And now, here we are, at the end of days.
Every story needs an ending.
On that, I think we all can agree.
Credit: Carole Segal
Especially since, forBSG, relevance is the coin of the realm.
So the only real question is: How didBattlestar Galacticaend?
With a bang, a whimper, a little bit of both?
As frustratingly perfect asThe Sopranos slam to black?
As hauntingly surreal asSt.
Elsewhere, revealed to be the intricate fever-dream of an autistic child?
Some will likely feel cheated; that the answers they felt were owed them were left woefully unresolved.
Others will bask in the warm glow of emotional satisfaction.
And, as such, I have the utmost respect for his achievement.
In television, few get to tell their story their way and end it on their terms.
For that, I think we should all go outside and spill half our drinks on the sidewalk.
And, given that Im also recapping a two-hour episode, were gonna be here a while.
The smoking lamp is out, and the scotch is Talisker.
We opened back on Caprica, Before the Fall.
So far, Caprica seems to consist of humble abodes, parks, and strip joints.
Someplace with dark wood and a bartender with a bow tie.
But props to Ellen Tigh for rolling with the fellas: The family that plays together, stays together.
Lee was as convinced of his righteousness years ago as he is today.
And its clear that there was always something between them.
First, it was Zak Adama.
Then it was their jobs.
After that, it was Baltar remember when Kara slept with him?
then Sam, then death, and finally…fate.
(Its also interesting that Bill and Lee werent on speaking terms even before Zak died.)
(Favorite Moment #2: Lee and Kara, sleeping together.I love Kara Thrace!
And then she went and married Anders.)
Apparently, everyone can handle his or her liquor better than Ol Bill Adama, Admiral Gakbar himself.
Adama and that corporate job he refused to take remind me, of all things, of First Blood.
I was a bit like Cottle in that scene, trying my best to keep it together.)
There was something refreshingly old school about the lead-up about the preparations for the final battle.
Red-striped Centurions marched on the flight deck, much like when they were marching on New Caprica.
But now, theyre on our side.
Or were on their side.
Or theres a side, and were all on it.
How does Galacticas crew show affection for and acceptance of their President?
By building the first ship since C-Day and naming it Laura.)
Baltar manned up and stayed on Galactica, leaving his flock behind.
(Theyre all yours now, Paula.
Im puzzled by whats happened to Gaius Baltar.
Wed been asked to invest so much time in his religious conversion, his newfound sense of purpose.
Were watching the rest of this thing, I dont care what youre doing on Friday night.)
Im just gonna pop this in verbatim.
Because this was the last time wed watch William Adama lead men and women into battle.
The last time wed listen to him stir the soul: This is the Admiral.
Just so therell be no misunderstandings later.
Galacticas seen a lot of history, gone through a lot of battles.
This will be her last.
She will not fail us, if we do not fail her.
If we succeed in our mission, Galactica will bring us home.
If we dont, it doesnt matter anyway.
Stuff blowing up real good.
But before all is lost, Pegasus rolled in to save the day.
Never have CG ships moving through space been so frakking heroic.)
Lucky for them, Boomer decided to switch sides one last time.
(And Simon paid the price.)
So now Baltar and Caprica Six stood on the line, nervous, ready to repel borders.
Im proud of you, she told him.
Ive always wanted to be proud of you.
And then the Head games got complicated…because Caprica and Baltar can see each others Head people.
Which doesnt make any sense, but more on that later.
Tell the old man, I owed him one.
What goes around, comes around.
Hell of a way to cliffhang the first season.)
When one of the Dorals fired a few rounds into Helos leg, Hera decided to run off.
After everything shed been through, she chose that moment to run from her parents?
I will say that, at least, we got a resolution for the Opera House stuff.
It all came together and it all made sense.
If they did…thatsawesome.
Why does Baltar get to make the big speech that saves Hera?
Angels in this very room.
Now I may be mad, but that doesnt mean that Im not right.
Why not any number of people standing there who might have something to add to the conversation?
And why didnt someone shoot Cavil in the skull while he was distracted by Gaius blathering?
A ballsy storytelling maneuver that worked like a charm.)
It was a Battlestar that looked like a toy thatd been played with too much.
And then we got to Earth.
From here on out, Daybreak was just a series of endings.
With her demise came the dissolution ofBSGs first family.
I dont understand why Bill Adama was never going to see his son again.
Why did Lauras death have to send him into a self-imposed exile?
NEXT: Karas surprising exit
But thats nothing compared to what happened with Kara Thrace.
For all of its religious overtones and prophetical trappings,Battlestar Galacticahas been a show rooted in the real.
Is she an angel, as Baltar would claim?
A collective figment of everyones imagination?
I know that Ron Moore has said that Kara is whatever we want her to be.
I want her to make sense.
(And who, exactly, was Kara the Harbinger of Death for?
Not for the humans, clearly.)
Drunk on Caprica with Lee, she revealed that her greatest fear was of not being remembered.
No chance of that, to be sure.
Kara Starbuck Thrace will remain one of the great modern television characters.
I only wish that her ending honored her.
I can do this all day.
Amen, sister.)
Finally, 150,000 years later.
In New York City.
Head Baltar and Head Six peer over the shoulder of Ronald D. Moore himself (Angels?
You know, of all the endings this episode had, the NYC one was my least favorite.
Why hammer the point so friggin hard?
We wouldve gotten that without the CNBC reports of cutesy robots.
The minute we saw the outline of Africa from space, we kinda knew where this was heading.
Do I wish Id gotten more answers?
But some questions get answered, and some just lead to other questions.
Such is life, such isBattlestar Galactica.
Its hard to summarize four years of a television show.
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