Jason

I agree. I'm rewatching 4.5 right now, and it's really good stuff. the third season was definitely worse with all the filler (woman king, boxing matches, blah blah blah).

I do think it works better when you don't have to wait a week in between episodes.

Draven

You're not alone. Thought the finale was excellent, very solid and a fitting conclusion.

Goldberg74

I watched the entire run in 3 monhts after I got the set in the Fall of 2010. Fantastic series start to finish (except for a bulk of Season 3)!

Superboy

The ending didn't taint my perspective of the series as a whole. It was just a missed opportunity for something great, which is something I can't say for the rest of the series.

The consistency of quality from episode to episode is probably unmatched in a sci-fi series.

Superboy

I think watching it in one fell swoop like I did minimized the damage. I hate watching shows week-to-week because it can build up very high expectations that can never be met. That's precisely what happened with DS9. I expected the 7th season to knock it out of the park, but it was terrible. Looking back now, I probably wouldn't have thought it was so bad if I had just watched the series start to finish; I probably would have just put it on par with season 1 and 2, and brushed it off; but watching it week to week, it had been 4 years since the end of season 2, so I was accustomed to the series being good, not completely god-awful. Also, the good episodes would have still been fresh in my mind.

And that video is hilarious.

chuckd21

Again put me in the minority with those who think the BSG finale is perfectly fine.

And people hate the final season of DS9? Really? Put me in the opposite group from them as well.

Superboy

There are many reasons why people hated the final season - especially the finale - of DS9.

The breen were boring villains and added nothing to the show.

The idea of the Federation being hopelessly outnumbered, the Dominion having weapons which completely crush them, and the war being an uphill battle that cannot possibly be won were all tired themes.

It felt like all the characters had suddenly become pushed to the background - none of them really moved forward in a meaningful way. Hell, there wasn't even a whole lot for anyone to even DO during the season. Even Ezri felt flat the whole season.

Reused special effects and battle sequences really peeved a lot of people off, but the series as well as the franchise as a whole always did this, so I didn't mind in the least. It's not why I watched the show.

Lastly, and this is probably the biggest point of contention between fans of DS9, is that the show completely forgot what it was going to be about in the first place - Bajor joining the Federation. Seasons 1 and 2 were mediocre because the writers couldn't find any really meaningful way to progress this storyline. When the Dominion war started, it felt even more sidelined - and then ultimately, it didn't have a satisfying conclusion. What about all the supposed conflicts between the tribes of Israe- I mean, Bajor? what about Kira's position as a former liberator and then being the one who now has to maintain order and be a law enforcer? what about the fears of the Bajoran people that the Federation is going to be just as oppressive as the Cardassians were? what the concerns of the Federation for the future of Bajor especially considering the history of what's happened in the demilitarized zone? there's tons more, and none of it was resolved. The show just said "well, it's all wrapped up now!"

The finale as an attempt to wrap up everyone's storylines and send everyone off into the sunset just didn't work for me; it felt forced, contrived, and almost unbelievable for many reasons.

There's more to it, and really, I could go on and on, but yeah, it was terrible.

dan30oly

fixed

good lord

Superboy

I was speaking in regards to the seventh season, not the series as a whole.

dan30oly

exactly why it was fixed

season seven, while not as good as the others, was still great

Superboy

Season 3 would have been better if Apollo wasn't wearing that ridiculous fat suit.

Superboy

It was terrible! just admit it was horrible!

Granted, there were good episodes, like the Siege of AR-558, but as a whole, it was a terrible season, and it had a terrible finale.

dan30oly

no
\
just no

Superboy

Yes!

Burnt Thru

DS9 and BSG were both great shows - shame there's nothing on in their vein these days.

BSG didn't seem to have a coherent storyline, much like that other show Lost. It seems in retrospect that both sets of writers were making it up as they went along and trying to shoe-horn in past events to a conclusion they hoped would kind-of-work. That's a shame and resulted in some very strange decisions and twists of character's personalities.

Looking at BSG in retrospect it's quite an odd thing that most of the humanoid cylons are barely used in the series. There's little to no development for most of the models, set against far too much development in the later seasons for just one - the priest. "The Plan" didn't really make a whole lot of sense either and was a real disappointment when it was revealed. If only the writers had thought things through properly from the start it might have been an even more impressive series. As it is I really just enjoy the first couple of seasons and then sporadic episodes and moments after that.

DS9 on the other hand was much more childish in many ways but I found the conclusion much more satisfying. Must confess I'd not seen the analogy between Bajor and Israel before, though it seems blindingly obvious now that it's been pointed out. For me the story was never really about Bajor but about the characters on the space station. It was a western set in space with DS9 as the small town and each of the characters fulfilling fairly old and hackneyed roles (Odo was the sherif, etc.). Seeing a conclusion to their conflict and the moving on of key characters from the DS9 family was the correct conclusion IMO. Personally I found it to be a very satisfying ending to the series, and one which doesn't taint my enjoyment of the show if I were to watch it again from the begining. That's not something I could say for Lost or BSG however, unfortunately..

Superboy

Shows get criticized for "winging it", but I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. The reason I could not get through Babylon 5 was that every single plot point was orchestrated from the very beginning, so there was absolutely no wiggle room with any detail. So the first two seasons of the show are horrifically dull affairs where almost nothing happens. And from what I've read, the last seasons were terrible anyway.

jamespoo

this was a great show sad to see it end

dstrauss

Yeah, this isn't a B5 thread, but you're not remotely accurate.

Josh-da-man

You're wrong. The broad strokes of Babylon 5 were pre-planned, but (showrunner) JMS had to do a lot of juggling; much of it having to do with losing actors and needing to replace them.

I have read a series outline from JMS that was written just before the first season went into production and it is very different from what was actually filmed. There was a lot of course correction going on.

Joe Schmoe

So say we all. 4 Seasons wasn't nearly enough.

Dan

Just finished the series last night.

I thought the finale was fitting, and overall great, but it almost felt too "small" for the series.

Either way, great show. I look forward to eventually checking out Caprica and B&C (but I'm taking a break)

B5Erik

I cannot believe that I didn't comment on this episode back when it aired (or at least after the DVD/Blu Ray hit the market).

Anyway, it is interesting reading through these comments again, as a lot of people missed a lot of details in the episode and got themselves confused.

I thought this was a great way to end the series. The original 1978 show painted themselves into a corner, making Earth their final destination. The 1980 series botched the handling of reaching earth, so, clearly, Ronald Moore didn't want to repeat the mistakes of that era - and he didn't.

The resolution was clever and appropriate. The details on things like the fate of Starbuck worked really well.

And I thought that having the last 1/3 of the episode being a slow wind down was perfect. They reached their new home, and no longer had to run from the Cylons. A bit of decompression and relaxation were in order.

There were some plot decisions along the way during the course of the series that I thought could have been better, but the show ended very well.

A 6 1/2 year bump. Well, I just finished the series for the 2nd time, and really enjoyed it (as did my 19 year old daughter - although she hated Dee and a few things that happened along the way).

I don't think I'll wait 10 years to watch it again.