Alternate Approach to BS:G

[chyron]

I was thinking that it might have been a nice approach to the series if the story was told as a narative by a survivor years after the events that have transpired and (possibly) after the fleet finds Earth or at least after the fleet stops its quest. We of course would not know WHO the narrator was/is or WHAT (cylon or human) or what happended when (if) they actually found Earth.

So to recap the facts...

• Unnamed narrator opening and closing each episode
• Narrator could be a Human or Cylcon
• Narration is non-specific and doesn't favor Humans or Cylons
• Narration does not reveal the final outcome (humans find earth, cylons find earth, cylons wipe out humans, etc.)
• Narration is told looking back on the events that transpired
• Narration could be of a third person reading another's journal (such as a cylon reading Adama's journal)

[spg_1983]

I was thinking that it might have been a nice approach to the series if the story was told as a narative by a survivor years after the events that have transpired and (possibly) after the fleet finds Earth or at least after the fleet stops its quest. We of course would not know WHO the narrator was/is or WHAT (cylon or human) or what happended when (if) they actually found Earth.

So to recap the facts...

• Unnamed narrator opening and closing each episode
• Narrator could be a Human or Cylcon
• Narration is non-specific and doesn't favor Humans or Cylons
• Narration does not reveal the final outcome (humans find earth, cylons find earth, cylons wipe out humans, etc.)
• Narration is told looking back on the events that transpired
• Narration could be of a third person reading another's journal (such as a cylon reading Adama's journal)

flash back narration does tell us one critical thing, at least one human from the fleet survived, and they are telling it to someone. one of the critical elemental components to the show is the suspense, we dont actually know how its going to turn out because the writers have shown that things will not always wind out good for the humans and that they wont hesitate to kill people. regardless of what happens week to know, we actually have no idea how its gonna turn out. in star trek, in star gate, in star wars, pretty much every science fiction ever, you know that in the end, by the end of the series, when all is said and done, the good guys will win. but with this series we dont know this. having flash back narration says that at least one person survives to tell the tale to someone. that totally ruins the dramatic aspect that is key to BSG

[chyron]

flash back narration does tell us one critical thing, at least one human from the fleet survived, and they are telling it to someone. one of the critical elemental components to the show is the suspense, we dont actually know how its going to turn out because the writers have shown that things will not always wind out good for the humans and that they wont hesitate to kill people. regardless of what happens week to know, we actually have no idea how its gonna turn out. in star trek, in star gate, in star wars, pretty much every science fiction ever, you know that in the end, by the end of the series, when all is said and done, the good guys will win. but with this series we dont know this. having flash back narration says that at least one person survives to tell the tale to someone. that totally ruins the dramatic aspect that is key to BSG

You missed the statement that the narration would not reveal if Earth was discovered AND WHO the narrator was. We would just know that the fleet stopped their journey (or was destroyed) and that one person Human or Cylon existed afterward. The outcome is NOT revealed and thus the suspense is maintained. In fact, since its a reflection the writers could introduce things to make you go HMMM... and wonder just what they meant by that. It could be that the narrator makes a comment about finding Aethena's tomb as "...I didn't realize that there was much more of our Destiny on Kobol than we ever imagined..." vaguely suggesting a return trip to Kobol or that more about their history was reveal. Keep in mind that you've probably assumed that it was a human speaking, but it could also be a Cylon statement. And YES, at least 1 person survives, but is it a HUMAN, is it a Cylon. Is the narrator someone from Earth who discovered the remains of the Human fleet? Did they discover the remains of the Cylon fleet? Is the Cylon child speaking? For that matter, did the Humans & Cylons make peace? By being vague using the rules stated, you could easily keep people guessing as to the outcome.