BSG “Revelations” – We’re Off To See The Wizard
A follow-up to my previous BSG post is in order, especially since I put the ball in Moore and Eick’s court to leave us with something to ponder about until early next year. And I think they did, though at least for myself, maybe not necessarily what they were aiming for.
The first 45 minutes of “Revelations” really delivered what BSG is renowned for – intense character moments brought on by people facing an impossible situation and having to contend with some of the unpleasant realities that come with taking someone close to your heart as a friend, lover, etc. When they revealed at the end of last season that Tigh, Tyrol, Anders, and Tory were Cylons, one of my hopes for this season was that they didn’t stretch out this discovery being made by the rest of the human fleet one character at a time. That is, after all, the way most conventional TV series would handle it as a means to help drag out – literally – the suspense of when the other shoe would drop. But that’s not the way BSG ever did things and fortunately that held true last Friday where they had the Final Four rolled out in quick succession.
In fact, the approach used on how to finally expose the four Cylons in the fleet made for one great moment in “Revelations” when Adama demanded Tigh tell him who the remaining two Cylons were and Tigh wouldn’t serve them up. Think about it – here was Tigh, standing before his only friend and a man he’s sworn his loyalty to for almost all his life, and just after he serves up Adama a broken heart with the admission that his best friend is a “skin job”, he now stands there refusing to betray the other Cylons in the fleet to his commander and dear friend. Fantastic stuff. Of course that moment when Tigh finally revealed to Adama that he was a Cylon was a scene I was eagerly awaiting for and I have to say, they served it up like it was a juicy Porterhouse steak. Adama’s attempts to deny the notion that Tigh could be a Cylon were all perfectly rational, and I myself began to think that Adama might be right that Tigh was being screwed with by the Cylons. But Tigh’s conviction that he was a Cylon made it clear to both Adama and the audience that, make no bones about it, he was a Cylon. Like I said, this wasn’t a fast food moment; this was a scene that one relishes every bite of.
And there were other great scenes in these first 45 minutes, like how Starbuck gets caught standing in between Tyrol and Anders when they are arrested as the remaining two Cylons. The look on Katee Sackhoff’s face completely sold that moment and the dizzying number of conflicting emotions that would no doubt be swirling in her character’s mind at that point. After the dreadful two-part episode from this season focusing on Starbuck trying to figure out the way back to Earth and whether or not she should believe Leoben (again), this one scene was a great reminder of how well Sackhoff portrayed Starbuck for those first two seasons, if not a sad commentary on the wasted potential as of late in using this actress’ talents.
Another character I was delighted to see return to focus was Lee Adama. Not sure exactly when it happened, but it seems since about halfway through the third season, Lee went from being the unwavering and consistent moral compass of the fleet to basically being a wuss. In this episode, now that he’s the Colonial President, it was like his character also got some internal rejuvenation and stopped being one that generated eye rolls or a desire to flatten someone with the back of a frying pan. The scene in Adama’s quarters where he tries – and fails – to console his father over his broken heart was exceptional, with Lee ultimately telling his father that he will do what his father can’t – kill his long-time best friend simply because he’s a Cylon in a desperate move to save others. When Roslyn later joins Lee after the crisis is over to help Adama regain his footing and inner strength, we’re provided with a wonderful demonstration of the evolution of their inter-relationships and the consequent growth of their characters. Adama’s mocking Roslyn and Lee later on over their “flapping their lips” was the perfect counter-point and resolution to this moment.
But then, after all these great moments, somebody flips a switch somewhere and things start to become, well, predictable. Oh sure, the idea that they would discovery Earth at the end of this episode was a surprise, but it was far from the mind frak that I was hoping for and what was alluded to by those who saw the advanced screening. The problem is that before they even reached the planet, we knew they’d get bad news just because of how much they overplayed the ‘we’re finally going to Earth’ dance card. It was like they cut a scene of out “The Wizard of Oz” and we were watching Dorothy skip along the yellow brick road knowing she was on her way home. After all the disappointments and betrayals, the characters just went along with this far too easily for us to expect anything other than the ground giving way under their feet once they reached their destination.
And that’s why the discovery that Earth had experienced a planetary extinction event (the Geiger counter at the start of this scene was no doubt meant to imply a nuclear holocaust of some sort) by this point was anti-climatic – the lead-in ten minutes prior had already let the cat out of the bag. Frankly, I think I would have been more surprised if they hadn’t found Earth, but instead found whatever it was that was sending out this signal and which returned Starbuck in her mint-condition Viper ship. Perhaps it could have even been that fifth and final Cylon (I mentioned to some friends a few months back that it would be a riot for the fifth Cylon to be Admiral Cain. Can you imagine the look on everyone’s faces knowing that she was the one orchestrating all this? Yikes). But the problem now is that by finding Earth, and in this condition of total annihilation, it causes certain issues pertaining to this series to be less than interesting or dramatic. For example, for the last ten episodes, we’ve been teased that the final Cylon “will be revealed” leading to a storm of speculation on the internet as to who this could be. Well, this episode “Revelations” not only told us that the final Cylon is not in the human fleet, but it basically made it irrelevant since the other four Cylons have since been given amnesty. Besides, now that they have found Earth, who really cares who this final Cylon is.
