DPP: Wish List & Coping

[rdave1.livejournal.com]

During the last few episodes of BSG, I was scribbling down all of my thoughts and predictions as to what might happen during the finale. Then the finale happened and I needed to find a way to accept what happened and how it ALL ended. So other than crying, talking with all of you lovely peeps; I wrote a list in the middle of the night. My version of what I’m thankful for that we got to see with pilots and what I wish we had gotten to see. This list made me more functional for the work week after the finale.

What I would like to know is what did you all do to cope with finale? Did you rewrite the end; create happy pilot gifs and icons? Did you make lists? I’m really curious about those who came into fandom after the finale.  Also, did anyone else have a wish list for pilots, things that we should have gotten to see?

Here is a link for a zip file of all the songs mentioned in yesterday's DPP: Megaupload

If this doesn't work or you want me to post it on another sight, just let me know.


**REMINDER: The revelations for the challenge from last week are due Sunday, May 16th.**
I was supposed to post this yesterday but I fail!:)

Comments

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

I'll join this discussion from the perspective of someone who only started watching the show after it was already over, and who had heard enough going into the finale to know that it wouldn't end happily for Kara and Lee, and that a lot of people hated the episode overall. My low expectations turned out to be a tremendous help, because I wound up actually liking much of the finale. I didn't have to suffer through the shock, and I was prepared enough not to feel betrayed. The things I disliked were kind of unusual for a Kara/Lee shipper, in that I was alright with the actual final storyline but I loathed all the flashback storylines. I know - I'm weird.

I think the final Kara/Lee scene should have been better written and shot (we all wanted more emotion), but I don't have a fundamental problem with the poof the way almost everyone else does. Lee's muted reaction was the most problematic part of it, and although I'm not crazy about it, I understand the point the scene was trying to convey (she has found peace, and loving her has enriched him rather than broken him; they are both strong enough for this love and this loss ~ together they saved the world, but not for themselves). I don't think it was disrespectful to their characters in its concept (or even if it was, I think it left open a lot of room for interpretation), though its execution did leave much to be desired.

I'm not trying to argue that the finale was objectively good - I know it caused a lot of people pain, which totally sucks, and of course I wish that the writers would've stopped sabotaging Kara and Lee's potential for the sake of 'drama' LONG before the finale. I wish they'd had time to work through their emotional issues and professional responsibilities and finally get to have what they so desperately wanted and deserved. But I didn't find it unrealistic that they never had the chance.

They were caught in an incredibly brutal war, and they lived on the front lines for years. They were both, in their own ways, emotionally troubled (especially Kara), they were in their mid-twenties and being forced to shoulder responsibilities for the fate of the human race. I can accept that, in such circumstances, a woman like Kara would live a life both luminous and short. I'm sorry that that's the way her story went, but I didn't think it betrayed the fundamental character.

A lot of people are bitter about the role of fate in stripping her of free will, and I understand that perspective and I'm not trying to talk anyone out of it. But, from my perspective, Kara did make a choice, a choice consistent with her character, way back in Maelstrom: she chose to sacrifice herself for the good of humanity, to make peace with the woman who had hurt her most horribly, and to surrender herself to a leap of faith (and faith was always a fundamental, incomprehensible part of her). That was her choice, and from her perspective it looked like a victory. The consequences of that choice were baffling and inescapable, but I can't regard her as a puppet in the process. I didn't regard her as a puppet when she chose to sacrifice her life in "Razor" for the sake of a military mission; I don't regard her as a puppet for choosing to lay down her life in an act of faith, either. Both devotions - as a loyal soldier and a follower of prophecy - were part of who she was and who she chose to be throughout the series.

And Lee was pretty much the only person I can imagine being strong enough to love her so completely for the person she was, and to not be destroyed by sharing - and ultimately surviving - the tragic path she both chose and was guided to follow. This was the only time he didn't hate her for leaving him; he seemed to understand what her sacrifice had bought for the human race, and was willing to share the price with her.

That's why I didn't hate it, but I'm sure I would have felt *very* differently if I had experienced it the way many of you did, after years of devotion and expectation and hope. And I think we can all agree that very little of this interpretation came through clearly in the finale scene in question. I just fill in the blanks with unhealthy enthusiasm :)

[ninjamonkey73.livejournal.com]

Your posts make my brain melt. In a good way. :)

I also came to the show after it had ended (I had managed to not know anything about it, though). Watching it over 39 days instead of years, I came at the finale from a different place, too. I didn't have 4 seasons and 5+ years invested, and I had the benefit of watching the whole arc play out on consecutive nights.

(she has found peace, and loving her has enriched him rather than broken him; they are both strong enough for this love and this loss ~ together they saved the world, but not for themselves)

That's what I thought, too. Sure I wanted either a walk-off-into-the-sunset or heroic, explosive death, but I got that he'd reached a place where he could go on. Doesn't mean I didn't tear up, but I got it.

