Battlestar Galactica's End Officially After Season 4

Ant writes "First it was off, and then it was back on. Yahoo is now reporting on a release put out by David Eick and Ronald Moore stating that they will conclude Battlestar Galactica at the end of Season 4. They said it was a creative decision, and that they wanted to end the show on their own terms. The show was always planned with a definite beginning, middle and end, unlike many other sci-fi shows and dramas. Sci Fi Channel has accepted the decision. The news had been foreshadowed this spring through statements from stars Edward James Olmos and Katee Sackhoff. Ronald Moore himself had said that the show was heading into its final act, although he said the final act could be one or two more seasons. Now we know that the final act will last for one season. The special 2-hr. episode 'Razor' starts off the season in November. The first regular episodes of Season 4 will air in early 2008."

No what?

[adickerson0]

FRACK! This leaves a big whole in the Sci-Fi channel line up. I hope they can find a worthy successor.

Re:Fascinating

[BobTheLawyer]

How about: Earth is hostile to both Cylons and Galactica?

Re:Drag?

[japhmi]

No dragging? I stopped watching when it went from sci-fi to soap-opera-in-space.

Apparently it got good again at the end of season 3, I'll probably watch season 4 to see if it truly stopped sucking. Especially knowing it's the end.

Re:Fascinating

[Scrameustache]

My money is on "Earth is the Cylon home world" or something similarly devious.

For crying out loud. Earth is the 13th colony of Cobol, they say so all throughout the series.

The Cylons were using the fleet to find it (Kara's destiny is to find earth, that's why Leoben was so obsessed with getting her trust). And the Cylons were created by the colonies who have no idea where Earth is. There is no chance at all that it's their homeworld.

Re:Good

[SvnLyrBrto]

Exactly.

I understand that after you blow away half a season's effects budget of something as incredible as "Exodus", a handful of bottle shows are inevitable. That's not what I minded. But FFS....even in a bottle show, you ought to be able to find some way to advance the bloody plot! And I'm sorry, but Starbuck and Apollo being all emo over each other over and over and over and over again ain't what I mean by advancing the plot.

And recycling the godawful old "doctor gone evil and killing patients he doesn't think are worthy" cliche was just sad.

Season three gave us a spectacular beginning, a good two-parter in the middle, and a good ending (Right up to the geezer rock at the VERY end, that is. Bob Dylan's a cylon sent ahead to destroy us, I guess.). But almost half the season was just time-wasting filler. It'd almost have been better if they'd only had a twelve episode season to work with, like the first.

Hopefully, knowing EXACTLY how many episodes they have left to wrap everything up, they'll stick to the PLOT in season four.

You give them more credit than I do

[Anderson Council]

Old enough to remember watching the original series on TV, I was thrilled with the mini-series, and Season 1 was solid drama with fantastic characterization. Season 2 started strong, but aside from the odd bit of goodness appearing at random, I'd say the show got pretty sketchy after the whole Pegasus thing.

Making it worse, the entire New Caprica plot line which ended the second season went absolutely nowhere, and the spent the rest of the third season hitting a big red reset button which pretty much rewound us to the point right after the mid-season 2 Pegasus arc. Yippe, I love watching a season and a half of TV where the producers produce random plotlines, and Adama and Rosyln, who had previously been inspired characters, were written as "stupid" and thus even the character drama was removed as well.

A real shame in my opinion; however, I'm happy to hear the fourth season will be their last. Perhaps that will inspire them to tell an actual story and we'll end up with a decent finish (and I can just go on ignoring all content between mid-season 2 and the final season =).

--
~AC

Good News

[Maltheus]

I was on the fence to whether I'd tune in again after that disastrous season finale. It all came down to whether next season would be it's last or now. If I heard they were going for five seasons, I wasn't gonna bother with the fourth. But now I'd like to see how they're going to finish things up.

This show had some great moments. Even season 3 had some good ones. Exodus Pt. II was one of the finest hours in TV history. But RDM clearly had no idea of where he wanted to go with this show. Making those people (in the finale) into Cylons, based on a decision made halfway through season 3, just kind invalidated everything that came before to me. And the idea of pulling the lyrics for "All Along the Watchtower" out of the "ethereal mix" that we're all tapped into was just too stupid for me to ever look at this as a good show again (I read that one in an interview). Some people are just blown away by any manufactured twist. I prefer a degree of coherence to my storylines.

BSG Ending

[astrotek]

Spoiler, BSG is nothing more than a Cylon social experiment. The 12 colonies are long dead. The first show led to the death of the humans. All the humans and cylon models are really just computers set up in a situation that happened long ago ( the first show ) to try to see if they can find earth the same way the old humans did if they really believe they are human.

Zap, theres season 5 6 7. Humans fighting future cylons. Thats the only way the series could possibly continue. New cast and all. With cameos of every character to ever be on bsg.

