I think it's going to be VERY VERY hard to do a Season 4 single disc. Frak, you could do a 2 CDs set just from "Daybreak!"

But what a show! Wow!

One of the best scenes was with Doc Cottle and Laura. That was a great send off for the doctor, whom I know had a lot of fans.

--Brian

NP: Lost:1

I'm totally fine with them leaving behind technology. I just wish they would have explained the "head" characters a bit more, and gone into a little bit more on Starbuck. It's way too ethereal and left up to the imagination for me, which part of me wants to blame Ron Moore and staff for laziness or lack of vision. I mean, don't get me wrong - it was an extremely powerful way to end the show.

I teared up when the Admiral and Laura said goodbye to Lee and Kara. You always knew Laura was going to pass, but seeing her deterioration over the course of the last 2 seasons really culminated in the finale and delivered a seriously emotional blow. At least for me.

Again, I just feel they took the cheap way out by leaving it up to the audience to interpret who and what the Head characters were and what Starbuck was. The idea that Starbuck was Daniel's daughter gives me some kind of comfort in that void of unanswerable questions, even though Moore didn't intend that to be the case.

I love the show, the story, the characters, the music -- all of it, no less. It was a better send off than Star Trek Voyager ever got.

As for Starbuck, you could call her a Christ Like figure. Death and resurrection. My crew and I agreed that she probably was Daniel's daughter...which would make her the original hybrid?! As for her disappearance in the end, who knows, an angel like the "Heads" or something else. Something left open for the fans to talk about.

The show always had a heavy religious subtext to it. and I think in the end, Moore and co, just ended it like that.

Loose ends, eh, whatever. I thought it was a good ending for the show. Not EVERYTHING needs to be tired up. It makes for some good debating and talks among fans.

It makes the show never end really, as long as people talk and debate about it.

The above thoughts were from a collective of my friends. We all watched the show together.

--Brian

PS: You didn't make me do anything I was out of 24 and West Wing and you highly suggest I try BSG. There was no forcing involved

From Bear's Blog:

<<
Hey guys and gals…

Thanks in no small part to all the feedback I’ve seen here, this is what I’m thinking for the album as of right now: A 2 CD set is a must. I think I’ll do the first disc of “He That Believeth” up through “Islanded in a Stream of Stars” and then the second disc will be “Daybreak, Pt. I & II”

I know that leaves off “Razor,” but I’m considering doing a separate release of “Razor” and “The Plan,” or perhaps including them in the big box set. On the other hand, I might be able to squeeze a couple “Razor” tracks on the disc (the attack on the shipyard and Husker in Combat for example).

Anyway, that’s where I’m at with it right now. Now that I’m finally done with the series, I’ll be focusing on cutting the album together in the coming weeks and I’ll see what makes sense.

So Say…
-Bear
>>

Cross your fingers!

It's interesting, absorbing the show as quickly as I have, how one can see the relative strengths and weaknesses on show. Season 1, probably because of its short length, was tight and concentrated. Although it starts with an extraordinary space battle sequence (for a tv show) in 'He who believeth in me', Season 4 has felt less assured for me. I'm probably only speaking for myself, but of all the extended arcs in the show, the Final 5 has felt less enthralling. (It doesn't help that most of the scenes where cylons are seen with each other feel like they've come out of something like 'Days of our Lives'.)

Contrasting this however is the fact that Bear McCreary seems to have gone from strength to strength in the show. The music has gotten stronger as the show has weakened somewhat. When I think of all the lyrical, through-scoring of an episode like 'Unfinished Business', it seems pretty unique in what I've been seeing in tv scoring.

quote:

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Originally posted by Crono/Kyp:
[B]The Head characters, were observers, or angels (or demons). Even in the end, Baltar's Head character talks about God to Head Six.

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Head Six refers to "God" and Head Gaius says "You know it doesn't like to be called that." Moore himself in the interview says they are deliberately not explaining them, but I felt the implication was that they were agents of something, eternal perhaps, but not necessarily divine in the traditional sense.

I'm not advocating for one or the other, it's just something that me and my friends came up with. Most of my friends are not really that religious.

quote:

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Originally posted by Crono/Kyp:
But they could be...

