Is Battlestar Galactica getting bad?

"Battlestar at its worst is better than almost anything else on television."

RIGHT ON!


And cheers to GC & Ernie, I agree with you both, completely.

(from yet another person who really really enjoyed "Unfinished Business")

The article is crap, pure and simple. He's the kind of guy who just wants to see stuff blow up ALL the time.

What people have to keep in mind is that BSG is actually a sci-fi show which can be enjoyed by everyone, not just 'geeks'. I never got into Star Trek, Stargate, etc. but BSG is a must-watch show...I even know some women who watch it, who otherwise hate sci-fi.

Granted, the last 3 episodes could be better, but this is a 20 episode season so there are bound to be some weak episodes. IMO there are only 2 dramas currently better than BSG: "The Wire" and "Dexter". People should savor this show. Frankly, I think that Lost and Heroes are crap compared to BSG.

I hate to fight what appears to be a surge of anti-BSG criticism, but as far as I'm concerned, "The Passage" was high-quality story-telling. Courage and sacrifice. Duty, loyalty, dedication. I could identify with the Raptor pilots as they fought nausea, radiation sickness and starvation, trying to shepherd the civilian ships through the star cluster. (Does anyone remember the passage through the straits of Madagan in TOS episode "Saga of a Star World"?) I like these stories, though Starbuck and her 'issues' are wearing a little thin. I may be in the minority, but I stand by my belief

"I believe we have been given a gift with this quality-actor(tress) packed program. If you can imagine BSG suddenly taken off the air, (which God knows it probably might happen anyway), then how would you feel? We'd all be lamenting and bitching about how we were deprived out of one of the best shows in history." ....TIM-1

I agree w/ you 100% completely. I like/love a few series, but i have never been this obsessed w/ a series to this extreme. EVER. BSG is such a revelation in terms of writing, performances, directing, editing(even musical score)...And yet its dismissed by many for its name alone for FRAKS sake!!! If SciFi/NBC Universal gives up on this show anytime soon---well then, their frakkin' idiots. BSG is a series that showed a HUGE amount of promise when it premierd as a mini-series, but it has set the bar SO HIGH as a tv series since then. It just keeps getting better and better. It is my addiction. I look forward to many more seasons. But w/ SciFi, you never know what their thinking. Long live BSG...SO SAY WE ALL!!!!!!!

Shows like this just don't come around every day. Considering the dearth of quality television shows out there, I believe we have been given a gift with this quality-actor(tress) packed program. If you can imagine BSG suddenly taken off the air, (which God knows it probably might happen anyway), then how would you feel? We'd all be lamenting and bitching about how we were deprived out of one of the best shows in history. I never comdemn critique. I think that what we as commenters do is a high compliment to any show, that is, taking the time to praise or brickbat the episodes. It is the mark of a fine show that brings out fans like us to get involved. It is this talk of the show getting bad or cutting back the episodes that concerns me. I bet that if every one of us would remember our least favorite episode it would be a certainty that no-one was displeased enough not to see it through with the anticipation that it is BSG. I will echo what has already been said in that you can't have stellar eps every week. Let's show the networks we are behind this show and not strike at its soul, but display our support, warts and silk alike!

Short answer - no.

Longer answer - does it really matter what an oik on a forum thinks?
At the end of the day it's a long story & not ever episode is going to please everyone. I wasn't massively into the boxing part of the last episode, but the NC bits were brilliantly done.
If Battlestar Galactica fails, it's not because of a lack of good story, it's because of impatient people giving up on it.
There IS an end point to the story (unlike Lost) and it will happen later rather than sooner I would hope because once it's finished it's finished & I'm sure any real fans of the show want it to go on for a long time.
If shows like CSI can continue with stand alone episodes, why shouldn't BSG take time out to explore side stories at times.

Bit of a waffle there

Yeah, time for me to chime in.

