All I can say is that ending was overall very disappointing. The whole 1500 years later thing was kind of cool, but the rest with "angels" was just dumb. Very little logical reason for anything anyone did at the end. Very, very disappointing for a show with so much promise.

Ron, thank you. It has been a great 4/5 years. You have made arguably the greatest Sci-Fi (or is that SyFy) show ever, in the history of Television. To those that were saying that ST-TNG had the best series finally will need to seriously rethink that now. You wrapped up the show very nicely. And the final twist of the series was simply brilliant. Who would have thought that you read National Geographic? LOL! Honestly, ending BSG with a ray of hope, with the thought that we just might make it as a civilization, was a nice touch. Again thank you Ron for giving us BSG. I for one am optimistic about Caprica, so please don’t let us down. You have some pretty big shoes to fill, fortunately they’re your shoes’ so you should fit them just fine.

Looking forward to the extended cut. That was an excellent ending to a brilliant series.

It was a fun ride with a happy and sad ending. I will miss these characters.

Thanks Ron Moore!

This part about Kara/angels is utter crap, excuse for the lack of creativity in the last two seasons.

An epic story deserves an epic ending. Good job.

I'll definitely buy the extended DVD so I can watch it again.

I thought that the whole "let's send our whole fleet of starships into the sun" bit was ify BUT I will say that this was a great ending that wrapped up the show in such a great way. I do not have any real complaints as I have caught a few finales that were real stinkers.

Kara Thrace pulled a Cordilia Chase ( Angel), That was a bit of a disappointment. After such a great run, to have something that instantly made me flash back to that Episode of Angel was a let down.

So sad to see the best series ever on TV end. But it was a beautiful, bittersweet, ending.

Compared to the other comments, I am not bothered by Kara being brought back as a messenger, a guide, it was one of the truly more mysterious but interesting aspects of the finale. The part of final survivors going "native" was more troublesome. Were they just going to live off the land? Build a new society in there respective regions? They were doomed to repeat the same thing again as the final minutes showed back to our current time. They should have made a start with a new civilization. Apparently by the way they ended it, Hera did not live much longer only to die and become a fossil.

Best. Finale. Ever. I'm glad they left the whole Kara issue a little vague. It gives us something to discuss. In America, we expect our television and movies to spoon feed us everything. And from where they spread out too, they do build civilization! I kinda wish they had worked the "Some say life here, began out there" voice over from the original series into the final moments. Oh, and did Galen go to England and build Stonehenge?

Sorry, but no way can I accept that 38,000 people would just leave their technology behind with only just the clothes on their backs. Hera is Eve? So she died as a kid? Seriously? First half of Battlestar A+. Second half is what the frak???????????????

I've watched the series on and off for the last 4 years. It took me a while to get over the character gender changes from the orgiinal show, and eventually i got into it. But the final season was so promising and building to this great revalation of an ending and poof the last 30 mins of the finale was crap they make a deal with dean stockwell and the other waring cylons and then go native?? And the whole kara disappearing at the end i've written better script endings on toilet paper.

@Troutman66 - The impression I got was that since they said that Hera was the "Mitochondrial Eve" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve) that she lived at least long enough to have kids of her own.

Anybody who saw the "Last Frakkin' Special" can see a glimpse of that scene Moore was talking about between Adama and Thrace about pluging Anders into CIC. Let's just say it was a heated discussion, to say the least.

It was hard and good ending to a great show.It made u think ,care, and just want more answers. Love the little soft touch of the old school battlestar music.

Who said Hera was Eve? Didn't Adama bury Rosalyn on that hill in Tanzania?

As for the sending ships into the sun and choosing not to build a city/civilization. What if some remnant of the Cylons survived and managed to find Earth? Would they find ships orbiting the Earth? A city down below? With no ships in orbit and no technology center below, there is a greater likelihood of the Cylons leaving the planet alone.

An amazing finale. Beats the pants off ANY finale I've seen, although, The Peacekeeper Wars is very close.

Fantastic final episode. Heartbreaking but a fitting finale to the series. Thank you cast and crew for making my favorite show. I thought the Kara ending fit her character arc, though of course it's hard to say that I didn't want more! I can't understand the people who didn't think the finale fit the show.

I thought the end was fantastic. In fact, I enjoyed it much more when I viewed it a second time yesterday, as well as viewing part one just before it, to get the whole picture of the finale. Questions obviously remain, but I don't think that everything should be answered. The important thing was resolution, and we had that in spades, so good, some bad. That's life, folks. A huge thank you to the cast and crew of BSG, for bringing to life a fantastic story.

I applaud the ending. I also love the connection of making Hera, Mitochondrial Eve. It gave that final connection to "why" she was so important. By the way, I LOVED the addition of the original Centurions in the colony. Very nice!

@ Ramusqel: The Cylon faction that was led by Cavil was destroyed when the colony ship was nuked much earlier in the program. The Cylons that left in the base ship at the end were those that had been their allies.

The "going native" ending may have not satisfied some people, but it made thematic sense. They had just nearly lost the entire human race to technology that got out of their control. And remembering their New Caprica experience, you could understand them not wanting to repeat that. Also, they spent the last several years cooped up in ships, using their technology in a daily struggle just to survive. I think you can see why a simple agrarian life would be appealing to them.

Honestly, as show finales go, I thought they did a pretty good job. And it's always a thankless job to wrap up a show and reveal its mysteries. Mystery is always more interesting than answers.

Moore's finality was brilliant, I can't wait for the Plan in the fall, life last by Grace.

To Dunatae:

You had to listen to what Six and Gaius said. Eve lived with her "Cylon mother and Human Father". Hera was the only one at that point who fit that desciption.

Also: Playing the original theme while the ships went into the sun, was a nice touch and a great homage to the original series and their fans.

Let's face it, we're all just rationalizing here. The finale was good enough, but it wasn't good or memorable or special, like so much of the show was. They didn't tell us what Starbuck was because they didn't know. They didn't have an interesting plot because they were out of ideas. And it ultimately suffered because they didn't take any chances.

A disappointing ending to a great series.

But it was good enough. At least they stopped at the right time.

I want to thank the Ronald Moore and the writers of BSG. What a phenomenal show. I was hooked on the first premier and eager to see each new episode over the last 4.5 years. I am hopeful the spinoffs will do well. To all of the actors, actresses, and crew of BSG, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR A TRUELY SUPERB SHOW. I am very sad to see it end. I loved the Starbuck twist and thought Katee really did an amazing job on Starbuck. I loved the character.

Regardless of how Moore tries to make the non-resolution of the mysteries surrounding Kara sound like an artistic choice, the reality is he wrote himself into a corner and couldn't figure a way out. So we're left with "it's a miracle, God did it," which is about as lame as "it was all a dream." This, combined with the inexplicable choice to abandon the colonial way of life after struggling for so long against impossible odds to preserve it, and the fact that Hera didn't really matter at all in the end, made the finale extremely disappointing. There were some great character moments, sure, but the story just fell flat in the end.

The feeling that the writers had run out of steam by the end and were getting bogged down and grasping at random straws was VERY APPARENT in the finale and the 5 or so episodes leading up to it.

"OK, somewhere there's a man trying to chase a bird out of his house with a broom. I don't know who that is, and I don't know what it means, but that's an image. Put it up on the board."

Yeah, that about sums it up. Random ideas, characters not acting as they would if they were following their established motivations, random flashbacks that took away time from wrapping up the story in an epic fashion, episodes that meandered without moving the plot toward a meaningful conclusion (at least, that's what the last 5 to 6 felt like). By the end, it almost felt like they were trying to leave a bad taste in our mouths so we wouldn't want anything to continue anyway.

Mission accomplished.

At least Season 2 and the beginning of 3 were amazing. Thanks for that at least.

I was very disappointed with the last 10 minutes. I do not believe that surviving humanity would leave all civilization which simply the clothes on their backs to break the human-cylon cycle when they had broken the cycle already in the aftermath of the final battle at the colony. By abandoning technology all together, the colonials unwittingly started the cycle all over again.

Plus, the fate of Hera who didn't live long as 'Eve', the amnesiac 'angel' Kara, Cavil and Anders both of whom inexplicably chose suicide is laughable. Also, we never found out who destroyed 'cylon' Earth. Those cylons were at peace.

And what influence did the colonists have on humanity over 150K years? when did left on written record and chose to become cavemen and forget their technology, the past, and ultimately, their identities. Ironically, Ron Moore has made sure another Battlestar will be created for the millennial generation will start in 15 or 20 years to bring 'resolution'.

To an ending which makes no sense considering the sacrifice and unimaginable loss suffered by this human civilization. Their colonial suffering to be rewarded with short life as an earthly savage makes no sense. No sense at all.

Considering how many of my favorite Sci Fi shows never got to have a real ending, I am just thrilled to see one that got to wrap up at all. Thanks for not leaving us hanging.

Why are people complaining? Seriously? You didn't get every answer you wanted. So what? It's nice not to be spoon fed ever idea. Independent thought is a powerful tool, use it. The imagination is a wonder ful thing.

Whatever Kara was, she did what she was meant to do.

As for walking away from technology, it might be hard from our perspective. But when technology wipes out your civilization, it might be easier to let go. I'm sure they at least kept their toothbrushes!

Fantastic finale. I have no complaints except that there are too many compaliners.

how anyone has trouble with angels and or Kara's neding is beyond me. The prophetic visions, angels, religeon, all it has been part of BSG since the beginning. It was a perfect endeding for Kara. Not having more information provolks more thought and is much much more interesting then having the baltar and 6 angels explain everything to us. I loved it all. The only thing I would liked to have seen, was when adama and roslin were talking about naming the planet, more attention should have been brought to the fact that the prophecy was fullfilled. At least thats how I saw it. Also, I can;t understand why Adama would never go back to see his sun again. I chose to believe after a period of solitude, he sought out his son for some human companionship. Can't believe he would live out the rest of his life alone.

Loved the action. The ending just showed the writers had no "big picture" for the series. They just winged it and that's why the ending was poor.

I too was a little disappointed in Kara's exit. But I can't think of a better ending. I just hated to lose her! Thanks for a great ride! Please don't rule out spinoff movies or series detailing the human-cylon war! Perhaps other battestars escaped the initial onslaught? (like Razor, which was simply awesome!) I've enjoyed your work immensely! The specal effects rival any full production movie I've seen. You have truly raised the bar! Thanks' again !

To all the naysayers: everything that happened will and did happen again. Hence the ending to BSG. Six gave us hope that the cycle MIGHT end, but not really. I did have a problem with the survivors not walking away without weapons and medicines and tools. I personally would have like to see COL Tigh snape Cavil's neck much like the Chief took care ofTorry. To Mr. Moore, the writers, cast and crew: THANKS SO MUCH FOR A GREAT 4.5 yrs. I got my wife, sister and cousin hooked on the show and they loved BSG as well. To Bear McCreary, your music is AWESOME!

All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again. They probably tried to break the cycle each time which only helps it to continue.

I would have liked to have seen Kara as the 13th "broken" cylon. I think it would have explained more.

Angels?

38000 people from an advanced spacefaring civilisation suddenly giving up sanitation, medicine, technology and resources to go native and wipe with a leaf?