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I liked 'Scar' actually (though it was the third episode in a row I think to tell the story in flashback from a certain moment, which diminished it a little when you watch three in a row).

Wasn't so keen on 'The Passage'. I love the horn melody for Kat, but the editing/story of the episode felt a bit awkward to me, as though something had been cut out of the episode, or the whole thing re-arranged.

'Flesh and Bone' - where Starbuck meets Leoben - was another great piece of television. Maybe the bomb thing didn't quite work, but it set up their strange bond very well. And Roslin's meeting with him is one of her strongest scenes in the series.

quote:

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Originally posted by franz_conrad:
Add 'Sometimes a Great Notion' to the list of great episodes. (Except for Adama's drunk scene with Tigh. Didn't buy that.)

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Pre-'Daybreak', post-penultimate episode

quote:

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Hmmm... I've been watching Season 4.5, and I'll probably see 'Daybreak' this week sometime.

Some thoughts: (spoilers aplenty)

- 'Sometimes a Great Notion' was probably one of the strongest episodes I've seen, despite the emotional climax of the episode being a gratuitous 'drunk Adama' scene. The bleakness of that episode was compelling. The farewell to Dualla, Starbuck's pyre, Tigh's final memory of earth, the renewed search for a home - all good. In hindsight, the reaction of Leoben to Starbuck's body felt like a cheap way to get that character out of the way for the rest of the series. Always the most interesting of the Cylons, I'm quite annoyed that's the last significant Leoben beat in the series (unless the finale holds fresh secrets).

- The Mutiny episodes ('Disquiet follows my soul' through 'Blood on the Scales') - for me, the highpoint of this show's fourth season... and probably the strongest arc post-New Caprica. Suddenly it felt like the show had something of that unflinching focus on the problems of human civilization again... something which hasn't really been seen on such a grand scale since the failed vote-rigging by Roslin that ended Season 2. Gaeta and Zarek were given strong farewells. The teeth were back. The three episodes of the mutiny could have been a contained tv-movie, and would have been more substantial than 'Razor' (which was more of geeky interest than of real consequence for the show).

- 'No Exit' - the air starts to drain from the tyres... but the occasionally overly-talky episode is forgivable.

- 'Deadlock' - what is not forgivable was this. With forty overwrought minutes, the whole leaden atmosphere of the post-Earth fleet is dispelled. Combining the show's least compelling features - Ellen Tigh's soap opera antics, and the 'Days of our Lives' cylon melodrama that began back in 'Downloaded', what really makes this episode ridiculous is that it's meant to be absorbed with a straight face. What really annoys me about it is that Col. Tigh has been a character with a certain amount of dignity up to a point, and it's hard to take any of them seriously after this. When this show gets caught up in this kind of melodrama, it feels as far as it could possibly be from the efficient roots of its flawless first season. (Even the melodrama episode of that season - Ellen tigh's intro episode - was clearly a parody, we weren't being asked to take it all seriously.)

- 'Someone to Watch Over Me' - Since the unexplained missing section at the end of Season 2 where Boomer - alienated from her cylon sisters - goes from being uncooperative to the advocate of a Cylon invasion of New Caprica (why again did she and Caprica think this was a good idea? I'm not saying they were wrong, but it hardly seemed consistent with their attitudes) - ... anyway, long sentence, since that section, Boomer has felt like a writer's prop. They do things with her, but those things never feel in character the way, say, Gaeta's rebellion seemed in character. So anyway, I didn't particularly like that half of the episode, which is more Cylon melodrama anyway. (I'm not saying the chief's feelings for Boomer aren't worth reflecting on, but the way they allocated their final hours of the show was truly bizarre.) In comparison, Starbuck's arc in this episode was strong, and compelling. If you have to have character-driven episodes without plot and cause-and-effect, then that's how it's done.

- 'Islanded in a Stream of Stars' - Sigh. I kept checking the timecode on the episode to see how much more there was to go - not a good audience reaction. More gratuitous Adama drinking scenes.
I probably speak only for myself, but the potentially-most interesting human issue in the episode is the new Quorum. A shame they don't have time to pursue this a bit further. (e.g. an episode along the lines of Cloud 9 - where Lee and the Cylon delegate have to find a way to rout a popular anti-Cylon politician that has somehow come to play a significant role in the new Quorum? Though perhaps that wouldn't be credible with Zarek being out of the picture.) It's this grey line between democracy and dictatorship that has kept BSG so interesting for me.

