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SecretMethod70 · 03-05-2007, 02:44 PM

That's the thing though: "One Year Later" *IS* a cliffhanger. It's easy to have faith when you're thrown a bone. The whole point of a cliffhanger is that you're given a strong hint of what's to come, but have to wait to find out how it plays out.

Think of it this way: this past episode with Starbuck was the equivalent of watching the season 1 finale where Adama gets shot and at the end of the episode he's declared dead. As a viewer, you're left with nothing other than to assume that what you've been shown is accurate - Adama is dead. Sure, the writers may reverse that in the season 2 premiere - someone will suddenly discover Adama is still alive but barely - but since you weren't given any concrete indication that there was more to come in that storyline, you spent the previous months thinking Adama was dead and with that as the primary image in your mind.

Better yet, an example from Star Trek. This past episode is the equivalent of watching an episode of Star Trek where a ship blows up with a major character in it, before they could be transported out, and then we see everyone sad that the major character is dead and they have a funeral for that person and everything. Next season, we suddenly discover that the person has been trapped in the transporter buffer and they manage to save that person. That's not a cliffhanger, that's just stupid. If it were a cliffhanger, the episode would have ended with some indication that the person is stuck in the transporter buffer and we'll be waiting anxiously for the next season to see how the crew gets them out of there.

Cliffhangers do not trick you. They entice you. Killing Starbuck only to bring her back in some way at a later date is tricking the viewer, and not even in a good way, because as far as death stories go this past episode was pretty bad. The only excuse for spending an hour with completely transparent references that say "LOOK! STARBUCK'S GOING TO DIE! LOOK HERE! LOOK HERE!!" is if you're going to give the audience something to redeem the episode at the end: a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger, by definition, leaves a very obvious opening without answering what is on the other side. That's why I say an extra 10 seconds or so would have saved this episode. They don't even have to answer why she's still alive, just show that she is. For example, they could show a close shot of Starbuck's face waking up - we don't have to see whether it's on a resurrection ship or in another dimension or anything, just something to show us "there's more to come." Instead, we're left with an episode that wraps up neatly and doesn't give any indication (beyond "I refuse to believe this episode was THAT pointless") that there was more to Starbuck's death than accepting death.

EDIT: And trust me, I don't enjoy saying this. BSG is easily my favorite show on television, but this past episode was just bad, and that's assuming they ARE going to do more with Starbuck. If they don't, then the episode was just plain terrible.

03-05-2007, 02:44 PM	#598 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	That's the thing though: "One Year Later" IS a cliffhanger. It's easy to have faith when you're thrown a bone. The whole point of a cliffhanger is that you're given a strong hint of what's to come, but have to wait to find out how it plays out. Think of it this way: this past episode with Starbuck was the equivalent of watching the season 1 finale where Adama gets shot and at the end of the episode he's declared dead. As a viewer, you're left with nothing other than to assume that what you've been shown is accurate - Adama is dead. Sure, the writers may reverse that in the season 2 premiere - someone will suddenly discover Adama is still alive but barely - but since you weren't given any concrete indication that there was more to come in that storyline, you spent the previous months thinking Adama was dead and with that as the primary image in your mind. Better yet, an example from Star Trek. This past episode is the equivalent of watching an episode of Star Trek where a ship blows up with a major character in it, before they could be transported out, and then we see everyone sad that the major character is dead and they have a funeral for that person and everything. Next season, we suddenly discover that the person has been trapped in the transporter buffer and they manage to save that person. That's not a cliffhanger, that's just stupid. If it were a cliffhanger, the episode would have ended with some indication that the person is stuck in the transporter buffer and we'll be waiting anxiously for the next season to see how the crew gets them out of there. Cliffhangers do not trick you. They entice you. Killing Starbuck only to bring her back in some way at a later date is tricking the viewer, and not even in a good way, because as far as death stories go this past episode was pretty bad. The only excuse for spending an hour with completely transparent references that say "LOOK! STARBUCK'S GOING TO DIE! LOOK HERE! LOOK HERE!!" is if you're going to give the audience something to redeem the episode at the end: a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger, by definition, leaves a very obvious opening without answering what is on the other side. That's why I say an extra 10 seconds or so would have saved this episode. They don't even have to answer why she's still alive, just show that she is. For example, they could show a close shot of Starbuck's face waking up - we don't have to see whether it's on a resurrection ship or in another dimension or anything, just something to show us "there's more to come." Instead, we're left with an episode that wraps up neatly and doesn't give any indication (beyond "I refuse to believe this episode was THAT pointless") that there was more to Starbuck's death than accepting death. EDIT: And trust me, I don't enjoy saying this. BSG is easily my favorite show on television, but this past episode was just bad, and that's assuming they ARE going to do more with Starbuck. If they don't, then the episode was just plain terrible. __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling Last edited by SecretMethod70; 03-05-2007 at 02:49 PM..