SPOILERS! MY GOD! SPOILERS THAT RUIN THE WHOLE SHOW ARE AHEAD!
One thing, though, they kinda made a big deal about Starbuck being "the harbinger of death" and nothing comes of it, unless it was meant ironically.
It wasn't ironic. Humans and Cylons ceased to exist as separate races because she jumped Galactica to Earth II. I'm not sure how much I liked it. "Harbinger of Death" is a lot darker than what actually happened. But then again, perhaps by accident Ronald D Moore brilliantly faked out every Galactica fan with the ending of the show.
On one hand, Starbuck is the Harbinger of Death and Daybreak seems to be about Galactica going on a suicide mission. On the other hand, they drop in little hints like "Not an ending, but a beginning" and "the miracle from the angels is coming." When the utterly unexpected uplifting ending happens, you can't say it was a complete left turn.
(For what it's worth, I didn't plan on the dark and nihilistic ending that most BSG fans did. But I think absolutely everyone who watched the show stared at the screen in disbelief as the surviving main characters got unabashedly uplifting endings. It makes sense now, but at the time I was in shock.)
Inspired by my "33" review, I was wondering what people's favourite BSG episodes are.
Mine go like so:
1. Resurrection Ship
2. 33
3. Pegasus
I can't rank them. I'll just point out really notable ones:
- 33 - Probably the best standalone episode.
-Kobol's Last Gleaming Parts 1 and 2 - This was when BSG put everything together and started really living up to its potential.
- Fragged - One of the best episodes of the show, and no one talks about it. Every scene involving the landing party is virtually perfect. And Tigh declares martial law.
- Pegasus - I dunno why, but I feel like this is in some ways the best single episode. The cliffhanger is maybe the best ending of of any episode of any TV series. Not just because it's exciting, but because at that point you're exactly in Adama's shoes. Dealing with Admiral Cain has become too horrible and the line in the sand needs to be drawn. Even when the steps out of the Raptor something seems wrong.
In the abstract, the story is so basic: Pegasus arrives and you think it's awesome, they mess up the harmony the cast has developed, they turn out to be bad, Adama can't put up with it anymore. Unlike 33, it's not that inherently intriguing. But every aspect of the execution twists the premise just enough to be interesting while playing it completely straight. I need to stop because I write even more and get boring.
- Black Market - Just kidding.
- Scar - One of the ten best of the show. More interestingly, I wrote "Scarred" at first and fortunately noticed it.
- Lay Down Your Burdens - The show jumps another level and becomes this surreal amalgamation of everything I enjoy in TV. Drama, politics, suspense, sci-fi, darkness, characters, humor. Nothing is missing.
- Occupation/Precipice/Exodus Part 1/Exodus Part 2 - The peak of the show. The political allegory is maybe the best I've seen in any show. We see the characters at (up to this point), their most unvarnished and the writing perfectly exposes their deeper natures. It's grittier than most of the show. The emotion of Exodus Part 2 is huge. Most shows try to do the moral ambiguity thing and fail miserably. The situations aren't clear to the characters, but to the viewer the solutions seem obvious. In this case, it really is difficult to argue (a) Tigh shouldn't have been using suicide bombers and (b) the Adamas shouldn't have just left New Caprica behind. Actually, I wouldn't even argue (a). Suicide bombers were the correct tactic. See? I'm rooting for the suicide bombers? Isn't that good writing?
Strangely, I've watched this with my dad and a friend, and neither of them got that into these episodes. And they're the lowest rated episodes of the show. Why this is I don't know.
- Unfinished Business - Pure drama. Works awesomely.
- The Woman King - Black Market has good moments (such as Lee shooting the Green Beret from Commando) and is kind of entertaining. This episode makes me angry from start to finish. Nothing makes sense while simultaneously I knew exactly how it would end. The reality matrix of a show shouldn't fall apart that completely.
- A Day in the Life - Not one of the best, but underrated. Just wanted to say that.
- Sometimes a Great Notion - Took a day to recover from.
- The Oath - This had the sense of pace of a network action show while being good like a premium cable show. Just one awesome scene after another.
- Daybreak Parts 1 and 2 - I cry like a bitch when I watch these episodes. Yeah, whatever.
Speaking of BSG-related things I wish didn't exist: https://www.avclub.com/articles/another-battlestar-galactica-spinoff-on-the-way,46718/
I'm not confident in this show's quality. Money seems to be the prime motivator.
And I'm done.