Playing the numbers.

[mandara k]

I went back to check ratings in season 1 and compare to Season 2
and here we go:

101 2.6 201 2.6 comparable

102 2.6 202 2.0 oh oh what happened here?

103 2.3 203 2.0 um again, problem?

104 2.5 204 1.9 lower

105 2.5 205 2.0

106 2.5 206 2.1

107 2.2

108 2.5

109 2.1

110 2.2

111 2.3

112 2.2

113 2.5

These are of course US.

And who said season 2 was better than season 1, they must have not watch it yet.

Suffice it to say one average what 2.3, this season 2.1 so far.

I know summer watching and etc… but no, I think it’s more.

I think they should look at ep arcs and story lines. For example the leoben beating ep which is 108 was higher than most eps of the season 2. it pulled higher than the shoot ’em up 110 Big Mac. Because? My humble opinion is that it was truly “ripped from a headline” the whole El G prisoner thing.

The current arcs are not paying off.

When they deal with material intellectually, when they delve deeper into the why it happened, it’s more satisfying then “playing a religious card” or prophecy. The interactions between Baltar and Six are again to me more stimulating than the fire fights on Kobol or the Boomer shooting on the ship.

The truth is we can watch any sci-fi series out there now and get shoot ’em up bang bang, bad guys like Wraiths fighting good guys, but this show was different, they struck a balance in Season 1 of action, character development, and intellectual stimulation that truly asked the questions we all hopefully ask ourselves, why do we exist? Why do we build massive monuments to learning and still kill each other? Why must everything and everyone be so black and white and what of those (like me) that obstinately stay in the gray.

Is it our very nature that must discern what is evil and good? And what if that is not so cut and dry? It moves away from that this season. There are inklings of thinking on this task, in the Adama personality change, the Cally shooting of Boomer, the killing of Crashdown and yet it’s not enough.

To quote a great man to many of you and possibly more

“Forgive us OUR tresspasses
As we FORGIVE those who tresspass against us.

He knew of human nature, more than most of us do now, that we all fall, we all hurt others, advertently or inadvertently, yet he forgave even those who killed him. Have we lost this incredible trait? As I went to other BB’s and saw they rubbish that spews not only out of my mouth at times but others as well, I do wonder if forgiveness is a lost relic, and openess and acceptance of difference is no longer apart of the human psyche. Has 9/11 driven that out of us?

Fear drives us to run from those that are different and cling to those we understand, it’s easier to understand those that think and feel as we do then to try to communicate with those that see the world in a totally different view. That’s the compelling element of that Leoben ep for me: not the abuse, not the dream sequence, it’s the attempt at dialogue with each side having an agenda, but yet they do exchange something.

You will never learn a new way of looking at the world, if you stay in your backyard, you will never learn a new song if you limit yourself to only what the choir sings. If you regurgtiate only what others of your “set” say, how will you grow? For example, if RDM just said well, I’m tired of listening to fans, I’m tired of trying to make a show fit in numbers, I’m just going to write shows like the others do, or follow what the show industry is doing, or what’s popular now. Everyone is doing it, it should get us the numbers we need.

That’s not growth, that’s catering to popular thought, which is fleeting, and changes according to whim.

So, after my dissertation, I’ll sum up by saying….. dearest Ron, the numbers reflect more than a trip to a beach for thousands of viewers, it says you must dig deeper than popular thought or what these fans(including moi) are saying they want. You must tap the inner most reaches of what being human is to you, and not fall into the good or bad person trap. Love the persons, hate the acts, and let TPTB sort it out in time.

That’s my current thought processes… love the peeps in all of their failings, hate the acts done out of ignorance, loyalty, ideology, etc…

Sorry all!

And peace to us all on the Blue Planet.

[Author]

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