Re:Fascinating

[dschuetz]

There is no chance at all that it's their homeworld.

How about this (admittedly remote) idea. First, background:

• Cylons worship one God (who seems fairly adamant about His charges being monotheistic)
  
• The 13th tribe (let's call 'em Terrans) included at least some who worshiped one "jealous" Kobol God above all others (remember the Temple in Eye of Jupiter) (I won't even mention the name this God obviously shares with another, more familiar, jealous God... :) )
  
• The Cylons are vulnerable to a virus that humans developed immunity to hundreds of years ago

Now, crazy speculation:

• The Terrans, on their way to Earth, left behind another little colony of people nearer to Kobol
  
• The Cylons discovered this colony
  
• The Terrans, on this colony, helped develop the humanoid Cylons, using their own DNA as a guide (maybe cloning themselves to create the original 12 models, and incidentally passing on vulnerability to that virus)
  
• Of those 12, 5 models realized the error of worshiping only the one God, and got "thrown out" as heretics
  
• These 5 managed to figure out where Earth was (maybe with help of sympathetic Terrans) and have moved on to Earth
  
• The remaining 7 exterminated the polytheistic Terrans (hell, probably *all* Terrans ) on the aforementioned speculative 13th-tribe-colony-become-humanoid-cylon-factory, and went on to start the current Cylon war
  
• Season 4 will be all about the humans and Cylons figuring all this out, realizing that to an extent they've all been manipulated by the Final 5 and the Terrans, and...I don't know what next.

All of this could even have occurred right *on* Earth, with the Final Five somehow wiping the memory of earth from the consciousness of the other 7, but I think it'd be too much of a stretch for the mechanical Cylons to have stumbled on Earth, rather than stumbling on an intermediate colony.

I've got more to this (I gave it a lot of thought when the season ended, and even think there might be connections to polytheism and the ability to reproduce), but this is the gist of it, as far as I can remember....

(BTW, if RDM reads this and I'm close to his master plan, then I want a hat.)

Wild Speculation

[Khammurabi]

If I were a writer, I'd have the following plotlines going on:

Wild Guess #1
The 4 cylons who were "activated" in the season 3 finale try to kill Hera, while continuing to enable Galactica to locate Earth (ultimately with the goal to obliterate it). The reasoning could be that the 4 were activated to "correct" the pro-human behavior that the cylons have been exhibiting, and keep the cylon goal of human extermination on track. Each of the 4 has risen to a unique position of power that allows them to enable the humans on their quest for Earth, and gives them direct insight into cylon-human relations. The 4 would essentially be considered a planned countermeasure to insure the initial cylon groupthink.

Wild Guess #2 (Warning: Season 3 Spoiler)
Chief Tyrol's child may not actually be his. If it was his child, it would mean that there are two hybrid human-cylons that exist. If it is his child, and the 4 are actually attempting to kill Hera, it's likely that the Chief's child would also meet the same fate. If it actually isn't the Chief's child, it'd make an interesting episode to see how Tyrol reacts to it.

Wild Guess #3
There's still one last cylon model unaccounted for. My guess would be that this cylon is likely the one tasked with destroying Earth, and will likely not reveal him or herself until the final episodes.

Endings

Cool Ending #1:
They get to Earth, they find it's the cylon homeworld, and that they're all actually cylons. The truth is that the cylons successfully exterminated the human race thousands of years ago. The entire 12 colonies and the human-cylon struggle was an experiment (possibly one of many) that the cylons did to attempt to become "more human", and to attempt to understand what the human race went through the when the cylons succeeded the first time. They proceed to design and plan the next version of the experiment, to send out another 12 colonies to repeat the experiment. (It would explain why both humans and cylons both arrived at the temple when the supernova was going to blow, 'cause they were programmed to. It would also explain why baltar sees the cylon and occasionally "knows" things.)

Cool Ending #2:
They arrive at Earth, which is technologically advanced and populated by humans. The Earth humans reveal that the entire Battlestar contingent are actually all cylons (or the Earth humans just refuse to accept that they're human). The Earth humans essentially say, "This isn't the first time you cylons have tried to destroy Earth. Now all of you shoo (or we'll blast you), and stop trying to use our myths of the 12 lost colonies to obliterate our planet." (Alt Twist: The Battlestar crew is believed to be who they say they are, the last cylon activates and obliterates the race.)

Lame Ending:
They arrive at Earth, which is populated by humans, cylons and hybrids (or the remains of such a society is found), which magically causes the tension between the cylons and humans to dissappear and they live happily ever after.

Re:future tech

[jollyreaper]

There are two reasons for the pieces of paper/table top battle mock ups etc: 1. The in story version is because the humans had to restrict the amount of computer networking etc etc etc because of cylon infiltration and network destruction that could occur. So the Battlestar was designed to run 'low tech' and not be able to be infiltrated by the cylons that way.

