This series is one of the best shows on TV right now, and if you are not watching it you should. This is not just a sci-fi show, this is a drama. It is about politics, social issues, relationships, and also about space travel, action, intrigue, secrets.
If you haven’t watched it, please do not continue reading this review, I will SPOIL everything that has happened so far. You’ve been warned.
Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica was a mixed bag. After the shocking finale of Season 2, we start the season with new status quo on New Caprica. The series is now about the Cylon occupation and how the rebels go about freeing mankind from this occupation. This first part of the season was ok, but it didn’t really answer many of the questions from the 1 year jump in the season 2 finale. This was more a political military action story.
That didn’t last long though, and after a few episodes we’re back to the previous status quo: running from the Cylons, looking for Earth. I did like the consequences of the occupation, the personal problems everyone had in dealing with what happened in New Caprica, sometimes physical (Tigh’s eye) and always psychological (Ellen’s death).
Then came the answers to the aforementioned questions, especially about Lee and Kara. That boxing episode was one of my favorite of this season, where the writers did really deliver on the answer. However, after that there didn’t seem to be any clear direction about the Lee-Kara relationship. They seemed to be going back and forth, and that really bugged me. I felt like I was watching the O.C. or something like that.
The Balter storyline on the Cylon spaceship really did not grab me at all. I thought that storyline didn’t tell us much about the Cylons nor Baltar. One good thing about it is that it introduced the concept of the final 5 cylon models. An interesting concept, but one that feels tacked on at the last minute, not planned all along.
And that is my main problem with BSG: the writers are making it up as they go along. There is not much plot they’ve worked out in advance, so some storylines are abandoned midway (Lee being fat…). This is no Babylon 5, nor Lost. This is more like an Alias, in a bad way.
And then, before the final episodes we get a few filler stories that I did not enjoy much. They didn’t advance the main plot, and didn’t flesh out the characters either. I wish they seasons were shorter, so that we don’t get these filler episodes.
Kara’s death did not move me at all. She did not sacrifice herself for the greater good, or died in combat. She just… let herself go. Go where we’re gonna find out in the future, but that episode does not stand well on its own. The only good thing about it is Adama’s reaction at the end, great acting.
And finally we get to the finale. I liked how the trial turned out, Lee’s speech expressed everything I was thinking about that situation, and I am glad of the final result. The reveal of the final 5 (or 4) Cylons is shocking, but again it didn’t feel like the writers knew all along and dropped clues in previous episodes. We’ll see how they retrofit this revelation. And the final appearance by Kara was just to tease us about next season. I was intrigued but not surprised by her return. Katie Sackhoff’s previous interviews where she sounded pissed at the writer didn’t sound authentic to me, I felt she just wanted to throws us off.
I still want to watch next season and hope it will be the final one where they resolve and conclude this story. But this season was a drop in quality from the previous ones, IMO.
Season Rating: 3 Stars