The END of Battlestar Galactica: Daybreak

So, it's done. An epic series comes to an end in an explosive three hour finale (dunno why they couldn't just show all three hours together instead of one hour one week and then the final two the next...).

I've just come back from watching it with a friend and... what the frak?!?!?! What an ending!!! Still haven't decided if I like it or not! Not sure I'm happy with how things turned out for Kara., although it's nice to finally know! Definitely not for Lee or Anders or Bill... And will someone explain to me why we haven't seen any of D'Anna in this last half season? Did she get left behind on Earth or something??? But still, sooo nice to finally see the resolution of the Opera House vision. And the laughs when both Baltar and Caprica Six realise they are both seeing a "vision" of the other in their head! Baltar is too funny, am glad he keeps providing the much needed comic relief from time to time. Was glad Tyrol took action for Cally.

Thinking. This series has always been thought-provoking and the end is no different. Will require some mulling over and repeat viewings. Preferably of the series as a whole to work things into the bigger plan as they happen throughout the seasons. Will definitely miss it.

"All of this has happened before. All of this will happen again."

So well illustrated by the images they choose to show us at the very end. And don't blink or you'll miss seeing Ron Moore onscreen! ;o) And I remember the discussion around the mitochondrial "Eve" a few years back!!! Kudos on tying it all together.

I can't bring myself to go through all the effort of a recap (plus want to avoid too many spoilers for those reading this who haven't seen it yet), but there's a rather complete and fun one on a Canadian blog "The TV Addict".

So, what's next? "The Plan"!!! "Caprica"!!! Thank the gods they're letting us down nice and easy, we get another BSG dose sometime this year with the TV/DVD movie (or double episode) "The Plan" (directed by EJ Olmos) which -from what I've gathered- will come at things from the cylons point of view. Title comes from the intro in each episode " The Cylons were created by Man (...) They Evolved (...) Some look Human (...) AND THEY HAVE A PLAN". And then after that with "Caprica" we get to take a step back some 50 years in history to when the cylons were created, with Adama's father being one of the main characters. Am looking forward to Esai Morales's portrayal of lawer Joe Adama, he was so good in Jericho!

"The Plan"


"Caprica"

BSG countdown: today's the DAY!!! (well, the night)

So this is it. The big finale... and I'm going to make a big effort to wait a day and watch it Sunday with a friend (won't be available online until tomorrow anyway). The part of me that is impatiently waiting to see how they wrap this saga up is calmed down by the chance to share the experience with another human being instead of just me, myself and I. It's a bittersweet moment. I wish it would never end... but am glad it is doing so properly, the way the creators of the show envisioned it (we hope).

I'll have more to say once I've seen it, so I'm just going to leave you with the promo for "Daybreak Part 2", a.k.a. the end.

BSG countdown: 1 day to go...

So, there's only one day to go (for those of you lucky enough to live Stateside, the rest of us will have to wait a day or two for internet availability). Just one day, and as I think about what that final episode might have in store for us, there's one final mistery that they'd frakking better resolve, or else!!! What is Starbuck's deal?! All her life she doodled a mandala that turned out to be a symbol on the path to Earth (a supernova), she "has a destiny", she's the "harbinger of death" who will "lead the human race to their end". She died for frak's sake!!! And then came back with tales of having been to Earth... She guided them there, and found her dead, mummified body in her crashed viper. She sees her (dead) father who reminds her how to play a tune from her childhood on the piano, THE tune ("Watchtower") that was the "activation" switch for the Final Four (brought them together and to the realisation that they were cylons). So WHAT is she?! An angel? Missing cylon model number 7 Daniel's daughter? Please, please, PLEASE don't leave us hanging on this one!!!

collage by www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=222784

Kara Thrace (Starbuck) is definitely my favourite on this show. The writers and Katee Sackhoff have brought to life such a vibrant, strong, passionate character. When she's on fire everyone else seems dull by comparison. Her relationship with "the old man" (Adama considers her a daughter) feels very real and dispite her disfunctionalities (is that a word?) she's the best hot-shot pilot in the fleet!
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Changing the character of Starbuck from man (original) to woman was probably THE most controversial point when the miniseries aired (the original Starbuck himself spoke out publicly and loud and clear -in a rather mysoginistic voice- about how wrong it was and how much they'd regret it). Well, if anyone still thinks that was a mistake, then they obviously haven't been watching!

