johng Blog

Note: This is my first negative post about BSG!

Wired have a short look at the reaction to this week’s BSG. I must say I was suprised and angered by the way this episode played out. I even downloaded the podcast commentary from Ron Moore to see if he could explain the reasoning behind Starbuck’s ‘death’. He sees it as a pivitol event that she overcomes her fear of death and sucumbs to suicide. He thinks that she sacrificed herself for the good of humanity. I don’t think anyone watching saw it that way or even considered that. Strange goings on in BSG land.

Battlestar works best during the periods of week to week on going arcing stories (serial form). The last few weeks have been individual episodes with their own concluding stories which provide only small amounts to overall plot development. Just to make it clear how random her death was in the context of the season here are a few important things that happened in the last few eps.

11 - She realises those doodles are The Eye of Jupiter. Remembers Leoben said she has a destiny.
12 - Apollo patches his marrige up, Baltar gets a talking to.
13 - Helo fights medical malpractice (!)
14 - Chief and the Mrs get trapped. Starbuck and co save em. Adama remembers his wedding aniversary.
15 - The chief starts a worker’s union. Starbuck is happy to get a new pilot at the end of the ep.
16 - Starbuck kills herself after visions of The Eye of Jupiter and Leoben in the gas giant.

At no time between episodes 11 and 16 is there any evidence of Starbuck’s worsening mental condition or troubled childhood. This is why it seems out of the blue Ron. For her it’s like those episodes never happend and 11 and 16 are back to back. I don’t mind killing off main characters if it has meaning and adds to the story but the way this happend was pitiful and pointless. Kat was killed similarly in that they devoted an episode to her so as to kill her off. Bad move. Pull your socks up and lets get back to how things were only a few months ago!