Friday, September 4, 2009

Final Cut

It seems they've gone back to the old title music as well.

Oh look, it's Lucy Lawless. Isn't it funny how just when you think you'll never see her again, she shows up? I almost don't recognize her as a blonde though. It's a good look for her. Her character is named D'Anna Biers. Is this a tiny reference to Deanna Troi? And why that particular last name? Is there significance to it, knowing what a "bier" is?

It's good to revisit the Gideon incident. I like that the Boston Massacre parallel comes through again, with D'Anna calling it a massacre, and the President insisting it was not.

A number of other shows have used the "documentary" episode with mixed results. ER did it as an excuse for it's live show. The Practice did it. X-Files did it in that episode where they were on Cops (the highlight of which was the camera guys hiding in the closet). Whole series like The Office are shot this way, though they are really beginning to bend the logic of that conceit. It pretty much works here. The cuts between documentary footage and what's really happening work. I especially like the Cylon attack sequence which is seen all from the inside of the Galactica. Even on Trek, doing a sequence like that would involve watching it on the viewscreen. But there is no viewscreen; just monitors and audio.

Poor Baltar never gets his interview. He's funny, but I just don't know what we accomplish when we make our "villain" so comedic. He's getting a bit more Dr. Smith every episode.

I love that the original Galactica theme music comes in in the documentary.

The Sharon story feels really thrown in. I have no idea what's up with that. Maybe the fact that its on the periphery is intentional, just as it's periphary in the documentary (in fact, it's cut out). But the episode ends on this point. So what did happen to Sharon? Is the baby in danger?

This essentially amounts to being the "Support the Troops" episode. The people in charge are bad, but you can't fault the guys who do their jobs every day. People used to tell me that BSG was a big sort of allegory for Iraq and I still don't see it (are Cylons muslim analogs because they are monotheistic?), aside from the fact that Michael Hogan bears a strong resemblance to John McCain, and sometimes Tigh acts that way. This feels like one of those episodes that many people will point to as evidence of the show being "relevant". Whatever. I hate that D'Anna intentionally sets out to goad Tigh into drunken behavior; she wants him to look foolish. That's not reporting; that's reality TV. That's from the Michael Moore school of filmmmaking. I hope she cut that stuff out. Anyway, the end is basically fine, but I'm tired of people saying things like, "they are deeply flawed, and deeply human, and maybe that's the same thing." No it isn't. Flawed is not synonymous with human and it's really becoming an aggravation to me. That's just an excuse. If all humans are "flawed", then isn't that their essential nature? A flaw is something that is in contradiction or opposition to, or lacking from, an essential nature. I'll refrain from ranting anymore on this. 

I don't like the very end. I don't think the episode needs it. It's just there for shock. Why did the Cylons watch this entire movie? How did D'Anna get to Caprica without anyone noticing?? Or is that a totally different D'Anna? If so, did they just hack a broadcast of the movie? All that really matters is the deleted footage of Sharon. ...So where did they get that? It would have to have been sent by D'Anna somehow. At least she didn't use it in the movie. How long before Adama realizes he gave all access clearance to a Cylon? Will this have lasting repercussions? I don't really feel like D'Anna being a Cylon is consistent with the character as we saw it throughout the rest of the episode, either. And the Caprica Sharon said something weird like "See, I'm still alive". I'm still so confused about how this multiple people thing works. Is she the new Boomer after Boomer was shot, or is it a different one altogether?

Oh well. A decent episode, if a little didactic. Highlights include Gaeta's interview, and learning some of the crew's first names.

This is also a side note, but I thought of it watching this one. Sometimes when Tigh gives an order to Gaeta, he reminds me of Picard talking to Data. It's that bald head and the similar names. It makes me chuckle to myself.

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