All seasons are great. I kinda mainlined them straight through, so it’s hard to remember where one ended and the next began. There was a point (season 3ish I guess) where I thought they’d gone off the deep end, but it redeemed itself by the end.
And Caprica’s worth a watch too, though completely different in almost every way.
Interesting observation, from this thread and others - people who watched the show as it aired dislike the last season far more strongly than people who got into the show on DVD. I’ve noticed this phenomenon for other shows as well, but it seems especially pronounced for BSG.
Spoilers below:
[spoiler]My working theory is that folks who watched the show week to week got a lot more emotionally invested in the minutiae of the plot and the various mysteries, and thus were correspondingly more angry and bitter about things they disliked in how the show ended. It’s “Lost” Syndrome - when one spends a long period of time poring over clues and theorizing about how they come together, it’s natural for one to be more disappointed when the revealed conclusion isn’t quite as satisfying as one had expected.
In addition, BSG’s live viewers were originally sold on the show as the closest thing to “hard sci fi” on television, a technologically plausible series that also served as a refreshingly breakaway from space fantasies like “Star Wars” or the (then seen as) naively optimistic politics of “Star Trek.” The first season and a half of the show, in particular, focuses less on the big picture Plan than on episodic sociopolitical allegory. So when BSG itself moved more towards fantasy (although these elements were present, to some extent, from the beginning), many longtime fans viewed it as a betrayal of the show’s core ideas.
But newcomers to the show watching it on DVD won’t have that background. They may have heard that BSG is harder sci-fi than your average space opera, and they almost certainly are aware of its uncompromising nature when dealing with the politics of war and terror, but they’ve also probably heard something about the mysticism of the show. More importantly, they haven’t had 2+ years to get used to the show as being one thing and then becoming another.
To them, the show starts as a gritty political thriller with fantastic qualities, and smoothly transitions over time into a space fantasy series with gritty political elements. And importantly, that transition only takes place over a few months (or however long it takes to watch the show), rather than the five years it took those of us who watched the show live. They tend to more strongly remember the high points and pretty quickly forget the low points, since it all kind of blurs together anyway.
IOW, those of us who had to wait a week just to sit through the shitstorm of “Black Market” remember it as a horrible debacle, while those who watched it on DVD remember it only as an annoying, hourlong distraction between “Epiphanies” and “Scar.”[/spoiler]
Exactly this. You have my apologies, Monkey Chews. Sorry for the ill-informed accusation!
Well, not all of us. I watched it streaming on Netflix, not DVD, but I suppose that’s basically the same thing. I watched it in a virtual marathon (slow season at work, so lots of spare time), cramming the entire series into about 5 weeks, often watching 3-5 episodes in one sitting. I was that engrossed in the characters and story. But I’m with those who viewed it when it aired - I really thought the last season was the weakest. Like I said in my first post, it really felt to me like the producers had gotten the word that the show wouldn’t be renewed for a fifth season (I have no idea whether or not that was the case) and that they were trying to hurry their way through in order to ensure that they could actually finish the story by the end of the 4th season. I did feel that four seasons was kind of a short run, but that may be just because I’d grown accustomed to shows like this having longer runs, mostly from my experience with the various Star Trek series. And while I didn’t get to watch it, didn’t Babylon 5 run 6 or 7 seasons?
I also watched it on DVD, and still thought the last season and especially last episode was decidedly inferior. But we’ve had plenty of threads on that topic, and it’s really annoying to have a discussion entirely in spoiler boxes, so I’ll just leave it at that.
the show did suffer from repeated “we have no idea if we will be here next season” problems, imho they should have kept filming as though they were going to be there next season and if it ended abruptly someplace random it would be the studios fault.
even the worst episode has some great moments
“you should have Doc (whoever) look at that hand”
paraphrasing but close enough
I thought the entire series was very satisfying…although there was one episode in season 4 that I hated. I was one that didn’t mind the finale.
I also enjoyed season one of Caprica, and watched the first couple episodes of season two…but still waiting for Netflix to get Season two so I can finally finish it!
A question I’d like to pose for the people watching it after the fact: At what point do you watch the “Stand Alone” mini-movie episodes? I seem to remember at least one of them aired between seasons, and another after the series ended. (Although I could be way off on that one)
Also, for everyone…how many “Stand Alone” mini-movie episodes were there…I remember two, but for some reason I thought there was one that I hadn’t seen yet.
I’m pretty sure you watch the one named The Plan last, after everything else. (well, everything except Caprica) and the one named Razor between season 3 and season 4. Pretty sure those are the only 2.
Well, I didn’t mean that DVD viewers necessarily liked the last season or the ending. Obviously, many if not most do not. But there’s a level of vehemence you get from live viewers of the show in expressing their utter loathing for the fourth season that I’ve never seen from DVD or Netflix viewers. I just thought that distinction was interesting, especially since it may apply more broadly to other shows as well - and ultimately alter critical perception of those shows over time.
Ah, cool! No worries.
BSG was IMO the best sci-fi series to have ever been made. A refreshingly complex, sensible plot, believable technology, and a finely developed characterization made BSG for me the best science fiction ever - so far.
I have watched seasons 1 and 2, and a few episodes from season 3. The show has been, so far, extremely well-made. I particularly loved S02E04 - Resistance. Brilliant acting by Tyrol (Chief) - really excels himself. I can see why Tyrol’s character, originally planned as a minor one, became so prominent as the series progressed.
That episode also contained some soulful music, another plus.
My only beef with BSG is that they were way, way too harsh on all those beautiful humanoid cylons. So many cylon hotties shot. Some thrown out the airlock. Some tortured. Shame! Make love, not war, has ever been my motto. 
Well, I hope the OP has watched the entire series by now, Mr. Spoilers.
Reported.
Thanks for the report, Nametag, but since I don’t watch the show I have zero idea what the spoilers are. Could you specify, pls.?
Everyone who tells you the finale sucked is lying. The ending is foreshadowed from the very beginning of the miniseries and wraps up the story nicely, and all the major characters get some sort of closure on their individual arcs.
Personally, I’d say the low points are about the middle to near the end of seasons 2 and 3, which are where you get the padding and the stand-alone episodes that really don’t advance the plot. I’d say you can skip “Scar”, “Black Market”, and “The Woman King” entirely, but I haven’t watched them since it first aired and for all I know there might have been some minor detail in those episodes that becomes relevant later on.
i personally liked all the seasons pretty equally.
the first season sets up the relationships between the characters and fleshes out the main ones, as well as introducing you to the premise of the show.
the second season deals with a new setting and dynamic between the main conflict.
the third season the central conflict divides even further.
the fourth season a LOT happens, and a lot of good twists and things that were mentioned earlier in the series are fleshed out. very exciting.
overall BSG is one of my favorite shows of all time. if i were forced to rank them i’d probably go with
2, 4, 1, 3
I agree that season 4 seemed a bit rushed, but it wasn’t as bad as all that.
Just in general, BSG was simply the best SF I have ever seen done on screen.
And the soundtrack by Bear McCreary is outstanding.
And relative order, in my opinion would be 2,1,3,4.