So, it’s finally over.. The final show was… absolutely incredible. Of course, I’m talking about Battlestar Galactica. If you haven’t seen the finale yet, then stop reading now, go watch BSG at the UN instead. I’m not here to spoil the ending, but I am going to talk about some of the themes and how they tied up some loose ends.
This review is a tad late, but I didn’t get to see the show until Sunday. Thank the gods for DVRs… I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed that the finale was a full two hours. I was afraid that it would only be an hour long and I had no idea how they would tie everything up in an hour. Even more to my amazement, they tied up most of the major loose ends by the end of the first hour. In fact, I had lost track of time and thought that was the end! Obviously, though, it was not.
I had a few questions throughout the show that they wrapped up quite nicely at the end. Both the original series and this new series had Earth as the mythical destination for the thirteenth colony. Based on this, one would assume that this Earth represents the real Earth today, as it did in the original series. So, it was a bit of a shock when they made it to “Earth” and it was a nuclear wasteland. I had a hard time accepting this and wondered how they would pull the series together after destroying the main goal.
Starbuck leading them to their final destination wasn’t much of a surprised based on the build-up to the finale, but the ultimate question about her remained. If she wasn’t a Cylon, then how could she have died, yet come back? And although there was no definitive answer to this question, I think they cleaned it up quite nicely. What made it more interesting, though, was that she questioned her own existence. She didn’t know what she was, making me think that maybe there were more than 12 models of Cylon. Interestingly enough, that would make her the thirteenth model.. Ah, magic 13.
The final big battle was very exciting. Galactica proved that she could take a serious beating and still complete her mission. Just as impressive was the ability of the crew to plot a jump that landed them directly next to the Cylon colony, keeping them in the same stable orbit around the singularity that the colony was in.
The CGI effects were spectacular. The ship to ship battle lit up the sky with laser and missile fire, explosions, and eventually squadrons of fighters going head to head. Inside, the early model Cylons sped through the corridors, blazing away at each other. They spared nothing putting these sequences together.
One part of the final sequences did bother me, though. In the end, Cyril commits suicide, seemingly for no reason. For someone so determined to live and bring forward a method of survival for his people, he gave up very rapidly. Ronald Moore, one of the producers and writers, explained this as a realization of futility. I’m not sure I buy that, but it doesn’t detract much from the overall story.
I loved the ending, though. Jumping ahead in time, landing right in Times Square with Six and Baltar was incredible. The various videos of robotics breakthroughs all over the screens was a nice touch. It definitely makes one think about the future, what may be possible, and what the consequences of those possibilities may be. I think we have an excellent chance at creating a true AI, and maybe it can all go wrong. In the end, will it be worth it to try?