Bass pretty much summed it up right there.
However, in response to that post, Ron Moore himself has stated that for the most part he's pretty much making it up as he goes along (there's no detailed, planned story arc like in Babylon 5). Certain things are planned, sure, like them finding Earth eventually...pretty much everything else comes in on the fly. This is a shame, as this series had the perfect set-up for a slowly-revealed mythology and would have paid off very well for more detailed and pre-planned story arc.
What.
This is despicable. The show is
written specifically to cater to the long, mystery story arc. The show OPENS with "The Cylons have a plan." Since the pilot we have had three main mysteries - Who are the 12 Models, Will they find Earth, and What is the Cylon plan? Not including all the bizarre precognitive dreams throughout the show.
AND THEY DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER?! How are
we supposed to work it out if they don't know? Why are they giving hints and clues to puzzles that they don't know yet? How dare they?!
For three years they've continued a mystery story arc and they don't know what they're doing?
This could've been solved easily - I've said it from the beginning. Don't pretend to have one. They're looking for Earth. The Cylons are trying to kill them. You don't need the 12 models (not having a finite number makes them
scarier) and just have their plan be "Kill all humans". You don't need this destiny bull****.
They put in to hook viewers but couldn't be bother to reward those viewers by doing the GODDAMN WORK by working out the mystery in the first place? **** them. Goddamn hacks.
I want to see where Moore says this. Because I think I've had enough of downloading this show for my friends to watch. They can wait for it on Sky.
I think its evident that Moore and company's main goal in the show is a not so subtle critique on the Iraq War, with the occasional unrelated social issue thrown in, instead of telling the story they should be telling. Instead of telling a story and creating parallels through the story, they're creating the story merely to set up those parallels...hence the often weak or non-sensical storylines we've been getting this season.
In the end, it seems a bit more detailed and long-term planning could only have improved this series overall.
I totally agree. Not only that, but I wouldn't use the word 'critique' in regards to the metaphor of the current US foreign policy situation. Critique implies intelligence. This is a childish, impractical, immature, and heavy-handed use of the current political situation to make the show seem 'important'.
But y'know what? I can't be arsed to go into it. Sufficed to say, if the 'critique' was such a thing - Boomer/Athena would not be on Galactica married to Helo. Hera would not be in her possession.
And the fleet would represent the Middle East, and the Cylons would represent America. If they
really wanted to discuss the situation. They wouldn't make the Cylons Nazis and the fleet Holocaust survivors.
Meh.
Baltar's trial and Lee's speech were probably the high point of the episode. I thought Lee made a convincing arguement for why Baltar's crimes were no worse than those committed by people who are still held in great esteem that had already been forgiven. I think Adama had enough respect for the process of law and for his father that he had to openly admit that Baltar did not deserve death and was not guilty of war crimes.
Good point. I had forgotten Adama's dad was the lawyer. You're right - I can see how the sentiment
would make Adam equit Baltar. My mistake. I still don't buy Lee being
allowed to talk that long without proper interruption, but the change in Adama, I buy. Good one.
The landmarks to Earth haven't been over done. The first was Kobol, which probably made one of the best stories and made sense. The next was "The Eye of Jupiter" which was a pretty weak plot point, but it made for a decent launching point for the rest of the season's revealations.
My problem is the story law of 'progressive complications'. Story's don't regress. You have points of no return - the story progresses to a wider and/or deeper level because it can't go backwards or repeat.
I see no different in The Eye of Jupiter and Kobol. They are exactly the same story, but have different soap opera sub-plots. Otherwise they're the same story "We found a new landmark". It's totally academic. They're not qualitively closer to Earth.
This is what started my theory. I would propose that the "antebellum" Cylons, which were believed to be the first generation of Cylons, were in fact not created humans at all but instead by the Final Five. These five humanoid cylons were created by ancient men for purposes yet to be revealed. Each generation of Five Cylons has spawned the next generation. I would infer that other seven humanoid models of Cylons were also created by the Final Five in much the same way that they were created. The Final Five share distinct differences from the humanoid Cylons that we've seen in the show so far. For one, the Final Five don't share multiple copies in the universe, they are unique but also are not immortal, and therefore don't download into a new model. Every generation must live its time then die. Their consciousness isn't lost. Their memories are added to that of the newest generation. By some method of reproduction, each of the Final Five spawns their own replacement, and there by each generation is in fact unique from the one before it, but they share the same memories and base protocols.The Cylon fleet we see in the finale could infact be there to collect the newest generation of the Final Five.
This is the problem - according to Ronald D Moore, they don't know what the origin of the Cylons are, so youre theory can never be more than supposition because the series in inconsistent. Hell, maybe they'll see your theory and go, "Wow. That's much better than ours!" and it'll show up in the show. They have a few months to scour the internet and look for the best solution to their cliffhanger and then claim that this was how it was all along.
*******s.
I would also put a lot of signifance of the number 12 in the show. The Quorum of Twelve representing the Twelve Colonies representing the Twelve Tribes that left Kobol. The number 12 may have the same significance.
This is something I'd forgotten. That's brilliant. Good catch - but I think it'll be explained away as the Cylons 'trying to be human' (which is what they said they were doing in season 2 - and somehow, they had to kill all the humans to 'be human', which didn't make sesne).
But it's a good catch.
Bass:
I think you really, really, REALLY nailed something significant when you talked about the difference between a ...er... OMG moment and a WTF moment. The former is the kind of thing that makes you go nuts waiting for the next episode, that makes you really think, that makes the hiatus between seasons seem interminable... and the latter is the kind of thing that inspires disappointment at potential being squandered.
Not looking to stir up trouble with hard core BSG fans, but I fairly early on, I began to feel I was missing something, given the critical and fan buzz the series has generated. I really enjoyed the "reboot" - I am not an advocate of the "lets make EVERYTHING" dark and gritty school which has taken over much of superhero fiction of late, but it really worked for me, with BSG (and that is not a knock on the original, which was a lot of fun in its own quirky, unique way!). Clearly, some of the "gravitas" came from 9/11 resonances, but the initial Cylon attack, the intriguing reinvention of Baltar (smart, slick, tricky, almost always underestimated, as opposed to the delicious scenery chewing evil of his original counterpart!), the reimagined Cylons... there was a LOT there to like. But, over time, I felt the series began to drift, and I became less and less and less sure that, behind it all, the writers really had a coherent, solid backstory.
So... great way to succinctly capture that sensation, Bass...*S*
Shadow
Thanks - an OMG moment is where you do the Columbo thing. Raise your fingertips to your forehead, go slack jawed, turn left, look right, and solve the case.
