All those criticisms are perfectly valid, yet leave Moore the wiggle room to claim that he was serving a higher value: The Plot. And you're in a sense conceding that science-fiction is a second-class genre whose standards of logic and consistency count for nothing.
Problem is, relying on a deus ex machina is considered by anyone with the slightest respect for storytelling as the ultimate sin, the ultimate admission of failure, admission that the author is so incompetent that he's painted himself into such a corner that only God has the power to rescue him from his incompetency.
Moore's offense wasn't against science fiction, it was against writing in general.
Up until the finale, in my universe Moore and BSG had displaced J Michael Straczinski and B5 as grand masters of science fiction television. But JMS is a gifted writer who would never have stooped to ending his series that way. In fact, a basic theme of Babylon 5 was the rejection of higher powers pulling our strings and taking charge of our own destiny, the very opposite of Moore's final message of fatalism and despair. JMS's reputation is secure as far as I'm concerned.
Off Topic » in reply to Characters or Science: Why not both?
basic storytelling competency
The whole thread (36 posts)
- Any thoughts on the Battlestar Galactica finale?
- For the most part I really liked it.
- Side note
- Just a quick note: You can get Babylon 5 on DVD... (n/t)
- Deus ex machina (all spoilers all the time)
- Didn't see your post