Saturday, August 24, 2013

(When) Is It OK To Be A Luddite?

NF has mixed feelings towards Battlestar Galactica. The first episode, in its undeniable brilliance raises hopes and expectations quite unlike anything in recent science fiction film/TV series memory (with the obvious exception of District 9). The initial few seasons are able to carry the drama well enough on their shoulders (the ending of the first season is again, quite unexpected and masterfully well realized) but the series sags under its own bulk later on with many plot holes looming over the horizon and some major irritants thrown in for good measure (the next time NF sees a flying object in space making a 'woosh' sound as it hurtles past, or hears the 'sound' of a deadly explosion ripping apart a spaceship, he promises he will just fucking smash the TV screen (sound needs air to travel, space is vacuum)). All this however, could have been forgiven and forgotten, since the delicate treatment of its complex storyline and impressive character development would've made such kvetching sound just grumpy and mean; and while NF is often pedantic, petulant and very demanding, (probably) one won't quite characterize him as mean. 

But it's impossible to ignore the brazenly evasive and just plain embarrassing last episode when the writers reveal themselves to be unapologetic Luddites who scurry to take refuge in occult supernaturalism to (not) explain why things happened the way they did. 

One wonders whether it was just bad, lazy writing or if there had been a quasi religious, subliminal, new-agey-spiritual-mumbo-jumbo-laden secret agenda being surreptitiously peddled all this time.

No comments: