BSG: Season 3 review

The third season felt like one big step in the wrong direction for me. I was never a fan of the New Caprica storyline, and it unfortunately informs most of the goings-on here. Rather than follow through with established plot points, they jumped ahead a year essentially in an artificial attempt to create drama. And it very often felt artificial. Halfway through the season, Sharon had all but disappeared. We still don't know who the 7 other Cylons in the fleet are (or, we at least don't know who 3 of them are) or what became of them. 

The ending felt so tacked on that it is laughable. If Tyrol has been a Cylon this whole time, doesn't that mean that his son is also a miracle hybrid like Hera? Wouldn't some kind of medical test reveal this at some point?

The "Final Five" mystery just isn't that interesting to me, and was oddly handled. Baltar has been strung along throughout the season, but he doesn't have much to do; it's like he's a box of disease that no one wants to touch. The search for earth was abandoned for some time, and only slightly gotten to this season. And when in doubt, they killed characters off. Ellen Tigh, Kat, Duck, Jammer, Starbuck (briefly), all were casualties of story. Some deaths were better than others, but that's quite a lot of them.

This is not to say that everything about season three was a total bust. Most of the nauseating zooming camera work in the exterior shots has been replaced by smoother shots that I like better. This makes it all the more jarring when it goes back to super zoomy mode in episodes like "The Woman King". Perhaps these are instances of reused footage from the miniseries. The effects work in general has gotten better. While I hate the New Caprica stuff, the effects in those episodes are some of the best they've done. It was good to see the Hera storyline sort of resolved.

The season is very problematic, and as the first episodes I ever saw were third season, I'm not surprised I was turned off. While no episode stands out as bad as "Black Market", the whole season has a feeling of being not quite there. I sort of hope the last season is better, but given the direction it seems to be going in, I don't expect it. Worst season so far.

Best episodes: "The Passage", "Dirty Hands"

Worst episode: "Unfinished Business"

Worst ending to an episode that ruined an otherwise good episode: "Crossroads part 2"