Monday, June 16, 2008

The Grauniad

Is he having a laugh?

In The Guardian (U.K.) John Plunkett (pictured above) completely bashes the 4th season of Battlestar Galactica using the tired cliche:
Is it just me - and I'm sure you won't hesitate to tell me - or has Battlestar Galactica jumped the shark? Or to use a more appropriate turn of phrase, fracked the jump drive?

After a lengthy argument offered by Plunkett he reveals this:
Things have reached such a state that the last two episodes are waiting to be watched on my Sky+ box, and I haven't been minded to hit the play button. Imagine that!


Yes, imagine that! I stopped reading a novel before reaching the crucial chapters, and passed judgement. Imagine that, I left the movie well before the sled was tossed into the incinerator of Xanadu so, I have no idea what Rosebud was all about. Obviously Orson Welles jumped the shark.

Dear Mr. Plunkett, you might want to watch The Hub, and Revelations on your Sky box before commenting on season 4. Thanks!

Regards,
Logan

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the photo!

I can handle him not liking the series, but to deny himself the chance to hear Bear's music is just frakked.

D said...

This is interesting. I haven't really cared for this first half of season 4 but the two episodes he hasn't watched are the two best ones!

ProgGrrl said...

Oh if I had a dime for every time the phrase "jumped the shark" is used amongst TV fans these days. Sigh.

DP said...

Actually, he needs to view each episode in light of the entire story arc and the clues planted along the way, not just what he perceives as a creative trough.

Which is why I'm reserving final judgment about "Revelations" (which I basically liked) until after I have a chance to digest the whole thing.

Unknown said...

Couldn't someone just put us out of our misery and retire the phrase jump the shark? It hasn't been fun to hear for several years now.

And honestly? Anyone who reviews something without finishing it has no business critiquing it.

Anonymous said...

I am a die-hard BSG fan. I'll never abandon this show.

But I sympathize with the frustration of buddy from the Guardian.

If he ever ends up reading this, let me make the case that he should stick with the show...even though this early half had faults.

.......

Here's what I found queer about this first half...

Much of the core drama setup in the miniseries was basically resolved in half a season.

We saw monumental things like Cylon immortality, Cylon civil war, Lee's presidency, Laura+Bill, Gaius's confession...just go by in a blink of an eye.

It was all resolved too easily, and in a seemingly illogical/confusing manner.

........

Here's why I think no one should abandon the show, even if they didn't like the first half of season 4...

I refuse to believe that the writers just don't care.

I think they had something bigger in mind for the second half of season 4.

And the rushed first half was a (rushed or sloppy) attempt to set up the chess pieces.

Now that they've setup the pieces, they're planning to show us something we never expected.

This is the promise of writer Mark Verheiden:
"All bets are off, nothing's out of bounds, and nobody (I mean nobody) is safe..."

Adam Whitehead said...

I think someone mentions in the article that 'jump the shark' is out. 'Nuking the fridge' has come in to replace it :-D

ProgGrrl said...

Yeah but...Henry Winkler never nuked a fridge. That one doesn't work for me. :P

Anonymous said...

You're right, 'jump the shark' needs to be done with but...season 4 was in fact shitty.

Logan Gawain said...

Well, season 4 isn't over yet.

And the problem with Plunkett isn't that he wrote a negative review. I've linked to negative reviews many times. (See my review links for Sine Qua Non for example.)

My problem with Punkett is that he bashes the season, and then boldly admits to not having watched the last two eps of the mid season.

It's kinda dumb to judge season 4.0 without seeing two crucial episodes.