OK, upon thinking about it, I’ve decided that no matter how good the season finale two parter of BSG might be, RDM Effect is unavoidable. Look, no matter how they handle the Starbuck thing, it’s going to utterly reek of abject failure of imagination.
Here are the scenarios that could play out:
- Starbuck appears at the end of the episode alive and well and says she really knows the way to earth and that this was her destiny all along. Based on what I’ve read, this is the most likely scenario. That’s just droll and unimaginative. Mysteriously back from the dead? What a played out drama cliché. You go through the task of killing her only for this? Whiskey, tango, foxtrot, over?
- Starbuck wakes up in a vat of goo. Whoops, she’s one of the final five Cylons. It makes all the crap they’ve put her through all this time cheap. Besides, why pick such a fractured personality for a Cylon?
- Starbuck stays dead as a post. That just says “well, we ran out of ideas on where we could take her. Sorry, Katee, but best of luck in the acting world!”
In all seriousness, people, there’s really nowhere to go with any of this but classic RDM Effect hell. The show barely escaped it last season, and we might just end up even deeper in it. Ugh.
I have this thing called the Ronald D. Moore effect that goes like this: in any show the man is a part of, there’s always good buildup of a plot point or element that gets you, the viewer, very much excited about what happens next, only when you get to the moment of truth, it’s an utter, utter, dud. It’s like premature ejaculation, but not quite as messy (or embarrassing). It’s happened in almost every facet of Star Trek he’s worked on, especially Star Trek: Generations (it wasn’t a terrible plot overall, but the whole Kirk death thing could have been so much more exciting and impactful), and it’s happened more than once on Battlestar Galatica. Case in point: the second season finale. They spent a long time over several episodes building up all of this intrigue that Roslin knew Batlar was in cahoots with Number Six as the presidential elections approached. On top of this, we have Starbuck and company pinned down something fierce on Caprica on their rescue mission. Finally, we get to the big moment, and instead of giving us a backroom political potboiler that would have turned heads, we get this weak “fast forward a year to drugged up President Baltar” crap that led into the whole occupation thing that made the first half of Season 3 practically unwatchable. There was such an opportunity there to do so much more (e.g., does Roslin put aside her scruples and swiftboat Baltar to win the election? NO! She tries to steal it, and does it in such a sloppy manner, she’s caught red handed), but it was all wasted potential.
Such is how I feel after the recent episode Maelstrom, a.k.a, the Death of Starbuck. First off, I’m mad at my Tivo for having a moment and recording the entire second half of the episode without any goddamn sound. There’s been innuendo all season about Starbuck having this special destiny and all that, and they just up and presumably kill her like that. Now, while I’ve read things to suggest that she might not be dead, I have also heard that Katie Sakhoff, the actress that plays Starbuck is looking for new work and wanting to get away from sci-fi, so this may have actually been the noble end of Lt. Thrace. Except, it wasn’t noble, because she wasn’t really defending anyone and she died after having some kind of “episode”.
Time will tell how the shows pulls through thanks to events like this (I hear the season finale two-parter is vintage BSG), but once you’ve experienced the RDM effect, things are never quite as good after.
I just want to point something out to everyone. Apple folk who are firmly routed in the reality distortion field and are loving it will rant your head off about how great Apple products are because of their awesome design, ease-of-use, coolness factor, etc. That’s great, but I had another reminder at why my Apple love stops at my iPod.
I happen to own the FM radio remote for my iPod. It’s more for the remote feature of it (so I can keep the iPod in my pocket of my coat or shirt and be able to change songs easily) than for the radio (which gets lousy reception, even when I’m in the City and reception should be clear). I bought this thing last August or so, not too long after I bought a fifth-generation iPod. Let me just say this. I’ve just had to have the stupid thing replaced for the second goddamn time. That’s twice in less than a year! Now, I will admit that Apple’s service has been top-notch. Both times, the Genius at the Apple Store (as they call their tech support folk) have replaced the thing with no hassles or questions. But, seriously, having to replace something like that twice in one year is pretty ridiculous.
All of the great design in the world doesn’t mean much to me if the quality of the finished product is terrible and will just break constantly. It’s why I want an Apple laptop, but don’t really want an Apple laptop, if you understand what I’m saying (those have been plagued with numerous technical issues ever since Apple switched to the Intel platform, and despite what the devout may say, it has everything to do with Apple and nothing to do with Intel). I’ll take something that looks boring, but is highly reliable over something that’s flashy, but a flaky piece of shit when it counts. I could never live with something that would be such a major investment knowing that at the company that made it, quality was priority 1.1.1.
