Viewers need not have a religious bone in their body to appreciate the cultural depth of Battlestar Galactica. The rich social structure on the various ships of the Colonial Fleet alone was enough to put the series in its own category. The plight of workers during water shortages, the concentration camp atmosphere of New Caprica, and the politics of military versus administrative leadership were only part of the tapestry. The religion of the monotheistic cylons and the human belief in historical cycles played an equally important part in the rich world explored in the four seasons that led to the finale. Once you accept the assertion that “All this has happened before and will happen again,” the metaphysical floodgates are open. Whether you call it fate, God, or historical and technological inevitability, the fact that the created become creators, birthing machines that question their own existence and purpose, is a philosophical arc that deserves a multitude of possible interpretations and debatable points of view. How could the series NOT end with a purposely vague ending encouraging faith and differing conclusions for each viewer? Likewise, the genius of the Battlestar Galactica ending was in letting the viewers decide for themselves whether Baltar and Six were angels, demons, or something else entirely. Do they meddle because they hope for a different conclusion as the final moments of the series suggest? Or do they merely mention the possibility so that the audience can either take the optimistic or pessimistic view of humanity’s fate in this cycle? Similarly, Kara Thrace had a role to play, and the mysterious nature of her continued existence past her sacrificial death is no more inscrutable than the dogma of our own world religions. Was it even Starbuck at all that returned to the Galactica? Some see her as a ghost, but it could be a spirit that carried out its role in the continuation of the cycle either in spite of or because of Kara’s death. She disappeared in the end, which is where the questioning of her true nature really begins. Something mystical had to happen so that she could be seen as something truly more. That’s why it works!
