Battlestar Galactica: The Final Episodes has begun. It has been a long wait since the cliffhanger in which the ragtag fleet finally found earth, only to discover it was a barren wasteland. [Spoliers].
While the episode was full of revelations and also introduced many new questions, the thing that struck me most was the theme of hope or, more accurately, the loss of hope. Since the Cylons destroyed the 12 colonies and the humans escaped and sought refuge in earth, the dream of earth has been a major driving force in keeping them going. Perhaps we might better say that what has given them strength and courage to continue on their journey was the belief, the hope, that they would find a place to call home, to settle down, to stop running and try and regain some of what was lost – it was not Earth, per se, as the majority of people were willing to settle on New Caprica (“Lay Down Your Burdens”).
What we see in this episode is that, as this final dream, the dream of settling down on Earth is crushed, so too is the spirit of the people to go on. Humans and cylons wander aimlessly across the beach on which they have landed trying to take in this new reality. Roslin stumbles with what words to offer the crew when she returns to Galactica. As BSG continues to address the issue of what it means to be human, I want to look at three characters/storylines and what they might suggest about the question, “What do you do when hope dies?”
Adama provides an interesting figure because it was he who first gave the fleet something to live for, something to fight for with his speech of how he woudl lead the people to a place called Earth. At the time he did not even believe that Earth existed, but it was a story for people to cling to, a beacon of light in the midst of a storm. He justifies this initial lie with the thought that the people needed something to believe in. The suicide of Dualla along with the end of the dream pushes Adama over the edge. He gets drunk and storms off to Tigh’s office where he tries to commit suicide by cylon (there is a great little bit when he walking down the corridor and passes two guys brawling and he simply just walks on by). Here is the one who has held the fleet together and he simply seems to fall apart as hope is gone.
During the course of the episode we see Dualla and Lee starting to rekindle some of the old flame. At first it seems that there is hope in the midst of the loss, that even though times are tough there is power in a relationship. Hope has been born in the face of despair, she wants to remember the day forever. Then, in one of the most stunning BSG moments, she puts her pistol to her head and ends the day and her life. With the dream of a new life gone, there is no more hope and Dee chooses not to go on.
In the midst of all the gray and black, Helo and Athena offer a bright spot. Although no one knows what will come next, they take the time to play with Hera, to have fun with her and also spend some time together. This is the only thing close to a healthy relationship in the whole show and here we see that one of the thing that gives us strength is our relationship with others, in particular our family.
The ongoing theme of the show is what it means to be human. In this episode, the writers give us a chance to see how humans handle despair and the loss of hope. The one thing that strikes me is that we learn what happens when we place all of our life’s hopes on one single thing, on a solitary dream. When that dream is taken away, there is little to do but despair. This is a powerful reminder to us all to think about where we place our hope. What happens when we place our hope in some thing of this world, some dream that we think we can achieve – a particular job, a retirement that looks just so. Even the recent stock market collapse has set people into rethinking a lot of things because those things that they put hope in. For the follower of Jesus, we must remember that we have a hope in something that is certain, a God whose promises do not fail. (Romans 8:23-25 , 2 Corinthians 3:11-13).
All in all – a great episode, one of the reasons that I like BSG so much with one minor quibble, the continued and seemingly increasing use of the word frak. The dialogue at one point goes something like this. “Frak you. You don’t know when to keep your frakkin’ mouth shut and follow orders. “ In the course of this brief encounter we hear frak at least 5 times. This will probably be the topic of a separate post but a few brief thoughts. Do people swear? Yes, especially under pressure. My point is that it often seems forced. It strikes me as lazy writing – “We need Adama to be mad. I know, let’s have him say frak.” It also does not challenge the actors at all. But, more some other time.
Many questions remain: How did Kara’s viper (and Kara?) end up on earth when they were so far away when it exploded? How did they know that all the bones were cylon ones? Didn’t earlier shows suggest that they had no way to know who was a cylon? So, who or what is Starbuck? Where are the other cylons? How do these timelines and stories all go together?
But for now – we will be waiting for the next episode. So say we all!
