Sci Fi
Spoilers for Friday’s episode of Battlestar Galactica coming up after the break:
Because “Daybreak: Part 1” was the first hour of a three-hour finale, reviewing it seems like reviewing an hourlong episode after the first commercial break. But a few thoughts.
It was odd to see BSG, for its final installment, becoming Lost: That is, flashing back to the past to show us what made the characters into the people we know now.
We’ll have to see how the scenes on Caprica play into the finale overall, but they were intriguing as well as a taste of the world (I presume) we’ll see in the Caprica prequel. Besides the miniseries, we had only glimpses of this world—one with sushi, cars (or car-like vehicles) and champagne (using the name though it technically is not from the Champagne wine region, which I’m sure will piss off the French no end). And we see some parallels already with BSG’s endgame, like Baltar’s selfishness in dealing with his father mirroring his inability to cross the red line in the end, and the scene of Anders soaking after a game, which wittily called back to the hybrid tank.
With all this scene-setting, the main forward movement was Adam’s decision to go after Hera. Olmos’ spotlight scenes are always stirring, and his speech to Galactica’s assembled humanity–asking for volunteers to truly “send [Galactica] off in style”–was no exception. But I was especially struck by how he came to his decision, after Hot Dog spoke to him about the pictures left behind on the memorial wall—presumably of those who had no one left to mourn them.
That image was chilling: you first die physically, but when there is no one left even to remember you, you are truly extinguished. And that seemed to be what drove the old man to try one last time to find Hera: not because she was a child or a hybrid, or because there was any hope in it, but simply because we do not leave our own behind.
Listening to Adama’s speech, it’s notable what he does not say. He doesn’t say that this dice-roll is humanity’s last hope, because he doesn’t seem to believe there is any hope in any event. (Which is not the same as saying that we the viewers believe there is no hope. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if this show goes for a very dark ending, I wonder, for instance, if the black hole the Colony is orbiting will end up having a significance similar to the maelstrom, through which Kara Thrace was reborn into–whatever she is. Is that how she will “lead them to their end”? And a new beginning?)
Rather, Adama implies: if we go on this mission, we will probably die; if we don’t go, we will probably die. So let us die doing the right thing.
That motivation makes Galactica’s final mission a contrast to, say, the missions against the Death Stars in the Star Wars movies. To take a dangerous risk in the hope of a great reward may be brave, but to take a dangerous risk believing that there is, ultimately, no hope—that’s noble. That’s the kind of nobility that Adama and BSG have delivered over and over, and it’s one of the things I will miss most about this series.
Speaking of which: tomorrow I’ll be seeing a screening of the last two hours of the finale, which is exciting but also leaves a pit in my stomach because after that I will never see a new episode of BSG again. So I understand if you’re jealous of me, but I’m also jealous of you, because you have that many more days left. I’ll see you on the other side.