But what happens when the Cylons discover paper? Oh shit! Can you imagine the horror on Adama's face when he's reading a printout and discovers it's really vellum? Cylon skinjob!

But seriously, that whole "Cylons can haxx0r any network!!!" thing is such bullshit. If you don't have a port open to the outside world, the Cylons are not getting into your network. As it was explained to me by someone who worked on mission-critical military computers, everything is kept KISS. Your fire control system is your fire control system. It isn't on a box running twenty other applications, it's a dedicated system. There's nothing on there but the bare minimum of code required to generate the firing solutions, accept input, and run the display. The scope of the software and size of the codebase is limited enough that you can truly say it's pretty much debugged. Flight control systems are the same way. It's not like the civilian world where all you want is a computer to act as a print server so you have a default Windows install with all sorts of god knows what running in the background. A ship would still have laptops for writing reports, looking at video, pictures, etc, but none of that would be tied into the main mission-critical systems. Look at the space shuttle. You see the mission specialists may have brought along laptops to use in conjunction with their experiments on the mission but the flight control system is still segregated from all of that. With an internet connection to the ground, it would be completely possible for the laptop to catch a virus but it's going no further than the laptop.

Now I know what some people will say, the real world isn't always logical. We've all heard the story of the US Navy destroyer that had to be towed back to port because NT crashed the propulsion system. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2100362/mole-pcw eek-uk-nt-destroyer [vnunet.com] I'm sure many of us have stories to share about the best standards and practices and the effort put into doing it the other way. But is the point of BSG that humanity is worth saving or that we're so fucking stupid the Cylons deserve to win? I want to watch Vipers blow away Raiders, not see their engines fall off because maintenance was outsourced to the Colonial Vice-President's old company.

Re:We always planned it this way!

[dbolger]

I don't think its fair to say Lost has been given an end-date because of ratings. If that was the case, they might have gotten another season just to wrap things up, but they got three seasons. That doesn't sound to me like its being terminated because its not making money, it sounds like it is being terminated because the producers want a definte end-date to work towards.

If you listen to the producers' podcasts, it is very clear that the guys did not want the show to go on forever. They have joked several times about a theoretical "season seven: the zombie season", where the show has run out of ideas and they are resorting to cliches and tricks to keep viewers. Again, that sounds to me like they were very aware of how shows can head downhill fast if it is not cancelled at its peak, or at least on a pre-determined timescale, and they want to end it properly.

The dominant rumour I had head during the first three seasons on Lost was that it was intended to be five seasons and then end. I have no idea how truthful that is, but it demonstrates that the fans were more concerned with the show going out on a high note than lasting forever - something which I am convinced was inspired by the attitudes of the creative team behind the show.

While the ratings have slipped somewhat, I don't agree with your statement that the show would not have been given an end-date if they had stayed at the top of the ratings charts. Nobody involved in Lost wants it to go on forever. They are far more concerned with making as good a show as they can, and setting an end-date that gives them plenty of time to work towards an amazing conclusion is the perfect way to do that.

future tech, script writing and battlestars

[Elfich47]

I think a lot of the set design/ship design came down to a 'look and feel' argument, and your willingness to suspend disbelief.

If they went touch screen/laptop/shiny happy ship we would be back to either (take your pick) USS Enterprise-D or the Battlestar Pegasus (or maybe Voyager may be a better comparison). These ships are top of the line, fully crewed with the cream of the fleet, with top notch systems, equipment and fighter craft.

Instead the writers chose to use the Galactica (otherwise known as The Bucket). A ship that was at the end of its life cycle, on antiquated equipment, about to be decommissioned, shut down, and two steps ahead of being used for target practice. The ship is crewed with the misfits, rejects and unwanted of the fleet (including Adama if you read between the lines in a couple of episodes). Things are broken, get fixed and life goes on without a refit.

The writers consciously decided to avoid the 'Star Trek Look'. I think it allows for better story telling.

I understand that any given ship, character, plot ticket or Checkov's gun only lasts as long as the writers want them to last. The writers do understand this: Filling the screen with needless shoot-em-ups will not advance the story. So the writers have to be able to balance many things on the head of a pin: All of the characters and their current moods/direction, the enemies mood/direction, the current status of the equipment everybody has, the goals that the different sides have. Everyone has to have an investment in the outcome, the 'good guys' the 'bad guys' and the audience. Plus the writers have to produce 20 episodes per season. If we're being gentle, that means one episode written every two weeks. That takes a lot of energy.

If you want a good comparison, try Babylon 5. It as written for television, had a five year run (the fifth year was weak, but that was because the fourth season crammed fifth season material in when they were under threat of cancellation). But look at how the show is paced and the battle sequences are used to propel the plot instead of being the excuse for the plot.

