Andy and I watched Battlestar Galactica together last night. We spent a good deal of time discussing it afterwards, which is why I think I've waited so long to put all my thoughts into words here.
So far, the third season is not as good as the first. In fact, no season thus far has been as good as the first, and after watching the premiere last night I think I've figured out why.
At the end of the miniseries, Adama and Roslin gave us a goal, an overarching plot that has been stated and restated during the opening of every episode in the second season. Humanity is looking for Earth. The first season really retained the feel that humanity wasn't just meandering through space, they were looking for something. Most of the time, it was Earth. In some episodes it was water or fuel, but there was always the feeling that they were on a journey and that at some point in time it would end. There was a goal, and they were slowly but surely making their way toward it. The first season had a really good balance between action/advancing the plot and small little character asides. There some more character-centric episodes than others (such as Six Degrees of Separation, which remains one of my favorite season one episodes to date), but you always had the feeling that aside from the characters, the plot was actually moving. The fleet was moving, they were making progress, and that's what made the pacing of most of the first season so great.
Starting season two, they really started to lose that. They got mired in a lot of character development. Character development is fine, it's a great cause, it needs to be done. The problem with character development is that its heavy, it really weighs on the audience, and the audience at the end of the episode, really feel as if the show hasn't moved very much, like that past hour was like wading through a bog. On the other hand, moving too quickly isn't good either, because then the audience feels like they're being rushed through events, but the first season gave just the perfect amount of moving you through the plot with enough attention to character and detail that you really felt like you were having a good time. They've lost that in season 2 and so far in season 3, and I think the balance is what the writers need to find again. This season is going to make or break BSG, and if season 3 stays the way it is, I think it's going to break.
It really feels like everything that's going on in New Caprica is sort of an aside, a digression from what Battlestar really set itself up to be in the miniseries and the first season. You know, it's great that they're exploring the limits of humanity through allegories to events past and present. I really like shows who aren't afraid to shy away from current events. That's what made The West Wing a really good show. (Besides Martin Sheen, of course.) But you've also really got to remember that most of the people who are watching BSG are very aware of what's going on in the real world, right now. So the values and issues that they're trying to portray in BSG almost feel like it's preaching to the choir. You know, we are aware of this stuff, and we do have our own morals which approximately overlap those which the show is trying to convey. Writers, you don't need to preach to us, you don't need to show us these struggles because we are very aware of them already. Maybe instead of problems, you should give us a solution instead, or just give us season 1 back because that was great.
Season 3 really feels like a dead end to me. You know in the opening, they always tells us that the Cylons have a plan. Do they have a plan anymore? It's been obscured somewhere with the cloud of conflict flying everywhere, and it's tiring to watch when everything is dark, depressing, and heavy. It's so hard to watch when I don't know where the show is going, when I can't guess at what the Cylon Master Plan is because we're stuck on a stupid planet fighting between ourselves.
When I first start writing a long-ass fic, I usually write the beginning, and then shortly thereafter I write the end. That way I stay focused as I write, cause I know what end my writing is trying to achieve, where I want my characters to go, and what I want to happen. I think the problem with the BSG writers here is that they haven't decided what they want to happen at the end. So instead of looking for Earth or running from the Cylons, we're spending an entire season on a cold, barren little planet discovering that humanity hasn't evolved at all, and neither have the Cylons. It just feels like an extended rest stop on the way to Earth, a giant digression from the overarching plot, and I don't like it.
I'll still watch it, because I think there are interesting moments. I'm very taken with how Sharon has finally put back into service. I really like the relationship that Adama formed with her over the year they were on the ship, and I think Adama really hit the nail on the head when he realizes what's important and what's not. I'm liking Colonel Tigh less and less, and same with Roslin. I like the mind games Leoben's playing with Starbuck because really, that's the only way to break her.
The show is still doing some interesting things, but I don't like the general theme of what's going on this season. It's heavy, it's not exciting, there's really nothing that used to get my adrenaline going the way the viper battles in space would, or Baltar panicking because he is completely and totally nuts.
So dear Ronald Moore and David Eick: BRING SEASON ONE BACK!
