And then there’s SCI FI Wire reporting that Galactica‘s David Eick is contradicting the statement by Edward James Olmos: “I promise you that when Ron [Moore] and I make a decision about Galactica’s future, we’ll let you know.”
When the third season of Battlestar Galactica ended, Ron Moore said we had just entered the third act of a three act story, but didn’t yet know how long that third act would run. Now, apparently, we know. Edward James Olmos has told iF Magazine (in an article some might consider spoilerish): “We’re heading into the final season.” The series joins Lost amongst genre shows with creators and showrunners smart enough to have learned the lesson of The X-Files: Know the endgame, decide when it’s going to happen, and come to a conclusion.
Don’t click any of these links if you still haven’t seen the season finale of Battlestar Galactica. But a word to Ain’t It Cool News: Please note that when you reference a certain interview, all it states is that “Ron [Moore] has said” — just like the other place this came up. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the case. It could mean, as I’ve argued, that it’s simply what Moore wants you to believe at this time.
“This has all happened before, and it will all happen again.” It was one of the earliest things a Cylon ever said in the current incarnation of Battlestar Galactica, and somehow it was meant to have bearing on what the Cylons considered to be God’s plan for everyone, a plan in which the Cylons believe they are playing a critical role. What follows from here should be considered spoilers, as I’m about to speculate in the aftermath of Sunday’s finale.
Having no cable, every Sunday begins the wait until Battlestar Galactica is available via iTunes. Today, it’s availability timed out perfectly to be able to download it over Morrison Street Grill’s broadband and wifi while awaiting my order of burger and fries to go. So, finally (and much to the relief of my coworkers who had to remain silent all day today), I’ve seen the season finale. That, in no uncertain terms, was awesome.
Thanks to the combination of a loaner copy of the first half of its second season, and the downloads available via iTunes, I’ve now finally caught up with Battlestar Galactica.
When this series prepared to premier with a mini-series, I was deeply skeptical. Not just because, as silly and inane as it was, the original was such a facet of my childhood, but because everything I was seeing about it make me think there was no way it could be any good.
It then managed to not only confound my expectations, but completely obliterate them. There’s a reason some critics have called it the best show on television, and that reason is because it very well may be.
There’s nothing especially new about science fiction incorporating overarching themes of humanity’s place in the world, or working at least partly in allegory. But one thing that constantly impressed me about this show is how it inverts much of that. Characters for whom you root are the ones given extraordinarily controversial positions or actions. Characters you’re meant to oppose speak truths with which you agree.
It isn’t a perfect show. There were at least two episode from this just-concluded season which felt like filler — one of which actually felt like the intended B-story from a planned episode expanded into an episode of its own, and it didn’t really work.
But having just a couple of instances of filler is still something of a remarkable achievement, as is the semi-regular event of confounding my expectations without it seeming like what comes after doesn’t quite fit with what came before.
Recently, a rumor cropped up that the reason the third season has been delayed until October is that NBC/Universal, the parent company the Sci Fi Channel, is considering moving the show over to its broadcast network.
Having only just this afternoon watched the season season finale, I find myself wondering if the rumor might be true after all. They’ve left the story in a most peculiar place, from which, in a sense, the third season almost could start from a new beginning, thereby avoiding the possibility of losing too many people at the outset because they might not have seen the first two.
Mixed feelings about that rumor, though. There would need to be at least two ground rules in place. First, the network would have to be barred from interfering, or forcing the writers from doing anything other than what they wish to set out to do. Second, if the network bungles the endeavor, it needs to be moved back to Sci Fi rather than simply cancelled.
But that’s all rumor anyway. The near term has a much more pressing issue. Just what am I supposed to watch now that I’ve finally caught up on Battlestar Galactica?