A Dark Ending with a New Beginning

starbuck_daybreakThis week I’ve recapped BSG’s “Daybreak Part 1” and put forward my analysis on how the show may be taking place in an alternate universe. I’ve also offered how I think transportation and communication maybe have occurred between the realities.

But what about the ending? How do you think BSG will end on Friday? What clues do we have?

Left, Starbuck in “Daybreak Part 2.”

Ron Moore and The Sopranos

A fan of The Sopranos, Ron Moore loved, loved, loved the ending of that show. The Sopranos had no resolution to anything. Moore said on his SciFi Channel blog:

Oh, I’m sure there are those who will bemoan the lack of resolution to the story or that Chase has somehow “robbed the fans” but I’m a fan and I’m ecstatic. I’m glad he thumbed his nose at the tyranny of the narrative drive to bring things to a tidy conclusion so we can all clap and walk away without another thought about that mob family in Jersey, satisfied that all’s well that ends well. Screw that. I don’t want to see Tony’s death, nor do I want to watch him drive off into witness protection, or sit down to some kind of illusory happiness in the bosom of his family. I simply want to pretend that his life continues, that he’s still simultaneously worrying about onion rings and whether that guy is hiding a gun in the restroom.

It’s poetic. It’s exciting. It’s perfect.

And most of all, I wish I’d thought of it first.

I think we can take from this that not all of the mysteries will be completely resolved. Quite a bit may be left up to viewers’ interpretations.

Tricia Helfer

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune’s Mo Ryan for The Watcher blog, Helfer gave her reaction to reading the finale script:

MR: You’ve seen all the scripts for the final episodes — how did they affect you? How do you see them fitting into the legacy of the show?

TH: I think they’re fantastic scripts. Obviously, it’s the end of the series, so things are going to be revealed, and all the questions are going to be answered. There’s a lot to fit in. I’ve heard some fans say, whoa, there’s so much in every episode, and that’s certainly not going to change in the last half of the season, there’s so much to get out there. It’s intense…

There’s some really heartwarming stuff, there’s some very damaging, sad stuff. It’s such a commentary on human behavior and social behavior and where our world is and can go. I find the last episode is quite fascinating, the study of life.

I take this to mean that there won’t be one monolithic ending for all of the characters. There won’t be one huge resolution. The endings for the characters will splinter based on their individual character arcs.

Edward James Olmos

TVAddict.com reports on Olmos’ comments regarding the ending at FanExpo 2008 in Toronto:

With regard to the ending, he responded, “Emotionally, heartbreaking. I’m telling you this for a reason, because I don’t want you guys to think you’re going to go through this without getting yourself really twisted—it’s brutal what happens to us. Not many of us make it.”  He described that executive producer/writer Ronald D. Moore has no mercy when it comes to telling the Galactica story. It has become quite dark, and is going to get darker.

I take this to mean that a whole lot of characters are going to die. Most of what’s left of humanity will be gone and the Cylons may also be decimated.

Jamie Bamber

Bamber told the New York Times Syndicate:

“And, most important, you will be privy to a really sublime ending,” he continues. “(Executive producer/writer) Ron Moore’s ending is just beautiful, and it ends appropriately. The whole journey of the Galactica has really been a voyage of self-discovery, an identity crisis, a search for meaning, and the characters are forced to really come to conclusions about who they are at the end.

“So it’s pretty spiritual and Zen, and it’s where they need to be at the end of this chaos,” Bamber continues. “The question is, ‘What have they learned and who are they?’ “

I take this to mean that it’s all about the characters, not the plot. Also, the “spiritual and Zen” and “the end of this chaos” make me think some of the characters will find a kind of nirvana.

The Hybrid’s Prophecy

Finally, let’s revisit the hybrid’s prophecy:

“And the Fifth, still in shadow, will claw toward the light, hungering for redemption that will only come in the howl of terrible suffering. I can see them all. The seven, now six, self-described machines who believe themselves without sin, but in time, it is sin that will consume them. They will know enmity, bitterness, the wrenching agony of the one splintering into the many, and then they will join the promised-land, gathered on the wings of an angel. Not an end, but a beginning.”

The hybrid’s prophecy about Starbuck:

“You are the harbinger of death, Kara Thrace. You will lead them all to their end.”

I take “they will join the promised-land, gathered on the wings of an angel…[N]ot an end, but a beginning…” to mean that Starbuck will lead some people through the singularity. It’s possible she may be the angel and her wing tattoo may be a reference to this. Or, the One True God etc. may appear as a different head character to each person. I do think the closer Starbuck gets to the singularity, the memories she had when she first returned will re-emerge. She will know where Earth is again. Those who follow her will “join the promised-land,” our Earth. Those who don’t will die. Those who did not volunteer for the mission will continue to search for Earth in their universe.

The End

The writers have introduced the naked singularity, a huge concept to introduce so late in the game, but what are they going to do with it? It must have an impact on the character arcs. Someone is going through that black hole, whether it’s as a gateway to an alternate universe where our Earth exists or whether it’s a passage to the afterlife.

A “dark ending with a new beginning” could mean that only part of the fleet gets through the singularity. The fleet is no longer whole because the Galactica is going on a suicide mission to rescue Hera operated by volunteers while the rest of the fleet stays behind. Only part of the fleet will be going down the rabbit hole.

It makes sense that only those willing to make the ultimate sacrifice receive the ultimate reward. We know the ending a somewhat open-ended based on how Moore loved The Sopranos ending, so it may turn out that we don’t really know the exact fate of those who pass through. It may be up to interpretation if those who pass through are literally dead or have gone to an alternate universe. “Earth” could be a figurative afterlife “paradise” or a literal planet.