Just because you had a finale doesent mean it was any good. You were lazy in your writing and it shows.

I loved everything up until after Adama left the Galactica. Main problems:

1) Kara was physically dead, physically reborne and her viper, uniform, tags, etc all with her as well and then just disappear into thin air was crap.

2) Adam deciding to live with a dead woman instead of spending his remaining days with his son after all the years of separation due to the military then reconciliation since Caprica is just crap.

3) The fact that all 38000 would choose to start all over and that not one snuck something with them and that their way of previous life's technology was recorded in any way or found (raptor's, camping gear, etc) is also crap.

4) Finally, what is with the Baltar and Caprica 6 angels? I understand why they appeared that way to their opposite characters in order to gain their trust but why 150,000 years later they are still appearing in that manner? Why not Kara with them?

5) I did like the homage to the original series music. Nice touch. I did like that they ditched the ships in case there are other Cylon factions out there and it wasn't like the Galactica was going far anyway. I did like the fact that Laura really died instead of somehow pulling off another unrealistic miracle.

Nice job for the series and at least it had an end. I thought I was the only one upset by the very end but my son watched it separate from me and also got upset by the ending as well. (would be nice to put together an alternate ending on the DVD).

Sorry to the series go anyway.

I thought the finale was spectacular over all. I liked the spiritual aspects of the show so I didn't mind the angel arch. What I did mind was how quickly everyone was willing to bail on each other. Adama just punts hanging out with his son for the first time in their lives. Kara and Lee barely exchange good byes, after all they've been through that's it? Loved the show, loved the finale, some of the character finishes were a bummer.

This final episode sucked, folks. It barely gave us any answers at all. The flashbacks to life on Caprica before the attacks had nothing to do with anything. It was just filler. Since "All Along the Watchtower" is what brought the Final Five together and gave Kara coordinance to Earth, I always thought that this musical theme would coincide with the opera house. But neither had anything to do with each other. And exactly how is an opera theater symbolic of the Galactica bridge. At one point, the Galactica rams into the Hub. Uhm. Didn't we already see this in Star Trek: Nemesis? In fact, the Hub looks an awful lot like the Scimitar. We also never got the answer of who it was Number Six was talking to on Caprica before the attack. We always assume Starbuck was an angel and it seems she really was. Wow. Big surprise there. I'm also disappointed that the whole purpose of Hera really had no pay-off at all. Roslin complete's her journey by landing on earth. So why isn't she allowed to fittingly die on earth? She dies in a Raptor! It's also never explained why Number Six is the only Cylon that can see angels. It's been proven that Cavil cannot be bargained with. But in this episode, a few magic words from Baltar, and Cavil is easily persuaded to give up Hera and stop pursuing the humans. I can see why they sent the Galactica into the sun but why the rest of the ships in the fleet? They didn't send them into the sun when they settled on New Caprica. Hera's bones are discovered centuries later, but how come the remains of the Raptors and Vipers weren't discovered also? Why did Adama just up and leave Lee for an unkn own destiny? We also aren't told the meaning of "nothing but the rain" and "bring the cat in". My biggest question in this entire series has been "HOW DID THE CYLONS FIND GOD?" This was never answered. Thanks a lot, Mr. MooreRon.

I totally agree with "frakfrakfrak". It was the utmost disappointment when I read a while back that the writers had no idea where they were going. I felt cheated out of the brain power I used trying to figure out the "mysteries" - the writers just treated the audience as dumb morons who wouldn't know any better. The end of the series came and to be honest I wasn't disappointed - true to form - it didn't make any sense either. What the frak - RM based the finale on a pidgeon?

As inane and disappointing a finale as I've ever seen. Moore clearly had no clue how to resolve all the twists he threw in all these years. It made Dallas' "the entire season was a dream" ending look like Hemingway. In Season 4, BSG went from "best series ever" to "don't waste your time".

Ron D. Moore is a no talent Hack. He can't come up with original ideas so he has to co-opt classic shows so he can ride on their reputation. In the process, he destroys just about everything that the original was all about. BSG is just one example...This guy should be flipping burgers at McDonalds... Then again, he might try to "re-imagine" the secret sauce... Yuck!

I thought Starbuck disappearing made perfect sense. And I wasn't surprised when it happened. Or at least, not as surprised as Lee was. She accomplished her goal. She got humanity to Earth. So there was no reason for her to be there anymore.

Oh, and the worst finale ever was the one for "Enterprise". This one was light-years better.

I was completely pleased by the finale. I loved all of the touches with the return of the Baltar and Caprica 6 "angels"; what a neat stroke of genius to have them appear simultaneously to Caprica and Baltar in the hallway. Loved the concept of having the survivors be the seeds of modern man; loved how the whole thing was neatly tied up; with a bit of room for mystery remaining. I agree with the posts about too many people expect their shows to spoon feed them everything; that is one of the great things about Battlestar Galactica; it leaves some room for interpretation!

Thanks so much for making one of the best shows ever!

Sucked. Plain and simple.

Thanks for taking the easy way out after 5 years of compelling TV.

I have been watching the series since the beginning and the wife and I have been watching without missing an episode.
I think the finale was very well written and executed. Hats off to the writers for their vision and their being able to bring it to us.

My biggest complaint is that people get too wrapped up into what they think things should be and are harsh on the series for not doing what they want them to do.
This shows a complete lack of understanding for the diversity of others ideas.
While I may have done things differently in the series, I none the less like to see what others have to say.

After all, I have one mouth, two ears and two eyes and a brain and soul to appreciate it all.

And the idea of a single god and his angels sits just fine with me.

Ok, i've posted before about the ending and several people have pointed out the same things i have about certin things(kara, baltar&caprica 6, and so on.The one thing i think we all forget is this really isnt even an original series even , i'm 32 and i remeber watching the original with with loren green(also the spin off where they made it to earth with skin job cylons ) . So i personally, like i said before took awhile to get over the changes to the characters, but once i got into the new series i like it a lot . I liked the adding of the final five being from earth, i liked the when they found the cylon earth it was destroyed (which i thought there would be more to explore story wise,what a disappointment ,they didnt) I liked the fact they were building to some sort of climax in the series.What i didnt like is that there was no explination as to why things happened. If ronald moore wanted to get away from the campyness of the orginal series they why bring in the angels bit(if you remeber the orginal series it was an angel like race that help starbuck, boomer,apollo to find the way to earth). But all in the end all we can do here is voice what we liked and disliked about the finale, but its aired and done with, so what can we say but BLAH!

As someone who has, more often than not, been upset with the show, I liked the finale. I get peoples' complaints, but given how much the writers backed themselves into a corner, the only other possible resolution would have been to make them all Cylons (which would have been even dumber). I never cared for the mystical elements of the show, but by the finale, my standards had been so degraded that I was able to enjoy it. The only part I had a real problem with was Cavil's exit, that was lame. The rest was entertaining enough. I dunno, maybe I was just in a good mood.

Here's me laughing at everyone that didn't like the show. I'd pity you if weren't so damn rude about it. Anyone that knows a lick about storytelling knows that it's all about asking interesting questions, not about giving answers. Because answers are rarely as interesting as a question. The finale gave us the answers we needed, it gave us the fate of the characters while giving us a clear sign that some things were beyond what needed or should be answered. Nothing said that more clearly than Kara's exit. Baltar explained it all in CIC beautifully. The man was the ultimate skeptic throughout the show, his endorsement of the supernatural was a clear signal to the audience that it existed in this universe. But what really mattered was the fate of the characters, and that was spelled out clearly for us. It's a perfect conclusion to the best show that has yet existed.

Alright, here is the one and only time I chime in with my two cents as I am never a person who post comments.

As far as the finale of Battlestar, the first hour and twenty minutes were EXCELLENT. I have not been that into an episode of BSG since the first two seasons.

The last hour plus, was closer to the "what the frak" comment another poster stated.

I have to admit that as a whole the new BSG has left with with a feeling of opposites. I don't know how to view it.

This show has now become, what I believe to be, a symbol of what is going on with the Sci-Fi Channel.

It started as a sci-fi show, but somewhere along the lines, it changed into something else. That something else at times was very interesting, but other times it seemed rather indulgent story-telling that had nothing to do with sci-fi or even the original show.

Now I might be alone in my feelings here by stating this, but I believe, to this day, that the best original show produced by the Sci-Fi channel still happens to be Farscape.

There was no other show produced by the Sci-Fi channel that had more to do with Sci-Fi (both as a brand and genre) than that show was.

It was edgy. It was funny. It was alien. It was ships. It was critters. It was about a boy who meets a girl. (OK that last part is more classic storytelling than anything to do with sci-fi, but I think you get the point.)

Now before people feel that I am straying off topic, I will get back to the point of why I bring this up: I was really hoping the new BSG would find a way to expand upon what Farscape had started while serving as the flagship for this station and not only bringing in new viewers but helping bring about even more sci-fi shows.

I am NOT one of those fans who believes in the whole paranormal or fantasy count as sci-fi. Those are DIFFERENT genres, but since I understand the channel is a business as well (it has to be since it's owned by NBC) I know a losing battle when I see one.

But I must admit I am disappointed as a fan of the station and BSG to see how both have seemed to have lost steam.

As I stated above, BSG Season 1 and 2 were absolutely riveting. For me, as a BSG fan it was ALWAYS about the conflict between man and machine. That was the story, plain and simple and when that story was being told I couldn't get enough.

Once it started becoming about prophecies, angels, demons, politics, that was when I was lost. First and foremost needed to be the conflict between the races, between humans and cylons, between human and human.

Seasons 3 and 4 had just enough to string you along to the end, but never enough to get back at the meat of the story back in season 1 and 2 and that's what I missed.

I won't say the final was a failure because I'm sure it got good ratings and I watched it even feeling the way I do.

I just wish the struggle to get through the last couple of seasons would have had more of a payoff than what it gave me.

As a fan of BSG, I am GLAD it is OVER. At the very least, I won't feel like i have to struggle through it anymore waiting for something that won't occur.

My kudos to all the actors in the show. They made the struggle less of a burden than what the writing did.

I think the finale was excellent. One point lost on many and maybe even unintentionally made was the fact that the Cylons were trully repeating the very same actions and patterns of their creators. Once they gained "self awareness" they felt they were not only better than their creator but wanted to eradicated any evidence of their creator's existence. True science fiction, and BSG was definitely that, only leads us back to the fact that no one's imagination can equal the original Creator's imagination in bringing all we see around us into being. So it really begs the question, what are you Cylon or Human?

I can't believe all these people complaining about angels, religion, "going native" and Starbuck's end. Have these people been watching the same show that I have for the past 4.5 years? Did they watch the same finale that I watched? If so, they really need to watch it again and this time, actually pay attention. Everything in the finale made perfect sense to the plot and themes present in every single episode, going all the way back to the original mini-series. It was a fantastic ending, equal parts exciting, bittersweet, meaningful and cathartic. I wish all great TV shows were able to end with such dignity.

Thank you Ron Moore & Co. for a great 4.5 years. Can't wait to see "The Plan" and "Caprica".

What a horrible end to BSG! The battle parts were good but what happened to Starbuck? it made no sense... I felt empty at the end as I really thought i was after I starting hearing Baltar quoting the Bible...

So... a wizard did it?

