Battlestar Galactica has achieved its momentarily snake-oil-ish, then bittersweet and then somewhat uplifting ending. There are only two soaked kleenexes at my side and all of the characters are where they should be. So, I don’t feel as bereft as when Babylon 5 ended in 1998, but close.
Gaius Baltar finally grew a pair and gave us the answer: “I see angels … Dreams given to a chosen few … whether we want to call it God or Gods … it doesn’t matter. It’s here. It exists. God is a force of nature, beyond good or evil. We created good and evil.” So did that harbinger of death who lead them to their end after all, Kara Thrace:
… the people who were standing beside you when you became who you are, when Ron Moore’s God wants to get a message past the firing line, that’s who He sends.
He sends Starbuck Leoben, the first person who ever knew about her mother. He sends Kara her father, too, angels to angels, gods speaking with gods. He sends Gaius the first person who ever showed him completely unselfish kindness. He sends Caprica the first person who showed her love. He sends the men and women of the fleet, he sends Lee and Bill, the girl who walked between the stars and cheated death a thousand times. He sends them an angel. He sends them Kara Thrace to show them the way home.
Angels whom you can hug, talk to, kiss, punch. Angels who hold guns and shoot. Angels who don’t know who or what they are. In other words, angels I can deal with.
“All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again.” Funny that Edward James Olmos takes us all the way from Bladerunner to Battlestar Galactica. Both movies warn humanity of the same thing: our hubris. While discussing the trailer of the new Terminator movie (and years ago after watching The Matrix and A.I.), I asked a fellow scientist if Armageddon is inevitable despite our best efforts to avoid it. If it is in our nature to explore, discover and push our boundaries, are we not going to tinker with the nature of being and have that hurt us? If this is Ron Moore’s God’s way of telling us to back away from the Aibos and Ursulas of the world lest they some day take us over (and eventually humiliate themselves by wearing red plastic sashes to fight alongside us), we must first kill our desire to make and prolong life however we can. We must do away with our unrelenting need for rebirth, freedom from death and everlasting life, for Resurrection. There doesn’t have to be some kind of way out of here.
Humans are what we are, however. It is in our nature to explore, create and attempt to dominate. To get away from our limitations, our confusions and to get relief. Therefore, everything we do will ultimately end in ruin. We start over and do it again. It’s the way of our inner beast. (Or, at least, our inner Japanese beast. For the love of humanity, what’s going on in The Land Of The Rising Android?) Make us stop. Just try and make us. As long as we are humans, an Armageddon of our own doing is inevitable and it is alright. This and love, that wonderful aid and antidote to total destruction, are what we are here on earth to learn.
A few programming notes:
– The Cylon centurions rocked the house! I feel bad for the “toasters” on both sides, treated like mere collateral damage. They’re machines, but are they?
– When Africa’s outline and the early Homo sapiens tribe popped onscreen, I totally called the whole “Out Of Africa”-“Hera as Mitochondrial Eve” thing. East Africa? Hera? Duh? Also, earlier on in the season, D opined that it would turn out that all modern humans are descended from Cylons.
– Roslin’s last flight tore me up inside. After just watching that scene again, my contact lenses are in my tear-soaked palms. Oh, break my heart, Galactica.
– So, if God doesn’t like to be known by that name, would he rather be called Jimi Hendrix? Jimi Hendrix thought he was god.
We’re powerful, creative, resilient, beautiful creatures that were meant to pass into the night, but we refuse to realize this simple truth about ourselves. All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’ve just been dipping in (having not caught the fever) but ended up watching the last hour of the finale and now I’m confused as hell. I sure hope they don’t pull a Dr. WHO and never show re-runs but only offer it up on DVD, because now I am curious to work backwards from the last hour to figure out what the hell was going on. Individual episodes caught in the past mostly made sense without diving deep into the whole series, but the end surely did not.
And I don’t think Hendrix thought himself a god so much as a messenger of the gods for whom love is a primary attribute (in Axis) or whatever he represents in Voodoo Child (something darker, much more like one of the loa). I can’t know what was in his head but always thought it more akin to the possession by the muse in Celtic lore, or the loa in Voodoo: the idea that the spirit world can take possession of an outlet to present it self to our world. Before modern Paganism caught on as a popular outlet for polytheism in the West, the Hindu pantheon offered a ready-made template. I think Hendrix would have identified with the modern Pagan religion today if he were still alive.
Mark, I’m glad you mentioned that about Axis and voodoo because, while I love his music, I never quite got Hendrix’s shtick. He did come across to me, though, as one of those comet-like spirits who streak through our lives, do their work (whatever it is) on earth and leave when it’s time to go. Like BSG’s angels.
Also, and funny how these things happen, the second paragraph of your comment answered the over-arching question of your first paragraph.
So say we all.
I loved it all but didn’t get why the Admiral wouldn’t be coming back. Still don’t get that. I mostly loved the fact that the music finally made sense, and the reliving the opera house dream sequence trying to find Hera in the fight. Gonna miss it.
Sharon, Adama had been wanting to retire and simply get away from it all before this whole mess started. He was forced into being a leader and, once they got to Earth, he went back to retiring.
They just gave it all up for a blank slate. Wow.
Watching Galactica and the Fleet cruise into the sun. No fireworks, they just leave the battered, but still trusty girl to fade away.
Wow, man, watching that episode the same week or so you leave New Orleans. Heavy. How are you keeping it together?
PS- Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this beautiful, frakked up city. See you again.
Oh yeah, and how about Baltar living out the rest of his days as a farmer. At least he gets to bone Caprica for a while.
I think the simple answer is yes, he’s prefers to be called jimi.
yeah… the rest of tv story telling is bland in comparison now… what to do? listen to some hendrix albums?
i felt it my duty to at least try remixing some of the music from bsg… my first attempt is posted now for download on http://www.reverbnation.com/therotations
enjoy, and feel free to let me know what you think?