| Author | Message | ||
     Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.87.15 |
Well, after a(n) hiatus, I picked up with BSG again a few weeks back, started with the last couple of episodes of season 2, all of season 3, the first ten eps of season 4 and Razor, all thanks to the magic of DVD box sets. And with a bit of help from the 'net, I've caught up with episodes 11 to 14 of season 4, with episode 15 due shortly. Not only is it, in my opinion, one of the best SF series I've ever seen - possibly the best - but it's also amongst the best televised drama series I've ever seen. I know there are at least two other fans of it on here, but I think it gets unfairly pushed into a corner with other SF shows. It needs to be out there with THE WIRE, WEST WING and stuff like that. I watched the last two episodes, based around a mutiny, and it's a long, long time since I felt so involved in a tv show - I was, quite literally, on the edge of my seat, it was that gripping. For the few on here who've not seen it, try the pilot (it's very cheap now) and the first series; it has to be worth trying. I hear the remake is even better  | ||
| Simon Strantzas (Nomis) Username: Nomis Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 99.225.104.255 |
After all these years, do I really need to publicly agree? Don't we all know I love the show? All right, for old time's sake, in reference to what Mick's posted, I'd like to add: "So say we all!" | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.244.154.29 |
Season 3 was on the whole pretty weak, but in general the series is best television sf drama I ever saw. And the last episodes (those of the concluding half-season) are simply perfect. Indeed: So Say We All! by the way, Lost isn't missing a beat either in its new season, it's truly near perfect. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.151.125.173 |
Battlestar Galactica - I love this show - I just got fed trying to convince everyone! Just watched this Tuesday's episode...Just sublime. The answers are being revealed thick & fast now, thats one of the (many)things that make it so good...unlike Lost which just continues to tease in a...Still entertaining if slightly diluted way, Galactica is brilliantly plotted and story arc'd and is working majestically to its conclusion. Bliss. gcw | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.78.97.197 |
GCW - I love it too but would you like to join us on the bored thread over on Dexter 2? We all seeem to be on at the board at the same time. Not bored with Dexter hasten to add. | ||
| John (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
Another fan here. One of the Exodus episodes in series three actually made me weep, not because it was sad but because it was so good. There's been a few one-off clunkers in there, but when it's on arc there's few better shows on TV. Shall be watching it on Sky tonight; then after that there's only three episodes left. Exciting... | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.151.125.173 |
'Deadlock' was a bit of a mess (aside from the lovely Adama/Tigh scenes) but last nights 'Someone To Watch Over Me' was superb. I seem to remember a particularly good Star Trek: Voyager episode with the same title... gcw | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.168.57.120 |
...and a not-very-good Ridley Scott film. You're quite right, mate - last night's was a humdinger. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
Does this series have daggits in it? | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.123.220 |
I thought that the one last night was the best yet. | ||
| John (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
Funnily enough, Mark, it almost did. At the end of the pilot, a kid with the same name as the boy from the original series cropped up. If memory serves, he had a dog. But come the start of series one, they were nowhere to be seen and haven't been heard of since. For the better... | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.151.125.173 |
Yeah! I remember that - gcw | ||
| Simon Strantzas (Nomis) Username: Nomis Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 99.225.104.255 |
Battlestar Galactigone now, I'm afraid. I've just finished watching the long-time-in-coming conclusion. My thoughts? Frak you, it's too soon to talk about it! | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.244.153.63 |
I will see it tomorrow evening. Don't write spoilers! So say we all. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.87.217 |
Just, ahem, downloading it at the moment, and will hopefully see it tonight or tomorrow. | ||
| John (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
I'll be waiting until it's on telly on Tuesday night - there's about half a dozen of us gathering to watch it. It's all set up for a cracker of an ending. Of course, in case of spoilers, I shall be avoiding this thread until after then. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.78.56.208 |
Definately will be watching it Tuesday. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.151.125.173 |
Same here -No spoilers you..Spoily downloady people! gcw | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.87.217 |
Just watched it - a great end, mostly. | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.244.156.201 |