Osiris33 has it right, as does Frakfrakfrak, and Artemis makes some really good points.

I don't think that the ending was all poor. Some of it was sublime and most of it made metaphorical sense. Lots of it was moving. Ultimately though, RDM had a bigger and better idea on his hands than he could handle and the finale didn't do the series justice. I can live with that, but it's a let down to find out that a lot of those things you ascribed meaning to during the series were just meanderings and flapping about.

The concept of abandoning a civilisation, despite the thematic merits of the idea, felt contrived. I *will*l buy that thousands of people can realise that what they were fighting for - the survival of the human race - they found on this new earth and put down without a fight, but that whole section is just so damn clumsy and rushed.

I love that Hera is Mitochondrial Eve, I think that was great, and the ideas surrounding genetic heritage, home, family, ancestry, connection to all life, all matter etc. etc. are infinitely more powerful, enduring and positive than anything mystical or supernatural.

So yes, I found the 'angels'/whatever concept deeply unsatisfying. I might just pretend that the 'freed' cylons - or even some other humans somewhere or something - evolved and came up with amazing resurrection-based technology and the 'angels' were a product of that.

I don't think the cylons were done any justice either. Cavill's 180 from survival-at-all-costs and desperation to understand the universe to suicide made zero sense. I would have liked to see the rebelling centurions lead the centurions at the colony to revolt.

Ultimately, I *got* all of it, I just wasn't that into some of it. Looking forward to seeing the extended cut. Annoying that couldn't have been the one that was shown.

Thank you, BSG production team, for several wonderful seasons. I loved how intensely political and challenging and philosophical you were. Conceptually you were the best thing on TV. Your action kicked ass, as did almost every character you came up with, and almost every arc you have those characters. I feel a bit let down, but not enough to stop loving all the things you got so right, even if it now looks like some of them might have been accidental.

Really looking forward to The Plan - Jane Espenson is a bloody good writer - and will undoubtedly check Caprica out.

Sooo Starbuck was jesus!!!!

One thing that I didn't understand about the finale was how they got to earth in the distant past. They already got to earth once when it was destroyed several thousand years before they arrived.
Another thing that i did'nt understand is the ending with Baltar and Six. Were they the "angels" or counterparts of the real Baltar and Six?
If anyone has any insight to my questions I would greatly appreciate it!
Thanks!

As finales go it's what I expected after several years of the writer's writing themselves into a corner. Some nice ideas, some moving moments. No effective use of battle tactics. (Seriously, a marine assault and no one has any grenades, rpg equivalents, shape charges...lazy...lazy...lazy). Acts of God, dead people launching a full spread of nukes at just the right moment and was anybody else waiting for a Sabretooth tiger to pounce on Hera as she ran ahead of her blissfully unarmed parents? Also it's obvious the writer's have never actually tried to survive in the wilderness with just the clothes on their backs. No refugee is that stupid. "The elected President says disperse to the wilds with no supplies." (Pause) "All in favour of electing a new President?" "Aye!" Okedoke. We'll build the hospital here. The casino over here....

This finale was fantastic. IMHO, the finale tied up all the loose ends. It also tied in ancientearth history with a plausible
explanation. We see how the Greek and Roman gods may have come to be. We also see the foundation for the monotheistic religions of the world. It also ties in nicely with what we know about ancient history. Most archaeologists believe that all the major civilizations sprung up around the world at about the same time.
You take an advance civilization going native and we can see where some of these ideas and simple inventions came from. The knowledgeof the stars and planets would have been known, but over time, the
knowledge would have diluted as the original keepers of thisknowledge died off.

The complainers on this board are lazy thinkers. They want everything spoon fed to them. The forget that sci fi is about using your brain and imagination. This reminds me of a line from a song,
"Think, it ain't illegal yet!"

One thought about Starbuck...I wonder if she was actually a Cylon from before the original Earth. If "it has all happened before", who is to sat that the original Earth was the first time humans/cylons destroyed each other? Maybe she was the last remaining survivor like Ellen Tigh and the Final Five were from original Earth. Same with the Caprica 6 and Baltar "angles". Maybe the "it" Baltar says doesn't like to be called "God" (at the end of the show) is the original cylon survivor from multiple cycles of creation and destruction before this one? Who knows? I'm just trying to make some sense of the mess that was the last hour of the show.

As drama it was a good series, as sci/fi not so much. There were just so many holes in the logic. The ending episode seemed to me like it was written by 2 different people with radically different ideas about what direction they wanted it to go. Up right until the big download scene in the CiC with the little girl Hera in between the 2 groups. Then it breaks and goes off in an entirely different direction. I didn't like the last half. Again as drama, very good, but the logic, no. I find it entirely insane that these high tech people are going to give up their chance at a new civilization on this new world, instead they give it all up to "go native", not likely. I've never understood this idea that going native is somehow a better "purer" more spiritual way. It's a short dirty brutish way to live, that's all.

Classic BSG gave us one year of much fun and some flaws. New BSG gave us 4.5 years of much fun and some flaws! The drama and surprises of the series have been incredible for the most part. The finale was a nail-biting, tear-jerking, adrenaline rush! I am one of those not happy with Head Six, Head Baltar, and Starbuck being angels or demons. To me that feels like writing oneself into a corner like STTNG and RTD have sometimes done. I could've dealt better with the 3 of them being highly-evolved, long-lived ancient humans or aliens, like the beings from the Ship of Lights or Vorlons or Ascended Ancients. But I still love BSG and will buy the 4.5 DVD as soon as it comes out, I will watch Caprica and The Plan. I couldn't have made a story one tenth as good as this one.

Interesting to see the varied comments on here about the fnal episode. Mr. Moore had it correct when he said people would not like certain points and it is very true. I didnt have a problem with the finale, although it is a little sad that one of my favorite shows will no longer air new episodes (save the last move The Plan). I will admit that a shed a tear as Roslin died (IMO that was very very well acted and very heart wrenching). The business with Starbuck just disappearing was a WTF?!?! moment and then you realize that we are not supposed to know everything. Just enough to get us (ie humanity) thinking.

@Scififan70: (1) They were ALWAYS 150,000 years in the "past"...that was their "present". The Earth that was nuked was their "original" Earth, not our own...the world that Starbuck led them to in the end, they decided to name "Earth" as well, as a reminder. They interbred with the humans living there then (cro-magnon?), and became modern humans on "our" Earth.

This is not necessarily the end of the story. There are still all sorts of incredible places you can go with this. I'll give you one for free: What if Anders, still a thinking being, decided at the last second, before sending all the ships into the sun, to spare one of them, and sends it to a permanent orbit inside the Kuiper Belt, fully intact and functional, awaiting the day, 150,000 years later, when humanity discovers it? Set your imagination free.

have to say I enjoeyd the new BSG; I will watch the new stuff.

As for best SciFi episode arc, I'd have to say the trial of Gaius Baltar is still some of the best stuff I've seen out there.

As a series, Babylon5 is still the most completely conceptualized and implemented story out there.

Great ending. Sure, it left allot of questions, but some things weren't meant to be answered. As for Kara, Sam did say "See you on the other side", so I in my mind, she ended up with who she was supposed to. I loved the flashbacks-they added depth to the characters and their relationships with each other. I also appreciated the musical link to the original series-a nice touch. And the technology thing didn't bother me that much-would you really want to bring in stuff that could change the development of the humans already there? I think after all they had been through a simpler life was a good option.

I thought the finale was good, not great. Infinitely better than Babylon 5, inferior to Trek: TNG. I've been very caught up in the BSG mythology, and I thought that in the last few eps, it took a back seat to character stories-- not neccessarily a bad thing, but not what I was hoping for.

Here's what bugged me:

-Kara's end left me wanting something more. I wanted a less wishy-washy "she's an angel/shes a demon" thing.

-Who is Daniel, the missing Cylon?

-Who nuked Earth 1?

-Who are the Lords of Kobol?

- Seems like Earth 1 and Earth 2 have a lot in common. Is this a goof in the storyline, or are we missing something? We never got a real good look at Earth 1. Which Earth was seen in the opera house planetarium?

- I think a better tie-in between the final 5, Kara, Kara's Dad, Hera, and All Along the Watchtower is called for. If Anders played the song on Earth 1, it 'turned on' the Final 5 thousands of years later, AND it helped ghost-Kara find Earth 2 (AND is still being played 150,000 years later), there is something behind this song-- the One True God?

If Moore's vision is for the One True God to be a "conventional" deity, then I'm a bit disappointed. If there's SOMETHING else there-- dang it, I want to know!!

I think the show's finale was perfect. Couldn't ask for more.

I was shedding tears for the characters' losses and for my loss of the show. Can't wait for the prequel.

That said, still wrapping my head around it all and will watch finale again when not so tired. Initially, thinking about it in the context of a "character-based show," I was hugely disappointed in the Kara and Lee 'goodbye' and frakkin' tired of the years of on-going Baltar/Caprica deer-in-headlights//red dressed whining even if they were key.

*sigh*
I too didn't buy the whole "go native" thing, in part because the line came out of Lee's mouth, and Lee's character has just been garbage lately. I would have liked to have seen the debate that went on (offscreen) about that suggestion. But no matter. Aside from that, and aside from the whole Starbuck thing, the ending was fine. The show needed to end, as the last half of the season was kind of rudderless.
I'm bummed out that Starbuck (and the other "head-characters") ended up being angels. Just seems like a cop-out, IMO - like the writers couldn't figure out what the alternative to it could be. Perhaps they were thinking "angels" all along, in which case I wish they'd given us some kind of clue to that so that those of us uninterested in the idea could have just stopped watching the series.
At this point, the plot points about "Daniel" and "Kara's Father" and "the gods who lived along side man" are, apparently, nothing more than red herrings, which is a bit depressing. Why even introduce that stuff if you're not going to explain it?
And finally, I am still left with no explanation as to how Baltar survived the blast on Caprica at the very beginning of the season - y'know, the one that they showed in the opening credits before EVERY SHOW - unless it was that Six's titanium pelvis sheilded him from the blast. I was convinced that Baltar was either DEAD (another angel, I suppose) or a Cylon after that. Biggest hole in the plot for me by FAR. Oh well...

Up until they arrived at ancient Earth I liked the finale. One of the most messed up in the head characters, Starbuck, being some kind of angel was a bit much for me. I can forgive that as a necessary explanation for how she came back to life. What bothers me the most is the decision for everybody to "start over." The spend all that time while on the run maintaining their civilization (reconstituted their government) and then decide to chuck it all. I can see some doing that but not everybody. It would be more logical that most would try to return to some form of their previous life.

I almost forgot:
this means that Jimi Hendrix is the One True God.

No, it was not infinitely better than Babylon 5. B5 was carefully executed to give everyone all the answers they were looking for. BSG was made up from episode to episode and it felt like it. It had some good acting and production values, but its story doesn't even begin to compare to the genius of B5. It is still master of the arc and likely will be for some time to come.

Douglas Adams' estate should sue them for stealing the ending from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. They even had a man in a bathtub guiding the ship. All that was missing were the scrabble tiles.

Terrible ending...left me feeling that watching all the previous episodes was just a waste of time.