For me, four great episodes followed by four episodes that feel like heels were being cooled at best. I always hate it when something starts well and ends badly. I hope 'Daybreak' recovers some serious ground.

---

On seeing 'Daybreak'...

quote:

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So, I ended up seeing the finale...

* SPOILERS *

Look, it's their show, and it's up to them how they want to end it. But I can't overlook the fact that the last time this show really moved me was when Baltar said to Gaeta at the end of 'Blood on the Scales': "I know who you are." Given the way this finale was mostly about character moments, I find that dismaying. There were some touching moments - Adama's final beat on the hillside, Lee's final words to Kara, Kara's farewell to Anders. But very few escaped the feeling for me of constructed resolutions. Sometimes the writers have managed to make themselves invisible in the scripts they've written. 'Daybreak' wasn't a shining example of their ability to do that.

Greatest shame for me? The end of all mysteries. I feel like a flashlight was shone in every corner of this universe, resolving every single point. I would have much rather had an ending that kept me trying to figure out what it meant. People may insist that ambiguities abound in the answering of the key questions, but I beg to differ. If the most ambiguous resolution was the answer to 'what about Starbuck?' then ambiguity was in short supply. They answered that question very clearly.

When I think of my favourite sci-fi ... 2001, Solaris (both films), Stalker, the novel of The Glamour (or its cousin, The Affirmation), La Jetee, Brazil, Bladerunner... so many of them choose to deepen the mystery, satisfying their audience in some ways, and presenting them with deeper mysteries to resolve. It's not the only way to end, but for a certain sort of project, where the appeal of the whole thing is because of the mysteries, I feel it's the only sensible way to end.

The Opera House resolution was clever on one level, and allowed McCreary to return to his most compelling theme for the show, but was unavoidably disappointing for me on another. The scene is about getting Hera to CIC. It's so functional a purpose that the characters are serving in this scene - almost literally moving the scenery into place for a showdown between Cavill and everyone else - that the 3 season-long anticipation of it feels incredibly misjudged. The answer is simply not proportional to the size of the question. It suggests to me that they didn't know what they were setting up when Head Six showed Baltar the Opera House at the end of season 1. While I have to admit there's a certain amount of cleverness in the way they slotted the Opera House into 'Daybreak' (non-literal thinking), it feels more clever than satisfying to me.

The Epilogue. Great to hear 'One Year Later' in an updated form, but the campy performances of Callis and Heffler as Head Six and Head Baltar just kill this for me. Hammering home points seemed to be the order of the day in this final episode. Clearly identifying a God/It. Verbally scrolling through the history of the human race (and accidentally limiting our imagination by implying that Kobol was where it all started, when a more compelling suggestion might have been that Kobol was at one point also a 'new beginning'). Asking out aloud - 'does all of this need to happen again?' (How stupid did they think the audience was that this needed to be pointed out?)

Some of the flashbacks were better than others. The Best: Kara and Lee on the table. The Worst: Saul and Ellen in the strip bar.

But there was some very good stuff in Season 4 overall. Gaeta's arc over the season was one of the best, I thought. The arrival at the original Earth and subsequent disappointment was perhaps the season's finest hour. It was good to see Admiral Cain again, though I wish they'd done more with her when they'd had the chance. For those who wanted battles, the opening of 'He that believeth in me' and the battle of 'The Hub' were both very satisfying, and I only wish that for all its effects budget, the final battle of 'Daybreak' had felt as consequential as either of them. My reservations are more scrupulously documented in an earlier post.

Of course, I look forward to hearing the music of the finale in isolation.

---

Reflecting on 'Daybreak' a few days later...

quote:

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I read Bear Mccreary's notes on scoring the finale episode over the weekend. Once again, he does a wonderful job of giving viewers insight into his decisions and process. I particularly respect that he and other producers put in money in order to afford the orchestral sessions required for the finale.

** SPOILER **

However there is a little point that I thought allowed for an interesting observation... "Apollo commands the Marines to repel down into the colony, and a solo duduk states the Lee Theme, the only place I found for it in the episode."