I won't write spoilers now, just saying that on the whole it was a fitting end to a great series. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.87.217 |
It certainly didn't disappoint, but I felt the coda was a bit unnecessary. | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.244.156.201 |
It suffers a bit from the same symptoms of the 3rd Lord or the rings: end after end after end. But that didn't really bother me. I loved the way Kara's story is wrapped up but not everyone will. We can discuss specifics in a few days! | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.78.123.166 |
Just seen it - yes - enjoyed the final battle. I love Centurians! Kara's story = yes. Still thinking about the coda. Has everybody seen it now? Tom's champing at the bit here and I'm not far behind. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.78.123.166 |
Actually...the more I think about it I'm not so sure about the resolution to Kara's story now. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.87.217 |
GCW's not seeing it until wednesday evening so careful on the spoiler front, although I did already tell him the Beatles and Superman all made an appearance. It suffers a bit from the same symptoms of the 3rd Lord or the rings: end after end after end. But that didn't really bother me. I didn't have a problem with that; after all, they're winding down many, many hours of a story, so I felt the 'end after end' bits were ok, really. | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.78.35.170 |
Something that's sometimes interesting and sometimes really infuriating about the series is the recurring interest in theological mumbo-jumbo. The end had both elements in my opinion. I did love the conclusion of Kara's story arc, it's linked with the theological approach in the series - when they got it right; but Baltar's speech during the crucial confrontation was groan inducing in my opinion. That's the infuriating approach - to my taste. --- spoiler, words written backward ---- I tndid ekil woh eht elohw noitalupop erew ylisae decnivnoc ot trats niaga ekil sevitimirp. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.78.54.245 |
I know what you mean Tom but...when GCW's seen it we can all chat more. On the whole I really liked it though. I'm still thinking about that coda Mick. | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.78.35.170 |
Yes, on the whole I also really liked the finale, I thought it was a fitting end and they all deserved an upbeat conclusion, and we'll discuss the specifics soon. C'mon Gary. Watch that episode. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.151.125.173 |
Ok Folks... I will be watching it tonight -so away yer go! Discuss! gcw | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.78.54.245 |
Now? Right GCW's away and watching I hope. BG has been quite the most wonderful production but I'm bothered by the whole 'higher power' ending and although I really suspended my disbelief I keep coming back to it. Mick, the coda - we could have done without it. I liked the whole idea of let's start over as I'm increasingly pissed off with society and greed today...we depend on others too much and might one day need the skills we are losing.... | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.87.217 |
I liked the whole idea of let's start over as I'm increasingly pissed off with society and greed today...we depend on others too much and might one day need the skills we are losing.... Indeed - one of the reasons I liked the 'back to basics' ending. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.78.54.245 |
Quite right Mick - really, quite right. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.151.125.173 |
I thought it was as wonderful as it could be. So much to wrap up...Anders taking the fleet into the sun...the Angels...Roslin's death. Wonderful. I doubt I will ever see a more consistantly brilliant television series. It never let me down, and was a wonder to enjoy. Battlestar Galactica? who ever would have thought it six years ago? Whatever will I watch now? gcw | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.78.54.245 |
Well said GCW. What can be produced so well from here? | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.244.133.214 |
> What can be produced so well from here? Well, I do think that "Lost" is currently still very very good. Season 2 was shaky but afterwards they really got their act together again. Another one: if you haven't watched "The Shield" yet, I suggest that you try it (start from the beginning!) But of course none of these series feature a Number 6, so how could they compare?... | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.87.217 |
But of course none of these series feature a Number 6, so how could they compare?... | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.87.217 |
Are we supposed to presume that Bob Dylan is a Cylon too? Otherwise, how did they know "All Along the Watchtower" 150,000 years ago? | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.78.35.170 |
it's a kind of universal tune that has seeped down in the subconsciousness of Baawb Dylan, explained the series creator in an interview | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 85.158.139.99 |
Oh, ok. | ||
| Simon Strantzas (Nomis) Username: Nomis Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 99.225.104.255 |