Thanks to Thomas with the explanation about the 2 "earths". Dummy me didn't realize that they were 2 different planets alltogether. Oh bunker had a funny comment about Six's pelvis. Make sure and read it!

Ron, Thanks for leaving some things ambiguous and note spoon feeding all the answers. Thank you also for showing a place for faith along side science. Faith without science is simple superstition and science without faith is a danger to us all. Just look at man's attempts at eugenics for a lesson on that.

The ending for Kara was good. I'm glad you left that open. Also, I though the use of the original theme for the fleet's sailing of into the sun(set) was a great touch.

I'm in the camp of those who loved the first hour and forty-five minutes of the finale. In fact, I was blown away by the action and touching character moments in the flashbacks.

But the minute that it was revealed that Kara was an angel, the show collapsed like a house of cards. Let's face it. The writers wrote themselves into a corner--how could they explain not only her resurrection but the reconstruction of her ship? Left with no other recourse they said, "Well, it was all magic." What a copout. And what a slap in the face to the fans who expected an answer to this mystery.

Nonetheless I've enjoyed the ride. Thanks for some amazing years of television. Maybe Mr. Moore can come up with an alternative fate for Kara on the DVD....
became clear that The "Kara is an angel"

Ron, FANTASTIC ending to a wonderful series that will be missed, but more importantly, treasured for how good it was.

The ending for Kara was perfect -- a great story always leaves a question or two (or three). Same can be said for the Caprica 6/Baltar "ghosts" -- brilliant way to wrap it up.

Thanks for a wonderful series!!

The ending was beyond merely disappointing, it was ridiculous from any standpoint and catered to ignorance. The most irritating was that it was possible to wrap up the story without simply saying "god did it" but Moore chose not to do so.

And that "it's about the characters" idea that has been tacked on here at the last season is just horseshit. If it was truly about the characters there wouldnt have been so many mysteries and unanswered questions dangled over the viewer heads. Do you really think people would have continued to watch the show if they knew these questions would never be answered satisfactorily?

If I wanted to watch "character-driven" drama I can always watch House or ER. Sci-fi should be "about the story, stupid"!

The ending was beyond merely disappointing, it was ridiculous from any standpoint and catered to ignorance. The most irritating was that it was possible to wrap up the story without simply saying "god did it" but Moore chose not to do so.

And that "it's about the characters" idea that has been tacked on here at the last season is just horseshit. If it was truly about the characters there wouldnt have been so many mysteries and unanswered questions dangled over the viewer heads. Do you really think people would have continued to watch the show if they knew these questions would never be answered satisfactorily?

If I wanted to watch "character-driven" drama I can always watch House or ER. Sci-fi should be "about the story, stupid"!

Wow. Quite a dichotomy in the responses. I've been watching BSG from the beginning, fell off in the latter part of season three and then caught back up. I thought the finale was great. And why is no one mentioning how exciting the battle scenes were, the best of the series. Did you see the Centurion knockout punch the other older model Centurion. HELLO! and yes, I was expecting to have more of the answers fleshed out, like the 13th Cylon model and the song and so forth. But the writers preferred to leave things more enigmatic, and I guess you have to come up with some ideas on our own. And everyone who is so irked about God and angels in the finale - have you been asleep for the past four seasons? The Six "angel" has been talking about that stuff all the time. and if Starbuck was not a cylon then she had to be something supernatural. I don't see why that's so hard to grasp. And the survivors going native. Well, they did not have that much left after running from the Cylons for four years. And supplies were distributed to the various parties around the globe. and why would they be so excited to hold on to their technology? the same technology that created the Cylons and the ships that have been their prison homes for so long? They wanted a clean start and some peace. We feel naked when we forget our cellphones home, so we obviously would not get it. The series was one of the best ever on television, sci-fi or otherwise. The finale wasn't perfect but I left sad and satisfied. And I will be watching Caprica.

2nd Post
Didn't have a problem with the spirits or angels or whatever, didn't have a problem with Kara disappearing. If you remember the original series, there was a lot of that towards the end, remember that shiny city looking spacecraft and Starbuck being resurrected? I thought this series did a much better job than the original along those lines. But again...sucks to be Lee Adama, a father that would rather die on a hill than spend time with you, and a on and off girlfriend who disappears into thin air.

So, when a blond person dies in a fiery viper explosion, still maintain their sunny blond hair and that hair becomes resurrected on the person, now a blond angel.

THAT'S the secret to the whole frakkin series!

I would have kept the ships, Moore. Remember Chariot of the Gods?

I think how people feel about the mystical/religious stuff depends on our different expectations as we watched the show develop. I liked the religious themes when they were subtle and open to interpretation. All along, the Galactica universe included visions, prophesies, and guidance from non-physical beings that might be real or might be imaginary or might have a scientific explanation in the end. I would have been fine with things like the Pythian prophesies, the opera house vision, and even the head characters remaining possibly mystical and ultimately open to interpretation in the end. But I always expected more solid explanations for very concrete plot elements like Starbuck’s resurrection and the Dylan song.

So, for me, the finale suddenly changed the rules of the universe. We went from a universe with subtle, possibly-mystical elements that were very open to interpretation to a universe where God physically resurrects Starbuck, replicates an antique Viper for her to fly, whisks her body away to Earth for her to later discover, etc. Others will disagree, but I would contend that nothing in the series previously set us up to expect that this was a universe where such overtly supernatural things occur. I guess some folks took the God stuff very literally all along, took the head characters at their word when they said they were angels, etc. — I was expecting something more in synch with the subtle, ambiguous role religion plays in the rest of the series.

First off, overall, I liked the finale. Happily ever after rarely happens, and I respect the writers for realizing that. Sometimes it seems as though certain people are born for a certain time and moment - what happens when their time is over and they survive? Who are they now? What is their purpose? The finale gave several different possible answers to that question.

Kara Thrace. Kara Thrace. Was I totally satisfied with her story? No, I have to say not. Not because she just up and disappears - the final shot of her, from the angles of her face, she seems completely divorced from who and what she was, almost inhumanly calm - it's a great angle to have shot her from - but because it didn't fit into the overall puzzle. I don't mean the whole signs and portents thing; there's always the inexplicable in the world, and why should the BSG world be any different from ours in that respect? But why her? Why Kara Thrace? This requires more pondering on my part.

I don't think that the Fleet struggled to maintain the Colonial way of life so much as clung to it as a means of keeping their sanity. After all these years of running from the results of their tinkering with mechanical life, I can see them saying enough. Short-sighted, but nonetheless, a very human response. And who says they didn't take some tools and medicines? what was in their bags any way?

Hera is still a problem for me. Mitochondrial Eve or not, it's still a let down. I also thought the Final Five would be more of a force than they actually were.

No problems at all with the resolution of the Adama/Roslin story. It was beautiful, bittersweet, and profoundly romantic. Extraordinarily well done.

I also understand Galen going off and foreswearing company of any kind - he's had a lot of loss - whatever happened to Callie's child, anyway? - and a lot of betrayal, bitterness and disappointment. That's how he felt at that moment - who's to say he didn't later regret his hermitage and figure out a way to leave it?

I also don't have a problem with the jump into the future, although I think it might have been more powerful if they had just left Bill Adama's words as the ending. Even if the warnings are there from the past, who pays attention to them? How many people look at history, or the morality stories of mythology, and heed them? No, we're too busy looking forward and trying the Next New Thing - for us right now, rather than us-the-species-with-a-history. I did find it amusing that Angel-Caprica 6 was optimistic, while Angel-Gaius was more skeptical. And when you have forever to play with, the rise and fall of civilizations is just a blip. Their job is to watch and make sure that, when it comes right down to it, we get another chance at it. I'm fine with that. "Run a complex system often enough, and it will eventually surprise you."

I did think Cavil's suicide was rather abrupt and out of character. I thought giving the centurions their freedom and letting them go off was interesting and a possible spin-off. Sending the rest of the ships into the Sun was actually smart, and I love Anders for agreeing to do it. I loved Tigh becoming ever more pro-human the longer he knew he was a Cylon. The line about shoving 'em all out the airlock was sublime.

The best science fiction has always been a vital, if under-recognized, source of commentary on the human condition - BSG has certainly followed in that tradition. The fact they've given us great dramatic television at the same time is just icing on the cake. Like all ambitious endeavors, it has its flaws - but that only makes the overall achievement that much greater. I do think that we needed about 6 more episodes - things felt rushed at the end of last season, and this season a bit as well - but overall, it was a good run.

Thank you to cast, crew, writers and staff. Kudos especially to the actors, who made us invest in them.

SciFi/Sy Fy, you need to follow this path instead of stupid reality shows and wrestling. Although I have to say, I get to watch a lot of other channels since I automatically switch when those poor excuses for programs come on...

I have to point out that Bob Dylan, not Jimi Hendrix, wrote and first performed All Along the Watchtower.

So that means Bob Dylan is god.

I'm also confused by people who assume Hera died as a child. They pretty clearly said we're all descended from her.

I also think people are a bit too stuck on the term "angels." That was the easiest way to describe them, but they're not that easily defined. but they are some kind of representative of some higher power.

I don't agree with every detail of the finale, but overall I liked it. Things beyond normal understanding have happened through out the series.

If hard core sci fi fans want to see the angels and gods as a more advanced civilization (any sufficiently advanced tech seems like magic), then that works, too.

I think that the religious/spiritual aspect of the show was well established from the very beginning. There have been visions, oracles, prophesies, "inner" characters that claimed outright to be messengers of "god," references to Hera's destiny, and multiple references to the cyclical nature of human/cylon history, and examples of what seemed to be divine intervention.

While part of me might've liked a more explicit explanation of Kara's fate, I thought it was very clear that she was a "messenger," which had been alluded to for some time.

Overall, I thought the finale was emotional and exciting. I thought the resolutions of the various plots and subplots and character arcs were extremely elegant, particularly considering how much development, and changes in direction these elements took over the years.

It was a fantastic ride with an epic ending and a satisfying, poignant denouement. Well done!

I am in agreement with Artemis' comments to an extent. While it would have been nice to have a fully non-supernatural explanation, it is obvious that would have been impossible with visions, dreams, prophecies, etc.

If there had been some indication that the "one true god" or whatever spiritual being was limited to that kind of indirect intervention then the story would have been internally consistent at least.

Instead, we have a god who is capable of dramatically overt miracles such as controlling and synchronizing the entire evolutionary process on two separate planets, creating objects out of thin air, resurrecting the dead, and so on. This deity could have easily accomplished its apparent goal without allowing 12 billion people to be destroyed, tormenting the remaining survivors, and then abandoning them to a slow death from probable disease and starvation (assuming they didn’t die from trying to consume poisonous plants they were unfamiliar with, being slaughtered by predators, or killed by the suspicious natives).

Surely the angels were one of the few references to the original series of BSG that no one seems to have spotted (cf 'War of the Gods').

The final hour seemed to be nothing more than an epilogue. The special effects were like something from Babylon 5. I would have loved to have seen Adama walk around the Galactica a bit longer before leaving it for the last time. That had the potential to be a really good scene. And even the scene we got had to be interrupted by a flashback of a guy asking him questions about being a Cylon when at that point no one suspected that Cylons could be anything but centurions. But I digress. The finale sucked.

