Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi

[jedishampoo]

Explain Battlestar Galactica to me. :) Please, someone with better watching or understanding skillz than I, tell me why this show feels crappy to me though I used to like it very much?

Watch out for Spoilers below the cut.



Inspired by a post from xchelsynessx, I tried to think about how I felt about Friday's BSG. I've come to the conclusion that it was crap. No build-up for Lee/Kara. Just... out of the blue. We're drunk and OMG WE LOVE EACH OTHER!!! OMG NOW WE'RE TORN APART THE ANGGSSSSTTTT!!! It's like a bad bad fanfiction.

I begin to suspect that the writing on that show is becoming craptacular.

I begin to suspect that the writers of that show play with
characterization to fit the episode, rather than write episodes to play up the character traits. There's something.... off in the characters. If as a writer you build your characters correctly then watchers/readers could pretty much guess what the characters might do in a given situation, and there's as much excitement in that as there is in spontaneity. But in BSG all bets are completely off, 'cause they're all COMPLETELY UNPREDICTABLE AND PSYCHO. Looks like Starbuck. Voice sounds like Starbuck. But it ain't her. Don't know who she is. A Cylon replacement? That would explain it, I guess.

A month or so ago I was beginning to think that Adama Senior was the only one with any consistency. Then the whole thing with leaving a man behind even though they really didn't think there were Cylons there? Huh? Just 'cause the writers wanted Adama angst?

But now I realize that the only consistent character is Gaius Baltar. He, at least, can be counted on to be completely and deliciously self-serving in any instance.



Wah. I used to look forward to that show. Now I think Dr. Who is better. It's crap, but at least it is crap that's rarely pretentious and rarely takes itself seriously. Let's figure out how to kill the bad guy/get the Tardis back.

Comments

[randominity.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I can't help you. BSG used to be one of my favorite shows, and here I am, writing it off in Season 3. I totally agree with you on the characterization. If you can't even consistently imagine how a particular character might react to something because everyone's batshit insane, what does that say about the show's characterization? Sigh.

[ghanistarkiller.livejournal.com]

I've said it from the beginning: the characters are there to serve their grand, overblown story, when the plot really should be serving characters. From the beginning, though I've seen it get much worse recently, in season two and then gone wild in season three. They were angling towards Lee/Kara and then, suddenly, Lee/Dee (where the hell did that come from?! Even Ron Moore said that they took that for granted a little and it was a mistake. One they didn't bother to fix, apparently)! And then, suddenly, Lee/Kara again! I've seen a lot of pissed off fans lately, and the die-hards as well. Meh.

Season two Doctor Who sucks ass. I say that as a die-hard fan of the series' forty-odd history. I've moved on to Captain Jack-centric spin-off, Torchwood, though that looks like it might lose me before it's season is done as well. It's a crappy time to be a fan; at least four of the shows I loved have tanked or have gone in misguided directions.

Peace, Ghani

[knight-ander.livejournal.com]

I've never been a Dr. Who fan, but I decided to give the new series' a shot, and I find that they're enjoyable and a lot of fun at times (especially with David Tennant as The Doctor). I have to confess that I've seen more of the second series that I did of the first, and I only initially looked into it because of Billie Piper. :D

I'm on and off about BSG (more off than on, truthfully). It has its moments, but you said it better than I could about how there seems to be a lack of consistancy with the characters and the storyline. Too much grey-area and not enough black and white, imo. More searching for the Thirteenth Colony and mechancial Cylons is what I want. Yes, that sounds very old school BSG, but that was their original target audience, and if they want to keep them....

Anyway, that's just my two cents worth.