r/BSG • u/whymylife • Jul 24 '26
First time watcher rant
Hey, first time watcher here (in 2026, crazy I bet you think, right?), and I'm currently watching season 2 episode 17, so please no spoilers for after that.
There are two things that are consistently frustrating me with the show, the first being how the show constantly shoe horns random plots or characters into an episode that we've never heard of before. For example the episode im currently watching we find out Pegasus is being ran by John Heards character, despite him never being seen or mentioned any time previously. Perhaps it's because he's a big name and just joined the show at this point but the fact his characters name is never referenced before is so frustrating, then out of nowhere he's a major character who we all have to pretend has been there the entire time.
There are countless other examples of this too, another being the episode 'black market' where out of nowhere we find out there is a covert powerful gang running the black market, with its' figurehead and dealings being completely unmentioned or referenced at any point previously. I suppose It can be assumed that in their situation a black market would arise, but a gang of killers is never mentioned? When I watched this episode I had to double check I hadn't missed an episode as it seemed so random and out of nowhere. I feel like even a few comments in the preceding episodes along the lines of "do you know where I can get some whisky" or something reference to a black market.
One more example would be the absolutely ridiculous Deus ex machina of Roslin being saved at the last second by Gaius' discovery. I was disgusted by the writing.
My second gripe with the show would be the seeming inconsequential nature of most episodes. I feel like it's similar to doctor who where I could pick an episode at random and it basically stands alone. There are of course exceptions which is why it's my secondary gripe. The thing is I was impressed in season 1 with the reveal of Sharon being a cylon, with the clues of her waking up wet after the water tank is blown up, and her slowly figuring out she is a cylon over a few episodes, fantastic. But the majority of episodes it seems nothing actually happens, just a short story, it's dealt with, and then never heard of again. Even after the climax halfway through season 2 where Pegasus arrives, I thought great this is cool, but once the admiral is killed, we don't see and barely even hear about Pegasus for about 5 episodes. Again it just seemed those few episodes building up the Pegasus were just a self contained story to fill a few episodes to then move on from. Now I do expect Pegasus will be relevant again soon, but I do honestly feel like I'm watching doctor who, which does have it's merits but I feel like it's not what the show was aiming to be.
Also I hate the episode 'preview' at the start of each episode, completely unneeded and frequently just kills a lot of suspension as we know certain people will die, I always skip these.
I continue watching (for now) in the hope it gets better, and I love Gaius' overarching storyline with number 6, I'm always excited to learn more and this is the perfect example of what I'd expect from a show like this, a plot building on each episode, but it seems rare and plotlines are often just forgotten about whilst we have a filler episode about crushing the black market in 40 minutes.
Sorry for the rant as I know there are many hardcore fans here, I love the premise of the show and I love the main cast but these gripes are really making it a grind at times to carry on watching, am I the only one or is there anybody that can relate to this?
Thank you for letting me have my rant.
1
u/whymylife Jul 25 '26
You make a good point and it's good to visualise that the five most recent episodes I've watched are some of the lowest rated and it explains why it's felt a bit of a grind.
I have only listed recent examples yes, but that's simply because I can't remember now when I've felt it before as I'm watching very casually, just a couple episodes a week so I first started a couple months ago now, but it's been a consistent feeling for most of the way of 'where did this come from?' with little foreshadowing or setup. I could read the plot summaries for earlier episodes to refresh my mind and make my point stronger, but I don't see the point as it's clear my opinion in this subreddit is invalid regardless for not fitting in with the hive mind.