"It’s the characters, stupid"-Ron Moore

Television, Movies Games and Books BSG-2003
#1

MR: And speaking of the series finale, you’re happy with how that came out?

RDM: Very pleased with it. It came together all at once and it was a strange experience. In the writers’ room, we spent the first day [of breaking that episode] in a lot of difficulty, a lot of frustration. We sort of knew what the plot was, we knew the action story, we knew the plot of the finale. We spent that whole first day just struggling with the mechanics of the plot, how you got from A to B. We were spinning our wheels. I went home and I was in the shower and I had this “Duh” moment – the show was never about that. That’s not why I love the show. It’s not about the plot.

I went into the writers’ room the next day and wrote on the big dry-erase board, “It’s the characters, stupid,” and the writers laughed and we all sat back and said, “Who gives a [expletive] about the plot? Let’s just talk about these characters.”
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2008/07/talking-battles.html

Let the debate begin…

#2

So basically they realized they frakked it up bad, and needed an “easy” way out…:wink:

#3

I think this relates strongly to the sentiments being expressed in the “disappointment” thread, that people are worried we’re going to get an intricate, emotional character piece for our ending instead of the answers we’ve been craving for years. I believe RDM and Co. will be able to finish up the characters and provide answers in one story, so I’m not worried. If I can speculate, it seems that once RDM figured out where his characters needed to be at the end of the story, the plot mechanics worked themselves out. Could be wrong, but that’s the feeling I got reading the interview.

#4

I think he had the plot mechanics but not the character arc’s.

ETA- The Sci Fi fourm is having a debate about this. I don’t mean to draw the red tape on the floor but I want to know what everyone thinks…
Do you like this?
Do you hate it?
Does it not matter to you?

#5

Well, since you’re laying down red tape…:wink:

I’m not bothered. RDM and Co. have jumped off cliffs many times before, and it’s still worked out. They’ve not written the episodes I would have written, but then, why would I be watching if they had?

I’ve dropped out of the discussion on the other thread, because there’s no point in trying to convince people to change their gut reaction to an episode that they liked or disliked. I liked “Daybreak, part 1.” It’s definitely a part one, and needs the other 2/3 to be complete, but I believe that in the end it will be complete–answers, character arcs, fighting scenes, love scenes, death scenes, flashbacks, pigeons, and all.

There are many things about this season that are not as strong as others, and many things about it that are better than what’s come before. It’s not a perfect work of art, but it’s a damn sight more entertaining, “seductive, and thought-provoking,” than 99-100% of what else is out there on television. If concentrating on the character arcs was what made everything come together for the writers on the finale, then good for them. Let’s kick back and see what happens.

#6

I agree. I hated Daybreak…

I now know why… It’s the tension… I’m sick of waiting and I want it to be over… I want the end of the story and I want this pain of not knowing to be gone…

I know people will be upset by Ron Moore’s comments but I’m happy…

I watched this show becasue I feel in love with the characters… I want to see where they end up… I do care about the plot and I’m not going to jump up and say Ron Moore doesn’t care about the plot… I’m saying if it took him focusing on the characters to find the right ending… So be it…

It’s going to be a LOOONG fraking week…:frowning:

#7

At this point I want to reserve judgment until we see the curtain close for the final time. This was an episode setting up for the last two acts. By itself it sucks but in context it seems to build to something huge.

I’m waiting for the huge finale. They’re going out with a bang.

#8

I’m waiting for the huge finale. They’re going out with a bang.[/QUOTE]

They’re going out with a supernova!

#9

They’re going out with a supernova![/QUOTE]

They better go out with a bow not a run for the borders.

#10

I get it. They ran out of time. They had the idea to finish after 5 and they needed 5.2. I was most afraid of this. Afraid they’d not be able to complete the story in the time they needed. DAMNIT. I feel like I’ve committed a sin of huberus in expecting that EVERYTHING would be explained in rich detail so all loose ends would be tied up.

#11

They better go out with a bow not a run for the borders.[/QUOTE]

This is the way the world ends!
This is the way the world ends!
This is the way the world ends!

Not with a bang, but a whimper

#12

This is how the world will end!
This is how the world will end!
This is how the world will end!

Not with a bang, but with a whimper[/QUOTE]

NOOOO…

#13

it sounds like really bad excuses to me. I cant come up with a good plot for the finale, so now its about characters.

#14

I am so happy to read that he said that. I am even more excited about the finale now.

#15

Glad I helped. :smiley:
I brought it up in the live call after the ep and people were happy too.

#16

I have truly figured out my current problem with where they have left us. We have all the lead up but none of the pay out. The story was just getting started & the hand of Sci-Fi came down & hit the pause button for a week. They were just starting to ramp it up for the big pay off & then stopped it all.

We were collectively blue balled, that ain’t cool.

#17

one more season woulda done it. We’ll get our answers, but they’ll be rushed like Anders’ spewing as he goes to the operating room. And, like the Head Characters, they’ll be explained so fast we’ll miss the fact they were explained–and that was only 98%.

#18

I wonder if they’ll try further to stitch it up with the movie this summer. Maybe explain the human side of things now and cylon things during the movie.

#19

I still think the finale will be great, but Skiffy does kind of annoy me by giving them only one 20 episode season and then splitting it into two short 10 episode seasons. It would have been nice to have just agreed to two real 13 episode seasons. Many have mentioned that they thought 4.5 seems rushed, but of the two halves I thought 4.0 seemed more so. A couple more episodic episodes (redundant?) with its own main story but a B story that advanced the overall plot would have allowed us viewers to catch our breaths a little, yet provide the taught story telling of season 1…

#20

If you’ve been reading the quasi-flame war over at the “disappointed” thread you know how I feel. Like Glimfeather (man, you’ll always be Stroogie to me) I, too, am not bothered. The reason I got into BSG in the first place was the strong, relatable characters driving the story. I fell in love with this show IN SPITE of it being sci-fi, not because of it. The sci-fi conventions were secondary.