Two-thirds of the way down the page, writer Steven Grant expresses his feelings on the finale of BSG and they come close to matching my own. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20564 I'll just emphasise one point he makes in passing: I'm disappointed no explanation was given for how Starbucks body arrived on Earth-1. Surely if she were an angel the writers could have left her body in pieces in space. BSG, like the X-Files before it, is a great example of why serial story-telling doesn't work without a plan going in. There is only so long a group of writers can make things up as they go along and worry about the reasons later before it catches up with them. The only series I can think of that understands how to do this right is LOST. That thing is mapped out, and they don't bring something new in without knowing what it's there to ultimately do. Time will tell of course if they can pull it all off at the end, but I suspect even a sub-par finale will be better than what BSG presented us. | ||
| John (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
In the end I thought the finale was just... decent. The first hour or so was marvellous - tense, exciting, my stomach was twisting and turning in dread of what was going to happen. The anticipation of answers ahead was delicious. And then nothing. Very slowly, it all frittered out. The Starbuck ending felt like a cop-out, poor Mary McDonnell (probably the stand-out performer in the whole series, although Olmos ran her close) had a weak final scene - appearing just to nod off. Almost every resolution felt interchangable, all characterisation out the window. The only one which carried any weight was Baltar's. I thought that was a perfect ending, very well played. I suppose that was the problem I had with the ending - an absence of dramatic weight. The pacing of the episode was all off, there was no sense of loss, the earth resolution just felt a bit too pat. And then there's that horrible, horrible coda. Too jokey, the scripting too arch, almost dismissive of all that had come before. They made explicit what was already clearly hinted at - it was unneccessary and clumsy. I remember reading an interview with someone - JG Ballard, I think - bemoaning the state of sci-fi in the 50s and 60s, about how the invariable twist was "and there were two survivors, one male, one female, on a planet called E-DEN 1". To see Battlestar stoop to a similar resolution was disappointing. All these cliches have been written before, and will be written again. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.78.50.17 |
The first hour was marvellous John - exactly what I wanted. Any suggestions as to how it could have ended? | ||
| John (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
Phew, I'd have to give that one more thought. I would probably have set the majority of the episode against a backdrop of the attack on the Cylon colony, delved deeper in to their secrets, found answers there. I think I would have had Starbuck die in the raid and presented the resolution to her story in a more dramatic fashion. I'm not against the notion of her as an agent of a higher power, but thought the handling of it in the finale was a bit flat. Also, I think I would have had success for the attack on the colony coming with a greater cost than it did. For a suicide mission, an awful lot of the cast seemed to survive! Their escape from the colony attack - Starbuck's last jump - was fine with me, although the very convenient launch of the nukes seemed a bit too contrived. I guess that in the end I would have liked just a bit more ambiguity - have them find a habitable planet, but keep it up in the air as to whether it was 'earth' or not, whether everything would all work out. And, as you might have guessed, I wouldn't have had the dancing Sony robots at the end. Ugh. But I'm just waffling about my own preferences here - what would have worked for me might not necessarily have been the ending everyone else wanted to see. One thing I forgot to mention that I particularly liked was the resolution to the Chief/Tory situation. It'd been so long that I thought they were going to forget what she did. But no... That sort of evens out the suggestion that Bob Dylan is some sort of galactic timeless troubador. Good grief... | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.78.50.17 |
I'd have probably really got into an episode 'against a backdrop of the attack on the Cylon colony, delved deeper in to their secrets, found answers there.' That really would have been something. "Also, I think I would have had success for the attack on the colony coming with a greater cost than it did. For a suicide mission, an awful lot of the cast seemed to survive!" You'd have thought that one of them would have had to go. They should have had you writing it John! | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.78.50.17 |
I've just remembered how pissed off I was after the series finale of Farscape. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.151.125.173 |
Nope, I thought it was great. Nothing can ever quite match up perfectly when you get to a finale - It will always be a letdown ..If you let it be. And really...'Galactica was ALWAYS about religion don't you think? gcw | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 79.187.206.46 |
You absolute bastards! Why wasn't there a spolier alert? Where's the codeine? Ah, fuck it. Pass me that bottle of scotch. |