It was probably always going to go that way - the original series was so full of Mormon theology, that the new remake was always going to have religious undertones to it.
Still, they could have toned down the “Starbuck is space Jesus” thing a bit.
I think my problem with it is that it just transplanted the regular nonsensical ad hoc deity that works in mysterious ways into anotherwise realistic SF drama. That’s extremely unsatisfying to create a machina whole cloth and still need to Deus ex your way out.
Yeah, agreed. All that groundwork of gritty and brutal politics, war, ethics, survival, difficult choices etc touched on a lot of contemporary issues at the time, then all seems a bit wasted by Space Jesusing the end of it.
what I appreciated about the ending is that you had two competing religions throughout the show and at different points different prophecies come true, making it unclear who’s “right.” and then you get to the end and it turns out no one had any idea what was going on, they (and us as viewers) were all being taken for a ride. religion is based on faith, but in the world of BSG you have this unknowable godhead who you can’t even conceptualize in order to have faith in. the “it doesn’t like to be called that” line at the end is so good because it shows just how far off base everyone was in the show, and by extension real life. you’re wrong to even anthromorphize it by referring to it as a person. that’s (neo)platonism!
granted i don’t think any of that was intentional. they definitely tried to pull a deus ex machina because they had set up a bunch of questions that they couldn’t answer. but what is ultimately a cowardly finale accidentally ends up saying something very profound
BSG will forever be a love/dislike thing for me. I loved the show and I disliked where it went. It still gets a semi-pass from me though because circumstances were rough at the time.
It suffered a lot because of a writer’s strike. I 100% am on the side of the writers for striking, but the strike caused a lot of shows that could have gone well to flop, Heroes was another. It also gave rise to more reality tv since they don’t need a script. I feel like BSG could have been significantly better if not for the strike.
I love BSG, I just really hate that they went with magic/religiousness to resolve the plot. It’s a stain on an otherwise stellar show.
It was probably always going to go that way - the original series was so full of Mormon theology, that the new remake was always going to have religious undertones to it.
Still, they could have toned down the “Starbuck is space Jesus” thing a bit.
I think my problem with it is that it just transplanted the regular nonsensical ad hoc deity that works in mysterious ways into anotherwise realistic SF drama. That’s extremely unsatisfying to create a machina whole cloth and still need to Deus ex your way out.
Yeah, agreed. All that groundwork of gritty and brutal politics, war, ethics, survival, difficult choices etc touched on a lot of contemporary issues at the time, then all seems a bit wasted by Space Jesusing the end of it.
what I appreciated about the ending is that you had two competing religions throughout the show and at different points different prophecies come true, making it unclear who’s “right.” and then you get to the end and it turns out no one had any idea what was going on, they (and us as viewers) were all being taken for a ride. religion is based on faith, but in the world of BSG you have this unknowable godhead who you can’t even conceptualize in order to have faith in. the “it doesn’t like to be called that” line at the end is so good because it shows just how far off base everyone was in the show, and by extension real life. you’re wrong to even anthromorphize it by referring to it as a person. that’s (neo)platonism!
granted i don’t think any of that was intentional. they definitely tried to pull a deus ex machina because they had set up a bunch of questions that they couldn’t answer. but what is ultimately a cowardly finale accidentally ends up saying something very profound
You might enjoy this
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KQLfgaUoQCw
The crazy unexplained shit with Starbuck exploding, then finding her body, then disappearing in a field. So frustrating.
BSG will forever be a love/dislike thing for me. I loved the show and I disliked where it went. It still gets a semi-pass from me though because circumstances were rough at the time.
It suffered a lot because of a writer’s strike. I 100% am on the side of the writers for striking, but the strike caused a lot of shows that could have gone well to flop, Heroes was another. It also gave rise to more reality tv since they don’t need a script. I feel like BSG could have been significantly better if not for the strike.
Spirituality was explicitly part of the plot from day one. They never hid that. Your personal materialist views don’t change that fact.