So here's my issue with the Battlestar Galactica finale.

Okay, I have a variety of issues, but most of them come from a narrative/plotting standpoint (ie most take the form of "Really? The big deal about _________ is just _______? Seriously?") -- but these I'm willing to overlook because a) it's difficult to pull off a truly excellent series finale, b) it was a satisfying and enjoyable viewing experience, plot holes notwithstanding. So it's not all the tying up of loose ends ("Here's the sort of disappointing deal with the Opera House," "Here's the somewhat confusing deal with ChipSix," "Here's the deal with Kara Thrace...or, well, not so much.") that I have a problem with. It's the principle underlying the episode, the final moral of the whole damn story.

For the last two seasons, this show has, rather beautifully, explored the contours of science, technology, and religion, forcing its characters (and viewers) to question the fundamentals of what it means to be alive. This show started with two civilizations trying to exterminate each other.  Humans vs machines, tyrannical creators vs rebellious slaves, blood vs steel.

The show has hammered us over the head with the fact that this isn't just a one shot deal, it's a bloody cycle -- man creates machines, abuses them, enslaves them until they rise up and destroy him.  All this has happened before; all this will happen again.  The last two seasons have been about the attempt to break that cycle--by breaking down the divisions between man and machine, life and technology.  The most compelling, breathtaking moments of the last several episodes have been the shots of soldiers and Cylons marching down the halls side by side, comrades in arms.  A new society, a blended society. As I understood it, that was supposed to be "the deal" with Hera--the hope of a new path, a hybrid that would defeat the inevitability of war. 
 
But here we are at the end of the series, and (spoiler alert, obviously) our characters have found a new world for themselves, the chance to create a new life, in any form they choose.  So what do they choose to do?

Get rid of their machines. Get rid of their technology. Fly it all into the damn sun, and declare themselves Amish. Break the cycle of human vs technology...by declaring war on technology. Let the remaining Cylons help them build their mud huts until they all die out and leave the world good and human. Forget every lesson they've learned over the last several years, about the ways in which machines can be alive, about the ways technology can be terrifying without being evil, forget the past completely because apparently despite the ad nauseum discussion of cycles, no one's heard of that whole 'doomed to repeat it' thing.

Granted, this kind of noble savage, anti-technology, anti-knowledge preaching is a sore spot with me. There's nothing I hate more than the idea that because knowledge can be dangerous, ignorance is safe. But I'd probably be a bit more willing to accept the argument if it didn't completely undermine everything the series had been trying to accomplish up until this point.  And if I hadn't so eagerly awaited a conclusion to the story that paid off on the promise of a future that would build on the mistakes of the past, rather than forgetting them. 

Don't get me wrong: I still think this is the best television show I've ever seen, and I still worship at the feet of the people who created it.   These last two seasons have been so strong that I went into the finale pretty much willing to forgive any and all of its sins.   And fortunately, this is the best kind of disappointing finale -- the kind that doesn't do a thing to undermine the greatness of what's come before. 

So how long do you think I should wait before watching the whole thing over again from the beginning?