Great job! I especially like the ambiguity of Kara Thrace, with her not knowing her nature until the end.

This season deserves the drama Emmy, and that's up against Damages, Mad Men, True Blood and Dexter.

Stunning in all respects!

Holes, mistakes, or points of contention aside, I don't remember another series finale that I enjoyed more. Better than the original, when it got canceled and our fictional friends were left stranded in the cosmos for eternity.

Good points:
1) First 90 minutes.
2) Nice touch with the music from original BSG.
3) At least it wasn't all just a dream.

Bad points:
1) Every single thing that happened in the last 30 minutes.

I enjoyed the finale, but I would have liked some different twists, all intended to explain some open-ended ideas about the show:

* Confirm Daniel is Kara's father, and that shortly before Daniel died, he taught his daughter a special form of cylon projection.
* Explain the head people as future human/cylon hybrids who have the ability to cylon project, even back into time.
* Identify that Six talked with either Cavil or one of the head people before the bombs fell.
* Have Hera tell Boomer a secret of cylon projection as a reward for rescuing her, so that she can rejoin Galen.
* A la Matrix, give some quick explanation that many unexplained things that happened over the next 150,000 years on "our Earth" are a result of the BSG colonists using technology that they "smuggled" away (even though they said they gave up everything). You don't need to give full explanations, just tie them in and move on.
* Where we first see language/medicine/society being developed
* Egyptians building the pyramids
* Stonehenge
* Bermuda Triangle
* Either have Kara meet up with Anders (best, appropriate but cheesy), Leoben (better, explains how he helps her understand her purpose early on), or Daniel (good, completing that cycle)
* In the end, it doesn't matter if you're human or cylon (or native), as we all tend to follow the same social patterns, make the same inferences about "that thing greater than ourselves, whether you call it a god, gods, or God".
* That closes a good number of the holes I wanted cleared up, just enough to leave room for another spin-off.
* Then end the show with similar text that usually starts the show.

The remaining colonists abandoned their former ways to break the cycle.
They embraced the world they now call Home.
They evolved.
They have many descendants.
They no longer have a plan.
All this has happened before.
And it will happen again.

Bunker,

Jimi Hendrix the One True God? I always thought Clapton was God. Or is it Alanis Morrisette? Or George Burns?

Ronald Moore has stated explicitly that Kara is in no way related to Daniel; that he definitely was NOT her father.

You know, I love that this finale didn't feel the need to explain EVERYTHING. A little ambiguity is welcome. My favorite movies are the ones that leave some questions up to the audience to ponder (i.e. Blade Runner, Dark City). I love that we don't know exactly what Kara was. I love that we don't know precisely which Earth we're on. Did they jump to a past Earth? Who knows?

That's what was great about this series. It respects its audience enough to let them interpret the answers how they see fit. It makes us think and debate about its theology. A fitting end to a fantastic series (and HOLY CRAP did it rip my heart out).

BSG will be missed indeed.

It was a cop-out, lets-wave-the-magic-wand(of god)-on-everything-we-can't-explain -style ending.
Disappointing after such a thrillride, but at least a scifi series that got an ending, which was kinda refreshing.

You have to look at the whole series, could you tell that story in a single go, would it be strong enough as a movie. Can you justify your ambiguity.

The answer is: _________________

Thank you, Artemis, for articulating so well my problem with the show using God to explain away the replicate Viper, etc. The show created an expectation that certain questions would have an explanation beyond, "Well...that's a tough to explain. Uhh,...God did it."

You people are out of your frakkin minds, leave all that technology sure. I can't get may wife to lay off her Crackberry (oops Blackberry.) Flying the ships into the sun? Did anyone ask Mr. Anders if that's what he wanted to do? What Doctor in his right mind would be willing to discard all of the medical advances at his disposal to go into a world with no penicillin, sterile sutures, operating rooms?

It would have made more sense to tie into the Atlantis myth with the survivors landing in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, starting over with their technology, making advances and them being done in by them. Any survivors could have then traveled to Egypt, Peru, etc building the pyramids, leaving crystal skulls and then eventually dying out.

That ending while sweet showed a total lack of imagination (if your intent was to bring the group to earth 150k years ago. Hell, with Hera's name Apollo's call sign the names of the original colonies Sagittarion, etc.. they could have been the origin of the Greek, Roman, Norse gods. What a waste.

Adama's ending was great, a great man with the woman he loves until the end. Hera and the other Cylons ability to project, was that the introduction of psychic abilities on earth?

Cavil committing suicide? Not with his ego and no resurrection. What happened to all the centurions that were with him on the ship? When the nukes hit the colony it did not seem to be destroyed completely. Which left the door open for any survivors to track Galactica and the fleet to earth.

Finally, Starbucks an angel, ok great, doesn't explain where she got her brand spanking new viper. Nor does it explain why she wasn't communicating with the Baltar Six angels. For a show this great I expected a knock your sock off ending, my socks were still on at the end.

The finale harkens back to the preamble of the original series, remember: " There are some who believe that live here began out there...". Its fairly simple really.

You know, I love that this finale didn't feel the need to explain EVERYTHING. A little ambiguity is welcome. My favorite movies are the ones that leave some questions up to the audience to ponder (i.e. Blade Runner, Dark City). I love that we don't know exactly what Kara was. I love that we don't know precisely which Earth we're on. Did they jump to a past Earth? Who knows?

That's what was great about this series. It respects its audience enough to let them interpret the answers how they see fit. It makes us think and debate about its theology. A fitting end to a fantastic series (and HOLY CRAP did it rip my heart out).

BSG will be missed indeed.

I love the "how did God build a viper" complaints. You're ok with resurrection, a universal plan, prophecies, and an endless supply of cigarettes, but God can't make a viper? Worthless detail.

Every fan has their favorite season, and will wish it didn't end. But the ride was sweet ever since the mini. Doesn't make sence to narrow down to a favorite charachter in a show like BSG. But Starbuck was on the radical side in 4. And hey, I want a new Viper in my Garage too! I would rather now enjoy the works then spend to much time debating fiction.

Umm... OldCamper, it was 150000 years later. And what's not to love? It was a great finale to an equally great show... Dont be a hater.

I thought the finale was fine, but I have a question.

How many Kara's were there? She blew up in nebula, then found her body on earth, and then she's an angel?

Of Course!!
Tyrol builed Stonehenge!
After all, he always was good with building sthings from nothing - think of that stealthh plane!
So maybe Stonehenge really is his memorial to Cally...

Abandon your technology right! I just can't wait to experience polio, cholera, malnutrition, sabertooth attacks etc. Someone once said "A human being without technology is not a Noble Savage--he's a dead Naked Ape!" By the way mitochondrial Eve did survive long enough to have at least some offspring since we are all descended from her"

OH BOY! WERE TO START. I REMEMBER NOT TO LONG AGO THE COMMENT MADE BY THE PRODUCERS DURING A BUMP FOR THE SHOW "ALL WILL BE ANSWERD" not some will be answerd not "we will just ignore stuff ,like calleys kid .were did that kid go,and not with a stupid lazy "it was god that did it " stupid ,lazy' and not a very immaginative ending .and for adama to just leave his only surviving son and member of his family was just way stupid .and how could their ideas of gods ,apollo,hera etc.along with the names of the colonies sagitarium etc,get to the greeks 145,000 years later when human speach did nit exist 150,000 years ago? to musch time for those labels to survive to the greek era.They said "all will be answerd" they did not answer alot.Well atl east it wasn't j.j.abrams at the helm,everything would be ...fracked up!

Lotharax: "God can't make a Viper?" The question was already asked in Star Trek V: "What does God need with a starship?

Didn't Cally's child go off-series w/the biological father a few episodes back?

Yes, Callie's kid, Nicholas, was with his father Hotdog. Even showed it in the first part of Daybreak, I believe.

TommyA wrote:
"And what influence did the colonists have on humanity over 150K years? when did left on written record and chose to become cavemen and forget their technology, the past, and ultimately, their identities. Ironically, Ron Moore has made sure another Battlestar will be created for the millennial generation will start in 15 or 20 years to bring 'resolution'. "

To an ending which makes no sense considering the sacrifice and unimaginable loss suffered by this human civilization. Their colonial suffering to be rewarded with short life as an earthly savage makes no sense. No sense at all.

---------

I absolutley agree my man. RDM is so lazy. Why he can bring survivors 15-10.000 yrs before now: Than, that survivors would form civilization of Atlantis, and subseqently help native humans to build great civlisations from Sumer to Americas.

However, that was to tough for mr. Moore. He decoded to put them in the no relevant period before 150.000 yrs, without any hope to help humans in building civilisation (expet in area of verbal comunication).

I was quite disappointed with the last 45 minutes of the final episode and for that matter much of season 4.5. A few episodes were obviously fillers with little space action or cgi in order to presumably save money for the final episode battle/showdown. The first 1.15 hours was quite good. I think the Kara arc was handled horribly, as was not retaining at least some of the technology/ships etc. Half the crew would be dead in a month from starvation illness etc . I did like the Adama/Rossland scene in the raptor and hill, but the fact he was never coming back to see his son, give me a break... Overall after 4 great seasons I think Moore let the fans down big time with some key areas in 4.5 and the last episode, but then again this is the guy who had Captain Kirk originally killed with a cheap phaser shot in Generations. I hope they one day they do a dvd following their first years on earth.

I just wanted to say, i started watching your show while i was getting chemo therapy for cancer treatments and i would get chemo on a monday so i wouldnt be sick on friday although i still was a little sick. I love your show and wish it wasnt ending. thanks

Frakkin' Captcha!!! Sci Fi Wire! Fix the damn thing or get a better system!!!

For the second time...

This is the second message board discussion I have seen on this topic. Almost exactly the same reactions pro and con on the finale. Same compliments, same complaints,

I believe: Starbuck was an Angel. That is what we were given.

Regarding "going native"...I must say I would have trouble doing that. I was waiting for a line of dialogue to the effect that there was a faction from one ship who refused to do so and that group was going to an island in the western ocean. You take it from there.

Of coarse we did not get that line of dialogue...but who's to say it didn't happen...in my mind or yours. 8^)

To all those who are complaining - it wasn't your story to tell, was it?

Thank you, RDM, for the most provocative show ever. I consider myself lucky to have lived in a time to experience it.

Perfect final for a perfect serie!. This will be among the best stories, like Solaris, 2001, Foundations,etc. Fascinating!

I still can't understand why people wants all the answers from the serie itself. Those answers are probably in your own mind, just search for them. Questions are the real important things in Galactica. Atemporal questions that you can ask yourself today, tomorrow and 1 million years into the future.

Thanks a lot!

I enjoyed it. The last 30 minutes especially. When Adama left the Galactica and flew that last inspection, followed by the original theme as the fleet flew into the sun made me all goose bumpy. I thought the character arcs were ended in a satisfying manner. Don't worry about the armchair critics, Mr. Moore. You did good. Thanks.(now I have to find something new to watch....)

I didn't love it till I watched it a 2nd time. Now I love it! There are some interesting points of view here and it seems that not everyone saw, watched, heard all the details.

The cyclon colony didn't survive, not only was it nuked but the explosions pushed it out of it's stable orbit. You can see this by all of the asteroid inpacts after the detonations of Racetracks Nukes. You don't see it completely destroyed, but it's no longer in it's stable orbit.

