So Say We All

NOTE: There may be SPOILERS about the series finale to Battlestar Galactica. Continue reading at your own peril.

This post is a little late, admittedly. The series finale was, after all, more than a week ago. But I technically didn’t watch it until a few days after it premiered, and I wanted my chance to comment. … But I’m lazy. So, I’m going to direct you to James Berardinelli’s response right here. The following is my response to his post (with a few changes, in tenses, etc.).

I really think he summed up the entirety of how I felt about the ending. At least one big part of me. It’s true. It’s not a perfect ending. Though, what would have been a completely perfect ending? I can’t imagine one. And frankly, I feel satisfied the more I think back on it. I think the best point he makes is,

“What interested me was learning what happened to these characters at the end of their journey and, on that level, the episode delivered.”

There were inconsistencies in the series. Ronald D. Moore admits to that. There are inconsistencies in practically every single series. There are questions left unanswered. And I don’t really mind. I wanted to know what happened to these characters that I had grown to know, and feel for. And that’s what satisfies me. I don’t know if I would have been as satisfied with a nihilistic ending where everyone dies, as some would like to have happened (http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/What+frak+that+Behind+Battlestar+Galactica+ultimate+episode/1423182/story.html). I agree with Ronald D. Moore, who said,

“I was literally never tempted to go that way. I always felt that however brutal the show was, and how bleak it felt in moments, it was never nihilistic. It was never about saying that people are irredeemable. It was about trying to be honest about people, saying, ‘Look at us. We are capable of all these things. Really good people do horrible things and horrible people do good things.’” (http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2009/03/battlestar_galactica_ronald_d.html)

That’s the way I felt throughout the series. That despite everything, despite the darkness, and despite the hurt and the pain, and yes, at times the nihilism of the whole thing, there was hope. And I wanted so badly for everyone to find a home (Earth?). I cannot, then, say I hated the ending. I felt that, in a strange way, it was fitting. I think, no matter what the ending was, I would feel some form of dissatisfaction. I loved the show. It’s over. I can’t help that. But I’m glad that the people I spent the last 5 years with finally found the home they were looking for.

So Say We All.