Battlestar Frakkin' Galactica, Dude!
I finished watching the first season of "Battlestar Galactica". Pretty damn good, though I did have a couple problems with the story and characters. I don't know if this is the best show on American television, but then, I don't have much of a way to judge. At least not for another seven weeks. But having done some reading up, it seems I definitely suffered from not watching the miniseries first, and not reacquainting myself with the original series.
For instance, it was hard to get a grip on what Baltar was all about with the cylon babe appearing at every turn. Is she a hallucination? Are the cylons manipulating his consciousness? I still don't really know, though that doesn't stop me from enjoying the tension and conflict that engulfs his character.
The other thing I didn't grok until late in the season was the show's mythos. I had thought the series was predicated on Galactica lost in space and trying to make their way back to Earth a la "Star Trek: Voyager". After piecing together clues from the show and then purusing the Web site, I realize that the humans in the show didn't originate from Earth, but from 12 colonies that were subsequently wasted by the cylons. Earth is a mythical 13th colony that the Galactica's crew wants to find in hopes of settling it.
Speaking of the Web site, it's pretty interesting. Apart from the usual episode guide and background on characters, it has deleted scenes, podcasts and a blog from the show's creator, Ron Moore, who, despite his undeniable talents, bears an unsettling resemblance to Yanni. It was actually on his well-written, funny and informative blog that I found most of the answers to my questions.
Moore also gives valuable insight into the writing process. He answers some pretty pointed questions about why some scenes don't seem realistic. His basic answer is that while he is incredibly dedicated to making things as believable as possible, for a TV show, drama and character development trump reality. You may not agree with every thing they do on the show, but it's understandable why they made those decisions.
Oh, one other thing I didn't realized is that the actor who plays the terrorist Tom Zarek, Richard Hatch, played Apollo in the original series. Apparently, he was a fierce advocate of continuing the original series rather than re-imagining it as Moore wanted. Obviously, Moore won that battle, and offered a role to Hatch, who, despite his initial misgivings, accepted and came to love the new cast and production.
The chief problem I face now is having to wait an indeterminate length of time to see the second season. I won't be back in the States until the end of October, and I don't want to catch the episodes out of order. I will either have to get a Tivo and collect episodes until I can watch them in order, or wait for the DVDs to come out.
For instance, it was hard to get a grip on what Baltar was all about with the cylon babe appearing at every turn. Is she a hallucination? Are the cylons manipulating his consciousness? I still don't really know, though that doesn't stop me from enjoying the tension and conflict that engulfs his character.
The other thing I didn't grok until late in the season was the show's mythos. I had thought the series was predicated on Galactica lost in space and trying to make their way back to Earth a la "Star Trek: Voyager". After piecing together clues from the show and then purusing the Web site, I realize that the humans in the show didn't originate from Earth, but from 12 colonies that were subsequently wasted by the cylons. Earth is a mythical 13th colony that the Galactica's crew wants to find in hopes of settling it.
Speaking of the Web site, it's pretty interesting. Apart from the usual episode guide and background on characters, it has deleted scenes, podcasts and a blog from the show's creator, Ron Moore, who, despite his undeniable talents, bears an unsettling resemblance to Yanni. It was actually on his well-written, funny and informative blog that I found most of the answers to my questions.
Moore also gives valuable insight into the writing process. He answers some pretty pointed questions about why some scenes don't seem realistic. His basic answer is that while he is incredibly dedicated to making things as believable as possible, for a TV show, drama and character development trump reality. You may not agree with every thing they do on the show, but it's understandable why they made those decisions.
Oh, one other thing I didn't realized is that the actor who plays the terrorist Tom Zarek, Richard Hatch, played Apollo in the original series. Apparently, he was a fierce advocate of continuing the original series rather than re-imagining it as Moore wanted. Obviously, Moore won that battle, and offered a role to Hatch, who, despite his initial misgivings, accepted and came to love the new cast and production.
The chief problem I face now is having to wait an indeterminate length of time to see the second season. I won't be back in the States until the end of October, and I don't want to catch the episodes out of order. I will either have to get a Tivo and collect episodes until I can watch them in order, or wait for the DVDs to come out.
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