Huh. While I wasn’t paying attention, the nerdrage against the BSG finale went from “luddites abandoning technology” to “god turned out to have been behind the whole thing”… Weird.
Anyway, for the OP: the BSG series is definitely worth the ride, for the heart-stopping highlights. There were a few duds along the way – episodes “Black Market” and “The Woman King”, and quite a few uneventful episodes in Season 3 (I think it was season 3).
There’s plenty on the internet about the finale, already. The thing to beware about the series, though, is that it’s primarily soap opera in sci-fi action dress. It is not primarily sci-fi action; although the action does occur (and, is awesome), there are long stretches of character drama. Good drama, and some really good acting… but budget constraints meant that if there is an episode that’s heavy on the sfx in a season, there’ll be quite a few others that do not have many sfx.
While the show was airing, there were many complaints by people who expected awesome spaceship porn every week, but instead got character drama in spaaaace. So, go in looking forward to the character drama, 'cause it’s really good. And, comes with spaceship porn.
That’s what I would have done, sort of. I think putting a few ships in 5000 year orbits would have been a great gift to their descendants.
As for the spaceship porn, the effects are consistently high in quality, but not every episode is flashy. Exodus, however, was very flashy. The effects would have to be to keep up with the story. Getting the hell off New Caprica is some of the best TV ever made.
As far as falling back on a deus ex machina goes, I’m fine with it. Headsix was saying stuff like “God has a plan for you, Gaius.” from the beginning. Everyone said it was either a hallucination or a chip in his head. Joke’s on everyone, I guess. Why didn’t it do this? Why didn’t it do that? I don’t know. Maybe it couldn’t. Who knows what it is? Maybe an angel or three and shutting down the fleet’s power for a second and a little genetic nudge here and there was the best it could manage. I don’t claim that the show was planned out from the start, but it’s a great little bit of retroactive continuity and entirely consistent with what’s gone before. I have no problem with it. And it certainly doesn’t detract from what’s gone before.
I followed the series from episode 1 and found the ending very satisfying. It tied up all loose ends that were of significance to me. That the head characters ended up being “angels” was not all that surprising. It was hinted at all along. And everyone knew that Starbuck had to be some kind of reincarnated being since her charred dead body was shown in one episode! So, if anything, to see her revealed as something supernatural at the end was hardly surprising. For me, it’s better than saying that Starbuck was some kind of clone of the original with her memories! I also thought it was brilliant how the writers wove recurring themes, such as the Temple of Five scene, into the finale. And, despite what you may feel about the way the plot unfolded at the end, the action in the finale’s battle scenes were just amazing to watch. To the OP, I’d recommend that you just watch the entire series and make your own decision about the finale. Don’t let anyone else’s opinion influence you.
Everybody begins at Kobol. Something Bad happens. People toddle off to new planets - the colonies. The original cylons toddle off to Earth Mark I.
The colonials have re-invented cylons: cylons mark 2, the mark 2 cyclons and colonials are at war. The original cylons on Earth I have already done this, and a few survivors from Earth I travelled to the colonies, arriving during the war.
The surviving Earth I Cylons negotiate a plan to stop the war. The deal involves Earth I Cylons sharing resurrection technology as well as Meatbag Cylon technology. A truce is set.
The Mark I Cylons develop meatbag cylons, but the very first new model cylon does a coup and hijacks the process, developing a plan to finish the war. This leads into the series.
The Mark II Cylons chase the last colonials around, mayhem ensues, the colonials and mark 2 cylons find Kobol as well as Earth I. In the end, survivors from all three groups: colonials, Earth I Meatbag Cylons and Mark II Meatbag Cylons end up at Earth II and basically give up / go native. There is a basestar of Mark II non-Meatbag Cylons who survive and bug out.
I’m with msmith. The finale, IMO, wasn’t that bad, and it had some truly lovely bits in it (I was a sucker for the bits with Old Man Grizzle and the Prez). But the last thirty seconds were completely obnoxious. I mean, you end this epic series with an image of a robot doing the Robot? WTF?