This news broke yesterday, so I can’t attempt to claim that I am bringing you fresh information. However, more than many news pieces, this one really requires some sober thought before discussing it. One of the most compelling dramas on television is officially coming to an end next year, and that’s something that takes some time to get used to. There had been persistent rumours that had indicated this could be the case, but to have it finalized is something very different. As a result, I needed to evaluate how I felt about Battlestar Galactica’s fourth season being its last.
I’ve discovered my answer: it feels right.
For me, my time spent with Battlestar Galactica will be even shorter than most, having just discovered the series in the past six months. Perhaps, if I had been with it since the very beginning, I would be much less willing to say goodbye. However, I feel as if the series has been driving towards something, and that as producers have pointed out, recent events have picked up the speed even further. Galactica, now more quickly than ever, is heading towards Earth.The show’s third season will be remembered for a number of reasons, and it’s interesting to me that Emmy Voters are this week receiving only the season’s opening two episodes and the closing two episodes for consideration. First off, this is a terrible idea since it fails to explain the developments between those sets of episodes. However, it makes sense from one perspective: it hides many of the show’s faults. This season, the drive to Earth was sidetracked, quite often in fact. The result of this was a show that failed to find its purpose, struggled to regain its footing. You don’t just fast-forward through a year and a half without some sort of ramifications.
But I think the bigger problem is that producers, for good reason, are running out of things for this crew to do. When the season stopped at its halfway point to collect algae, it was a contrived plot device to bring things back to their journey to Earth. It no longer felt natural, the direction they were taking things. While some of these directions provided some good hours of television, none of them really seemed to resonate within the grand scheme of things. These are good characters, but it seems like they no longer have any storylines for them. When things devolved into a love-square that failed to really create any sort of emotional resonance, it was yet another sign that the show was running out of life.
Gone were the epic cylon confrontations, replaced with a drudgery unseen by the show up until that point. While cylon battles in every episode would be going overboard, they were too absent in every way. In previous seasons the constant presence of the Cylons was a threat: even if not on screen, you knew that they could pop in at any minute. I wrote a piece about this back earlier this year, and I stand by it: although the show is able to work without them, they need to be present in some way, shape or form. And, for a period before the season finale, they were absent in every shape or form.
Around this point, the show was picked up for a 13-episode 4th season, all but guaranteeing it would be its last. Then, however, the producers kicked it into high gear. The Starbuck angle the season closed with, along with the drive towards Earth at a much faster speed, Roslin’s cancer being back, Baltar’s trial…everything resonated to a level that was real, meaningful again. On the basis of that finale, SciFi upped the episode order to 22, and there was hope for further seasons once more.
But I don’t think that they can sustain this much longer. Now, with a drive forward again for the first time since the beginning of Season Three, producers have the ability to go out with a bang. While filler episodes will always be a reality, I think that 22 episodes gives them enough time to wrap up the show’s storylines. I think that it also gives them the right amount of time in which to avoid repeating themselves, or devolving further into elements that are not the show’s strongpoint.
Battlestar Galactica, unlike some shows, has an ending. It ends when Galactica reaches Earth, and when the humans and the Cylons come to some level of a conclusion. I believe that this needs to happen sooner, rather than later. 13 episodes might not have been enough, but with 22 I believe that the Battlestar saga can reach a conclusion that fans will be happy with. The show can’t go on forever, and ending it while it’s still in decent shape is the best thing that can happen for the nostalgia sure to follow in the future.
Cultural Learnings 
YAY! As much as I dont want to see the program end I still cannot wait to see if they get to earth! I totally think they will!
Rambling Jenn
You could parallel this to the comedy show “How I Met Your Mother,” because while the show could sorta go on forever, it’s telling a story that does have a definite ending.
For those that don’t know the show, it’s a narrated story, a father to his children, about how he met their mother (as if the title didn’t explain it well enough) And all through the first few seasons, he’s named his ‘then girlfriend’ their aunt, so it’s obvious that somewhere they have to introduce his final love interest and direct the series to it’s end.
With Battlestar, we know that they will reach Earth, Roslin will die (though I think she’ll get to see Earth, I don’t think she’d get the chance to enjoy the end of the journey) and the humans and cylons will either live together and deal or one will annihilate the other =D
As much as the producers both series really want to give the fans what they want, endless (but fulfilling) episodes of their favorite shows, they know that by losing sight of the initial goal will destroy the series slowly and painfully. I suppose that it’s both economical and creatively sound to end the series while still on track to Earth and true love. Sadly this couldn’t run like Star Trek: TNG, where we could grow up along with the series.
Along with that though, I’d like to see Caprica get picked up by the network. I could see a fantastic story coming into motion that shows what leads to the cylons massive exodus from the colonies — all the way to the BSG mini-series. Hmm, maybe a Caprica trilogy (since that seems to be the movie trend lately).
I’ve watched the new BSG from when it first aired a few summers ago, and I reluctantly agree with the decision made, though I’ll just keep my fingers crossed for a few movies and mini-series to pop up in years to come ^_^
Michellelle, you make some very compelling points while comparing it to another series I became hopelessly addicted to this year. How I Met Your Mother, however, at least has a sense that it is able to rely on sitcom constructs in order to stretch itself out (It can theoretically go beyond that point). Battlestar, meanwhile, is somewhat different. It is a much more linear drive forward, with less wiggle room.
I agree on the ‘Caprica’ front. The universe has so much more potential for a series, and life on Caprica seems to have been an intricate blend of political factors that could be incredibly compelling drama. I think it would work better as a weekly series, as opposed to movies, since there is little “action” to drive things forward. I think it would have to focus on more political drama, although some civil war might be lurking in the colony’s past.
And yeah, I agree: while in a perfect world we might be caught up in this universe forever, there’s an exit in sight. And we need to get off the highway before the engine sputters out.