Remaining questions after the Battlestar Galactica series finale
Topics: TV, Thoughts | March 22, 2009 @ 3:39 AM
Boy, was that an interesting finale. It wasn’t what I expected, and for a while I thought it was going to end kind of lamely, but that last minute or two at the very end really finished it off nicely.
However, it was a bit of a cop-out because a number of things went unexplained. It’s up for debate how much of this was deliberate, but I can’t help but wondering the following:
- Who/what is God/the Gods/It? I think it was pretty clearly established that “Head” Six and “Head” Gaius really were “messengers” or “angels,” but the nature of what they represented was left completely and utterly open. They weren’t hallucinations, as evidenced by their appearance at the end when none of their respective characters was around to hallucinate them. Was this deliberate? Who knows, but I would have appreciated something more solid.
- Tying into the nature of “God,” what is the nature of the song? What is the song’s relationship to the universe? It seems to be woven, in Bear McCreary’s words, “into the very fabric of our characters’ universe.” And what of Kara’s supernova art?
- I can see most of the above as being left deliberately unanswered – free to interpretation. But I think Kara’s situation should have been explained much better. She falls into some sort of vortex, her Viper explodes, and somehow her charred remains end up on Earth. And she somehow comes back. And then she somehow vanishes into thin air (and Lee doesn’t even bother to act surprised). Are all the characters really so used to things being so frakked up that they just start accepting the strangest things?
- How were Roslin, Athena, Gaius, and Caprica all connected in the dream? I guess this can be another one of those “divine mysteries.”
- I was under the impression that the Earth they originally found was the same as ours, though this might be because of the season-ending imagery for the third season. I’m guessing I’m wrong on this, since the new Earth is ours, so to have two planets looking the same would be unlikely. On the other hand, we have people completely disappearing and no one questioning it.
- How is it that humans evolved on the new Earth?
- I’m still a little confused over the Thirteenth Tribe. Were they created by the other twelve, then went their own way, and then somehow the other twelve lost the technology? And how did they end up blowing themselves up – or did they end up creating their own machines?
- There are some other strange connections (such as the use of Sanskrit in the miniseries) which I guess they just dropped over the years.
- I also saw some oddities. For instance, why does Cavil just kill himself like that? He never gave up so easily before. And why was Hoshi chosen for Admiral? And Lampkin as president? I thought those last two were particularly hilarious.
I’m sure I have more, but that’s all I can remember for now. I’m sure there are plentiful fan theories for these questions, but I don’t want fan theories. I want actual answers from the writers. I enjoyed the finale, but they left too much open.
…or maybe I’m just inconsolably sad that the best series of all time is over. We should also keep in mind that many episodes were spent just making us think, and so ultimately the story could just be an excuse or a shell for a thought-provoking show. On the other hand, I did always very much enjoy the story. I can’t see any show taking BSG’s spot for me. RIP, BSG. This show is was what all shows should be.
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March 23rd, 2009 @ 2:08 PM
For the big answer, I think it’s a time loop, and in that last jumped back in time as well as space. That is the reason everything has happened before, and will happen again.
Hera had certain critical knowledge, such as Earth’s jump coordinates, which she passed on to her descendents as the Mitochondrial mother. She passed it on encoded in her DNA, to be activated again by herself 150,000 years in the future.
Baltar was the final Cylon, Daniel, whose model was subsequently boxed. Why? Because he was the only other character who could actually project. (Kara and Roslin could dream, but they never projected.)
I don’t know what the f*k Kara was, and I agree that this was the big copout. But I am still processing. Something might pop in there.
March 23rd, 2009 @ 5:21 PM
Can’t say I even remotely agree. Time loop sounds more like a Lost thing. The repetition of the cycles is more a comment on human nature than something to be taken literally with respect to time.
Hera sure had some knowledge, but I’m sure that Earth’s coordinates are tied together with the song in some way woven into the fabric of the universe (or whatever). I don’t think she specifically had the coordinates, she was just “enlightened” and able to see pieces of the universe others couldn’t, such as the song.
It was also pretty clear that Baltar wasn’t the final Cylon. Baltar never projected, Head/Virtual/Angelic Six doesn’t count as a projection. The existence of Angelic Baltar and Six independent of the real Baltar and Six indicates that their existences are separate and, in some way, real.
March 28th, 2009 @ 6:10 AM
As far as the conection of Roslyn, Athena/Boomer etc….Galactica represented (or was..) the OPera House, and all of those people were there at thatplace at the same time……foreshadowing I guess.
I had much the
March 28th, 2009 @ 6:12 AM
Jeez, I should finish typing before I post, sorry:
As far as the connection of Roslyn, Athena/Boomer etc, Galactica represented (or was..) the Opera House, and all of those people were there at that place at the same time……foreshadowing I guess.
I had much the same thoughts as you on the other issues.
March 28th, 2009 @ 6:14 AM
I’d have to say it’s more than just foreshadowing; foreshadowing is something that gives some indication to the reader or viewer of future events without really doing so to the characters. The dream was something experienced by the characters, so again, it would have to be evidence of some sort of (I hate to say it) supernatural phonemenon. Of course, “It” doesn’t like the name “God” and since “It” has some form of consciousness, maybe it isn’t supernatural but just beyond current knowledge.
March 31st, 2009 @ 8:28 PM
i thought it was pretty clear that kara thrace was some sort of jesus-like character. kara thrace jesus christ. think about it, maybe they were trying to make it like some of are religions today were based off of what happened with the battlestar crew.
