http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-battlestar20-2009mar20,0,4379589.story http://www.salon.com/ent/tv/feature/2009/03/21/battlestar_galactica/index.html http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/battlestar_galactica/daybreak_part_ii.php?grade=3
The Times Reviewer loved the BG finale, TWoP's Jacob, who has been such a big booster and transcendent exegete of the show for so long, "hated it". The Salon reviewer is in between, but not exactly, and leans more towards Jacob than the Times. I am closest to the Salon reviewer, but more on the LAT side than Jacob's. I thought there were a lot of very good moments in the finale, but Jacob is right that it was marred by overly preachy and uncharacteristically tidy dialogue and plotting. All of which is to say this is yet one more sign of Chase Syndrome, in which TV auteurs of a certain pedigree seem determined not to take it in the shorts like Chase did by clinging to his artistic vision and frustrating long suffering fans who want all the t's crossed (if not every i dotted). I thought The Shield suffered a little bit from this disease, and BG did even more. I guess in three years we will find out exactly how every cast member of Mad Men spent the 1990s, and which of their children went to work for the Obama administration. I loved the Sopranos finale, but I may yet damn Chase if it means that no other daring show will have the balls to go out on its own terms for the next decade. We know these days it is impossible for any television show to maintain critical support past one or two honeymoon seasons. BG was not perfect, but I never stopped really liking it. Even its weakest season would be seen as breathtaking if it were the only season we had to go on. I like how the show took risks, and reinvented itself (in many other TV hands we would have had 5 years of space battles and staying just one jump ahead of the Cylons). And for a sci fi show on a syfy network that presumably is aimed at young geeky men, this show was dominated by the loves and crisis of its more mature cast (Admiral, President, XO and his wife). Even the beautiful younger stars were played as adults, and there was a much appreciated absence of sustained teen heartthrobs, angst and intrigue - which made room for the neuroses, immaturities, flaws and wounds of the older characters to get full play. This was a great television program, with often great writing and almost always great acting. Well done. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ TV or Not TV .... Smart (TV) People on Ice! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
