Thoughts on the End of BSG: So Say We All…

I don’t really want to say anything about the plot or the final episode, or any of the other minutea that I’m sure is being discussed on the internetz regarding the intricacies of the plot/characters.  The BSG team gave us four great seasons full of people and events that elicited honest emotional responses from the viewers.  Thank you.  Really, thank you.  Television can go back to completely sucking now.

What I would like to discuss are some conclusions that I drew from the final episode:

[Mandatory Spoiler Alert]

Apparently, God is the Kind of Deity that Makes Its Spouse Tell the Same Story Over and Over Again at Dinner Parties:
I draw that conclusion from the fact that the BSG God has come up with this wonderfully intricate story of creation and destruction, complete with miracles, incredible acts, and the interference of angels, and it’s perfect!  Except for one thing; it’s really short.  Like, “short story written in college by aspiring novelist” short.  So instead of working on developing said short story into a novel, this God decides that it will just repeat the same short story, over, and over, and over again.  No problem with that, but if God is infinite, don’t you think that its spouse may be bored of telling “the Earth story” over and over at divine cocktail parties.

Once Again, Lee Does the Right Thing, Not the Smart Thing:
Okay, opportunity for a fresh start on a new planet.  Great.  Remove from technology from the equation.  Yes and no.  Eliminate ability to keep comprehensive records, thereby not allowing society to learn from its mistakes.  Hm, I’ll have to get back to you on that one.

So, weren’t a good number of events involving massive loss of life or general mayhem in the BSG universe caused by a crucial lack of information for the parties involved?  The final five stopped the first Cylon War, but after Cavil wiped their memories (and didn’t tell any of the other skinjobs) the end result was the annihilation of humanity.  If the other skinjobs had the same info Cavil did, would that have happened?  Would Baltar been able to win an election (or continue living) if anyone at all knew his part in the destruction of humanity?  Would the final five have been able to do anything as a cohesive unit if Tyrol had known what Tori did?  And how much time did everyone spend trying to figure out what the frak was going on with all this destiny and prophecy crap?

Which brings me to Lee’s decision to basically ensure that the cycle perpetuates, by entrusting the collective memories, lessons learned, and best practices of the Colonial Fleet on the matters of destiny and the humane treatment of artificial intelligence to cornerless paper at best, and oral storytelling at worst, he basically made a repetition of those same mistakes inevitable.  You think that the lessons of the epic Human-Cylon conflict could survive a 150,000 year game of telephone?  Second verse, same as the first…

Starbuck was One Line Away from Greatness
Going on the above supposition, what if Starbuck had somehow convinced Lee that getting rid of technology (and with it, comprehensive record keeping) was the way to go?  This could have been inserted as an extra couple of lines, or in a slight reworking of a scene.  I think that ensuring the perpetuation of the cycle is good enough to be considered Harbinger of Doom-ish.  I mean, the way I interpret that part of the plot, the Starbuck role in the “all this has happened before, all this has happened again” thing is that she flips the switch and resets the game from the end of one round, to the beginning of the next.  However, in beginning the game again, she is essentially setting everyone up for the ultimate end.

So how great would it have been to have Lee decide to doom the human race to repetition of the same mistakes based on the advice of an “angel” whose sole purpose is to hit the reset button and point humanity toward doom again?

I’ll probably have more thoughts about the last episode, especially after I watch it again, but I will most likely be too lazy to write about them.