in my own personal belief i think that the producers were looking at the success of the first two seasons and thinking they could push the story beyond the four years it was designed for. they were looking at the 6 7 or 8 years that they normally push a series for. they lost the fact that the greatest part of BSG was that you new from the beginning that it was gonna be short. that a viewer was not going to commit to a show that would run on and on for years without end and watching the show fall into the same lame story of looking and looking for earth and always being just a step away but never finding it. that story line gets plaid out after a very short period and besides its be done so many times already.
watch season 3 if you have it, some of what happens plays an important part in the season 4 back looks and it does move the original story along.
FLOTSOM
I watched all of Season 3 on TV, didn't miss one episode. My favorite episode was Unfinished Business and I need to see the extended version which is on the DVD I hear :/
FLOTSOM, me and you are on the same page bro, that's the exact reason I stopped watching Lost. I quit somewhere in Season 3, I couldn't deal with it anymore. After Torn, thought good episodes were few and far between. Eye of Jupiter was good but I thought The Passage and Rapture were crap story telling at its worst. Then the character that dies in Maelstrom (dont want to give anything away), another example of terrible storytelling. Crossroads Pt2 was very good though. Lee's speech was one of the highlights of the entire series.