Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica Ending: A Ceremonial Slap in the Face!

 

The Sci-Fi Channel remake of Battlestar Galactica committed the worst atrocity in the history of science fiction television. It took the age old concept of man playing God and having it blow up in his face and then actually added God into the mix. Not only did this dramatic turn of events essentially come out of nowhere, it also greatly diminished the dramatic tension in the series. It also took the always dreaded Deus ex machine ending and applied it to the show in a truly literal sense. This was a real shame because what really made Battlestar Galactica such a special show was in watching how the characters reacted to their changing environment and then had to adjust their own actions based on the new situations that they found themselves in. It was a human drama and the fact that certain characters of their own freewill would come to certain decisions really made the show exceptionally compelling.

Consider the character of Laura Roslin  played by the wonderful Mary McDonnell. It was wonderful to watch her being transformed from the soft spoken Secretary of Education  to perhaps the most noble and prideful President since George Washington. Also what a wonderful idea to have the character use the cancer eating away at her body as the catalyst to transform herself into a true “bad ass.” Mind you, this was also before a character named Walter White  would make an appearance on our television screens and help to change the face of television. This character transformation is made all the more powerful because Laura Roslin decides to change not because God made it so but because she rose to the occasion of the moment. Remember this is fictional programming we are talking about here so unfortunately cramming God into the plot in the rushed way that they did really hurts the show’s narrative structure.

What also makes this ending such a slap in the face is that the writing over the course of the show was actually quite good.  There were excellent cliffhangers, dramatic turns of events, major character changes, and we also had several major turning points in the show. In fact many of these dramatic turns of events would have been perfect endings to the series. Remember the discovery of the “real” earth and the enslavement of the colony by the Cylons? The fact that the show possess at least two excellent endings and chooses not to use them is just maddening. The writers  were also able to make the Cylons become more human than we ever thought possible when they become complex enough to have a fraction of their members not want to annihilate the humans. Essentially, the Cylons develop freewill and then we have another contradiction because if God gave man freewill and man created the Cylons, then the Cylons could not dvelop freewill because they were not created by God.

Moreover, this Deus ex machina ending is precisely the type of ending that good literary professors tell their students to avoid at all costs. As such it is very much a slap in the face across every fan of this show that watched every episode and even sat through the “Razor” movie. We are rewarded for being faithful viewers by having the final answer to everything in the show being that it was essentially God’s plan to have the cylons and humans coexist together on an alien planet that is essentially the earth that we grew up on. It is one thing to do this for a film over the course of two hours or so but it is like a kick to the gut to end an entire series like this. With that being said not every show needs to end in a definitive fashion but not tying up any of your loose ends and simply using the presence of God to explain everything is lazy writing.  

The question to ask  is was it the intention of the show’s creators all along to reveal God’s master plan or did the show’s creators not have any conclusive way to end the story? It makes The Sopranos ending look neat by comparison. I know there are those of you out there that actually like this ending. I cannot possibly see why but I understand that you are entitled to your opinion and I will respect that. Also, say what you will about Lost but the show’s conclusion does a better job of making the audience aware of it’s religious and spiritual undertones then Battlestar Galactica did. It really is a great shame because Battlestar Galactica did a great job of creating some truly compelling television and in my opinion it alos did a great job of paralleling the war on terrorism.

Perhaps it is too much to have asked that ultimately what could have doomed the Cylon race was their inability to have freewill and thus God’s presence could have been implemented into this show in a much more emotionally refreshing way.

Matthew Giordano