So here go a couple of Starbuck videos. Enjoy!

The first is "Starbuck 101". Title pretty much says it all! Covers many key character moments throughout the series, illustrates her character pretty well.



Second is more emotional (perhaps because of the song?). I really like it because I think the lyrics to the song chosen ("More than Human") are a perfect fit for where Kara is in the final season, wonder who/what she is...



There's another excellent video, probably put together (I guess from the date) shortly after we were all shocked when Starbuck "died" (will they please solve that mistery this friday?!). I can't embed it for some reason, so here's the link for "Starbuck: Legends Never Die":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq_XFrSX5HY

more BSG love from the U.N.!!!

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Wow! I hear a panel was held at the UN to discuss the real world problems and conflicts reflected on screen every Friday night on BSG (war, genocide, "human" rights, a woman's right to choose, torture, suicide bombinb...). Present from the show were creators David Eick and Ron Moore and the two leads: Mary McDonnell (Pres. Laura Roslin) and Edward J Olmos (Admiral Adama). Also some "real world" speakers, with Whoopi Goldberg moderating. And a public of 300 members of the UN, press, and high-school kids from New York. Lucky them! I hope the video becomes available on the internet so I can watch it! I've had to make do with two passionate eye-witness accounts:

Meredith Woerner over at io9.com writes:
"It was chill-inducing to see how far BSG had come. What was once a struggling miniseries now sits front and center in the Chambers of the United Nations, creating a dialogue amongst fans, 100 attending high school students (who all came prepped with astounding questions), politicians and activists. Let's hope that BSG's night inspires future scifi series to at least attempt to address the reality of the world we live in today, you'll be missed old girl."

while Marc Bernardin from EW.com says:
"While the idea of the UN hosting a retrospective on Battlestar Galactica might sound a little odd, as the night went on it started to make perfect sense. From the very beginning, BSG has dealt with moral issues -- what it means to be human, the rule of law vs. the military might, the arguable merits of armed insurgency -- issues which find themselves on the UN's docket almost every day. As Robert Orr, the Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Planning put it, "You've got people thinking about issues that we try and get people thinking about every day.""

Oh to have been a fly on the wall!!! To have been able to yell with the crowd and the Admiral "SO SAY WE ALL!" sigh!

Pictures from Brian McDermott/SCI FI Channel, and Getty Imgaes, off the io9 website.

BSG countdown: 2 days to go...

Oops, am a bit late with this, as it's after midnight will appear as on the 19th instead of 18th! :p
What's next on my BSG list? The music!!! Wow, what a soundtrack!!! It adds to the show's soul, helps looks, reactions, gestures convey emotions without the words... and to top it off sometimes gives me goosebumps! ;o)

Richard Gibbs started it off with the music for the mini-series, but what I find myself frequently listening to on i-tunes are Bear McCreary's (photographed with a viper above, from his website) melodies from the series itself. Ranges from haunting melodies, to jigs and lullabies, and to a very interesting version of "All Along the Watchtower" as a key melody with some special meaning we don't fully comprehend yet (but hope to by the end of the finale! or else...).

I had a hell of a time choosing a few pieces (via youtube) to share here, particularly as I wanted to keep them short (Battlestar Sonatica and Passacaglia are beautiful, but at 8 minutes I'm not sure you'd stick around in from of my blog to listen to them!). You can listen to a few more tracks on his website, go to "online demo" and choose scifi and then check out "The Temple of Five" and "Heeding the Call" (try and recognise "Watchtower" in there!) from season 3, "Gina Escapes" from season 2 or "Scar" from season 1.