That's interesting. The theme of a major character. A theme that has tended to represent his idealist/cynic divided mind very well, and has often appeared when he's faced with the choice of doing (to use Roslin's words) the right thing or the smart thing. (E.g. destruction of the Olympic Carrier, investigation of the Black Market) It's a theme of pathos, etc.

Why I find that interesting is that I hear a lot of talk about how every narrative/creative decision in the finale was justified by the 'it's really about the characters'. How is it then that the only place to put a particular character theme actually was a moment when nothing was actually going on with the character? Maybe McCreary has unintentionally given us a clue that there wasn't that much about the characters, particularly once you get past the flashbacks.

Take Apollo. For 4 seasons, there's been this tension between him and all around him - his father, Tigh, eventually Roslin - about the role of ideals in their survival. Where was this character trait - his defining character trait - explored in Daybreak? His one big decision - the decision to abandon technology - rather than approached with anything like the hand-wringing of every other major political decision in the last 4 seasons, prompted no self-reflection, and met no opposition. It is a shame that in the end, the only thing they were prepared to take time with was Apollo's feelings about Kara, because there used to be more to the character than that one idea.

Or we might look at Roslin. Her three main character traits in the series: (i) coming to terms with dying / not dying; (ii) being a leader the last remains of the human race, dealing with blend of democracy and military autocracy required by that (her 'tough' streak comes into this); (iii) resolving the role of her visions (snakes, opera house) & the prophecies (dying leader) in her life. Obviously the Opera House made an appearance in the finale, although the character in no way reflected on it.... But what precisely was she there for other than that? What decisions did she make? Since the only real character trait she'd shown in the episodes leading up to the finale was drawing closer to Bill Adama, did we even get a moment with her before she died where we just looked at Bill through her eyes / over her shoulder? No, her final scenes are mostly told outside of her perspective.

Or we might look at Tigh. Some of the major character traits... (i) loyalty to Adama; (ii) seniority of rank but poor personality for governance; (iii) a cylon that thought he was human for a long time, and wanted to still be human; (iv) contempt for civillians and obstruction; (v) love for Ellen. Certainly NONE of those came into question in the finale. From Tigh's perspective, his character's end was surprisingly passive.
(And I do find it funny that Tigh's last remark to Galen was something goes along the lines of - 'I would have done the same thing [as Galen did to Tory] if someone had done that to Ellen.' Oh, the irony.)

I'm not saying the finale was devoid of character moments, but it certainly was pretty sparse on character choices, especially when you consider the history of the characters on the show. The finale was less about the characters than I think people are prepared to admit. What it was not short on was melodrama - with death-bed scenes, unrequited love, tearful farewells, unexpected farewells, romantic longing, Boomer switching sides and being killed by Athena.... For a certain sort of viewer, there was plenty to enjoy. (Including the music, which was generally excellent.)

---

Time, at the moment, doesn't allow me to respond fully to all the issues you address. But, one thing is the action, in "Daybreak," in particular, and the music (my Gods man, the music!). Everyone wants something different from the end of this series, and I got all I wanted and feel satisfied to the max on how the show ended. "Daybreak" brought everything back for me in what I enjoyed so much from Galactica that was coming up short in the second half of season 4; the danger, the action, the excitement, the tension, and the characters at their finest... And of course, a chance for Bear McCreary to flex his musical skills and deliver some propulsion to the show. Like you, Michael, my favourites episode(s) prior to "Daybreak" was the 2-parter mutiny... The danger was there and the speed of it was back where it needed to be (unfortunately that speed is lost until "Daybreak" when the mutiny is dealt with), bringing back how heart-stopping the drama and action could be ("Pegasus / Resurrection Ship," "The Hand Of God," "Scattered," "33," "Exodus Part 2," "Revelations," etc. etc.). The colony battle sequence is one of the finest and most thrilling action sequence of the entire show, giving Bear a chance to really pull out the guns; hearing the full orchestra rip into the taiko percussion never sounded better, and the Celtic orchestration was on par if not than what he'd done with "Storming New Caprica"--awesome!

I know that's a bit jumbled but I gotta' run!