Why I'm mad at BSG

Last night was the final episode of Battlestar Galactica, which Ray and I have watched faithfully since season 1. I'm not much of a sci-fi fan, but I am a fan of good story-telling, character and suspenseful plot development. It's been a good ride, a great ride by some accounts. Until last night.

Rather than geeking out about the specifics, let me instead use an analogy:

Let's say there's a store in your neighborhood that has really good stuff, maybe something like Trader Joe's or Archie McPhee's. You frequent this store not only because of the good stuff they carry, but also because they have regular raffles with pretty decent prizes...an iPhone, trip to Zihuatanejo, a years-worth of free coffee from your favorite coffee house, etc. Over the years you enter these raffles, not just because you're digging the prizes, but the store also promises to enter you into the Grand-daddy of all Raffles. This is such a Big Deal that they start advertising it a couple years ahead of the actual drawing, and build quite a bit of attention and suspense. Oh boy, I can't wait to see what the prize is! And yeah, I'll enter every raffle that comes along just to up my chances! Woohoo--can't wait!

The day of the Big Deal Raffle arrives. Everyone waits expectantly inside the store. Tension is palpable. The store owner stands on top of the check-out counter, and shakes the sack of raffle tickets. The crowd goes hush, while the owner sticks his hand in the sack and pulls out the winning ticket.

"Before I announce the winner, I'll first tell you about the prize. It's amazing!"

"To this lucky winner," he says, waving the clutched ticket, "...A COUPON GOOD FOR 25%-OFF ANYTHING IN THE STORE!"

He reads the name. No one claims the prize.