Re: free will, I actually had taken the poof to be a free will action on Kara's part. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew she was done on that plane of existence and that it wouldn't be right to linger now that her mission was accomplished. Right or wrong, Kara Thrace & Her Special Destiny had reached the end of her human path. And I agree that it never felt like she wasn't choosing. In Razor and Maelstrom and everywhere Kara tried to take one for the team.

This was the only time he didn't hate her for leaving him; he seemed to understand what her sacrifice had bought for the human race, and was willing to share the price with her.

THIS. I love post-finale fics where he does go exploring. I felt like he'd realized they weren't getting their bright shiny futures back in Islanded, and him talking about exploring didn't feel like he was talking about them doing it.

Not the finale I wanted, but it fit into the S4 mythos I had constructed.

[rdave1.livejournal.com]

Well, when you guys put it like that for a moment it might be okay but the execution of that was all wrong.

Not the finale I wanted, but it fit into the S4 mythos I had constructed.

It would've worked for S4 but it didn't work with the mythos from the first 3 seasons.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

I just want to add that I agree with you that the execution was poorly done. I just have a tendency to dive into the task of reading between the lines, which is what saved the finale for me.

Best wishes!

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Thanks for letting me know I have a kindred finale spirit out there ~ I think it really did make a difference to come to the end through the DVD experience rather than through years of watching it live on television through all its ups and downs.

Maybe us latecomers find it easier to share a bit of Jamie Bamber's rose-colored glasses on the finale, but that's OK by me :) Disappointment without despair seems the right note to strike.

And then we can go read fanfiction!

[rdave1.livejournal.com]

I think you late comers got lucky. Even if you didn't know exactly what was going to happen, you were prepared.

I had my rose-colored glasses on for pilots till the finale, then they just blew off.:)

[lyras.livejournal.com]

I'm another fan who watched the show after it had finished airing, and I think you make a good point. I was pretty much unspoiled for the ending, and...I didn't exactly like it (in fact, I wept through it), but at least I didn't have several seasons-worth of shared excitement and hopes built up over them.

"Disappointment without despair" - yes, exactly!

[rdave1.livejournal.com]

*slow Adama clap*

That is all I give on this my friend. It got me all teary eyed reading it. Beautifully said.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! It was a fun question to think about ~ I'm really enjoying your wonderful pilot!love leadership this week :)

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

See, the thing I hated most about the finale is that it asked us to fill in those blanks.

I wanted to see this story come to its own natural and fitting conclusion and not have to fanwank it.

I think that's why my first reaction (http://taragel.livejournal.com/45038.html#cutid1) to the finale was most prevalently very strong anger. Not even sadness, but anger first and foremost.

Because in their lack of execution on all points, they were taking the easy way out and making the audience do the work they should have done as storytellers.

The writers needed to work harder to make their ending fit the story they'd been telling.

Overall, my first reaction was a lot of anger that that hand-waving mess of an episode had been the culmination of what was mostly a very compelling and rewarding story.

For pilots specifically, I was angry and uncomprehending at how ill-fitting the end was because it was so devoid of meaningful excahnge between them both in the present and the past. So I wrote meta-crack-fic (http://taragel.livejournal.com/46956.html) about Kara and her destiny (which for my money was also poorly handled in Maelstrom's execution) and then I joined forces with Bee to write silly, smutty, fix-it fic (http://taragel.livejournal.com/53045.html) for the back half of 4.5. I meta (http://taragel.livejournal.com/45165.html) and meta'd some more (http://taragel.livejournal.com/46291.html) a bit in there too.

[rdave1.livejournal.com]

My first reaction was WTF as well. I think that was the name of every post that night.

Simply put, they just failed pilots on all fronts. We had this great start then they just dropped them. Just fail!!

The rage still comes back with a vengence from time to time. Thank god for breathing exercises.:)

OMG!! I had forgotten the crack!fic about Boxey being God. That was made of win.

[cosetteferaud.livejournal.com]

After so many months, I have been re-reading some of the posts you've linked here... Oddly, the first thought that crosses my mind is "good times". And Tara in all her ragey glory made me smile. Your posts and all the subsequent comments were so cathartic.

[kag523.livejournal.com]

I think that is an AWESOME response to the finale! And the fact that it seems almost universal (at least in fan communities) makes me wonder if there really was some conscious decision along with way to avoid having to answer all the questions... and just leave us all hanging. The easy way out, if you will.

