Judgment Day
Posted on | March 10, 2006 at 10:31 pm | Comments Off
I don’t feel too bad about my nerdly, geekly inclinations pouring out over Battlestar Galactica, since the show appears to be a critics’ darling with even the mainstream press and is constantly touted as one of the best shows on TV by many publications and pundits.
So, I just have to say (mostly non-spoilerish) that tonight’s season two finale was one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen in an ongoing TV show. It just reinforces the fact that this show is more like a novel than a television series – a novel where anything can happen. We’re used to things being very different at the end of the episode than at the beginning, but OMG. Remember that third season episode of Babylon 5 where the station declared its independence from Earth? Or that season two finale of Alias where it jumped ahead two years? Or the one in the middle of season two when Syd finally took down SD6? Combine all those and ramp up the intensity by about 5 times and you have the BSG season finale. I kept expecting someone to wake up and reveal it all as a dream, but no. I’m sure it’s going to piss a lot of people off, especially since the third season doesn’t start until October. But it will sure be interesting to see what finally happens, now that the status quo has gone completely out the window.
It was interesting not only the shock value, but for all the character moments. I’m not much for moral dilemmas, but the one that Roslin and Adama were faced with in this episode, and how they resolved it (and the dire consequences thereof), isn’t something you’d likely see on Star Trek or even The West Wing (though you should). And predictably, everyone’s worst fears about Baltar are finally realized. He makes President Logan on 24 look like a pillar of strength. And Starbuck, Apollo, Tyrol, Tighe, Sharon, Gaeta, everyone… they all had their defining character moments. Dean Stockwell’s guest star turn was very cool and oh so right.
Now the only question is… how are they going to top it next season? Is it shark-jumping time? Something tells me there’s still a lot of story left to tell. Crossing my fingers.
Bring on The Sopranos…
Latre.