Now *that* is how to end a season

[jducoeur]

After an aborted taping this weekend, msmemory and I finally got to the very end of the season cliffhanger for Battlestar Galactica last night. My opinion that this is the best show on TV just continues to solidify. The previous season's closer, while startling, wasn't a total surprise. But this time, they managed to completely knock me backwards, with an ending that I didn't see coming at all. In the span of 15 minutes, the story has moved pretty seriously into "this isn't your father's Galactica" territory. It looks like next season is going to be quite different in plot, tone and characterization than anything before.

I keep expecting the other shoe to drop, and Sci-Fi to do something to foul the series up. But so far, it's just getting better...

Comments

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

May I borrow it? I missed it, and all the subsequent rebroadcasts.

Damn, still haven't hooked up my DVR...

[jducoeur]

Sher -- we can burn you a DVD. The only question is when will be a good opportunity to pass it on...

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

I haven't the slightest idea.

[jducoeur]

Are you going to be at Fu's birthday party? I expect that we'll be there for at least a while in the late afternoon / early evening...

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Ah, good point. Yes, I plan to be there.

[ladypeyton.livejournal.com]

How's this for a shoe...NBC has been making noise that it wants to move BSG from SciFi to the parent network for the fall 2006 premier.

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

Shit.

[jducoeur]

Yeah, I have to admit the same reaction. NBC's track record of not quite *getting* science fiction series, and often actively screwing them up, is pretty depressing...

[msmemory.livejournal.com]

Oh no! Please don't let Warren Littlefield anywhere near this! (Dunno if he's still at NBC.)

[dsrtao]

I believe in the Law of Conservation of Sci-Fi Channel Crap, which means that in order to make up for BSG and Dr. Who, they will now have to remake some of their made-for-TV movies as infomercials.

[umbran.livejournal.com]

I keep expecting the other shoe to drop, and Sci-Fi to do something to foul the series up. But so far, it's just getting better...

Be glad you like it now. You won't get to see it again until October. As opposed to sticking ot the winning (and now expected) pattern of having their new series appear when other channels are in off-season or repeats, they're shifting Galactica into the mainstream of scheduling. Rumor is this is because they're considering moving it onto NBC proper.

Of course, it won't compete well as a broadcast show, especially in it's third season. So they'll then have to kill it...

Goose. Golden eggs. Why won't they lean?

[its-just-me.livejournal.com]

I wish to point out a fatal error on lpaladin and my judgment. they broke season two up into two DVD releases and we pissed through the first half in a matter of two days. The end of that particular set is a huge cliffhanger that makes season one's cliffhanger look mild. We now have to wait for the other half of season two to release.

We agree with your opinion BTW.

oops

[its-just-me.livejournal.com]

I misread - I thought you were at the cliffhanger of season one. In that case Dan and I are the only one's suffering.

[oakleaf-mirror.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. The last segment of the season finale had me thinking they're going to tell us this was a dream/nightmare, soon, right! I pulled the producer's audio commentary track from the net, though, and it seems no, that really happened. Oh my.

The episode that was almost as ground-shifting, though, to my mind, was Downloaded. What we've seen since are ripples from that, and the ending of this season is just a breaking wave of those ripples.

[jducoeur]

Yaas -- I agree on both counts. Lay Down Your Burdens was a great episode, but Downloaded was really top-notch SF: the moment when it becomes clear that things are even less black and white than they appear. And it's becoming increasingly clear that I have to pay attention to *which* Cylon I'm looking at. I've started to very consciously distinguish "Boomer" from "Sharon", and "Caprica Six" vs. "Broken Six" vs. the rest of the line.

As for the "dream sequence" -- I had a brief reaction along the same lines, but dismissed it pretty quickly. No, they simply decided to pull the rug out from under us, quite concisely. A masterstroke, IMO...

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Episode by episode, I'm loving this show. When I stand back and try to figure out where they're going long term, I shudder and cringe. Because I'm pretty sure they don't know. Mind you, they're doing a much better job of "make it up as we go along" than, say, Lost -- but I still don't think we're ever going to see any coherent resolutions here.

[jducoeur]

Possible. If they're faking it, they're doing a very, very good job of faking it. But you may be right, which would be unfortunate, since it's very hard to pull together a complex story in a satisfying way without some sort of clear vision upfront...

[ripresa.livejournal.com]

"I keep expecting the other shoe to drop, and Sci-Fi to do something to foul the series up. But so far, it's just getting better..."

I think the jury is still out on that. Because the season ending was really weird. I think I like it. I think. But there are people who don't like it.

I don't like missing an entire year of their lives. I wish they had done something like 5 months later instead.