Now, as soon as I'm done writing, I'm going to find all of your fix-it-fics! (Right now, however, I'm posting nightly, and even NOW should actually be writing.) :>D

[cosetteferaud.livejournal.com]

You know, rationally, I can accept all this. And it's funny, because ”my reaction” (http://cosetteferaud.livejournal.com/16106.html) after the finale was very zen --holding on to pretty much the same arguments you have pointed out. My main problem, though, is that deep down I know everything was lazy writing. RDM killed Kara for the shock value and, in the end, he chose the easy way out with her. I can deal just fine with the notion of Kara becoming Jesus an angel/goddess who saved humanity on a philosophical level, but my understanding of the character always revolved more around her tribulations as a woman --her life as a viper pilot, her loves and her personal demons--, than her damn big role as a mythological construct. So the fact that none of these aspects seemed to play a significant role in her ultimate purpose and that she was reduced to some sort of plot device in S4 was disappointing, frustrating and really annoying. Honestly, I felt cheated. And Kara and Lee's goodbye... I know what they were going for but the execution was so poorly handled, so cold and ambiguous... The lack of a real closure for them still breaks my heart, after so many months.

But well, I am with you that your perspective of the finale was possibly shaped by your own experience as a viewer. It's interesting to compare the reactions between those who watched the show in "real time" --probably much more emotionally invested after years of obsessing over the show and these characters-- and those who watched the whole story when it was over. I am in the middle, I guess; this show and this pairing had so much potential, the ending could have been something sublime and truly epic if only they would have given it more thought. But alas, we got what we got. I know I will never be ok with that ending, but since I can't reject it, I've tried to rationalize it. And I've reached a point where and I can see some beauty in it.

[rdave1.livejournal.com]

I wish I could get my brain to accept that finale but even if I leave my heart out of it, my head won't buy the ending. Even if I believe that Kara's decision was of her own free will and such; I just can't buy that Lee didn't even have a reaction to her disappearing again. There were no goodbyes, no final chat between them and Lee didn't even bat an eye. Things like that are just so out of character for pilots at least to me.

[damao2010.livejournal.com]

"My main problem, though, is that deep down I know everything was lazy writing. RDM killed Kara for the shock value"

This is my biggest problem with the finale (as far as Kara and Lee are concerned, that is). And my biggest problem with the series as a whole. Kara's death and return always felt more than a little contrived to me. I mean, I loved to have her back and some of the scenes she had with Lee afterwards were just beautiful and a real testament to the level of their connection, but it made no sense and it was not necessary. It was one more device to keep them artificially apart.
If the whole thing had been better written, and they hadn't denied them more of a closure at some point in the story, I would have been able to accept her disappearance/death in the end. Then, I could have felt more at peace with their tragical, bittersweet end.

[thegreenkitty.livejournal.com]

Thanks for linking to your initial reaction, bb. It was honest and well-written and perfect. I love the pics you included too. Our pilots did at least get a few beautiful moments there during the Adama good-byes and I try to focus on those good moments. Your point that K/L didn't need to say "I love you" b/c it was understood is valid and appreciated.

I agree, I have gotten to the point where I can see some beauty in it all. I also agree that it still breaks my heart even though it's been more than a year. And of course we don't even need to say that we will always love them. <3

[cherylad.livejournal.com]

I'm with you Cosette. For me, the show went completely off the rails at the end of Maelstrom. We KNEW he was bringing her back because the show made no sense without Starbuck for Apollo and Kara for Lee, what we didn't realize was that when the show would stop making any sense at all.

When we through in humans returning from the dead, we were in deep, deep trouble and had switched from gritty realism to Lost. They turned the island, we turned the universe from dramatic story-telling to Fantasyland.

Then, in Crossroads, when the final four of five came out, we switched from a show about a tribe of humans escaping a genocidal holocaust to the all-cylons-all the time and discovered we were really watching a story about the CYLONS not the one about HUMANS we thought we were watching.

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

Bravo! Well said.

Like you, I actually watched the series in one fell swoop after my friend lent me the mini during the holidays last year, so I didn't have the time investment either. But, having watched it in the obsessive, I don't have time for doing anything other than watching this way that I did, it affected me on a very deep level. It literally changed my life.

Now, on to the ending. It's funny, but I actually don't have a problem with the K/L resolution either. I get it. The "angel" Kara was not really Kara. She was a "being of light," a "harbinger." She was ... Aurora. (PS There's a great fic out there with her being just that, full on with wings and everything. It's awesome. If any of you have a link to it, please share cuz my fic list is a total mess right now)

I never considered the possibility that K/L would end up together. If you look at BSG's world the way it was intended, i.e. in shades of gray, then K/L's getting together would've ruined that sense of reality. The only time that it could've happened was after the algae planet when Kara point blank offers herself to Lee and even then, as much as I always hated Lee's not "manning up," I understood why he didn't trust/believe her.