It's never said that Hera is actually the eve that they are referring to. Remember that the remaining 2s, 8s and 6s go with the colonists. They aren't ugly people most likely they also found love or at least were responsible for creating the "new" baseline human race. Also Karl and Sharon could and most likely had additional offsping. Any of them could be this "Eve"

Also going native doesn't mean that they gave up EVERYTHING. Just the high technology. You can see that there are quonset huts already on the planet. Most likely they took everything that would be of value. But not Jump Tech, nukes, AI's stuff like that. But they would have guns, medicines etc.

These things wouldn't last forever either in 150k years they would be dust. So it all fit in, you just have to think a little.

This was a great show. I have watched it since day one and figured Baltar's imaginary Six was a delusion of a megalomaniac. Having a sudden change of heart can happen, but him in the fight, yeah right. Then making so many "Angels" and it's "God's Plan", give me a break. For those of us who watched and aren't Christian, I'm disappointed that a show that stayed away from majorly throwing religion around ended by going all "believe in God" on us. I'm very disappointed in that.

Besides that, not a bad ending to a great series. Hopefully RDM doesn't go all religious zealot in Caprica.

For all you who thought the writers "ran out of steam" or "wrote themselves into a corner" with the ending simply know nothing about scriptwriting. Moore stated he began at the ending, just like all good scriptwriters. It's the first thing you write. So what you're really saying is that you don't like the premise he originally pitched the show to Universal. Apparently they liked it, angels and all.

How is it that narrative tv shows and films thrive on supernatural elements, but as soon as they point towards anything vaguely God focused, it becomes despised?

I thought the BSG ending was decent. I did think the "tying up all the loose ends" took too long, like the ending of Return of the King. Kara's disappearance was still the best part, regardless of whether or not they explained it.

This was a great show. I have watched it since day one and figured Baltar's imaginary Six was a delusion of a megalomaniac. Having a sudden change of heart can happen, but him in the fight, yeah right. Then making so many "Angels" and it's "God's Plan", give me a break. For those of us who watched and aren't Christian, I'm disappointed that a show that stayed away from majorly throwing religion around ended by going all "believe in God" on us. I'm very disappointed in that.

Besides that, not a bad ending to a great series. Hopefully RDM doesn't go all religious zealot in Caprica.

Sheesh..... I watched every last BSG episode but i am SO happy it is over. What started out interesting end up trite. There was no reason as far as I am concerned to bring the cancer back for Roslin, for me it added nothing. Baltar, yeah, what a wonderful person, a traitor to the human race, i spent basicly every episode hoping someone would FINALLY find out what he did and shove him out an airlock, I would have enjoyed watching bloat and pop. The head people and angelic Kara Thrace? There were so many better explanations then what RDM came up with, that truly sucked for me, mysticism can be very powerful in sci fi, but when it starts making new vipers and such, then it's just bad writing. As for technology being evil, pfffft, the problem as always has nothing to do with that, it's been integration of ethics with technology, and sending yourselves back to Stone Age savagery guarantees a repeat of the cycle.

I dont think that the Angel-thing has to imply religion. Recall Tigh making a comment about giving the cylons a fake monotheism, or something like that. The 'one true god' may be something quite different, and will hopefully be a part of Caprica or The Plan.

PLEASE TELL ME THE DVD WILL BE BOTH PARTS OF DAYBREAK AND NOT JUST PART 2, THAT WOULD BE REALLY STUPID

Overall, I enjoyed the finale well enough. You have to remember that once Ron Moore made the decision to have the search for Earth be a part of the new Battlestar Galactica series, the ending could only really be one of three possibilities: Galactica and the fleet either find our Earth of the present, they find Earth in the future, or they discover the Earth of the past. So that aspect of the finale wasn't such a big surprise to me, really.

That being said, I wonder if Ron Moore realized that in having the series end this way, he was using one of the most threadbare and cliche of all science fiction tropes--"Adam and Eve were really aliens." It sort of makes me laugh. I'm hoping that he knows that, realized it was unavoidable given the basic premise of the show, and just tried to have some fun with it.

Whatever you think of the finale and the religious aspects of the show, I do think Galactica deserves praise for being one of the few science fiction shows that had truly 3-dimensional characters who acted like real people. I think that's why so many of my friends who don't normally watch science fiction watched Galactica--it was a drama first, and a science fiction show second. The only other current show I can think of that is equal to Galactica in that respect is Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (my new favorite show).

I'm going to miss Galactica and its very talented and charismatic cast. While it didn't always make complete sense and there were definitely plot holes, overall it was a fun ride.

Loved the resolution between Adama and Laura. Their characterizations have been my favorite throughout the series, and the ending they were given, how it played out ... touched me deep down. For that reason alone, BSG will always hold a special place in my heart!

The ending was crap. Adama taking off, never to be seen (crap). Kara being an angel and not knowing it (crap). The "angels" or "demons" versions of Baltar and Caprica 6 (crap). Going native (crap). The flashbacks to Caprica (crap). It really was a crappy ending to an otherwise great series. CRAP!

Nothin but love the the entire show and the finale.

But one question I do have is....what does god like to be called?

THE BAD

I've been a fan of Dean Stockwell's since Quantum Leap, and although well acted Cavil's suicide made little to no sense to me.

The 6 and Baltar angels also grated on me once I learned they were 'angels' or 'demons' or the sort. OK, I can sort of buy the "seduce Baltar though nobody can see you" thing that went on early on in the series, which evolved into the "guiding Baltar" mentality it turned into, but only loosely. And I really didn't feel I needed a 'morality' lesson on putting robots in charge at the end of the episode, I felt it detracted from the wonder of the discovery that the Galactican fleet were Earth's ancestors. Better would have been a commentary between the two how humans seem to have avoided the whole robotic/mankind war issue but the sadness that instead they are fighting each other. Equally corny but more apropos.

I didn't notice where 'Eve' at the end was mentioned to be Hera (even by association) but I'll have to go back and check that. I think it would have been more emotionally satisfying for the viewer for it to have been Roslyn, she deserved historic recognition for her sacrifices.

THE GOOD

I didn't mind Starbuck's "change" from dead human to "angel or demon" but Gods she was an annoying whiner the last several episodes until the end. That said, I think her best moments were during the Pegasus incident, which also incidentally was my favorite situation from the entire series. Mystery is a good thing, so I felt it was apropos that she vanished although it would have been even more apropos if she were made "Earth-bound" and stayed with Apollo at the end. It was slightly disappointing that didn't happen.

THE GREAT

All along I thought how interesting it would be if the original series Galactican society were actually the ancestors of the "current series" Galactican society, how interesting it would be if it were reversed, and if the current series Galactica were actually the 13th tribe from the original Galactica series. Speculation aside, it was a great (though not entirely original) ending, and a satisfactory one for me.

I think the writers have a ridiculous utopian view of what a hunting/gathering/subsistence farming lifestyle is like. I hope those 40,000 or so people look forward to devoting nearly 100% of their energy towards having just enough food to eat for one more season. And to a dramatic increase in infant mortality and women dying in childbirth. Oh, and I hope Baltar enjoys setting up his little farm *in Tanzania*. Nothing like a tropical climate for a recovering farm boy from a clearly temperate environment.

Oh, and the less said about the settlers dropped off in North America and those encroaching glaciers the better. Enjoy your ice age, suckers!

However, despite the writer's fairly whacky premise about seeding earth with extra-terrestrials, I did enjoy the finale overall. Yes, some stuff was goofy. But at the same time I think people are over-obsessing about the angels/gods stuff. It was said more than once that angels/gods was just one possible set of words to describe what was at work. Baltar said that maybe it was "a force of nature, beyond good and evil", and at the end he told Future Ghost Six "he doesn't like being called that" when she referred to God. So who knows what these so-called forces really are? It's goofy and overly-spiritual, but so what. The whole show has been largely spirital from the very beginning, when religion was used by Adama and Roslyn to trick the people into not giving up. And a strong spiritual element is certainly true to the original series.

Oh, and one more thing, most archaeologists do NOT believe that most major civilizations sprung up "about the same time".

This is the major dramatic theme I thought got lost in the shufffle. Maybe I read too much into it...
They never said who was driving the car that killed Rosylyn's family. They showed several of them out drinking, including Adama who puked on himself. I envisioned it was Adama that drove that car that killed her family. That set into motion her going into politics, which put her on Galactica with Adama. It also led her to start smoking, which is what lead to her leaving Adama. I thought that was brilliant!

I was sure I knew how Starbuck's ends would tie together. I knew that she was going to be in her Viper during the final battle and end up going down to the singularity. She could have told Anders that the song was jump coordinates then and slid down intothe past - she hits her past ship and self, casuing them to jump forward in time, as her Viper causes the explosion that Apollo saw. Still sliding back in time, she ends up crashing on Earth, setting off the nuclear holocaust (Anders called her the harbinger of death or destruction, so its fulfilled). Her other self formed some connection so the memories passed to her about the song. She ends up in the future during the battle...

That is the only change I would make. It doesn't make her a mystical demon or angel, and using time travel, it wraps it up neatly.

Brilliant series. Thanks.

Fantastic series! The hopeful turn at the end was a real surprise, especially since I believe many of us were all prepared for darkness and nothingness.

Amazing to me are fans who are surprised by the spiritual stuff. Face it, from the pilot on faith and religion were central to this show as was the question of what it means to be human.

What sealed the ending for me was the great way the Adam/Roslin relationship ended. Very beautiful, very moving. BSG--we will miss you!

It's not about spoon feeding. It's about stealing endings from old Twilight Zone episodes and pretending you're being creative.

IT"S A COOK BOOK! ITS A COOK BOOK!!!

Loved the series but many questions are still there?

1. What happened to the surviving Cylons, not all 2,6 and where destroyed in the civil war, Cavel made a point about boomer, millions of 8's have the same ::::.body part.

2. What happended to the other Baseships, even with the virus, they needed hundreds of ships to destroy the colonial defences, at least 120 battlestars where operational, not counting support ships etc..So what heppened to them, all destroyed in the Civil War?

3. What happened to the surviving humans in the other colonies after the cylons left, no way that from billions of humasn only a few managed to get away and those where only from caprica.

4. At the very least more than one battlestar or tother colonial military ships had to survived.

Loved the series, bumps and all, loved the finale. I agree, you couldn't ask for a better ending. It was so perfect, I found it hard to be sad to see the series end. Thanks, Ron, David, Eddie, Mary, et. al for the ride!

Just some thoughts.
1. One thing that needs clearing up. Hera died as a child with no offspring. Referring to her as Mitochondrial Eve is the point of time when the DNA of the native human race changed. Cromags to Homosapiens aka "Missing Link". BSG people started to take the Cromags (carrying the spears) as mates and started to add their DNA. Thus, Starbuck, the harbinger of doom, has wiped out the native human race on THIS Earth in favor of the BSG people.
2. Couldn't Starbuck been represented as a Hawk or Eagle instead of a lowly pigeon?
3. Daniel, the 13th cylon, was Starbuck's father. He was the "cylon's favorite muse that didn't resurrect"
4. Sorry, Ron. I won't be buying Seasons 3 & 4. You lost something in the storytelling when you landed on New Caprica. But, I'll always Thank You for Seasons 1 and 2.

