I've noticed that, when discussing the finale of Battlestar Galactica, many fans have been complaining that the payoffs were disappointing because the writers didn't figure out the resolutions until the break between the 3rd and 4th seasons.
This bugs me for a couple of reasons. First, it gets at the question of where ideas come from and attributes validity to ideas that are born complete - fully formed, like Athena from Zeus's head. Second, it's a displacement of a different complaint. If the idea that Starbuck was an angel is your problem, then explain why that idea is so dissatisfying. It can't be that the idea is disappointing because Ron Moore came up with it well after bringing her back from the dead.
Now, much of this lamenting results from Ron Moore's ubiquity, and the incredible access he's given to fans of the show (podcasts, blogs, seemingly endless interviews). His presence as the mind behind this iteration of Battlestar Galactica has made his creative process part of the discussion of the show. Fair enough. Complaints about the writers' lack of planning are made available when the writers admit that they didn't have a plan.
But the show is the show. The show is what they put on screen (or on the extended DVD cuts). As we were so frequently reminded, the Cylons had a plan. Not the writers. Whether or not the writers knew what the plan was it all along is another matter. Whether or not the plan is interesting or compelling is something else again, and the question that I think is much more worthy of discussion.
I attended a session lead by Ron Moore at a very small Star Trek convention (thing Trekkies film level of geekdom). He had only been writing for the show for a couple of years I think—in any case he told the audience how he had been hired. He was interrupted by an angry mob of Klingons who stormed the room. These same Klingons had annoyed the entire convention as they were the (self-appointed?) security for the event and spent a lot of time pushing through crowds obnoxiously in character. This group demanded that Moore justify the death of K’Ehleyr. Moore made the expected arguments about the good of the story, explanations which failed to satisfy and then he just basically said—look, it’s my job to make you this mad and I do my job very well.
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