So here's "Adama Falls" from season 3 (illustrated with stills from the series), followed by an "official" promo for the music of Bear McCreary (with sequences from the series), and finally "All Along the Watchtower" (first just the melody as it slowly appears in bits and pieces in the final episode of season 3, then the full song). Enjoy!

BSG countdown: 3 days to go...

One of the (many) reasons I really enjoy this show is its wonderful characters and the cast that brings them to life. On the Y-chromosome side we've got the intimidating Edward James Olmos as Admiral Adama, the hilariously sly James Callis as Baltar, the straight-forward Tahmoh Penikett as Karl "Helo" Agathon, the passionate Jamie Bamber as Lee "Apollo" Adama, the brutally honest Michael Hogan as Colonel Tigh, the tormented Aaron Douglas as Chief Tyrol, the wide-eyed loyal Michael Trucco as Sam Anders, the manipulative Richard Hatch as Tom Zarek, the chain-smoking Donelly Rhodes with no bedside manner to speak of as Doc Cottle, Mark Sheppard's mysterious Romo Lampkin...

But what really gets me are the women. Wow! They're smart, strong, know what they want (most of the time) and the actress that portray them bring just the right mix of strength, vulnerability, intelligence and ferociousness. Mary McDonnell as President Laura Roslin, the "mother" figure, giving her all (to her dying breath) to keep these people together. The amazingly talented Tricia Helfer and Grace Park who usually play more than one iteration of their cylon self in each episode and manage to make each one distinct from the next (Helfer's got Baltar's "head" 6, Caprica 6, Gina, Natalie...; Park's notably brought to life two versions of the same character, Sharon "Boomer" Valerii and Sharon "Athena" Valerii). And the frakkingly awesome Katee Sackhoff as Kara "Starbuck" Thrace (more on her another day). Mustn't forget the guest stars!... Lucy Lawless as cylon D'Anna Biers, Michelle Forbes's amazing Admiral Cain, Kate Vernon as the one with all the answers Ellen Tigh...

So here's to the women of Battlestar Galactica! In a day where it's not too frequent to see interesting, passionate, strong, intelligent female characters on TV (and even less in the movies, pathetic!), these ladies are an inspiration!


Addendum on March 18th: someone else has decided to give the BSG guys their fair share of attention! Check out the Film Experience's "HumpDay Hottie" session and share your thoughts on these gentlemen!

BSG countdown: 4 days to go...

Here's a fun recap of the series including the first half of S4 (aired in 2008) that pretty much covers everything you need to know (spoilers!). It's divided in two parts due to youtube's 10' limit on videos.

part 1:


part 2:

more BSG love!

Seems like I'm not the only one prepping for Friday's big finale... ;o)

The magazine Entertainement Weekly has a commented photo gallery on their website about how it all started, and how it almost didn't get started: The Beginning of the End: A 'Battlestar Galactica' Oral History

"On Friday, March 20, at 9 p.m., Battlestar Galactica will air its 80th and final episode. The space drama will go down as one of the most critically lauded science-fiction TV shows ever. But had fans of the original ABC series from the 1970s had their way, the miniseries that launched the Sci Fi Channel remake would never have even made it on the air. With the series finale looming, we look back at the controversial miniseries that started it all, and the fan uprising that tried to stand in its way."

Great quote by Katee Sackhoff: "Every season we got picked up, I was shocked. I was like, ''Why do they keep watching this?'' I mean I know it's fantastic, but normally people don't watch what's good on TV; they watch what's easy." Oh so true...

Hmmm... the other photo galleries are pretty interesting too! Love their "cheat sheet": 'Battlestar Galactica' Cheat Sheet: 15 Things You Gotta Know set up for the beginning of Season 4 last spring:

Basically what you need to know:

1- Who are the CYLONS and why did they kill (almost) everyone?

