Thanks much for finally covering the show! The show is very rich and dense and perhaps would need a few more episodes to adequately do it justice. It certainly can not be done in an hour and half to two hours but great job anyway. That being said, my favorite character on the show was Admiral William Adama played by the talented Edward James Olmos. In many ways, I felt that he along with the President Laura Roslin were the heart and soul of the show. He was their tough, fearless (but flawed) military leader who got them through crisis after crisis remaining strong, steadfast and focused even when many were falling apart around him. I liked that he was not a perfect character or your typical "captain of the ship" that we so often see in science fiction. The fact that he was such a rock made his periods of complete breakdown that much more compelling to watch and probably quite scary for his crew who depended so much on him. He did not always make the right decisions and when he messed up, he always took responsibility for his mistakes. I like that he was man enough to co-lead with Roslin without losing anything and that he allowed her to be the President and do her job. I liked that it was all an evolving process for him and that it did not occur overnight. I liked that he owned up to his bull-shit when called out and that he was willing to listen to others advice and input. I totally loved his slowly evolving and realistic romantic relationship with Roslin and was so crushed about the way it ended. I also loved his relationships with his son Lee, his adopted daughters Kara and Athena and his bromance (LOL!) with the XO, Saul Tigh. He is also one of the few human characters that even the worst of the Cylons respected regardless of their feelings toward him. I can go on about Adama including his flaws...LOL!...but I won't.
Regarding, some of the things you ladies mentioned in the episode:
I totally agree with Carolyn Cocca that Six was set up as the "Jesus-like" character in the Last Supper photo due to her strong monotheistic agenda. I also agree that Six was also at the center of the picture and their marketing campaign because Tricia Helfer was a surprisingly good actor given her experience but more so because she was drop dead gorgeous and it's Hollywood after all.
I also agree with Carolyn Cocca that a woman of color portraying the Starbuck role or even the Six role would not have been received as well and perhaps reinforced so many negative sterotypes involving women of color.
I too, totally hated the ending of the series with its angels and God's plan explanation. Monotheism triumphs again, yay!, NOT!!! So insulting to the whole concept of free will triumphing over fate that was prevalent in the show and insulting to the beautiful characters' arcs including Starbuck's.
I also hated the whole final five story and reveal especially when it came to Saul Tigh and the Chief and also felt that it negated their wonderful journeys as characters. Ellen Tigh felt like a Cylon to me the whole time so I wasn't surprised there. Tory Foster, I didn't really care one way or the other. Anders however had a surprisingly poignant arc as a Cylon.
I'd like to do a shout-out to Richard Hatch and his wonderful portrayal of Tom Zarek and Michael Hogan as Saul Tigh, brilliant turns by both actors.
And James Callus as Gaius Baltar was equal parts hilarious, despicable and charming too. He was truly the character that we loved to hate.
As you can tell, I love this show even though it was not perfect. Thanks for covering it!
Karen