Its funny that we didn't read this same article written last season around the Black Market time... But some of what this guy said was plain stupid (as covered here so eloquently already). I have to comment on a couple:

10) Show runners often work on multiple projects, and most of the time, not to the detrement of the original (Weadon and Buffy/Angel/Firefly comes to mind as an example)

9) Subplots being left? Trust me, they're coming back. I don't mind them taking a back seat, as there are so very many stories to be told here (Hence my defense of Black Market (ducks again))

8) Thank you for whoever shouted SYMBOLISM at the top of their virutal lungs earlier

7) EJO stood out in Hero, methinks, without speechafying.

6) I have no REAL arguement here, but, FWIW, I don't remember any of the graphic scenes lately being with the three of them, at least not in bed (Though, my memory is sketchy here)

5) I agree and disagree with this. I think we're seeing too much of the Cylon's 'world.' However, I think our loss is their demystification. Campiness does not come to mind.

4) What was the title of the second episode of the series? What was it about?

3) And the problem is? I mean, I liked Unfinished Business. He obviously did not.

2) See, I thought at the end of the episode, it was left open on whether or not he actually caused the whole shebang. He can carry the guilt, but I don't think it went down that way (However, I think that we should have seen more hints to that guilt over time than what we were given... We were given some, but not enough).

1) Thin excuse? I thought it was a great juxtoposition of several issues. Boxing to solve tensions aboard ship/in unit has been a tradition going back years in the military. It was after the Admiral (purposely) got his ass kicked that he was able to make a point (given, in a speech), plus was finally got what the conflict was between Starbuck and Apollo.

So, yeah I guess that was all of them. I'm going to post the same at the Wired site, just because this post pissed me off so much. A few other things:

DustyT: I'm with you, I liked being dropped in the middle of the action.

GC: Hear, hear!!! Well put. Welcome to the BSG posting community here at TVSquad. I've not seen you around much before, but you've made some great comments recently.

dfew: You do realize, that this past week was the first episode that Espenson has been involved with, right?

mwg: I see your point, but we're here specifically to over-analyze ;)

3 sub-par shows in a row now...like last year when we were graced by, um, masterpieces like "Black Market" and "Scar". I just think 20 episodes is too much for them. They're great at ramping up to a season finale, they're great at picking up the pieces at the start of the next season, and in between? Borderline dreck. I'm hoping by show 14 or so it'll pick up again as they head toward the end of the season. Until then? A few good moments in each, but overall, more episodes that feel 2 hours long instead of one.

listen, the show is great. you all analyze it too much. why can't you all just watch it and enjoy it while it lasts. It's like complaining about your hot sports car sucking up too much gas when you should be enjoying how it rides. geesh...

I totally disagree w/ anyone that says this show is getting bad. The first five eps. of this season have been some of the best in BSG history imo. I thought Hero was the weakest ep. this season(so much so, that i didn't even post a comment for that ep.). The boxing-centric ep. might have been grating to some, but the backstory it provided for Kara and Lee was excellent. And I thought last nights episode was very good.

WIRED: "8. Rather than developing characters via personal transformation, character development is charted via hair length, presence/absence of beards, and weight gain/loss."

This has to be DUMBEST thing I've heard in a long time! Does this idiot over at WIRED even WATCH the show??!!

And those that say that Mary McDonnell and Tricia(I love her) Helfer are being wasted this season, they'll get their time to shine later this seasson I'm sure. Hell, Eward james Olmos spent the first half of season 2 laying in a bed unconscious. He didn't have much screen-time at all in the first half of last season(which annoyed me). I just think it is how the producers approach their material. And what story/character arcs they choose to develop in the course of a TWENTY EPISODE SEASON is up to them.

Ernie & GC: I agree w/ pretty much everything you said.

BSG is still the best hour of tv in my book. And I'm also a big LOST fan. That being said...I think BSG has been the SUPERIOR series in its third season. I hate to bring up another series in a BSG blog, but BSG came thundering out of the gate in season 3, while LOST has been flat in its third.
I'll end w/ this...BSG RULES!!!!