I rewatched the finale several times and realised part of my conflicted emotions was just that it was over. (!)
I realised that the finale had several dimensions that are fun to rewatch and dicipher. Thank you for such a great show!! I don't think i will allow myself to get so invested in a show again. It's a little like getting your heart broken.

First I would like to say that I loved the show!
But they could have done a little better with some of the loose ends.

Examples:

1.) Instead of having all the people give up technology, they should have split into two groups. One without and the other to build a city called Atlantis. (You can see where that would go)

2.) They could have explained Kara with a simple time travel paradox. Yes, that was her dead body, but it was from the future and because she existed twice at the same point in time she had a mental “crossing” of past & future events.

3.) The Cylons could have came back and crashed at Roswell giving birth to the tech that you are starting to see now.

For a Scifi program they should have seen the need for “nerd” logic and the appeal of closure.

Absolute best ending to any tv series I have ever seen. Cannot believe I cried
>.>
Putting it 150,000 years in the past really throws a monkey wrench into it though. Forces you to think in terms other than linear time. When they were in the grass looking at the men with spears I figured they were aborigines and kept thinking they would find some kind of modern day man.. When 150,000 years popped onto the screen I was shocked. Almost like Tyrol was shocked that tori killed Cally.

2/3 of it was great up until the last 10 or so minutes when it started to look like LOTR3. Too much "alternate-like ending" scenes. It was slowing down already. A lot less high impact like all other episodes. Kara's abrupt disappearance was indeed lame. Call it "leave it at that" or call it, exhausted creativity. A co-worker of mine actually speculated she could be one of the human-cylon hybrid, the offspring of the first
Seven model that got trashed. That would have been pretty cool and will explain why she's such a great pilot and all that's wrong with her. Finale was overall cool nonetheless. Looking forward to the DVD. It's also not a bad idea to pursue Season Five. :)

Why did Apollo get abandoned by Cara and his father. Wsn't one wnough. It doesn't move the story forward. It is simply just condescending to the charcters. I guess when you live with a show too long you begin to hate your characters, but that us no reason to punish them so severely. I was hoping for some sense of closure, but instead you left the crew in limbo and aged Baltar 150,00 yeras when he should be dead without explanation of how a human could live that long. I cried when I saw Lee and Car get separated and then when the admiral loved and abandoned his son well that's just cruel. Abig fuck you to the cast and fans. I love you Ron, but I won't be watching Caprica. You have an evil streak in you and it doesn't surprise me that you connect it with religion and God. Really depressing. I guess the writer's strike destroyed the show.

The last quarter of the final episode was a huge disappointment.

"God did it" , "angels" ... Seriously !?!
That was just lazy writing.

The writers had lost grasp in season 4 and written so many convoluted storylines, I think they were stuck for how to wrap them up.

Great frakking series, good finale. Could have done w/o the 150000 years later bit but other than that I think it all worked well. Looking forward to the DVDs and The Plan. THANK YOU and GREAT JOB to Ron Moore, David Eick and all the cast and crew!

I'm half cylon. You're half cylon. We're all half cylon. Great. Hera had to have kids with a cave man. Thanks for that image. Ball up the fleet like a bad first draft page and throw it into the sun. Perfect metaphor. Strip every character of everything that made them watchable and consign them to fates worse than death (Tom Hanks toothache in Cast Away, for example, is just the iceberg tip of life without technology, hippie). Nice job. Why not just animate a giant cartoon pencil eraser to wipe Kara off the screen like a Bugs Bunny cartoon? Leaving Adama alive, abandoned and desolate like that was the act of a sadist. Love ya, babe. Let's have macrobiotic, artisanal lunch. My humlons will call your humlons.

I agree with one of the commentors that technology would be harder to let go of and spur much greater debate than the show indicated. It would likely spark another insurrection. I also didn't think much of the angel Kara thing. Why would she have to necessarily depart? I would have been much happier if she and Apollo hooked up and lived happily ever after with Adama in the picture. Perhaps a "I should go, but I can't leave you scene between she and Lee" There just seemed to be too much emphasis on not having a happy ending. Perhaps a search for an emmy, but we the audience like happy endings.

Loved the Star Wars homage "I think you overestimate their chances". Awesome ending. Sad to see it end, but tied up nicely. I laughed, felt a tear, but left satisified. Excellent job on one of the best series ever! When is season 4.5 out on DVD??????

I also have no idea why Kavel shot himself. That was bizarre. I thought it was very disjointed and had too many jumps in logic and characters acting out of character. I understand they needed all the main characters on the Gallactica because that was where the action was, but Baltar with a rifle?? Give me a break. I really didn't like the last half of the last season except for the many surprises. The whole angels thing didn't work for me either. Baltar and machines as angels, yeah that works.

I hear everyone on the finale. It was a masterpiece and well done. One of the few great shows of TV. It was sad for me and also a mixed bag of other things....mostly trying to figure out who or what Kara Thrace was. For thos who want an explanation, the best I can give you is that she is an angel. The show followed the original battlestar galactica loosely AND introduced Beings of Light...basically ascended characters...the head characters or "people" like the priestess with Laura Roslin etc are all these beings...Seraphs...a higher evolution of human that serve "God". They aren't good or evil...they can be holograms, bring people back to life....do a little research and you'll find answers for yourself. Thanks to a wonderful show Ron and company!!!!

So the 1st President of Earth was Irish. Nice.

Cavil's suicide explained in "The Plan":
He'll wake up in his private pad in his private resurrection machine (the one he used for Ellen), work out the dots Hera drew, follow them to Earth, wait 150,000 years, and stop Ron Moore writing this finale!!!

"All this has happened before, and it's not happening again! I'm bringing in Joss Whedon for help!!"

Starbuck being an angelic being was a nod to the original series when those genderless, white robed beings would show up in their crystal ship, take a Colonial Warrior aboard, turn his uniform white, and send him or her off to complete some special mission.

I don't think any real scifi fan minds having a bit of ambiguity in a series, scifi is all about being thought provoking.

There is, however, a difference between writers leaving some deliberate room for interpretation and writers just ignoring stuff they can't explain or forgetting to cover things. That is what annoys people.

It seems pretty clear that elements were introduced into the series to give them some plot strands to play with later if they needed them or just because they seemed cool at the time and not in order to drive the overall story forward. These have then been discarded. Daniel is a good example.

The other dissatisfaction is not in being annoyed at what is unsaid but being unhappy with the answers you are given and the sloppy way they are executed.

Personally my immediate reaction to the finale was that I hated it. I have moderated my views overnight and I realise there are many elements that were well handled but basically what this goes to show for me is that an entire series can come down to the final execution and equally can be spoiled by it. I honestly now feel like my emotional investment in the whole 4 series was wasted.

There are plenty of nit-picking points in this thread which is typical of scifi fans and most of them are valid but not, in my opinion, the main issue. These niggles wouldn't be so bad if you could buy into the bigger picture.

Any successful series is all about caring what happens to the characters rather than the science and the odd plot hole. I found the finale unbelievable and hugely sad in that they all decided, not only to go native but to separate for no apparent reason and with very little care or regret. Especially Adama who is so emotionally tied to Tigh and Lee in particular, then suddenly goes to live in a cabin somewhere on his own.

I thought the whole going native thing was really poorly explained with a throwaway line of "don't underestimate the appeal of a clean slate" or something like that. What a crock.

But more than that, what really gets me is that we now find the entire series was just a very, very long episode of the twilight zone. It didn't have to have a twist in the end (not that I think you could call this a twist) we really just wanted a satisfying resolution and this wasn't. I would have been happier if they'd found Earth in a later stage, maybe early Greek civilisation and just blend in. That would at least explain how they could hide technology and influence the development of society in the way that they seem to have done.

I think the writers took Deus Ex Machina to new heights. It was a perfect reflection of religion itself, if you can't explain something rationally just say God did it. That is, has been said many times in this thread, lazy and irritating.

What the hell was the point of the final five? It seemed like they were orchestrating something, even if they couldn't remember what. Anders tells Saul "stay with the fleet the miracle is happening" as though they had a plan which was coming to fruition. In theory they put all this into motion and then it turned out they didn't have any answers or goals at all. It all just unfolded around them the same as everyone else. It would be nice to think they had a plan, even if it didn't work out.

I'll stop now but I think what it comes down to is this. If opinion is so divided (as it clearly is) about whether the end was good or bad, then it was bad. Otherwise we wouldn't be disagreeing.

"I don't know who that is, and I don't know what it means..." That pisses me off.

I can't believe the most basic elements people are getting wrong in the comments. Roslin was Mitochondrial Eve? Hera died as a child? Ellen resurrected in Cavil's private chamber? Did you people watch the show?

LOL @ Dave no they didn't they saw the show but they didn't watch it. Or they were so wrapped up in their own delusion of that the story was going to be they refused to accept that it went somewhere they weren't expecting.

The first half of the BSG finale was amazing, and the Opera House dream sequences to Reality were very well done. Was very worried about Helo, and were hoping they didn't decide to make him one of the casualties after everything that family's been through. The second half took awhile to get going. It wasn't until the very end that most of the loose ends were tied up. I was glad for the Hera, Athena, Helo resolution, and thought Roslyn's death was very poignant, and was even glad that Gaius and Caprica reconnected again. Their vision selves (angel selves) were fun to watch, especially when they interacted with their corporeal selves. ["You can SEE them?"] The ONLY thing that really bothered me about the ending was how they simply dropped the Kara Thrace/Starbuck storyline. Saying that she just vanished/disappeared was very frustrating. As someone said, not even a proper goodbye for Lee, before she vanished. What, no hug even?? So what is this saying... that she's been a ghost among them for the entire season? And NO one could tell that they were hugging a ghost, including Bill at the end? I''d hoped for some time that they might somehow incorporate a variant to the Ship of Lights storyline at the end to explain all this, and this too was a disappointment. What would REALLY be nice... would be if they had a separate movie to definitively say what happened to her, where she went, and if she does one day come back in REALITY as she appeared to for this entire season. I still think that even though she and Lee/Apollo have their issues to work out, they had a really strong connection and should have at least had an open-ended ending about their being together one day. That's my only real criticism. Otherwise, I thought the finale was well done. Here's hoping they add a mini-conclusion for Kara and Lee too someday, because their story really hasn't been resolved, and they do both deserve it.

Please, Mr. Moore, and others, consider this possibility for the future! Thanks!

In any case, thanks for saved Helo and his family. At least that much I was very happy to see!

Thanks for allowing a Posting of Thoughts!

(Also as a side note: I agree it would be nice if they explained the Cylon music she remembers from playing the piano with her father.)

Thanks for the best SciFi series ever. The finale was bitter-sweet, but thoroughly enjoyable. ...and the cameo was a nice touch.

Best wishes to R.D.M. on all future projects.

