Unplugging Toasters
Posted on | May 4, 2008 at 12:44 pm | 2 Comments
I know I’m trampling on one of my own sacred crows (yes, I worship crows and not cows) here, but I gotta say I’ve been disappointed with Battlestar Galactica so far this season. [Warning: Some spoilers ahead for those of you who aren't caught up or who watch by DVD-only.] Five episodes in, and my brain is already starting to tune out.
DMR sent me an e-mail last night:
I’m an ep behind, but man is BSG ever a dark downer lately! The last couple eps I was thinking I’d just kill for a good battle scene. At least the Cylons turned on each other and provided a little bit of action. And they need to get Lee out of his business suit and back in uniform!
I have to agree. The Cylon Civil War, and the intense episode where Cally gets in too deep (space), have been the only real highpoints so far. And Lee Adama as a misguided lawyer/politician (or whatever he is) instead of a viper pilot? Way to dull-up your leading man, guys. And if I see one more scene of Chief Tyrol brooding, I’m going to go into the TV and whomp on his ass myself. And let’s see… Roslyn still dying of cancer? Check. Baltar still thinking/saying profound things he may not mean just so he can survive and/or get laid? Check. Everyone still thinks Starbuck’s crazy (or a Cylon, or both)? Check. In fact, everyone is pretty much acting crazy, including the Cylons. Just wait until they find Earth and have to deal with the Bush administration.
The thing is… the darkness and gloominess of the show is one of the primary things that attracted me to it in the first place. It was a complete turnaround from the 80s show. It made much more sense that the last survivors of a civilization, on the run from genocide, would be a gloomy bunch and be filled with despair and craziness. But there’s also always been that spark of hope and strong leadership and the sense that there was a direction to follow. Now I just feel that great void pressing in on everybody. There’s no one really to pull for. Yeah, you know Kara’s lunacy is eventually going to led them to Earth and they should’ve listened to her in the first place, but in the meantime we have to put up with endless scenes of everyone doubting her and getting in the way of her quest. It just feels like filler. Baltar and his religious cult holds no interest for me, since we’ve seen it all before, in slightly different forms. Yeah, I know there’s a pattern with him, but is he ever going to break out of it? I hope that’s what they’re leading to.
I realize the early part of the season often just sets things up for the later part (I remember the beginning of season two bored me also, as everyone just seemed to be flailing around trying to get back together). But I was hoping for more from this final season. This show has a lot of questions to answer, and it needs to get on the stick fast. Heck, Lost seems to be moving faster lately than BSG, and that’s really saying something.
And, yes, please, let’s have some action! Some suspense! If I see one more scene of two people sitting or standing together making vague dialog with long pauses and awkward glances between phrases, I’m going to mutilate my Apollo and Starbuck action figures in really obscene ways. (Okay, I don’t really have Apollo and Starbuck action figures, but if I did…) So, whoever is editing this show this week, tighten that shit up! It all makes it look like the show is trying to be more deep than it is (and it’s pretty deep). This ain’t French cinema.
Latre.
Pet Peeve Of The Day: Widespread freeze-up problems playing Grand Theft Auto IV on the PS3 (and sometimes on the 360) have been reported, yet Take Two Interactive doesn’t seem to be doing much about it other than telling people to completely neuter their Playstations and then re-install the game. After my initial install and playing session, I got locked up at the first loading screen. The only way I can play the game is to disable the PS3’s Internet connectivity, which means no online multiplayer. The reinstall didn’t work. They say it’s a very limited subset of customers experiencing the problem, and initial data seemed to suggest it was on 60GB units only, but I have a 80GB unit.
Comments
2 Responses to “Unplugging Toasters”
May 5th, 2008 @ 6:43 am
I’m in to the bitter end. There’s only a dozen episodes left. The last season of Deep Space 9 was also mystical mumbo-jumbo, but at least they had some kick-ass battles.
Is there going to be a mid season break like most years? That’s always good for good cliff-hanger.
And I love your description of Baltar. Except I think he puts getting laid ahead of saving his ass.
May 5th, 2008 @ 6:57 am
Is there going to be a mid season break like most years?
I hear that’s pretty likely. In fact, they may not show the second half of the final season until 2009. Damn SciFi!
I’m in it until the end too.