Battlestar Galactica - Page 42

The Rogerer · November 7th, 2009, 5:51 AM

I'm in here, trying not to spoil things although I always bump into spoilers and BSG has been no except. Good thing I don't feel they actually spoil things.

After getting the 1-4 boxset on my honeymoon, we reached and watched Razor last night. I'm very resistant to most TV shows, and this show was good enough from the start to convince me in... I thought it started to go a little funny around the latter half of the second season, a few very generic filler episodes. People talk about Black Market being one of the worst episodes, but I felt 'Scar' after it was even worse for being pointless and episodic. They shook things up at the end of Season 2, but then mid Season 3 the filler came back with a vengeance. Episodes would end with revelations and cliffhangers, only for that thread to be dropped for a few episodes in favour of some clumsly morality tales and a bit of Battlestar Administration. Thankfully at the end of Season 3, in the final few episodes, it found it's feet again and did some brilliant things. Razor was good too, I wonder what the story behind the decision to revisit Pegasus at this point, but the story worked well and has established a few reminders of the first war that I assume will come to life soon.

This is a really great show, unfortunately marred by the strange US custom of insisting that a season runs for over 20 episodes on many shows, resulting in churned out filler scripts. I'm using my momentum to finish off the show now, I know some people have been negative about the ending, but my friend says it was good and I trust his judgement.

Tempest · November 7th, 2009, 6:47 AM

I think you'll either love or hate the ending. I was a bit worried because i'd heard wildly differing views on it but I myself loved it.

The Rogerer · November 18th, 2009, 7:52 PM

Just watched the end. Really liked it, more to say later. It's all about living in the moment though, not tallying up how many survivors died between each episode. Also Kara and Lee weren't bad at all, A_O.

Aussie_Outlaw · November 19th, 2009, 3:38 AM

I liked Season 4 Politics Lee... just didn't like lapdog Lee where he'd do whatever and then fawn over Kara.

Don't like Kara as a character really at all.

Though that's what happens with an ensemble cast, they're not all made to appeal to my type.

Chris · November 19th, 2009, 1:15 PM

One of my favourite moments is Lee's big speech in "Crossroads", where he basically lays out events from the entire series up to that point and talks about where the human race is going. It was a refreshing change from his affair with Kara, which I didn't enjoy very much.

I think one of the great things about BSG was the standard from beginning to end. I still regard the first episode of season 1, "33", as one of the best episodes. You look at some of the early stuff in, say, Star Trek: The Next Generation and it's a tad embarassing in comparision to the stories they were doing from season 3 onwards.

Aussie_Outlaw · November 19th, 2009, 6:14 PM

Even later Next Gen can get really mediocre... look at Masks (Season 7) for a prime example, and it isn't even against the normal trend. Though that can be the cost of running a 26 episode season as you'll pick up at least 5-8 bad episodes.

BSG's standard did seem to drop off slightly for the 2nd half but it was still thoroughly engaging.

The Rogerer · November 19th, 2009, 6:42 PM

I think every character got lumped with bad moments in BSG but the actors were all strong enough to power through it. Every character would suffer in filler episodes where they would fall into their 2d characiature modes, Kara the hoohah carcrash, Lee the weak paragon. Lee had a few duff episodes, but his weakness, especially with Kara was an important part of him. His marriage mirrored that of Tyrol's, one of circumstance and convencience, and I felt his pain. Kara was a strong character, who just got lumbered with one filler episode too many. Helo suffered this way by having to play the idiot too many times, reaching a climax (literally) in the end with Boomer.

Chris · Yesterday, 2:35 PM

Even the worst BSG episodes could still be watchable. That "Day in the Life" episode in season 3 where Adama remembers his seemingly horrible wife was pretty pointless, though the B story of Tyrol and Cally trapped in an airlock was alright. Same with Helo uncovering that nasty doctor - watchable and true to Helo's character, despite not being very significant to the overall arc. Star Trek has had some absolute clangers - I don't think BSG ever reached that level.

Season 4 was very strong - the only real dip for me was the initial reunion of Tigh and Ellen. In the previous episode, I completely bought Ellen as one of the final five - the way she spoke, her attitude, her verbal sparring match with Cavil, etc. Then she comes to Galactica and becomes completely unreasonable, bitchy and whiny. She was always controlling and paranoid when she was with Tigh, so I suppose it shouldn't have come as a surprise, but it was such an abrupt change from the previous episode that I didn't enjoy it. Ellen's behaviour took centre-place over the ramifications of Six's baby and the decision of whether the Cylons should stay with the fleet, which I thought was a mistake. But that was a minor niggle in an overall powerful season.

Aussie_Outlaw · Yesterday, 7:07 PM

I always thought of 'Hero' as basically the worst of the series. (Though I'm ignoring 'The Plan' which is worst by a mile and doesn't really count).

November 18th, 2009, 7:52 PM	#413
The Rogerer Oh Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Bread get bun Posts: 10,930 Rep Power: 39568	Just watched the end. Really liked it, more to say later. It's all about living in the moment though, not tallying up how many survivors died between each episode. Also Kara and Lee weren't bad at all, A_O. Last edited by The Rogerer; November 18th, 2009 at 8:08 PM..

