In praise of lying liars
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen the key players lie repeatedly to the media, spread misinformation and deliberately block efforts to uncover the truth. No, I’m not talking about Alberto Gonzales and his merry band at the Justice Department. I’m talking about Ron Moore, Katee Sackhoff and the gang at “Battlestar Galactica.” As is now quite clear, in the brief period between Starbuck’s “death” and her reappearance in the show’s season finale, Moore and Sackhoff actively lied to reporters about the character’s fate. Moore gleefully recounted how the decision to “kill” her was developed in a writers’ meeting, and Sackhoff insisted she didn’t have any idea what her character’s fate would be, or whether she would even return next season. And just about everyone involved in the show played up the fact that Sackhoff might just be too busy to continue as Starbuck, thanks to a minor role in another show.
All lies.
And for that, I give my heartfelt thanks. In this era of “radical transparency,” of web sites that have built their entire business model around providing spoilers, of fans who consider it their mission in life to release said spoilers into the wild, Sackhoff and Moore should be praised for helping keep the suspense alive about the show’s season finale, rather than just giving in to the inevitable leaks. Of course, the downside of this is that viewers may never trust Moore again. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing either, since it only helps keep the focus on what happens onscreen, rather than on the random teasers cast by Moore and others into the waters of the net. So, sure, Ron Moore has “confirmed” that the finale’s Dylan groupies really are Cylons, and aren’t just suffering from an acid flashback. But I, for one, won’t be surprised if something else is going on—and I definitely won’t hold any grudges against Moore for lying. Now, about that Gonzales…
