I think the potential of this shows is absolutely going to waste. Putting aside my ENORMOUS gripes about much of the show's premises (Oh no, humans built intelligent machines, so now they have to destroy all humans. We beat the Cylons 40 years ago, if we just leave them alone they'll leave us alone, oh wait, they just blew us up, etc. etc. etc.), this show just has far too many problems to be anything more than occasionally tolerable in its current state. My chief complaints concern some (though not all) cinematography elements, most of the characters, and the completely unbelievable scenarios and human interaction(yes, I know it's science fiction, a genre of the completely unbelievable, but I'm talking human decisions here, not creative fictional elements).
First off, there are minor issues with the camera work in this show. I understand the shaky camera view trying to emulate a documentary style, but there's really no reason for this. Gorgeous scenes are ruined by gratuitous zooming in/out and the accompanying fuzzy focus shifts. There's also the previous discussed hopping between faces with little/no transitions in order to try and heighten drama. It's just a little tough to buy into why the show pushes this camera style. You never see any people walking around with cameras (aside from from the press in relevant scenes), so why waste our time on attempts at simulating a more dramatic scene than the writing supports? I think this documentary style is perticularly well suited to scenes involving cockpit views during space combat or even a couple of the ground chase scenes. In the end, the camera style is just a poor coverup for many of BSG's shortcomings.
Then there are the largely awful characters. The cancer-ridden president who got the job because everyone else died. The alcoholic second-in-command. The largely forgettable fleet commander. The hotshot (moronic) pilot with something to prove (and of course it's a woman! Who's ever heard of a hotshot pilot with something to prove and wasn't a woman?). Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's reasonable to expect every character ever made to be completely unique and unlike anyone else. Formulaic characters aren't even necessarily bad when used properly. However, the characters of BSG are all so predefined it's laughable. In almost any given scene, it's hard not to know what character such-and-such is going to say to so-and-so about today's ridiculous situation. You always know when someone is about to be heroic or make some cutting remark or yet again point out who the real authority of the fleet is. I was a big fan of ST:TNG (until I saw B5) and an even bigger fan of ST:DS9 (until the finale ended in some pseudo-religious garbage instead of a spectacular fight). Each series had a number of characters that were largely formulaic but were actually extremely unique characters. Virtually every character in BSG sports the exact resentments and tensions you'd expect out of them. It's all very tiresome and dissapointing.
Finally, there's the issue of the ludicrous scenarios and silly, unbelievable, and yet predictable human interactions. CPO Galen protects Boomer when she admits to taking detonators regardless of the fact that whatever her story is, she's putting the lives of fifty thousand humans at risk, including Galen's. Regardless of whatever sexual gratification he gets out of the relationship, it hard to accept that he would just completely cover for Boomer. Apparently nobody ever pays attention to Baltar, either, unless he happens to be speaking to that person at that exact moment. Sure, only the viewers know he's got some sort of wierd Cylon issue, but when a civilian scientist is on the bridge of a combat ship and is showing every outward sign of sexual activity, it's just not possible that someone wouldn't think it a little unusual and be suspicious. Every time Baltar speaks with a major character, his dialogue may appropriately match the conversation because of "creative" writers, but his ton
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I think the potential of this shows is absolutely going to waste. Putting aside my ENORMOUS gripes about much of the show's premises (Oh no, humans built intelligent machines, so now they have to destroy all humans. We beat the Cylons 40 years ago, if we just leave them alone they'll leave us alone, oh wait, they just blew us up, etc. etc. etc.), this show just has far too many problems to be anything more than occasionally tolerable in its current state. My chief complaints concern some (though not all) cinematography elements, most of the characters, and the completely unbelievable scenarios and human interaction(yes, I know it's science fiction, a genre of the completely unbelievable, but I'm talking human decisions here, not creative fictional elements). First off, there are minor issues with the camera work in this show. I understand the shaky camera view trying to emulate a documentary style, but there's really no reason for this. Gorgeous scenes are ruined by gratuitous zooming in/out and the accompanying fuzzy focus shifts. There's also the previous discussed hopping between faces with little/no transitions in order to try and heighten drama. It's just a little tough to buy into why the show pushes this camera style. You never see any people walking around with cameras (aside from from the press in relevant scenes), so why waste our time on attempts at simulating a more dramatic scene than the writing supports? I think this documentary style is perticularly well suited to scenes involving cockpit views during space combat or even a couple of the ground chase scenes. In the end, the camera style is just a poor coverup for many of BSG's shortcomings. Then there are the largely awful characters. The cancer-ridden president who got the job because everyone else died. The alcoholic second-in-command. The largely forgettable fleet commander. The hotshot (moronic) pilot with something to prove (and of course it's a woman! Who's ever heard of a hotshot pilot with something to prove and wasn't a woman?). Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's reasonable to expect every character ever made to be completely unique and unlike anyone else. Formulaic characters aren't even necessarily bad when used properly. However, the characters of BSG are all so predefined it's laughable. In almost any given scene, it's hard not to know what character such-and-such is going to say to so-and-so about today's ridiculous situation. You always know when someone is about to be heroic or make some cutting remark or yet again point out who the real authority of the fleet is. I was a big fan of ST:TNG (until I saw B5) and an even bigger fan of ST:DS9 (until the finale ended in some pseudo-religious garbage instead of a spectacular fight). Each series had a number of characters that were largely formulaic but were actually extremely unique characters. Virtually every character in BSG sports the exact resentments and tensions you'd expect out of them. It's all very tiresome and dissapointing. Finally, there's the issue of the ludicrous scenarios and silly, unbelievable, and yet predictable human interactions. CPO Galen protects Boomer when she admits to taking detonators regardless of the fact that whatever her story is, she's putting the lives of fifty thousand humans at risk, including Galen's. Regardless of whatever sexual gratification he gets out of the relationship, it hard to accept that he would just completely cover for Boomer. Apparently nobody ever pays attention to Baltar, either, unless he happens to be speaking to that person at that exact moment. Sure, only the viewers know he's got some sort of wierd Cylon issue, but when a civilian scientist is on the bridge of a combat ship and is showing every outward sign of sexual activity, it's just not possible that someone wouldn't think it a little unusual and be suspicious. Every time Baltar speaks with a major character, his dialogue may appropriately match the conversation because of "creative" writers, but his ton