April 11th, 2009 @ 11:42 PM
The Kara thing really bugged me, because I thought I had it figured out, and what they ended up doing instead seemed to make far less sense.
Here’s what I figured: Kara’s father was Daniel. Remember Daniel? The other model of cylon whose whole model was corrupted and destroyed? The artistic one whom Ellen liked and Number One/Cavil was jealous of? The mysterious cylon model who was mentioned a grand total of once? So say Kara was this model’s daughter. This would make her half-cylon, like Hera. And we see that Hera seems to have some clarvoyant abilities, so it would make sense that Kara has them too (more sense than Kara being an angel, at least!). Also, the whole “artist” thing ties in well with Kara’s father’s piano playing, and the super-important song he taught her.
Seriously, they thought Kara being an angel made more sense than this?
April 13th, 2009 @ 3:30 AM
I do like that idea. I don’t think she was an angel, though, just resurrected by the same “It” that sent Angelic Six/Baltar.
April 22nd, 2009 @ 7:27 PM
People, people, so many of you are way off. Stop reading into things beyond what they needed to be read into. For all those disappointed about Daniel not being mentioned besides that one time, Ron Moore WARNED us. They never intended to do anything with Daniel – introducing a fact like that so late in the game… It wasn’t part of their plan. Daniel was just the Abel to Cavil’s Cain. No more, no less.
For those of you complaining that Kara is an angel, the show has always had a metaphysical aspect. Things have happened that have gone unexplained before. Head Six turned into a corporeal being that framed Baltar with some sort of futuristic photoshop, and then she promptly disappeared off the Galactica.
Point isn’t that there is a God, but there is something pulling the strings. Something that has the best interest of sentient beings in mind, something pushing us all along, and something far more powerful than we can comprehend. I love this ending because it leaves so much more to the imagination than any regular scientific explanation ever could, and it sets BSG far apart from anything else I’ve seen.
The ending was brilliant. It was far better than it had any right to be. They were making things up as they went along, so to have such a satisfying ending says a lot about Ron Moore, in my opinion. The one thing they always knew was that humanity would end up on Earth, and that Earth would be our Earth… But most of what they did was made up without any real idea of how it would end, and they somehow made it work.
I loved the Opera House thing, I love the fact that we’re all Cylons and we’re going to risk killing ourselves again, I love how sushi came from the colonies, and how so much of what happened to the Colonials was brought down to us – It makes it feel like it’s actually reality.
April 22nd, 2009 @ 7:32 PM
# How is it that humans evolved on the new Earth?
They weren’t our species until Hera did the nasty with some tribal pre-humans.
# I’m still a little confused over the Thirteenth Tribe. Were they created by the other twelve, then went their own way, and then somehow the other twelve lost the technology? And how did they end up blowing themselves up – or did they end up creating their own machines?
Watch The Plan. You Will Know The Truth.
# I also saw some oddities. For instance, why does Cavil just kill himself like that? He never gave up so easily before. And why was Hoshi chosen for Admiral? And Lampkin as president? I thought those last two were particularly hilarious.
Cavil kills himself because it’s completely in his character to do so. He ALREADY LOST when he killed himself. It was over. There was no way he could get resurrection tech (one of the Final Five was already dead), the Colonials over-powered the skinjobs, and it was over. He took the cowardly way out. The idea for Cavil to commit suicide was actually the Dean Stockwell’s (the actor who played) choice. Originally, Colonel Tigh was supposed to kill him by throwing him over the ledge they were on, but Stockwell thought this ending would be more appropriate and Ron Moore loved it.
April 22nd, 2009 @ 7:35 PM
I agree with a lot of that. But I don’t think that the Six that framed Baltar was the same as Angelic Six – I thought it was pretty clear that she was just another Six sent in to frame Baltar.
Now, one could pull the usual arguments about the “powerful being.” For instance, if it really cares about all sentient beings and has their best interests in mind, how come it allows them to blow themselves up – repeatedly? How come it allows them to be so cruel to each other? Et cetera.
As for humans evolving on Earth, I didn’t mean our species. I mean one genetically compatible with the ones we’ve been following (the Colonials).
July 5th, 2009 @ 5:36 PM
Cap’ n Jack had it all half right. The writer’s made up so much along the way and then were left with the burden of explaining it at the end. Where he’s wrong is by saying these explanations were brilliant. The single explanation offered for all unanswered questions was that it was some divine beings doing. Starbuck coming back to life, the imaginary 6 in Baltar’s head taking a temporary human form, the opera dreams, Hera saving humanity, the song, the thirteenth tribe of cylons, etc, etc. ALL of this was explained as “God’s” (even though he doesnt like to be called that) doing.
Well why the frak didnt God just beam the whole Galactica to Earth in the first place? I guess for the same reasons he made the entire BSG writing team completely sh*t the bed for the finale.
This was a piss poor ending to a completely incredible series. Very dissapointing.
February 9th, 2010 @ 3:21 PM
As for the use of Sanskrit in the pilot (and in the Gayatri Mantra which is used in the opening credits beginning with season two), I think the answer is obvious: the language of the 13 colonies _WAS_ Sanskrit (conveniently spoken in English by the actors for the benefit of the TV audience). When the fleet arrives at (our) Earth in the final episode, they mention that the locals have no spoken language. Clearly, they teach them Sanskrit, which is one of our planet’s oldest languages and is related to many modern Asian and European languages.
June 14th, 2010 @ 12:39 AM
I thought it was Kara that nuked the cylon planet when she crashed her fighter.