Warning: I will be saying "Frack" A LOT from now on.
2006-05-02 / 4:01 p.m.
I was busy, I had school, I had my head under a rock. Excuses excuses. No more! I have seen Battlestar Galactica and am enlightened, inspired, and my enthusiasm for modern television has been renewed.
If you haven't watched it yet, please, do yourself a favor and at least buy/rent/download/watch through the window of your geeky neighbor's house/whatver you have to do to see the miniseries from 2004. Then you have about five months to catch up the 30-some-odd hours of the first and second seasons before the third season premieres on SciFi Network, or whatever blessed and wonderful network in your area happens to show this most magnificent of shows. (And yes, if I am sounding a little Glory-minion-like, it is true that I am now slave to BSG).
What's so great about this modern take on a cheesy sub-par Star Wars/Star Trek wannabe?
First of all, the original Battlestar Galactica rocked. In much different ways than the new one, but it rocked nonetheless. However, the sci-fi genre had a lot of evolution to go through before reaching our current standards. For me personally, I don't give priority to the genre trappings of special effects, nifty innovative technology, and mythology.... They're all interchangeable anyway. The real meat of the story for me is the interactions, relationships, and inner turmoil of the various characters, and BSG has that coming out of its hangars. There's Edward James Olmos as the authoritative Commander Adama, Jamie "0% Body Fat" Bamber as his son, Capt. "Apollo" Adama, Katee Sackhoff as beloved fracked-up top gun Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, and a slew of terrific actors backed up by an impressive writing and production crew. There's even Richard Hatch, the original Apollo, in a really interesting role as terrorist-turned politician Tom Zarek. We really thought we were going to hate his character, but he ends up being so ambiguous and ultimately human that for all his faults we can't help but like him. Oh yeah, and it helps that 80% of the cast is totally Hott (see: Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, Tahmoh Penikett, and above aforementioned).
Some favorite episodes:
105 You Can't Go Home Again - Starbuck gets marooned and is running out of O2 while the Adamas use everything they can to find her, including most of the fleet's fuel. Boy, you think *our* gas prices are high...
208 Final Cut - Guest star Lucy Lawless plays a nosy journalist filming an up-close-and-personal look at Galactica. Up this close, nobody looks good (ok, except for Apollo in a towel...)
220 Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2 - Extremely weird and cliff-hangery season ender. Complete reset, offsides, check the ball before they put it in play for the third season. Plus, Starbuck with long hair. I'm sad that they can't possibly let her keep it.
Trying my very, very best to stay away from spoilers....