2- The BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is the only thing protecting what's left of humanity as it heads for EARTH

3- RELIGION is a driving force for both humans and Cylons

4- Galactica is led by WILLIAM ADAMA, SAUL TIGH, and LEE "APOLLO" ADAMA

5- PRESIDENT ROSLIN had cancer, got cured, and now has it again

6- KARA ''STARBUCK'' THRACE is the best pilot in the fleet

7- GAIUS BALTAR, a brilliant scientist who helped destroy humanity, is exceedingly talented at surviving

8- Baltar's (literally) undying love is a Cylon known as NUMBER SIX

9- The Cylon known as SHARON ''ATHENA' VALERII had a baby with a human, KARL ''HELO'' AGATHON

10- CHIEF GALEN TYROL once loved a different Sharon "BOOMER" before either of them knew she was a Cylon

11- Cylon NUMBER THREE, known as D'ANNA BIERS, got a bit too curious about the final five Cylons

12- FOUR OF THE FINAL FIVE CYLONS just discovered who they really are (last episode of S3, to a very cool version of "All Along The Watchtower")

13- STARBUCK DIED. Sorta.

14- HUMANITY WILL REACH EARTH

15- Everyone says FRAK. A lot.

TV Addiction: preparing for the end of days on BSG

It's not too often that the creators of a TV series can end it on their own terms, when they think it's right for the story they wanted to tell. All too often the networks just yank it off the air without enough of a warning to let the writers give the viewers some kind of closure (c.f. Dark Angel, Farscape, Angel, Firefly, Jericho, Eli Stone etc... to name a few). This is particularly hard on fans of serialized series where the episodes are all threaded together to weave an intricate tapestry (as opposed to episodic series where you can jump in at any point because there's little relation from one episode to the next). So it's a relief to know that some of the most interesting series (Lost, BSG...) of the past couple of years have been given the greenlight by their studios to plot out the end of their story and make it happen.

Battlestar Galactica, my favourite TV series (perhaps of all time, but only time will confirm that), is coming to an end. For those who haven't heard about it (what planet do you live on?! check out wikipedia asap!), I'm not talking about the campy 1970s series (Lorne Greene as Adama, Richard Hatch as Apollo, Dirk Benedict as Starbuck) that had its fun moments but (in my opinion) was very cheesy and repetitive after the first couple of episodes. Nope, I'm talking about Ron Moore and David Eick's, Peabody Award winning, re-imagining of the story of the rag-tag fleet of human survivors searching for a place to call home (and taking it to a whole other level! not to mention changing several prominent characters -Boomer, Starbuck- from male to female, and well done 'cause Kara Thrace rocks!!!) for the SciFi channel in the US. From the original mini-series that jump-started it all in 2003, to the present final season (cruelly divided into 2 halves, spring 2008 and 2009), the storylines have been intricate, the characters believable and engaging, the writing and the acting superb (many thx to Edward J Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff etc). It's gritty and it's not pretty, but it sure as hell feels damn real! (considering it takes place in space...) And it all gets wrapped up next Friday in a 2h grand finale. Snif!!! I want more!!! I always have trouble with things I love ending... mais c'est la vie, and I can't wait to find out how they wrap it up and solve the final mysteries (i.e. why is Hera so important? and most of all: what the frak is Kara Thrace a.k.a. Starbuck?!?! Daniel's daughter? An "angel"? The "harbinger of death"? What's it all mean!!! will Anders EVER wake up???).

So in honour of this glorious ending, I'm going to dig through YouTube and post a video a day as a count down to the end of it all. We'll see what I can dig up, am sure there are plenty of fans out there who are a lot more tech-savvy than I who will have posted some pretty shiny stuff! Please feel free to share your thoughts on this series, favourite moments, characters etc. throughout the week.

Starting off with a music video comparing the old and the new BSG:

BSG

Just sharing the love for my favourite TV show, the amazing Battlestar Galactica!
behind the scenes from TV Guide photo shoot (for those who get it in the US):



Can't believe this series will be over in a week!!! :o(