My biggest problem with the finale was the flashbacks. I think portraying Kara as some drunk slut who would double-dog dare her boyfriend's brother to do her on the dining room table was a real low blow for her character. The Kara that we know and love would never do that. I always hated it when RDM & Co. somehow implied that Kara was just looking for a quick frak, no matter what the cost. The flashbacks also did a huge disservice to Lee's character. The fact that he would even consider taking her up on her dare went against everything that Lee believes in (or at least, everything they had established for his character.) The entire sequence felt out of place, OOC and just pissed me off.

What I hated more than our pilot story lines in the finale was pretty much everything else. The whole idea of flying technology in to the sun (yeah, it's a really good idea to plot a collision course in to the sun with a bunch of ships full of tylium. Sure.), the Chief deciding he's had it with humanity, Six & Tigh's hanging storyline, all of it. Very sloppy. It was almost as if the writers had written themselves into several corners with different plot lines and didn't bother to clean things up in the end.

[rdave1.livejournal.com]

They really throw a good bit out of the window during the finale. As you mentioned Kara and Lee's behavior in the flashback was out there. The stuff along with K/L storyline that bothered me was couples getting happy endings. There wasn't one fully human couple left in the end. And how is it that Gauis Baltar got a happy ending, I don't remember him repenting for his sins. Things like that about the finale just drive me nuts.

[kag523.livejournal.com]

Mmmm.. That is perhaps the only explanation I've read that actually makes me feel somewhat consoled by the ending. Wow! (I'm still going to believe my extended version is the real one, but that's my prerogative as a writer.) :D

[damao2010.livejournal.com]

Well, first of all, let me start by saying that I really love to read your thoughts on all the topics discussed here.

I also started watching BSG after the show had ended and, therefore, I didn't go through years of emotional build-up. I hadn't really read anything about the episodes beforehand and had no idea where everything would lead or how the writers would wrap everything up. To me it was all a surprise.

Having said that, I have to say I didn't hate the finale. But I can't say that I wasn't disappointed by lots of things, either. And the romantic in me felt robbed of a happier ending for Kara and Lee. At least I needed to get more of a closure for them.

I loved their flashback scenes because they established that the attraction/connection between them had been there from the very beginning. And I could have accepted the poof better, if throughout the series the writers hadn't gone to such lengths to keep them apart , often resorting to really contrived plot lines (IMHO) to do so. In other words, if they had had more of a closure before Maelstrom , or ,as you put it, if writers had "stopped sabotaging Kara and Lee's potential for the sake of 'drama' ".

I never really got the whole death/angel plot line. It never made any sense to me (no matter how much I loved the scene in which Lee tells her he doesn't care about any of that). I feel it wasn't really necessary to resort to that in order to make Kara special, or for her to fulfill her destiny in a religious/prophetized way. Even so, I really loved your take on Kara's decision to sacrifice herself as an act of free will. I also loved your take on Lee's emotional state, as well ("loving her has enriched him rather than broken him";"Lee was pretty much the only person I can imagine being strong enough to love her so completely for the person she was, and to not be destroyed by sharing - and ultimately surviving - the tragic path she both chose").

[rdave1.livejournal.com]

Closure was the key to a good Kara/Lee ending. That's all I'll say.:)

[cherylad.livejournal.com]

*Perhaps* if I'd watched it only after the finale and was prepared with the ending, I would have been somewhere in the universe you are in because then I may have been watching from a different perspective with a different set of expectations.

But, I watched it from the perspective of it being a drama about people surviving a holocaust running for their survival from a relentlessly pursuing enemy bent on their absolute destruction. Not from a perspective of it being a show about a pre-ordained conclusion in which the answer was a lead human character coming back from the dead as a something-or-other to punch in some coordinates only she knew and the answer of the WHOLE show being God wanted it this way and the point was to create a half-human child to mother a new race.

I wasn't just emotionally and mentally invested because of my own thoughts on it, it was also the perspective that was repeatedly given to us by the producers, writers and stars. Somewhere along the line - the lost the point of their story and just went for shock and awe.

I really like what you had to say, Rachel, and from your perspective, I can understand your thoughts!

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much ~ I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts, too, and I think your reaction was shared by the vast majority of people. When an episode angers and betrays so much of its audience it's obviously a serious problem, and the fact that I can interpret my way out of my personal problems with it doesn't mean anyone else should have to. Taragel and I talked a bit about that, and you both make some great points about the problems with dramatic and emotional inconsistency from which the story suffered. I'm definitely not trying to talk anyone out of their finale!anger; I view it in a different way, but there are elements of the story that I also loathe and reject. I'm just glad there are so many wonderful and talented fans who can unravel their own new meanings and stories from the series, and I'll always be grateful for the beautiful characters we got out of it!