Battlestar Galactica

Recently I've been watching the Sci-Fi Channel series "Battlestar Galactica". People's reactions to this show have surprised me - for instance, when I rented the first couple of discs from my video store, the clerks warned me that it would become my new heroin. (Confession: I was spared the shame of walking up to the counter with the final season of "The O.C." only because it was already rented. I suspect that selection would not have garnered such an enthusiastic response.)

And so, I suppose it has. Become my new heroin. Because while it's totally addictive, it also makes me feel kind of dirty & gross. Far be it from me, who has to avoid a veritable minefield of information on the not-yet-on-DVD Season 3 in order to glean any kernels of knowledge on the first two seasons of the show, to indulge in spoilers, but...I cannot resist airing a few grievances & handing out a few compliments. I WILL NOT GIVE AWAY PLOT POINTS.


1) Edward James Olmos is AWESOME.

2) Sharon "Boomer" Valerii (played by Grace Park) is HOT, & an extremely interesting character as well.

3) Most of the other characters are annoying as hell. In fact, I can't even make a list of annoying characters, because that would mean naming almost all of them, & I don't have time to look up those spellings.

4) But the show itself is still captivating. The interpersonal relations, the shifting dynamics, the tension, the action...good stuff.

5) Except that a lot of the time I feel like my chain's being jerked. It's like a pseudo-serial, where they drop tantalizing bits of plot before you, then just leave you hanging. (Sometimes I feel like I want it to be more like "Lost", where mystery abounds but you can trust that it's probably actually going somewhere.)

6) Which makes me very hopeful that eventually everything will tie together. Apparently the deal is, they've got a TV movie & then Season 4, & then that's it.

7) But somehow I doubt it. The show seems to often have an "issue-of-the-week" mentality.

8) Considering the sand-buried heads of most popular entertainment, however, this is refreshing, if frequently overwrought. A show that actually considers the consequences, & dare I say, ethics of torture, as opposed to "24", which merely revels in its own pointless brutality.

9) Though it's hard to care when the humans are, by & large, such buttheads.

10) Luckily, the Cylons are endlessly fascinating & I'm entirely curious to see what their deal is.

11) However, that just takes us full circle back to the possibility my chain is being jerked & these rampant speculations in which I've indulged will never see the light of payoff.

12) Then again, who knows? There's two seasons & a movie to go.

So, would I recommend "Battlestar Galactica"? Hell yeah. Do I feel like my expectations & hopes stand a good chance of ultimately being solidly crushed? Hell yeah.