If I had to give one suggestion to anyone thinking about getting into this show, the most valuable suggestion I could give you would be to watch only the first two seasons, minus the last 10-20 minutes of the season finale of season 2.
Why, you might ask? If they had left the show ending at that point in the show, while it wouldn't polish up everything perfectly, it would still leave a fairly satisfying, but bittersweet ending to the show. Not to mention the first two seasons are HIGHLY entertaining to watch and nearly impossible not to binge watch. While the last two seasons are far less entertaining and rely solely on building up your interest with mysterious plot points only to end with an almost hilariously simple/terrible climax, leaving many (if not most) of those mysteries unanswered.
The show delves into various social issues, competing interests, etc... all in the backdrop of a post-apocalypse in space. Overall, it's incredibly thoughtful as well as thrilling to watch. And unlike most of the greatest shows out there, I can't fault BSG when it comes to a show's typical overuse of interpersonal drama that depends solely on character's awful communication skills, rather than character driven balancing of needs and interests (You know, when you see characters get into a dispute and in your head you're shouting "Dude, just SAY _____ AND THIS WOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM! HOW COULD ANYONE NOT THINK TO COMMUNICATE THAT?!" But you just let it slide, because otherwise, the rest of the show is that good that you can overlook that.).
The best way to describe seasons 3 and 4 would be like going to a show of a prominent magician who puts on an incredible show with the promise to reveal the audience how his tricks are done at the end (like Penn & Teller's shows). And throughout the show your mind is running through different scenarios as to how each trick could have possibly been performed. You're dying to know how they could have so thoroughly deceived your mind to create such a fantastic illusion. Finally, the show comes to an end, you're about to finally figure out how they did it. And the magician reveals.... they're actually a sorcerer and there was no trick. They simply willed things to appear and disappear and solid objects to pass through other solid objects. (Obviously seeing someone being an actual sorcerer would be incredibly shocking. Not a perfect analogy, I know. So for the sake of this analogy, let's assume sorcery is extremely common and it would be an unimpressive feat?)
Seasons 3 and 4 take the show from primarily a sci-fi show with religion as part of the backdrop, to a show that then relies heavily on supernatural mysticism. And while I have no problem with sci-fis with supernatural elements, it's the laziness with which it was implemented in to tie up the story at the end. This is the best way I can describe it without spoiling it anyways.
After watching seasons 3 and 4, it'll be clear that the show writers never came up with an ending to the show and that in writing the story and coming up with various ideas for mysterious plot points, they were overconfident in their ability to come up with solutions to them. As a result, the ending feels rushed, is mystifying and completely unsatisfying. There has never been a show or movie that has left me feeling so betrayed at the end after being so thoroughly enthralled with the story. I'd compare it to Lost, but I never really got into Lost. I've heard it compared with it though.
That said, do yourself a favor and only watch the first two seasons, cutting short the season 2 finale by 15-20 minutes. It'll tie up the show far better. Not to mention the first two seasons are far more entertaining than the last two.
If I had to rate the difference between them I'd put: Seasons 1 & 2 - 10/10 Seasons 3 & 4 - 4/10
Which is why I settled on an 8. Just enough to decrease the overall rating slightly as the show ends abysmally, while still acknowledging that the first two seasons by themselves would probably make Battlestar Galactica nearly the best show I've ever watched.
Why, you might ask? If they had left the show ending at that point in the show, while it wouldn't polish up everything perfectly, it would still leave a fairly satisfying, but bittersweet ending to the show. Not to mention the first two seasons are HIGHLY entertaining to watch and nearly impossible not to binge watch. While the last two seasons are far less entertaining and rely solely on building up your interest with mysterious plot points only to end with an almost hilariously simple/terrible climax, leaving many (if not most) of those mysteries unanswered.
The show delves into various social issues, competing interests, etc... all in the backdrop of a post-apocalypse in space. Overall, it's incredibly thoughtful as well as thrilling to watch. And unlike most of the greatest shows out there, I can't fault BSG when it comes to a show's typical overuse of interpersonal drama that depends solely on character's awful communication skills, rather than character driven balancing of needs and interests (You know, when you see characters get into a dispute and in your head you're shouting "Dude, just SAY _____ AND THIS WOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM! HOW COULD ANYONE NOT THINK TO COMMUNICATE THAT?!" But you just let it slide, because otherwise, the rest of the show is that good that you can overlook that.).
The best way to describe seasons 3 and 4 would be like going to a show of a prominent magician who puts on an incredible show with the promise to reveal the audience how his tricks are done at the end (like Penn & Teller's shows). And throughout the show your mind is running through different scenarios as to how each trick could have possibly been performed. You're dying to know how they could have so thoroughly deceived your mind to create such a fantastic illusion. Finally, the show comes to an end, you're about to finally figure out how they did it. And the magician reveals.... they're actually a sorcerer and there was no trick. They simply willed things to appear and disappear and solid objects to pass through other solid objects. (Obviously seeing someone being an actual sorcerer would be incredibly shocking. Not a perfect analogy, I know. So for the sake of this analogy, let's assume sorcery is extremely common and it would be an unimpressive feat?)
Seasons 3 and 4 take the show from primarily a sci-fi show with religion as part of the backdrop, to a show that then relies heavily on supernatural mysticism. And while I have no problem with sci-fis with supernatural elements, it's the laziness with which it was implemented in to tie up the story at the end. This is the best way I can describe it without spoiling it anyways.
After watching seasons 3 and 4, it'll be clear that the show writers never came up with an ending to the show and that in writing the story and coming up with various ideas for mysterious plot points, they were overconfident in their ability to come up with solutions to them. As a result, the ending feels rushed, is mystifying and completely unsatisfying. There has never been a show or movie that has left me feeling so betrayed at the end after being so thoroughly enthralled with the story. I'd compare it to Lost, but I never really got into Lost. I've heard it compared with it though.
That said, do yourself a favor and only watch the first two seasons, cutting short the season 2 finale by 15-20 minutes. It'll tie up the show far better. Not to mention the first two seasons are far more entertaining than the last two.
If I had to rate the difference between them I'd put: Seasons 1 & 2 - 10/10 Seasons 3 & 4 - 4/10
Which is why I settled on an 8. Just enough to decrease the overall rating slightly as the show ends abysmally, while still acknowledging that the first two seasons by themselves would probably make Battlestar Galactica nearly the best show I've ever watched.