First of all, go read my friend Aaron Pressman's thoughts on the final BSG episode.
Below are contained spoilers.
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I really loved the final episode with the exception of the angel-cameraderie of Boltar and Capirica Six at the end. Tricia Helfer's dialogue sounded forced, and that's probably because it was unlike any of the other script she's been given the entire season. Her timing and patter was off.
But I can't let that overshadow an excellent series. Ron Moore spent several years showing us an onion, peeling away a layer and showing us the next one. A vehicle for commenting on the pressing issues of the day during one of the darkest periods of American history in the last 40 years, it would have been almost too painful to continue. I am thankful that Ron Moore didn't need to weave the economic crisis into the show's plot.
At times the layers of conspiracy became absurd, not the least of which was the discovery in the final episodes of a ginormous Cylon base that hadn't been mentioned at all during the series. But the battle was an excellent chance for every character to define themselves in a very brief amount of time, and surprisingly few of them died (though Cavil's suicide surprised me)
Ultimately I loved it, and I loved how the show wrapped itself up in layers.
How do you end a show whose central technique has been to suggest that human machinations underlie so many mysteries? You simply step off the treadmill and label it unknowable.
The same is true of the strategy by which the remaining people of the fleet decide to stop the war with the Cylons. By giving up all technology and joining the indiginous peoples of the new Earth, they suddenly become a pointless conquer. They have nothing but spears to capture, wouldn't put up much of a fight, and their conquest becomes pointless strategically. When you realize the struggle is unwinnable and stop trying, you in fact win.
The obvious elements of the Christian symbolism I find a neat technique. To just call Starbuck a ghost would be a copout. To assign her a role in a larger mythology is entirely perfect, and quite a bit of work to make so perfectly fit at the end as if it was the plan all along.
I'm looking forward to the other series, "The Plan" and "Caprica".
