The Occasional Solipsist

On the off chance that you are a fan of Battlestar Galactica that has not yet seen the season 2 finale yet, stop reading this immediately and go watch it (rent the DVD from the video store, download the torrent, whatever) because I am about to do some serious spoiling.

I just finished watching the finale and have spent the last hour or so trying to find out what the internets have to say about the most shocking season finale since, well, maybe the LOST finale a few days earlier. Which I'll have to post about once I've watched that again two or twelve more times. Four toed Argonath anyone?

But back to BSG, the show has almost completely reinvented itself (again) by moving the storyline ahead a full year and making more changes than I'm able to keep track of, or notice.

But here is a short list, mostly in the order we find out about them as the episode unfolds, in one sucker punch after another:

Baltar kicks Roslin's ass in the presidential election, after a Floridian voting debacle takes place

The Pegasus' Number 6 sets off a nuke on Cloud Nine, after banging Baltar first, taking at least two more ships with it

The fleet colonizes New Caprica, leaving skeleton crews to command the Battlestars and support ships still in orbit

Baltar becomes some kind of weird mesh of Bill Clinton and Scarface, what with the pills, the cigars (harhar, Clinton?) and the pair of what can only be defined as 'hos'

Adama grows the fucking moustache back, Starbuck gets extensions, Tyrol gets glasses and knocks up Kalli, Blanders is dying, and pretty much everybody gets fat

The Cylons invade in full force, and after the fleet bails to live to fight another day, the Cylons promise no violence so long as no resistance is met

Baltar surrenders

Holy fuck. Who knew you could pack that much into 90 minutes of television?

All I can really say about this, through the haze of what the fuck I’m trying to type through, is this is one seriously bold move for Ron Moore.

I mean, here's the thing: The guy has finally started to get the acclaim he’s due for taking a cancelled cheesy 70’s show and re-imagining it as a deep, thoughtful investigation into what motivates and drives humanity, that just happens to be set in space. With this show Moore has taken scifi into the bright glare of mainstream television by delivering gritty, character driven content in ways that all of his years on various Star Trek projects never could. A lot of people after watching the finale are probably scratching their heads, wondering why he is taking such a huge gamble with the show seemingly moments after the accolades have started to come in. Myself included.

Check out the ‘official’ thread for this episode over at SciFi.com. Be warned, because as of this post, the thread is over 1500 posts long.

Here's a recap of Moore's appearance at this year's Grand Slam, answering questions from fans about the finale.

And here is Moore talking about what we can expect with season 3.

Whether you love what happened with the finale of Battlestar or you want to see Moore's head on a pike for frakking with a good thing, one thing is certain: We'll all be glued to our televisions come this October to see what happens next.

So say we all.

Updated 10/9/2006 10:01:00 AM - After just re-watching this episode in preparation of viewing the recently downloaded and very shiny season 3 premiere, I have come to a few further conclusions about it.

First, Adama and Roslin were idiots for not stealing the election. Who the frak (to coin a phrase) cares about rigging an election when the lives of the few remaining human beings is hanging in the balance? Me, I would've shot Baltar dead quite a while ago. What good is the moral high ground if no one is left alive to stand on it? Though of course, killing Baltar might be a bit detrimental to the dramatic tension of the show.

And second, hot are they going to write themselves out of the corner they're in and get the gang back on track for Earth? Yes I know I'll find out if I wait patiently download the series asap, but I'm not sure I can wait that long.

Labels: scifi