TV Talk - Battlestar Galactica Season 4

Hmm... seems messianic with less emphasis on the "messi".

For my final post this month, I might as well go out with a bang. It’s back to Battlestar Galactica for this one. I had been wanting to finish off the show with Season 4, but I couldn’t find the dang DVD set for a while. Thankfully, I found them. It’s literally been 10 years since I’ve ever watched this season especially the final episodes. It felt like the end to something special especially since I was getting ready for my final semester of college. Season 4 of BSG was split between 2008 and 2009. While it kind of started with the movie, Razor, it officially didn’t start until April 2008. 10 episodes aired in 2008 while another 10 aired in 2009. I was pretty much glued to the set for the final season.

So… how do I talk about this without spoiling the fact that Kara Thrace came back from the dead in Season 3? Oh… well, Starbuck, who unfortunately left us in the middle of Season 3, suddenly shows up in a nebula where the fleet is surrounded by Cylons. Also, four of the final five Cylon models are revealed, and it is a shock to them and the audience. I’ll won’t spoil them, though. Let’s just say it’s all a a bit of a mess at the end of Season 3. The fleet was still in shock over Baltar’s trial, and it’s revealed that Roslin’s cancer is back.

Season 4 picks up with what happened and rolls with it. Kara isn’t trusted at first, but she’s then sent out with others since she may know where Earth is. Lee accepts a new role in the fleet’s government. The newly revealed Cylons do what they can with their new knowledge. Also, Gaius Baltar gets even weirder. We even get a Cylon civil war that causes some models to possibly help humanity. To keep from spoiling more, the fleet do reach their destination, but it’s far from over. Not only do they have to deal with internal matters, there’s still the threat of the Cylons.

PROS

While it’s not perfect, this was a pretty good season to end out on. You could kind of tell that the creators had an endpoint in mind. There wasn’t much lollygagging this time around either since it seemed everyone had a role to fulfill.  Season 4 was the culmination of everything. The fleet finally finds Earth, but that leaves more questions than answers. Luckily, most of those questions are answered. Even though the show’s ending, the writers still explore certain themes with the fleet and the Cylons. The show also gives an increase to the supernatural/mystic stuff that had been around for a while. I know some don’t like it, but I thought the supernatural stuff was a nice addition even if it wasn’t handled well at times. We also end up seeing the fleet at its bleakest. “Sometimes a Great Notion” is interesting as well as heart-breaking.

Our characters end up getting put through the wringer here. We have the return of Kara Thrace who’s still how she was around Season 3. I also thought the subplots around the final five Cylons were interesting. They all reacted to this info pretty differently. Some tried to ignore it and move on with their lives while others embraced it for good or ill. We also had characters like Lee and Baltar pick up more hats to wear in the fleet. Even though I wasn’t liking what they were doing with Lee last season, this season did him good. Other favorite characters in this season included ones like Adama, Tigh, Gaius Baltar, Kara Thrace, Sam Anders, Gaeta, and Pres. Roslin. It was about time I started to actually like her.

Gaeta and Zarek? What is this?

We don’t get too many new faces on the show. We do see the return of actors like Dean Stockwell, Lucy Lawless, and Mark Shepard. We also get one familiar face in a small role. Nana Visitor from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine shows up here in a role that was pretty awesome. I’ll just let you look for it. As usual, the music from Bear McCreary kicks so much butt. His rendition of “All Along the Watchtower” did get stuck in my head, though. The special effects especially look pretty crisp this season. Even the Cylons look good now, and that was something I always felt looked weird on the show before.

Before I leave this section, I gotta talk about the ending of the show. It ended in a way that was pretty satisfying for the most part. I won’t say it’s perfect because things happen in it that I still don’t like. Watching it again felt good. It especially helped to see everything truly fit. It was also pretty action-packed and had a lot of heart. I even thought some of the flashbacks we got during it were nice. As for the others… well, I’ll save them for the CONS section. Overall, it was a nice end to a good season of BSG.

CONS

Okay, if there was one character I didn't like this season, it would be the one in this picture. Just guess.

Even though I really liked this season, I still found a few things to nitpick on. A part of me felt like the some episodes and plot lines felt rushed. I felt this in both parts of the season. The writers’ strike happened around this time and it affected a lot of shows like the NBC show, Heroes. I don’t know how affected BSG was, but it looks like that it did hurt it a bit. We also had the return of one unlikable character. You’ll know her when you see her. Thankfully, she wasn’t as bad here. Still, I gotta mention the return of  ***** ****.

While I do like the ending of the show, I did have some small issues. We got some flashback scenes with our cast before the fall of the Colonies. While most of these scenes were interesting, I did think that some of them could’ve been shortened a bit. There’s also the endpoint of a certain Kara Thrace… I still don’t know how to feel about that. Re-watching this season didn’t help much either since we only get a glimpse of what was going on there. It’s just so confusing and maybe that was the point. It doesn’t  mean I gotta like it, though. Other than those things and some nitpicks, this was good.

So, what does this mean? Just check out the season. You'll see. 

FAVORITE EPISODES

Man, these guys changed a lot on this show!

Well, I gotta list my favorite episodes of the season. I’ll try to keep this down this time.

1. He That Believeth in Me/Six of One – We see Kara Thrace return to the Galactica. Meanwhile, the Cylons erupt into a civil war over the reveal of the Final Cylons
2. Faith – While Kara and her squad decide to get see what’s going on with a Cylon Baseship, Pres. Roslin has a conversation with another sick lady.
3. Sine Qua Non – When the Cylon Baseship disappears along with Pres. Roslin, the fleet kinda loses its collective… felderkarb.
4. Sometimes a Great Notion – The fleet finds out what happened to the 13^th Colony and stuff gets pretty depressed.
5. The Oath/Blood on the Scales – Some familiar  disgruntled crew members decide to stage a coup on the Galactica and take Adama out of command.
6. Daybreak – It’s the 3 part series finale. The Galactica prepares for one final battle with the evil Cylons. That’s all you need to know there.

………………………………………………………..

Overall, this was a good end to the show proper. I know there are some that don’t like the ending, and I understand that. Doesn’t mean I agree, though. Moore, Eick, and the rest of the team did what they could to bring this cycle to an end, and I think they stuck the landing well enough. I wish I could say that I myself am finished with this universe, but I can’t say that yet. I still got a few BSG related things to cover, but I am done with the show proper. Next time will be a conclusion to the series as well as a couple of favorites lists. For now, I end this Sci-fi Month on time for once. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.