Battlestar Galactica – Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

BSG-cast

For those who have been mesmerized by Ron Moore and David Eick’s series “Battlestar Galactica”, today is a day that is certainly filled with contradicting emotions of happiness and sorrow as expressed by Juliet at Romeo’s departure. The sadness felt by BSG fans is obvious as today marks the end of that journey we all undertook with these characters four years ago in their search for a new home and with it, a new life and beginning. On the other hand, the sweet aspect of tonight’s airing will be the culmination of all the events that we’ve witnessed so far into the final outcome, along with the expectation of addressing the numerous questions this series has wrought over its duration. With tonight’s finale, the writers will finally be bringing out the dessert carts so we can at last see what choices they’ve made for how they want to end this resplendent meal.

I wanted to write this piece before watching tonight’s episode because I do expect these emotions to percolate up to the surface, as it should if the drama and the story told therein are to live up to the expectations fans understandably have of this series’ finale, if not the legacy of storytelling this series has fostered over the course of its four seasons. And while I’m sure that there will be much for BSG fans to discuss and theorize about at the conclusion of tonight’s episode, I wanted to share my own personal thoughts before I watch the end of this series.

I’m sure it’s become evident to those of you who have been reading my reviews of these final episodes of BSG that one element I’ve enjoyed in this series is the examination of the internal drives and motivations that propel the series characters in their actions. In particular, I’ve enjoyed how BSG challenged its viewers to think and question not only how we’d react to certain situations, but how it impacts our perception of those involved and what that reaction says about ourselves. BSG never shied away from the unpleasant, but it also never sought to moralize, in drawing a clear line between right and wrong. Instead, the series simply postulated the questions and left it up to each one of us to draw on our conclusions.

I’ve also enjoyed the diversity of ideas and impressions voiced by other BSG fans, of how there could be so many alternate viewpoints or moments that resonated amongst the varied members of the same audience. Indeed, it’s been amazing to see how diverse the make-up of the BSG audience is, of its success in crossing over so many demographic lines. Then again, perhaps that more than anything is a testament to the ability of this show to tell genuine stories about the human condition, something that everyone on this planet can relate to.

Ultimately, as with everything else that comes to pass, it will be more the legacy and the impact the series has on future efforts that will speak most strongly regarding the significance of BSG in its drive to push the viewing audience out from its passivity by telling stories that stir or evoke them to think and question. Contemplating the idea that my Fridays will now be free from such exercises of examining our collective human condition brought forth by this series, I’m drawn to this section from William Wordsworth’s poem “Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood”:

What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind

Without question, there shall be sorrow in the parting. But it will nonetheless have been a sweet experience that we can savour well after the lights are turned off.