November 7th, 2009, 5:51 AM	#411
The Rogerer Oh Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Bread get bun Posts: 10,930 Rep Power: 39568	I'm in here, trying not to spoil things although I always bump into spoilers and BSG has been no except. Good thing I don't feel they actually spoil things. After getting the 1-4 boxset on my honeymoon, we reached and watched Razor last night. I'm very resistant to most TV shows, and this show was good enough from the start to convince me in... I thought it started to go a little funny around the latter half of the second season, a few very generic filler episodes. People talk about Black Market being one of the worst episodes, but I felt 'Scar' after it was even worse for being pointless and episodic. They shook things up at the end of Season 2, but then mid Season 3 the filler came back with a vengeance. Episodes would end with revelations and cliffhangers, only for that thread to be dropped for a few episodes in favour of some clumsly morality tales and a bit of Battlestar Administration. Thankfully at the end of Season 3, in the final few episodes, it found it's feet again and did some brilliant things. Razor was good too, I wonder what the story behind the decision to revisit Pegasus at this point, but the story worked well and has established a few reminders of the first war that I assume will come to life soon. This is a really great show, unfortunately marred by the strange US custom of insisting that a season runs for over 20 episodes on many shows, resulting in churned out filler scripts. I'm using my momentum to finish off the show now, I know some people have been negative about the ending, but my friend says it was good and I trust his judgement.

November 7th, 2009, 6:47 AM	#412
Tempest ~POWER~ Join Date: May 2001 Location: Wolverhampton, UK Posts: 25,699 Rep Power: 61374	I think you'll either love or hate the ending. I was a bit worried because i'd heard wildly differing views on it but I myself loved it.

November 19th, 2009, 3:38 AM	#414
Aussie_Outlaw Pun-tastic Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Black Lodge Posts: 34,061 Rep Power: 21914	I liked Season 4 Politics Lee... just didn't like lapdog Lee where he'd do whatever and then fawn over Kara. Don't like Kara as a character really at all. Though that's what happens with an ensemble cast, they're not all made to appeal to my type.

November 19th, 2009, 1:15 PM	#415
Chris "Como estas?" Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland Posts: 8,136 Rep Power: 14946	One of my favourite moments is Lee's big speech in "Crossroads", where he basically lays out events from the entire series up to that point and talks about where the human race is going. It was a refreshing change from his affair with Kara, which I didn't enjoy very much. I think one of the great things about BSG was the standard from beginning to end. I still regard the first episode of season 1, "33", as one of the best episodes. You look at some of the early stuff in, say, Star Trek: The Next Generation and it's a tad embarassing in comparision to the stories they were doing from season 3 onwards.

November 19th, 2009, 6:14 PM	#416
Aussie_Outlaw Pun-tastic Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Black Lodge Posts: 34,061 Rep Power: 21914	Even later Next Gen can get really mediocre... look at Masks (Season 7) for a prime example, and it isn't even against the normal trend. Though that can be the cost of running a 26 episode season as you'll pick up at least 5-8 bad episodes. BSG's standard did seem to drop off slightly for the 2nd half but it was still thoroughly engaging.

November 19th, 2009, 6:42 PM	#417
The Rogerer Oh Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Bread get bun Posts: 10,930 Rep Power: 39568	I think every character got lumped with bad moments in BSG but the actors were all strong enough to power through it. Every character would suffer in filler episodes where they would fall into their 2d characiature modes, Kara the hoohah carcrash, Lee the weak paragon. Lee had a few duff episodes, but his weakness, especially with Kara was an important part of him. His marriage mirrored that of Tyrol's, one of circumstance and convencience, and I felt his pain. Kara was a strong character, who just got lumbered with one filler episode too many. Helo suffered this way by having to play the idiot too many times, reaching a climax (literally) in the end with Boomer.

Yesterday, 2:35 PM	#418
Chris "Como estas?" Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland Posts: 8,136 Rep Power: 14946	Even the worst BSG episodes could still be watchable. That "Day in the Life" episode in season 3 where Adama remembers his seemingly horrible wife was pretty pointless, though the B story of Tyrol and Cally trapped in an airlock was alright. Same with Helo uncovering that nasty doctor - watchable and true to Helo's character, despite not being very significant to the overall arc. Star Trek has had some absolute clangers - I don't think BSG ever reached that level. Season 4 was very strong - the only real dip for me was the initial reunion of Tigh and Ellen. In the previous episode, I completely bought Ellen as one of the final five - the way she spoke, her attitude, her verbal sparring match with Cavil, etc. Then she comes to Galactica and becomes completely unreasonable, bitchy and whiny. She was always controlling and paranoid when she was with Tigh, so I suppose it shouldn't have come as a surprise, but it was such an abrupt change from the previous episode that I didn't enjoy it. Ellen's behaviour took centre-place over the ramifications of Six's baby and the decision of whether the Cylons should stay with the fleet, which I thought was a mistake. But that was a minor niggle in an overall powerful season.

Yesterday, 7:07 PM	#419
Aussie_Outlaw Pun-tastic Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Black Lodge Posts: 34,061 Rep Power: 21914	I always thought of 'Hero' as basically the worst of the series. (Though I'm ignoring 'The Plan' which is worst by a mile and doesn't really count).

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