Also, with only ten episodes left, the concern now becomes that what we’re going to be left with is episodes that are used to tie all the remaining loose ends – now that they found that Earth won’t be their salvation, what will become of them, given that the Cylons have found that once again, humanity has destroyed their world (this is in reference to the destruction of Kobol), will they see any benefit in keeping relations with such a species, and so forth. Personally, I don’t care for having loose ends tied because let’s be honest, life isn’t that clean-cut. If this were the last episode of BSG, I’d be a little disappointed over the “Wizard of Oz” segue into the end, but the ending itself I could live with because it resolves the key point of the series – a group of people going out in search of Earth. Mission accomplished.
So thinking that I have to wait a year just to see them resolve the loose ends that would perturb the more linear-thinking fans incapable of drawing their own conclusions is a bit discouraging. Unless, and this is a big if here, what they found at the end of that last episode wasn’t Earth. After all, it was stated even in last Friday’s episode that the Final Five are needed to show the way to Earth. Well, as we found out, only four are found in the fleet and it was only those four who helped to somehow draw attention to this signal. So, it’s possible that perhaps what they found wasn’t Earth, but instead just the next marker on the way to Earth. Keeping on that tangent, it’s also possible that what they will find here is the final Cylon, the raison d’être for going there. Certainly, in the next episode, the wind will be taken out of everyone’s sail at this point and any new, and especially unknown, character coming forward saying they know the way to the real Earth is going to get a dubious reception. But that concept would keep the series alive with renewed purpose, other than to just fill in the blanks for those incapable of doing it themselves.
Guess like everyone else, I’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, Moore and Eick – the ball is still in your court.
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That’s not earth. (C.f. Terra in TOS.)
I certainly hope so. I read on other blogs people cheering this ‘revelation’ extolling it as a testament that the human fleet had to learn that pining your hopes on some dreamy notion of salvation coming in the form of a new planet to call home is the surest way to crash and burn. But the thing is – the Colonial fleet should have already learned that (New Caprica anyone?). What’s more, I’d only buy into that notion if this was the last episode for the series and not the mid-season point. If this is Earth, I daresay we might end up with yet another round of post-New Caprica fallout among the human fleet, where people try to figure out who to blame for that mess. And frankly, I’d like to think that both the characters and writers have learned their lesson from that experience.
However, I must admit that I can’t use the ‘78 series as a source for comfort that it can’t be Earth and the reason for that is simple – how can this series really be noteworthy or entertaining if they’re simply going to follow down the same path as a single-season show did 30 years ago? That would be like taking a Sherlock Holmes mystery and simply updating it so that instead of being two middle-aged, white men in London, we’d have two ‘cyberpunk chicks’ patrolling the seedier side of a contemporary city. Sure, the appearance of the locale and characters are different from the original, but the mystery of who perpetuated the crime would still be the same. Battlestar Galactica didn’t earn the accolade of being called ‘the best sci-fi series – ever’ by playing the game in such a predictable and safe manner.
No, I think the answer here lies not in what was done in ‘78, but hopefully instead in what was done in 2003 and again in 2005-2006 by Moore and Eick when BSG really was the ‘best sci-fi series’ until then to grace the small screen. And in that case, I’d have to agree with you that this shouldn’t be Earth.
I kind of randomly stumbled across your blog looking for people who were discussing the BSG “Revelations” episode since all my friends are a few episodes behind (Fools!).
I like your analysis and I feel pretty confident that since Laura Roslin is still alive it DEFINITELY ain’t Earth folks. The prophesy makes it very clear she will not live to see it so that is that.
As far as the writing by Moore and Eick goes – I just keep reminding myself that BSG is the most original and thoroughly enjoyable TV show I may have ever watched. But it does fall flat sometimes. I do hope that they find a great ending but that is about the most difficult thing to do for a series and if it is even mediocre it won’t change my high opinion of their craft.
Finally, as a scientist and a sci-fi fan, I hope that the Cylon God and all the super-natural stuff turns out to be an exquisitely executed plan by the final Cylon. I just don’t want a religious message at the end of the series!
Hi George. Welcome to my little side corner at the cocktail party that is the internet. I agree with you that BSG is one of the most intelligent and original series in a long time, a reason why it probably stings so much when it starts use weak story lines one would see on most other shows on TV these days.
You bring up a good point about Roslyn and it does illuminate one other concern I have about this series – for 2 seasons, we were reminded at the beginning of each episode that the Cylons “have a plan”. And then New Caprica happened and suddenly, it felt like the Cylons weren’t the only ones running around without any plan. Moore and Eick have created numerous threads about things that need to occur before the final outcome can be reached. And as of “Revelations”, most if not all of those haven’t. So, hopefully, they haven’t forgotten what was established previously in their series, though the fact that Tigh and Tyrol were able to impregnate women in the fleet – one a Cylon and the other a human – is not very reassuring.
Also, I’m with you on not wanting there to be some sort of religious message at the end of this series, simply because that would be incredibly cheesy for them to use a deus ex machina in a series peppered with characters using Greek mythology names. And for the record, I’m a religious man so this isn’t a jab at religion. Rather, this has to do more with the fact that BSG is not the place for sermons and pulpits. I also hope that they don’t fulfill that other hypothesis going around the net – that the Colonial Fleet become the founders of Atlantis. Ugh. BSG and its audience deserve far better than that.
But I’m going to stay optimistic about this and believe that Moore and Eick have found their plan again – buried under all those accolades and awards – and are putting it to good use to complete this wonderful series they created 4 years ago.