Daybreak (Part II)

Battlestar Galactica - Episode 4.20

The series finale is clearly cut into two distinct halves, both spotlighting the dichotomy that is Battlestar Galactica. The first hour was an edge of the seat, action and special effects extravaganza, while the second was serene and character focused. In the end, this was sort of ending I would expect from Ronald D. Moore and by the completion of the two hour and eleven minute finale, I was emotionally and physically spent.

Before the mission, there are a few moments that set up how the rest of the fleet will operate if Galactica and her crew don't make it back. The notion that Lt. Hoshi and Romo Lampkin were installed as the Admiral of the Fleet and President of the Colonies was hilarious yet made perfect sense. Adama, a battlestar commander aboard a ship that was about to be decommissioned, and Roslin, a low level cabinet member, were thrust into those roles at the beginning of the series, so it makes sense that their replacements would to.

Given that this was the final episode and that the danger and stakes were so high during the Galactica's attack on the Cylon colony, the feeling that anyone could die was potent. Once the old girl jumped only yards away from the front door and Gary Hutzel and his effects team got to work, it was hard to get excited. The work on the space battle scenes have always been topnotch, but this took it to a whole new level. Setting the conflict in a debris field on the edge of a collapsing star gave a different look than the usual star-speckled blackness, and evoked a feeling of our heroes storming the gates of hell. Every time the ship took a hit, I could almost feel it and the explosions and crew being thrown around on the inside helped sell the concussive nature of the battle. Throw in the Raptor strike teams jumping out a pylon, tearing a hole out of it, Vipers dogfighting thousands of Raiders, and red-stripped rebel Centurions punching it up with old school '70s models, and you've got battle that almost rivals the liberation of New Caprica in season two.

Boomer's demise went down as expected. It was fairly obvious over the last couple of episodes that she have a change of heart, betray Cavil, and bring Hera to the Colonials. When she delivered Hera into the arms of her parents, there was nothing left than to have Athena shoot her. Given that in a single episode a few weeks ago Boomer beat her up, tricked her husband into sex, and kidnapped her daughter, she was probably justified in her revenge.

I couldn't help but think that the resolution to the opera house vision was a little anti-climatic. This was a lot of build up to just have the outcome be Caprica Six and Baltar picking up Hera and taking her to CIC to be safe. The moment that the vision of the Final Five came into play was nicely handled, but overall it the outcome fell a bit flat.

What did work was the revelation of Head Six and Head Baltar as guiding forces for Caprica and Gaius. This helped the two wayward lovers reconnect and defined what was going on in their heads, especially Baltar's, all this time. However,the stilted delivery at the end of the episodes by these angels seemed to undercut the impact of the revelation. Still, Gaius Baltar stepped up to the plate and helped end the war by approaching Cavil in an attempt in end the cycle of violence.

The offer of resurrection by Tigh that finally sold Cavil on peace seemed too simple at first. Luckily, Moore found a way to use it to inject one more eruption of chaos. Tyrol finds out Tory's execution of Cally at the most inopportune time and keeping with his quick reactionary self, Galen kills her before the Final Five can complete the transfer of resurrection knowledge to the Cylon colony. I loved that once all hell broke loose (again), Cavil just decides to shoot himself right there. He was finally at his wits end with having to deal with all of this and decided to go out on his own terms.

A resolution that really worked was the payoff for Starbuck's destiny and the revelation of her true nature. I was disappointed when Ron Moore said on the podcast that the missing seventh model, Daniel, was not Kara's father as I and apparently half the watchers of the show felt they were led to believe. Still, her Christ like return and departure was very compelling. Kara Thrace did die when she plunged into that worm hole in season three. However, some greater force decided that she be returned in some fashion to complete her destiny. Her good-bye to Lee was sad and sweet, too.

The last hour dealt with our heroes finally finding a home. Ironically enough that home is Earth. Not the Earth from earlier in the season, but our Earth. Looking back, I don't recall ever seeing any continents from orbit of the first Earth, so this trick really worked for me. The twos, sixes, and eights decide to stay to help humanity settle in, who in turn decide to destroy their ships and technology and start from scratch. Also, we find out that Hera is to become our, the humans on Earth today, evolutionary mother (though the logistics of her spreading her genes is a bit staggering).

This was also the hour that the creators and actors went that extra mile to emotionally wreck their longtime viewers. The first was Kara's good-bye to Sam before he flew the fleet into the sun. Despite her treating him badly over the years, she did really love the man. His love was equally strong and enough to break through his Hybrid nature for him to shed a tear and say that he would see her on the other side.

Another great moment was the flashback of Saul and Ellen at a bar on Caprica. He's about to retire and she thinks she's about to get what she has always wanted: Saul. She has had to share him with his career and Bill Adama for far too long. This goes along way in explaining her behavior. She slept around on him so much because he was never there and part of her wanted to hurt him for that. At the end, Ellen finally gets her Saul all to herself as they march off through Africa to live out the rest of their years together.

The expected death of Laura Roslin was sweet, sad, and sincere. The romance between her and Bill was allowed to slowly develop over the four seasons and was well-earned. While I grew tired of seeing Adama break down so much in the past fifteen episodes, this one was really justified and I couldn't help but feel heartbroken when he put his wedding band on her hand (as telegraphed Laura's vision earlier in the season).

These moments were great and emotional, but the one that strangely got to me the most was Baltar's admission and acceptance of his farm roots and the fact that he had come full circle. James Callis played this moment extremely well and despite all the mistakes and self decisions the character had made over the years, I couldn't help but feel for him here. The character of Baltar seemed to have been directionless for most of the fourth season, but he got plenty of payoff in this finale. Oh, and he survived even though he helped start this mess in the first place.

As I mentioned above, the final scene between Head Caprica and Head Baltar falls sort of flat. Not that the idea was bad, but the execution wasn't up to James Callis or Tricia Helfer's best work. Still, I loved the use of the Jimi Hendrix version of "All Along the Watchtower" over a montage of robotic creations manufactured by the humans of Earth today. This does more to pose the question of whether or not we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of past than the conversation between the two angels.

Looking back at the series as a whole, I think that I got more personal satisfaction watching Battlestar Galactica than any other series on television. Ron Moore did an amazing job using a fantastic setting to make us reflect on real world ideas and situations. He gave us characters that were never without flaws, and rarely were any of them truly evil. It was the gray of human nature that made the show so exciting and engaging. The acting was, more often than not, excellent, particularly Mary McDonald, Edward James Olmos, and Michael Hogan. Tricia Helfer should be commended for being so versatile and so good. This was her first true acting gig. The production and special effects were motion picture worthy and I am still astonished that they were able to do so much with a television budget.

When it comes down to it, Battlestar Galactica was just a really, really good show, sci-fi or otherwise. It very, very rarely felt like a waste of an hour (I'm looking at you "Black Market"). It made me think and it thrilled me. It went out on its own terms and I'm very satisfied as a viewer who took a chance on the mini-series.

9 out of 10