If I wanted to watch an hour of mindless violence with no plot, I'd watch Starcraft or Homeworld replays (retouched with BSG ships) stored as movies.

Re:Fascinating

[Bamafan77]

The problem is that there IS NO PLAN. I wasn't sure at first but there have been enough interviews now. RDM and the writers are pulling everything out of their asses. If you think of everything JMS did with B5 to lay foreshadowing, plan payoffs years in advance, just imagine the opposite and you have the RDM approach.

I disagree AND agree. I don't think there's a plan with every step set in stone, but I do think they have an idea for the overall arc the story takes. And there is most certainly TONS of foreshadowing in this series. Let's start with the Cylon's monotheistic God and the fact that the Colonists worship what appear to be Greek deities for starters. How about the fact that they're searching for mythological (for them) place called Earth? How can you say there's no foreshadowing...and then get modded up? :)

In other words, there is currently no explanation in mind for why:
1. The Cylons got religion in the first place.
2. What made them think attacking the Colonies would satisfy that religion.
3. What their motive is for pursuing the fleet
4. Why they want to breed when they are already capable of making clones.
5. Why the Cylons now want to find Earth
6. Why Cylons want to look human in the first place when they were fine as machines
7. How characters like Tigh, who was alive before the beginning of the first Cylon War and decades before skinjobs were invented, could in fact be a skinjob, especially when RDM already stated that skinjobs are not based on any preexisting colonial humans.

It's getting answers to these questions that keeps me (and others) interested in the show. I don't see how you can use this as ammo against the show. The reason I was excited about the announcement was that the answers will be answered within the next 22 eps.

Re:MOD PARENT UP.

[Clock Nova]

I'm probably the lone dissenter here, but aside from the doctor episode, every one of those episodes you mentioned was fantastic. I particularly liked the boxing epidode; I thought it gave some wonderful character insights. I don't know what you guys are looking for in a sci-fi drama. Maybe you just like stuff to blow up. As far as I'm concerned, season three was damn near flawless.

Re:Fascinating

[Dasher42]

Having watched the Season 3 finale when it came out in the same room with Ron Moore, I can safely say that he's holding out on the things that you're mentioning point by point, and that's not the same thing as having no idea in advance at all.

Re:Good

[Jarik_Tentsu]

BSG is my favorite TV show of all time. I enjoyed all seasons - mini-series, Season1, Season2 and Season 3. In fact, I think I enjoyed Season 2 the best and despite what everyone else seems to criticize, all the 'character development' fillers in the middle of Season 3 were really interesting.

One of the main reasons I enjoy it, as compared to most Sci Fi's, is that in general - it runs more like a movie, without a quick end. Each episode affects the next greatly - you could watch all seasons put together without the flow being interupted too much.

Compare this to Sci Fi's like Stargate SG1 and X-Files - while still great in their own way, they aim at each episode being standalone. There is very minor character development during the flow of each season, and of course, there will be 2-3 double episodes throughout each season which will be focused on continuing the overall plotline. And of course, every filler will generally be based on top of the 'general plot line' - but fundamentally, each episode is designed for more casual watches. You could miss 5 episodes of SG1 and probably still understand what was happening. Not so with BSG.

What I do see happening, which I think everyone else is noticing, is the fact that BSG is becoming like Prison Break. I still like the latter show, but it's becoming a drag - it's not longer the really intelligent and awesome show I had huge respect for and has become a show that goes on forever and ever. I mean come on - every time they get to a possible end, there's a plot twist and they're back at the start. 3 seasons? Ridiculous. Season 1 should've ended with the first attempted break out and Season 2 should've ended at around ep 15 (But I don't agree with people who say there shouldn't've been a season 2 - since Mahone kicks ass =P). But yeah, I'm seeing BSG having more plot twists, etc.

Now I'm not necessarily against this...yet...I just don't want it to turn out to be like PB. So far, it's on the borderline of being overdone. As for the new 4-5 cylons we've learned...this could be done really well, or really badly. It's up to the writers really. In fact, I'm the kinda guy to watch a show and wish something would happen - but it never does...except in BSG. =P

Overall, I think BSG is living up to its potential. Apart from a few things which could have been done better, for me personally, this is by far the TV show I have enjoyed the most. I just hope Season 4 is amazing and finishes with a blast!

I'm curious as to whether the Terrans (Earthlings) will be:
1. Primitive/Ancient
2. At our level of technology atm.
3. At a similar level of technology to the colonists and Cylons
4. At a level exceeding the other two races.

Will be interesting in any case. =)

And I'm interested in more development of Boomer/Caprica Six and the Colonials. After all, they were part of the human rights movement and if there wasn't an insurgency on New Caprica, they could have very well lived in somewhat peace.

~Jarik