Holy Crap!!! I seriously can't get over all the negative comments about the wonderful ending this show had. Its as if everything has to be laid out and explained for some people to enjoy something. The end of this show fit. I'm glad that they ended Starbuck's story like they did...she didn't need to be the "13th broken cylon" or an angel or a demon...she was what she was and when her role was over she was gone. Very fitting. As for Cavil offing himself...I say right on! Cavil was a rebellious child...jealous and angry and vengeful. If I was like that I sure as the world would not let anyone A) take me into custody to be imprisoned...B) let anyone have the satisfaction of killing or executing me in any way, shape, or form.
As for the Humans forsaking their technology...as Lee said, it was a clean slate. If you remember Romo Lampkin said something to the effect of "are you sure 38,000 people are going to agree to forgo their creature comforts just to start over?" So yes, I think the characters thought it was the best course of action...I mean why wouldn't you...it definitely is a sure-fire way to make sure that the cycle is broken...at least for a while. Galactica WAS the opera house. What happens in an opera house??? DRAMA...what happened on Galactica...DRAMA. WHERE DID THE STORY PLAY OUT....GALACTICA. NOT VERY HARD TO UNDERSTAND. Hera--she did have a point...she was the savior of both races by being part of both. She as mitochondrial eve, was the mother of our race, and by default we are all half human, half cylon. Hera connects all of the characters and their situation together as well as to us in the "now", 150,000 later. A couple of episodes back Tigh said "humans alone are not strong enough to survive...cylons alone are not strong enough to survive" but together they are strong.

BEAUTIFUL SHOW...BEAUTIFUL ENDING...I am just sad that I might never see something of this level of quality, complexity, and thought again.

I'm not buying the whole Baltar-Six-Kara angel thing. If the Baltar and Six "hallucinations" were angels, then Kara couldn't possibly be. They were only ever seen by one person until both the current Baltar and Six saw them at the end. They NEVER interacted with anything while Kara was just like anyone else other than the "coming back from the dead" thing. I don't buy that everyone would leave the technology behind. When it flashed to the 150,000 years later, we saw what looked like the "hallucinated" Baltar and Six there. I'm more inclined to believe it was the actual Baltar and Six now dressing that way. How is that possible, you ask? Baltar is "Daniel" and being Cylons they were able to be around that long.

Hmmm.. aside from my witty comments and people's lack of humour....
:
Dave.. did you not watch the show? Did you not see a cylon basestar jump away from Earth towards the end? Filled with cylons? Do you really think RDM had Cavil down to just commit suicide at the end the show? Did you not realise there was a TV Movie called "The Plan" showing the cylons point of view? Do you think it'll just tell us what we already know? Would that be just a complete waste of time? Do you know how good a writer Jane Espenson is?

It's funny that a fan of this show should be content with a "God did it" explanation.. and not want anymore from it.

It is after all science fiction, not religious fiction.

The story is NOT finished yet. Believe that.

OK- let's review. Kara has a nebulous father figure who disappears early in her life, her mother tries to set her on her destiny, but doesn't seem to truly understand. Kara is good at nearly everything, but troubled by her "destiny." She dies, returns from the grave, and then leads her people to the first Earth showing them the consequences of their sins, then brings them to their salvation. With that worldly mission done, she goes to the other side. I don't think "angel" is the term to apply to Kara... You should be thinking a bit more Messianic...

Thank you, Ron. I have watched the show since the beginning and it is the best TV that I have ever experienced. The finale was superb and truly profound.

Personally, I am a little confused by some of the complaints here since every major question was answered to my satisfaction. It was obvious that you had laid much of these plot elements out since the beginning with how everything fit together in the end. Before the finale, I had come up with several ways in which the series could have ended but none of them were as satisfying as where you came out on the resolution.

Once again, thank you for a truly wonderful show. Given the ending, I plan on re-watching the entire series on DVD with my wife (who has never seen it) since, given teh ending, I think I will see everything else in a different light now.

Amazing series, and I resisted like heck at the beginning so as not to become a frakking junkie like I was with B5. It did not work. I fell in the first three weeks!
The characters were flawed like we all are, so it was very realistic in that sense. I, myself, like tragic characters, and you did a bang up job with these.
The idea of a greater power at play, and no problems with unanswered questions is wonderful. It is like reading abook. We all have ideas what Ringworld and it's people look like, or what the original moon base in A.C. Clarke's short stories were set up like. Our imaginations filled in the blanks and it was wonderful!
One thing of note though.
Like "Space Cowboys" the ending timing is off.
IN "SC" Tommy Lee takes the missile to space, and then the shot goes to Clint and his wife wondering if he "made it". STOP! End of story. No footprints and dead astronaut's body. It is not needed.
Same here.
See Adama on the mountain top, sitting and fade to black. Period. No modern 150,000 years later. It was not needed.
WE can figure that out on our own.
At least I think we can.
Thanks for a roller coaster of a four years!

First let me say that I truly enjoyed Ron Moore's version of BSG. It was a great ride, and while I was not entirely satisfied with the ending, I enjoyed that just the same. This was Moore's story and he's told it with grace and fire. Now, remember that the original "Battlestar" had a spiritual component, too, linking the Colonials to the ancient Egyptians and other early civilizations. Moore's including a spiritual element to his version of BSG was not unexpected. It also gives him room to write spin-offs, which is not a bad idea for a writer who wants to stay employed.

The suicide of Cavil is easy to understand if you realise that the increasingly extreme measures and risks he had been taking as the series neared its end were the result of desperation. A lot of it was made clear in his rant to Ellen, about his hatred of the limits of the body that he was saddled with. Resurrection was his only hope to somehow have a future that was other than misery until death, and when that was finally and permanently denied to him, I couldn't see him doing anything else than just end it then and there.

X-Files and Lost were incredibly popular shows, and also peddled mysteriousness for its own sake. I can see why the writers would want to follow that formula, since those shows where very successful.

However, I disliked both shows. The poor writing, and the focus on melodrama and sex instead of interesting plot, ruined them for me. Battlestar turned out to be the same, with some exceptions. Those exceptions kept me watching. That, and the hope that he'd move away from the religious nonsense and get back to the science fiction. I adored everything about the miniseries and the first couple of episodes, but the number of illogical, "how are they going to explain that," things just got too high.

I had long suspected it would end in a cop-out. When Sopranos ended and Ron Moore said, "brilliant, I wish I'd thought of it," I knew we were in trouble.

After the DS9 ending (which I am told he was involved with) and Battlestar, I'm steering clear of Ron Moore sci-fi. Just not my thing. Pity it took so long to find out; I wish I'd tuned out earlier. :)

Best darned television I've ever seen. Brilliant. Very fun for those who don't want it to end like us.

Best series ever and best finale ever!

I didn't watch any of the re-imagined BSG when it first aired. I'll put that down to my stubborn ignorance of how good it could be. A friend had been singing its praises for the longest time and eventually I started watching in April of this year. I watched every episode from start to finish.

I realize that this way of experiencing BSG may not be typical of the other posters on this forum but after watching the final episode I was left in sheer awe of how amazing and epic it was. The culmination of such an incredible journey.

I've seen several posters saying that the writers wrote themselves into a corner and I simply don't get it. The prophecy/ancient religion/gods vs. one true god aspect of the story has been present since day one. The prophecy came true. Starbuck plays a part in that prophecy and was destined to do so since she was a child. She was always destined to die then be reborn in the Eye of Jupiter and show the colony to way to Earth. There is a higher, mystical power at work in the BSG universe and there has been all along. With that said, I'm not sure why some people are so adverse to the idea of Starbuck being an angel or something else equally otherworldly. Somethings can't be explained... and nor should they be. It's legend, myth and mystical and should remain that way. To strike a comparison, we would never want the force in Star Wars explained, would we?... maybe with some rubbish about midi chlorians... ahem.

Ever since the Book of Pythia was first mentioned in season 1 (maybe even the miniseries), I got the sense that the prophecy would play out and that there was a higher power at work that would guide the colony to Earth. For me, that was the tone of the show and I can't believe I'm alone in this. Reading some people's posts, I get the feeling that anything in BSG that didn't have a purely scientific explanation is the source of "how dare they" and "the writer is an idiot" outrage. It makes me question if they've been watching the same show as me or paid attention to any of the ancient lore that was often discussed.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents. I'm sorry BSG is over and can't wait for The Plan.

Well...the whole starbuck disappearing into thin air was SKETCHY at best.

But my main gripe is this: I can't believe all those people from Galactica and Co. would give up drinking alcohol!! I mean, at the rate those guys were going????? LOL

The ending was mixed, to be sure. The action sequences and rescue of Hera were fantastic. The back story subplot, while interesting, did seem like filler; shouldn't we have gotten that stuff a couple seasons ago if it was relevant?

The ending, where all the characters got wrapped up...shaky at best. Why does Adama leave his son? Also, I'm with the folks who doubt that 38,000 people would abandon all modern technology and head off to what, have sex with homo erectus?

Kara's finish actually didn't bother me too much; I liked the way she disappeared. Although I do believe that the lack of explanation as to what she was had more to do with writer's block than artistic vision, as Moore claims. This is Monday morning quarterbacking to be sure, but I think the writers missed out on a golden opportunity with regards to the black hole the Cylon colony was orbiting. All kinds of opportunities for temporal and spatial distortions that could drag a dead Starbuck back from the void.

Ultimately, this was an acceptable ending to a fantastic series. If the show really ever went "wrong," so to speak, it was with the ever-increasing reliance on mysticism and visions as it wore on. That sort of thing can only end in deus ex machina (and what an appropriate term for THIS series, now that I think about it) scenarios, and there was certainly an element of that in this finale. As many have said, though, the questions are almost always more interesting than the answers; a certain measure of disappointment was to be expected.

Thanks for the great show. hopefully they do another movie after The plan.

The ending was suited in most cases. Disappointed in Starbuck Role because she is my role model. I wanted more answer maybe a movie about her would be awesome.
I would have liked that when Sam remembered that he used to sing the music of the watchtower to someone he loved i hoped it was Starbuck a lost love, a cyclon. Even taught that she was a goddess Aurora maybe the temple of Aurora was she some form of a priestess and that would confirm her feelings when she handled the statue of aurora the one that she gave to Adama for the ship.
There is another taught the ones the legacy of Thrace that her grandpa was a musician and played at the opera house and the generation kept playing the music from her father to her.
And i hoped at the end a screen were Starbuck an Leoben confront each other after all he did know that she is the harbinger of death but done nothing or told nothing at the end. So it was frustrated all the other roles had the right ending but the one i loved and adores kept loose even it helped at the final when the Baltar and the Six present time , would met with starbuck and sam even that little piece would done alot.
But no leave it handing and so i change my mind thanks for the frustation R.Moore.

Only way to forgive you us fans especially of starbuck give us anothe movie especially about Kara life, if you are truly , really a talented as people say because from my sight you still stuck as normal producer sorry that is my opinion after 5 years i hoped more

I just caught this one, what a doozy.

Starbuck's fate appeared to kind of suck, but I liked the idea of her being a broken soldier, someone whose story is essentially tragic. Maybe she has been a ghost all this time, maybe we get a semi-distorted narrative where she's been "back," when it's really just the normal crew. Who frakkin' knows. But I did like that she just faded away, broken and relieved to be done with this earthly plane, so to speak.

The Boomer/Tyrol house stuff made me cry, and the Lee/Kara meeting for the first time thing was a cool reminder of who Starbuck used to be before this war killed her/drove her angry and nuts.

The God stuff was sort of silly, though.

Thanks, Ron!