moore has given him his blessing to create a new BSG series, not as a reboot but within this universe and he seems to have spent most of the pandemic working on it so that could be a thing soon and I'm massively hyped for that because Sam Esmail is one of those once in a generation writer/director/show runners and he clearly, like the Cylons, has a plan to Make BSG Great Again. Favourite Sci-fi show is big I guess, it's not my favourite but it's certainly up there and has its low points but also very high points - the New Caprica stuff for example I'm not at all a fan of, it's very on the nose but feels like it's probably necessary - watching this I was remembering back to the first time I saw the miniseries; I watched it at work with about 10 other people (all nerds) and we all loved it to bits but it was long before there was even talk of a series, even having that was just a nice thing. It's a good ending, and I think the flashbacks work too, though the very ending after Baltar's little cry is clunky, even more so factoring how far robotics and AI has come since then but the point works I suppose. If science fiction does one thing it should ask and attempt to answer even if unsuccessfully some important social quandary and artificial intelligence is a biggie, more so now then back when it was made - so it was successful commercially and sucessful in what it was trying to ask.
Martin Nicholls
2023-02-16 01:17:02 +0000 UTCConsidering how GoT ended and we are years away from the book series ever seeing an end, he has no room to talk lol.
Mark G
2023-02-16 00:51:51 +0000 UTCThank you two for this BSG journey!
Eric
2023-02-16 00:37:46 +0000 UTClove the react. I agree it is a great full series. It does not go too long and sink in crap writing like some other shows can do. I think 4 or 5 seasons should always be the limit. I think it finished great and loved it. Great fun enjoying a re-watch with your watch. Looking forward to the next one
Prof Moff
2023-02-16 00:25:53 +0000 UTCA lot of people who didn't like the faith stuff really, really hated this ending. GRR Martin was one of them.
Reed James
2023-02-16 00:16:24 +0000 UTC
