Further BSG finale thoughts

[prog]

Some followup thoughts on the BSG finale, weeks later...

I will never be satisfied with the way the story shoehorns itself into a chariots-of-the-gods ending. It literally makes no sense from a characters-eye level, and for such a wonderfully character-driven show like BSG that's pretty stinky. That said, I don't find myself able to be truly upset that the series took such a weird turn at the very very end, especially since the few events that happened after this realty-shift were more or less perfect. I just wish they could have found a way to get to the same place without the need of a jarring sidestep.

Lots of folks were upset at Kara's sudden vanishing act, as well as a perceived implication that the "Head" characters were literally angels, or some other kind of divine entity. This wasn't my reading; in fact, I thought the true nature of all three characters quite satisfyingly explained by the finale. Here is my take:

With the very last scene, we learn that the Heads are an example of an SF trope often referred to as "Outsiders"; beings so alien that they may as well inhabit another plane of existence. We never learn exactly where (or when?) they are from, and we cannot know their motivation for meddling in human and Cylon affairs starting from the moment that Cylons nearly wipe out humanity, and ending when the remnants of the two species mutually settle on the green Earth. Nor do we know why they chose to be so oblique about their work, revealing themselves only as questionable hallucinations to two very troubled people. But, that's aliens for you. I found this particular execution of the trope perfectly satisfying.

Meanwhile, the posthumous Kara Thrace (along with her Viper) was a construct of these same outsiders, projected into the colonists' reality after Starbuck died near the end of season three. The Kara-projection was not allowed to know this about herself, though she may have started guessing it (or it was revealed to her) a moment before she vanished in the finale. She went away because her task was done, and so they switched off her projector. That's all there is to it. I liked it.

Comments

[radiotelescope.livejournal.com]

I got that the posthumous Kara was one of them, rather than a creation of them. But this is a small (perhaps merely terminological) difference in the context of the story.

That aspect of the finale worked because they did a good disengage of the concept of "God" from the beings that the Imaginary 6+Baltar represent. We can believe that these being Have A Plan, but we *don't* have to slough it off as absolutely ineffable and divine and invisible; we can think about what it might have been and how they accomplished it. The epilogue hit that note right.

Other notes, like 40000 people saying "What the hell, let's go camping", were less deft.

[ahkond.livejournal.com]

What with the new homesteading situation, "realty-shift" is very appropriate.

Too bad you weren't in the BSG writing room...

[taskboy3000.livejournal.com]

With the very last scene, we learn that the Heads are an example of an SF trope often referred to as "Outsiders"; beings so alien that they may as well inhabit another plane of existence.

I might have gone in for this more explicit ending. However, it's just another form of magic. The show didn't appear to be to be about magic, unlike say Baywatch Nights.

The show had very poorly realized themes, which is a bummer. Interesting topics like the Kurzweil Singularity, the results of evolutionary keyhole events on a human population, even the effects of long-term isolation in space were all VERY NEARLY explored in the unique setting of this show. What does it mean to be human when machines are sentient and even behaviorally equivalent to homo sapien? In four seasons, the BSG writers studiously avoided this head scratcher.

In the end, I would have preferred watching Baywatch Nights. Not only was the T&A better, but so was the writing.