'Battlestar Galactica': The Series Finale's Unanswered Questions
By Angel Cohn - TWoP | Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 2:26 PM
Katee Sackhoff as Lieutenant Kara
Sci Fi Channel/Justin Stephens
So say we all? Not even close. Fans are deeply divided over "Battlestar Galactica's" super-sized series finale, and we don't blame them. While the last episode did indeed wrap up a good many storylines nicely and succinctly, we were unfortunately left with far more questions than answers. Here's our list of the most burning questions about what the frak was really going on, and what it all was supposed to mean.
How long would an advanced race of humans survive on a primitive planet with no technology or experience in such an environment?
Lee proposed stripping the remaining 30,000 colonists of their current belongings and spreading them out across the globe. Basically, go forth and populate and don't kill anyone. But really, without advanced weapons or any training on how to hunt or farm, any access to modern medicine and any knowledge of the terrain or animal life, wouldn't these people die off after a month or so? Piloting a raptor doesn't prepare you for taking down a bear. Those people on "Survivor" barely make it through six weeks, and they've got Probst supplying them with occasional treats and producers cherry-picking safe locations. We're not convinced the Colonials would make it long enough to apparently sire our human race.
How is Hera "mitochondrial Eve"?
The importance of this human/Cylon hybrid was drilled into our heads ad nauseam over the course of recent seasons, and yet it simply doesn't make sense that she's essentially the mother of all humanity on our Earth (and yes, we know we're greatly simplifying the science here). The last we see of our rag-tag fleet, there are about 30,000 other humans and Cylons scattered across the planet, who will presumably produce plenty of human/human children, human/Cylon children, human/indigenous primitive children, etc. Doesn't this make all of the sacrifice in Hera's name a waste of life, not to mention viewers' time?
Isn't it an amazing coincidence that not only human life, but animal life as well, evolved exactly the same way on different planets light-years apart?
So even though we can't find existence of any kind of similar life outside of Earth, we're supposed to believe that Caprica evolved in exactly the same way, with humans looking identical as us (and sounding it, too) and even animals (like those pigeons we saw so much of in the final episodes) being the same? With the only real differences between us and them being that they liked to cut the corners off of their paper goods and say "frak" instead of our preferred F-word? And that the original 13th tribe also had a society that looked remarkably like ours, but with humanoid Cylons thrown into the mix? What. Are. The. Odds. Wasn't this supposed to be a science-fiction show?
Was this entire series really about teaching us that robots are dangerous?
In the present-day coda, we see a cheesy montage that could've come from "Terminator" in which modern-day robots are shown becoming more advanced. And this was following the renunciation of technology by the fleet's survivors. Was this Luddite message really what "BSG" was supposed to be about? Funny, we thought the show struck a chord with fans and critics because of the brilliant way it referenced our all-too-real struggles with faith, war, terrorism, etc. within a sci-fi setting. Politicians who are blinded by religion scare us. Ideologues willing to kill themselves and others for a cause scare us. A military that ignores the will of the people scares us. Robots? Not so much.
Would an entire fleet of people really give up their technology?
Was there not one person in the new Quorum who thought that landing on Earth and getting rid of their ships and all of their creature comforts seemed like a bad idea? Yes, they were tired of running and fighting, but what if the planet proved inhabitable for humans and hybrids? Wouldn't they have wanted a way to get off? And wouldn't someone have at least insisted on bringing some weapons for hunting? Were there no dissenters? Collaboration with Cylons resulted in a bloody mutiny, yet a renunciation of eons of technological progress produced not even one debate.
Did all of the rebel Cylons die in the nuclear blast?
So we're led to believe (however vaguely) that after the nuclear blast on the Cylon baseship (where the 1,3 and 5 models were keeping Hera), the rebel Cylons were eliminated and sucked into the black hole (or singularity). But what about other baseships, the ones that the Galactica crew took photos of during their scouting mission? Where did they go? Is there still an Ahab-like Cavil out there searching for revenge on the human/hybrid race?
In whose mind were "head" Six and Baltar supposed to be existing in during the coda?
We'd been shown these visions of Six and Baltar as they advised/pushed Caprica Six and the real Baltar throughout the course of the series. We're supposed to buy that they are angels (or demons... it was never really made clear) and that they only were seen through the eyes of their human or Cylon counterparts. So in whose head were they in when we see them strolling through Times Square? Series mastermind Ron Moore's? Ours? God(s) only knows.
Were the Cylons right about the One God thing all along?
One of the most resonant issues during the series was the issue of monotheism vs. polytheism. The Colonial humans believed in multiple gods, while the Cylons believed in one god. Who was right? We never thought there was supposed to be an answer – just like religious conflicts continue to remain unresolved in our real world. And yet in the finale's final scene, Head Baltar made a reference to a "He" who doesn't like to be called God, making us question what the point was of the scintillating debate over the past four years. Sounds like we're supposed to believe the Cylons were right all along. Who the devil thought that line made sense?
Finally, what the heck is Starbuck?
Kara was called a harbinger of death, but yet she ultimately led the humans and remaining Cylons to our Earth, where they could live out their lives and propagate the species. So is she really an angel? If so, does it make sense that an angel could apparently have amnesia and need to experience a vision of her father in order to help solve her final puzzle? (Angels have visions?) And if she's the same kind of entity as whatever Head Balter and Six are, how could she exist in a corporeal form and be visible to everyone, while the Heads weren't? And why was she of all people chosen to be whatever the hell it is that she was? We know the answer to the Starbuck Conundrum (as a future college course will undoubtedly be called) was meant to be left up to the individual viewer, but we can't help but be severely disappointed by the non-answers provided.
Look back and watch a full episode of BSG here:
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