BSG Finale
While I didn't cry, it saddened the hell out of me. I'm still teary! But I'll be very honest, I don't think I could watch it again. It hit really close to home for me. Particularly Bill/Laura and the Bill and Lee goodbye.
Okay, now I'm crying.
I don't think I can even talk about Bill and Laura. All I can say is that nothing was set in stone when watching this episode. I kept expecting certain things to happen and then everything would turn on its head. I honestly thought they would all die, a number of times, but they didn't and when it was up to Kara to determine where they would go, I thought for sure they were dead. Instead she leads them to Earth (I love how Australia is the identifying characteristic) and it's now about finding a place to be at peace. The principle characters, well most of them, opting for a life of isolation, as if living in crowded ships for the last four/five years left them with a need to find themselves again and live without having the weight of other people's lives on their shoulders. Personally, I wouldn't blame them, though I am sure there is more to it then that. For instance, Tyrol, who has been betrayed by Cally, Tory and Boomer. It's clear why he wants to be away from people.
There's also the endlessly repetitive cycle that is implied since the beginning of the show. All this had happened before and the suggestion that it may happen again. What will it take for us to learn? And I don't just mean for the large scale things, but also in our lives. We make mistakes, we identify them, regret them even and then we do them again. The cycle continues. This cycle seems to imply that the purpose of life (through reincarnation, if you believe it) is to better ourselves. It's not about having the most awesome car, or the biggest house or any thing materialistic, it's about what's inside. What makes you happy.* But is it possible for an individual's happiness to be found in someone else? By that I don't just mean loving someone, I mean finding peace in someone. With someone. I don't know about anyone else, but such a relationship would require an incredible amount of trust. Something that our society today doesn't really encourage.
But, if such a bond can exist, we are able to see it in Bill and Laura's relationship. Bill has found happiness in Laura (and vice versa). Not just in the physical person of Laura, but everything that makes her Laura. His life is bound to Laura's. And while I don't think he would've committed suicide after she died, I also can't see him living long enough to build the cabin he describes to her either. Sometimes you hear of people who die not long after another who is extremely dear to them, I think this is what happens to Bill. He knows it when he tells Lee that he doesn't have long. And after Laura dies, he is heartbroken, but he continues to talk to her, as if she's not really gone. Or perhaps, as if he knows he will see her again. I say this because not everyone would be so calm after seeing a person they love so much die before their eyes. Not unless they believed death was not the end. Their story ends with hope, but in hope there is death and in death, there is hope.
I do wonder though, can such a relationship equal a similar sense of peace found in prayer? If God is within everyone, does such a relationship also imply a closeness to God? If so, then being close to God is not as unattainable as we might believe if we could only learn to love each other and maybe, if we're lucky, find someone(s) with whom we find peace.
I know this might not have been what the TPTB of Battlestar Galactica wanted to get across, but it's what made the greatest impression on me as a viewer. That's not to say that the rest of the episode was not brilliant. It was. The cast and the crew did an amazing job with giving this show such an engaging, moving and thought-provoking finale.
*If you know me well you may have heard of me bitching about the concept of reincarnation and how it's supposed to work. You sin in your last life and pay the price for it in your next. I've always thought that if we're going to pay for our past sins, wouldn't it be better to know what they were? But, honestly, after watching this episode and re-reading what I wrote above, I realised that it's not necessary to know what you did, all you need to do is strive to be the best person you can. That's how I believe you reduce your karma and reach the other side.
And, uh... If the above seems heavily focussed on spritual aspects of the show, I have to admit that I am far more spiritual than I probably let on.
Okay, now I'm crying.
I don't think I can even talk about Bill and Laura. All I can say is that nothing was set in stone when watching this episode. I kept expecting certain things to happen and then everything would turn on its head. I honestly thought they would all die, a number of times, but they didn't and when it was up to Kara to determine where they would go, I thought for sure they were dead. Instead she leads them to Earth (I love how Australia is the identifying characteristic) and it's now about finding a place to be at peace. The principle characters, well most of them, opting for a life of isolation, as if living in crowded ships for the last four/five years left them with a need to find themselves again and live without having the weight of other people's lives on their shoulders. Personally, I wouldn't blame them, though I am sure there is more to it then that. For instance, Tyrol, who has been betrayed by Cally, Tory and Boomer. It's clear why he wants to be away from people.
There's also the endlessly repetitive cycle that is implied since the beginning of the show. All this had happened before and the suggestion that it may happen again. What will it take for us to learn? And I don't just mean for the large scale things, but also in our lives. We make mistakes, we identify them, regret them even and then we do them again. The cycle continues. This cycle seems to imply that the purpose of life (through reincarnation, if you believe it) is to better ourselves. It's not about having the most awesome car, or the biggest house or any thing materialistic, it's about what's inside. What makes you happy.* But is it possible for an individual's happiness to be found in someone else? By that I don't just mean loving someone, I mean finding peace in someone. With someone. I don't know about anyone else, but such a relationship would require an incredible amount of trust. Something that our society today doesn't really encourage.
But, if such a bond can exist, we are able to see it in Bill and Laura's relationship. Bill has found happiness in Laura (and vice versa). Not just in the physical person of Laura, but everything that makes her Laura. His life is bound to Laura's. And while I don't think he would've committed suicide after she died, I also can't see him living long enough to build the cabin he describes to her either. Sometimes you hear of people who die not long after another who is extremely dear to them, I think this is what happens to Bill. He knows it when he tells Lee that he doesn't have long. And after Laura dies, he is heartbroken, but he continues to talk to her, as if she's not really gone. Or perhaps, as if he knows he will see her again. I say this because not everyone would be so calm after seeing a person they love so much die before their eyes. Not unless they believed death was not the end. Their story ends with hope, but in hope there is death and in death, there is hope.
I do wonder though, can such a relationship equal a similar sense of peace found in prayer? If God is within everyone, does such a relationship also imply a closeness to God? If so, then being close to God is not as unattainable as we might believe if we could only learn to love each other and maybe, if we're lucky, find someone(s) with whom we find peace.
I know this might not have been what the TPTB of Battlestar Galactica wanted to get across, but it's what made the greatest impression on me as a viewer. That's not to say that the rest of the episode was not brilliant. It was. The cast and the crew did an amazing job with giving this show such an engaging, moving and thought-provoking finale.
*If you know me well you may have heard of me bitching about the concept of reincarnation and how it's supposed to work. You sin in your last life and pay the price for it in your next. I've always thought that if we're going to pay for our past sins, wouldn't it be better to know what they were? But, honestly, after watching this episode and re-reading what I wrote above, I realised that it's not necessary to know what you did, all you need to do is strive to be the best person you can. That's how I believe you reduce your karma and reach the other side.
And, uh... If the above seems heavily focussed on spritual aspects of the show, I have to admit that I am far more spiritual than I probably let on.