Sunday, June 22, 2008

A Week on Earth


Revelations on Hulu.

Perrin at TV Fodder has written an opus of an in-depth review of Revelations well worth the read.

Daniel Martin in The Guardian wrote after viewing the finale:

Anyone who thought the story might end with the ragtag Colonial Fleet finally finding Earth has been suckerpunched right out of the airlock. After a tense episode of Cylon revelations and hostage deadlocks, the euphoria of the Admiral's announcement to the fleet could be matched by only one thing.

And that was the magnificent tracking shot at the end where they get down to find their new home to be a burnt-out nuclear ruin.

And was that supposed to be the Brooklyn Bridge at the end?

Even more so than war, BSG's major theme has been faith - and since they had nothing left to believe in, the human survivors found themselves clinging to a religious myth of "earth". Nobody believed it existed: Adama used the scriptures as a carrot to give his fleet hope. It only became apparent that maybe Earth did exist when the spacefarers opened themselves up to a world beyond their reason. Not that BSG is a religious show: Maureen Ryan writes an excellent column on the Chicago Tribune site, reckoning that the revelation reinforces the central theme of our show: "that salvation doesn't necessarily arrive in the manner in which you expect it."

...After four years of awesome performances from Edward James Olmos, the scene where his entire world collapsed when discovered Colonel Tigh, his closest ally - had been a Cylon all along has got to be one of the best of all.


At Chud.Com, Natalia Castro proves that it's never too late to get into BSG:
Last tuesday, I finally saw the mid season finale of Battlestar Galactica. It took me a long time to become a fan of this show but slowly and quite painlessly I got there, and this episode sealed the deal for me. Needless to say, I was impressed. Very impressed.


Other finale reviews from Brittany at The Two Cents, Cory Johnson of 411mania, A recap quiz from GeekSugar and some reviews from Sci-Fi Haven by Chris McQuillan and Samuel T. Cogley (who used to be an attorney of some renown.)

It's been over a week since the finale, and does the final tracking shot, which I think is destined to go down as a classic, still resonate with you?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Logan asked: "Does the final tracking shot, which I think is destined to go down as a classic, still resonate with you?"

It doesn't "resonate", because the reason "Earth" was special has disappeared.

.......

Remember, in the miniseries "Earth" was presented as a tactic to defeat the Cylon enemy.

The purpose of Earth was to find either a hiding place...or a lost colony that could help fight the Cylons.

........

But over time, things got so convoluted...that original logic disappeared.

By the time we get to this supposed "classic moment"...humans and Cylons are suddenly BFF.

"Earth" serves as nothing but a piece of land. A scorched pile of crap at that.

.......


The season two "New Caprica" ending was a more "classic" moment. Because there, you left off with some clear drama. The Cylons found the hiding place, and were more in control of humanity than ever.

Compare that to this supposedly "classic" ending.

With Cylons & humans BFF...what drama is left?

Ooooohhhh...they'll have to search for another planet?
Oooohhh...they'll have to rebuild?

Been there, done that.

.......

For this to have been "classic", they should have hinted at what this stuff actually meant.

Perhaps showed some new humans.
Perhaps showed Cavil lurking in the background.
Perhaps showed one side planning to break the truce.

Right now, it means nothing.

Logan Gawain said...

That's right, all of a sudden the writers should open up a can of Gerber's and spoon feed the audience.

I wouldn't say the Cylons and humans are BFF. Looked like Tigh and Tyrol were still on the periphery and it may take a while for Adama to come to terms with it.

And come on... we all know that with 11 hours left to fill, we can't possibly have seen the last of Cavil and Boomer. That's just obvious.

If we're going to talk about the mini-series, we have to recall that as far as Adama was concerned the stories of Earth were a myth. Perhaps the ending of Revelations proves it was a myth. Yes, earth is real, but the stories were not entirely true... Maybe the scriptures were wrong? Stuff happens.

I appreciate your insights though, and I totally understand where they are coming from.

Anonymous said...

There are many questions to be answered.

Biggest is who is the final cylon.

Second the source of the desaster beacon.

Third will the remaining cylons find earth.

Fourth what happened to destroy earth? Was it there own human vs cylon war?

Heck when Lee said to Kara that the signal in her viper was a colonial destress beacon I knew right there they would find earth like it was.

Logan Gawain said...

Absolutely. I think those are all great questions raised by the finale, that will have to be explored in the coming episodes.

Anonymous said...

Ashoka Raza would prefer the writers to tell him the story with a sippy cup

Anonymous said...

Anyone who is STILL watching this excellent show after 3.5 seasons, who DOESN'T think the final tracking shot is classic, ought to turn off their TV and find a new hobby.

radii said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Logan Gawain said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
radii said...

Major elements of the story were just tossed off with a line. D'Anna: "All of this has happened before - " Lee: "But it doesn't have to happen again." There is a deep mystical meaning to this feedback loop of time for the Cylons - we are going to get to see it (or have it explained to us), yes? One would think so, but after Revelations, I doubt it.

Two episodes in a row where Baltar is in desperate need of Head Six and where is she?

The big reveal of Season 2, the star charts in the Temple of Athena - which evoked the mysticism and feeling of destiny for our characters and was a high point for our audience ... was reduced to yet another throwaway line - Gaeta: "Star patterns confirmed."

I think with time, and when fans go back and re-watch older episodes over the next 9 months while we wait for Sci-Fi Channel to broadcast the second half of season 4, people will realize Revelations wasn't quite as revelatory as they'd first perceived it.

Anonymous said...

To anonymous & TheWhat...

Please remember the context of my comments. I was discussing the lack of emotional "resonance".

I wasn't discussing the special effects, mystery, or quality of the show.

......

Here are the BSG moments that had "resonance" for me:
- Roslin first being diagnosed with cancer, and staring out.
- Adama's speech at the end of the miniseries.
- Zarek's "respectfully decline" introduction.
- Leoben's interrogation by Kara.
- Boomer shooting Adama.
- Baltar giving himself to the vision, after his ordeal with Shelly Godfrey.
- Galactica discovering Pegasus' signal.
- Cain's first steps onboard Galactica.
- Gina's torture.
- Cylons landing on New Caprica.
- ETC.

These are "classic moments". There was something emotional attached to each of these moments. I feared, laughed, cried, and smiled.

...........

In "Revelations", I can't feel anything of significance.

Because Earth no longer represents anything important.

AM I SUPPOSED TO BE SHOCKED THAT ROSLIN'S CRYPTIC MUMBO JUMBO TURNED OUT TO BE WRONG?

AM I SUPPOSED TO WORRY ABOUT THE CONDITION OF THE SOIL?

............

If you were to argue that this is a good setup for the next half, I'D AGREE WITH YOU.

But I don't agree that this was a moment of "resonance".

Anonymous said...

@ashoka and radii: why don't you both go bloviate on your own blogs, and stop hijacking unwilling eyeballs over here, hmm?

Anonymous said...

@thewhat

yer eyeballs were willing, able, and scooped it all up boy.
ain't no one hijackin here, yer free to be you and me in the blogOsphere

-take it or leave it

(save the snark fer when you talk to yer mamma]

Logan Gawain said...

You know I'm starting to rethink allowing anonymous comments.

I'd really like it if everyone could keep their comments on point, not degenerate into insults, and be respectful of everyone.

If that's too much to ask, I'm turning around this car, right now and no Nintendo for a week.