So Say We All: A Review of Battlestar Galactica

Being a large sci-fi fan, as readers of this blog are undoubtably aware, it probably comes to no surprise that hearing about Battlestar Galactica (the reboot, obviously) left me mightily intrigued. So back whenever season 3 was just beginning, I utilized my Netflix account and began watching the first season. The key mistake I made then was watching it with my brother; while I enjoy doing a lot of things with him, he was just at the stage where he was beginning to be gone a lot, out doing other things, and it became hard to pin down time to watch it with him, and since we had started together, I didn't want to abandon him and continue on my own.

I made it through about the end of season 2 before the steam died to the point where it just stopped. I always intended to one day go back and finish it, but other things popped up, and I continued on, carefully avoiding spoilers and things of the nature, even as the series came to a close.

However, a few months ago I learned the entire series was now on Netflix Instant, and it seemed the time had finally come to finish what I had started. Since it had been so long in the past, I started again from the beginning, and set out to watch BSG in its entirety. [Spoilers follow after the jump]
The first two seasons were just as highly enjoyable as the first time I watched it; an excellent blend of action, drama, space combat, interesting characters, and interesting sci-fi/philosophical meditations. The pacing was great, the story arc engaging, and overall I had absolutely no complaints with the show. This continued through to Season 2.5, and the surprising ending of 2.5 of them stopping short on Earth and settling down.

If I had a large complaint about anything in the series, it was the beginning of season 3. While somewhat interesting, being stuck on the ground was very odd for the series, and led to a very different tone than the rest of the show. I wouldn't call it bad, per se, and it certainly had some awesome moments (like the Galactica free-falling into the atmosphere) overall I was very happy when the left the planet about 1/3 into the season. After this point it gets interesting. Although the show overall has an incredibly grimdark tone in nature, it gets amped up for the last two seasons. Again, this isn't bad per se, but very different, and the last two seasons are a lot more slower-paced and introspective than the early on series.

From what I hear, this change isn't that appreciated in the fan community, but honestly I actually enjoyed it. The switch is fairly gradual and makes a lot of sense, both in terms of an overall arc, pacing, and the in-story events. You really get the idea of "this is the end of humanity," which while heavily felt in the first two seasons, really hits home towards the end. In addition, the lessening mystique of the Cylons allowed their idea to be more thoroughly fleshed out, leading to a lot of interesting discussions and questions that I quite enjoyed from the intellectual front. And while the Final Five revelation seemed really random and odd at first, it was explained fairly well, and while I still feel somewhat uneasy about it, I've seen other shows pull far worse in terms of stunts.

And of course, there's the finale. Apparently there's an overwhelming hatred for it in the fan community, and I was even warned by Matt, who's a big fan of the series, that I would inevitably hate it.

Considering that people warned me about season 2 of Deathnote and it proved to be accurate, I took the advice and went into season 4.5 with guarded expectations. However, the season went on, and I was still enjoying myself, and I kept asking Matt what I was supposed to be watching for. He kept revising his estimates, and finally told me that what I would hate was the final episode. And so finally, about a week or two ago, I sat down to watch the final 3 episodes, which were essentially a movie, much as the first "miniseries" was.

To my surprise, I actually enjoyed it quite a lot. Having been disappointed with many show's conclusions, the BSG finale was a fantastic piece of closure for a 4 season show, which closed up all the loose ends and gave a satisfying conclusion, ending with a message that I felt was very pertinent without being preachy. I honestly couldn't see why so many people supposedly hated it, and even after I asked Matt what problems he had with it, although I could understand them, I really didn't agree with them.

Overall, then, it's a fantastic series, and easily one of my favorite shows, both in general and specifically science fiction. The actors are amazing (especially the Cylons, who play multiple different "characters), the progression of characters and plot excellent and well-paced, the action, cinematics and CGI top-notch, and has a satisfying conclusion with a story that actually ends, and definitively at that, a rarity from my experience. If there are people reading this who like sci-fi and haven't watched the series (I'd say this is silly but I was in the same position not too long ago), put this at the top of your list of things to watch next.

-HTMC