For the last three years, I've been extolling the virtues of Battlestar Galactica. I won't go through all those reasons; you can click the link to read those.
The final episodes of Battlestar Galactica are starting up tomorrow. And it will be the end of one of the most literary, well-written shows, not just sci-fi of this decade. There is a great place for pop sci fi, like Lost and Heroes, but I'm also glad there's been a place for sci-fi like Battlestar Galactica as well, especially this re-imagining. Here is a preview of the upcoming season, continuing from last season where they landed on Earth, but it wasn't quite what they expected.
Showing posts with label Battlestar Galactica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Battlestar Galactica. Show all posts
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Gaius Baltar is Not Jesus
NOTE: If you haven't watched the first four episodes of Battlestar Galactica and don't want to be spoiled, please read no further.
I had a comment on my previous BSG post (if you could call it a full post) from Kat Coble about my thoughts on what the show is doing with the religious aspect. Kat herself has posted some thoughts which I think are well worth reading.
A couple of years ago, I pointed out that the current iteration of BSG has added religion as a facet of the show, where the Colonials (good guys) are polytheists, modeled after (or modeling, depending on if you think the show is in our past or our future) the Greek pantheon and the Cylons (bad guys) are monotheists. In the show's current season (the fourth and final) traitor Gaius Baltar has become a primary evangelist for monotheism, gathering to himself followers, many of them nubile young women who like the chance to "experience" the love that is Gaius Baltar. At any rate, in the last episode, Baltar was beaten bloody as he preached a message of God's love and acceptance for people and that because God loves them, they are all perfect.
Do I think that the producers and writers of BSG are trying to accurately represent Christianity. No, not any more than they are trying to accurately represent the worship of the Greek pantheon. I think to most of them, the two are equal, quaint superstitions. It's just that one is still active. I think the parallels are interesting and it can certainly make it difficult to not sympathize with some of the Cylon's motives, even if I can't with their actions to support those motives. To me, the religion aspect of the entire show as been a great addition to the overall "mythology" of the show. Do I think some aspects of the Cylons' attempts to spread "God's love" are similar to some of what Christianity has done historically? Perhaps, but what I also hope is that people will watch and recognize the differences between fact and fiction. For myself, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what they do with this in the future episodes.
I had a comment on my previous BSG post (if you could call it a full post) from Kat Coble about my thoughts on what the show is doing with the religious aspect. Kat herself has posted some thoughts which I think are well worth reading.
A couple of years ago, I pointed out that the current iteration of BSG has added religion as a facet of the show, where the Colonials (good guys) are polytheists, modeled after (or modeling, depending on if you think the show is in our past or our future) the Greek pantheon and the Cylons (bad guys) are monotheists. In the show's current season (the fourth and final) traitor Gaius Baltar has become a primary evangelist for monotheism, gathering to himself followers, many of them nubile young women who like the chance to "experience" the love that is Gaius Baltar. At any rate, in the last episode, Baltar was beaten bloody as he preached a message of God's love and acceptance for people and that because God loves them, they are all perfect.
Do I think that the producers and writers of BSG are trying to accurately represent Christianity. No, not any more than they are trying to accurately represent the worship of the Greek pantheon. I think to most of them, the two are equal, quaint superstitions. It's just that one is still active. I think the parallels are interesting and it can certainly make it difficult to not sympathize with some of the Cylon's motives, even if I can't with their actions to support those motives. To me, the religion aspect of the entire show as been a great addition to the overall "mythology" of the show. Do I think some aspects of the Cylons' attempts to spread "God's love" are similar to some of what Christianity has done historically? Perhaps, but what I also hope is that people will watch and recognize the differences between fact and fiction. For myself, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what they do with this in the future episodes.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Monday, March 26, 2007
Battlestar Galactica is Back...
Seriously, don't read this if you haven't watched Battlestar Galactica from last night night.
Ron Moore, I apologize. A month ago, I compared Battlestar Galactica to Lost. And not in a good way. But last night, you dropped so many bombshells in the show that to list them might take away from the effect of them, but I'm doing it anyway.
- Acquitting Baltar of his crimes against humanity. OK, out of all of them, I think this one took the most cajones. People hate Baltar. He's a smarmy coward, who looks after his own self interest over all others. Even in the face of others dying. Getting Baltar off on the charges was bold and opens up a LOT of possibilities. I especially liked how people reacted to Baltar when he was acquitted as he was walking through the halls. I guess getting what you wanted didn't exactly give you what you thought, did it, Doctor? Oh, and I think Admiral Adama voting for acquittal is going to stop whatever... side benefits he was having with the president.
- Starbuck is back. It seems that the intertubes exploded with fury when Moore killed Starbuck. She was loved by all the fanboys and fangirls and killing her apparently killed part of their souls as well. But now, she's back (somehow), she's been to earth (somehow), and she's going to lead the fleet there (somehow), while hopefully getting rid of the Cylon fleet that just jumped in behind them. So now, not only is she the best pilot out there, she's also going to have a Messiah complex. I'm sure that'll make her character much more likable . However, it does expand the plot nicely.
- And finally... Anders is a Cylon (!), so is Tory (!), who Anders is sleeping with (to get over Starbuck?). The Chief is a Cylon (I guess Brother Cavil wasn't invited to the final 5 meetings), and Colonel Tigh is a Cylon?!?!?! I guess he was the defective model, because he was wonderfully screwed up. Several things... 1) That still leaves one more to be revealed. And I seem to remember Leoben whispering to Laura that Adama is a Cylon. Bill or Lee? Interesting possibilities abound there, if Leoben wasn't lying. 2) I loved how they all decided that being Cylons didn't make them automatically evil and they went back to their jobs. Of course, we have to hope that they don't have sleeper programming, like Boomer did. 3) Loved the use of All Along the Watchtower. Really plays into the "All of this has happened before that we haven't heard much of recently. So are they in the future and hearing something from their past or are we in their future and hearing something from our past? Or is it the collective Jungian soul playing out.
Now, how much longer until Heroes starts back up?
Monday, March 05, 2007
Been a Long Time...
Summary of the last 5 days...
- Wednesday. Woke up at 5:15 am to get to the airport at 6 to fly to DC for a business trip. Left at 8. Did the meeting until 6 that night (eastern). Went to dinner with the group and then walked to the White House, the World War 2 Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial. Bed at midnight Eastern.
- Thursday, up at 6 Eastern, into the office at 7:30. Met all day, left the office at 5 to get to Reagen National and fly out at 7. Slept through some really bad turbulence apparently. Got home at 9 Central. Got to talk to Matt and Adam for a while and kiss my kids goodnight.
- Friday. Worked from home. Took Kinsey to school. Went back at 11 to have lunch with her (as a surprise). Friday night, went out with Matt and Adam and the family to the Loveless Cafe for some rib stickin' good food. Then home.
- Saturday, up at 7am to get to the church building at 8:15 to start getting set up for the Otter Limits talent show and sound check at 9. Run through parts of the acts and did a lot of work with the musicians. Left at noon to have lunch with the family, Matt, Adam, and Adam's family as they prepared to head back to the home of West Virginiology. (How did you get that chicken and harmonica to mate?) Went shopping with Sheryl and the kids. Back to the building at 4 to get ready for the 6:30 start time. Show ended at 9:20... Yes, 2 hours and 50 minutes. 28 acts. Some of which were actually good. Got everything broken down and set up for the Sunday morning service by 10. Home at 10:20...
- Sunday. Up at 7 to leave at 7:45 to be at church for the sound check at 8:15. Had to put together the MediaShout presentation for the class time. Didn't get the sermon presentation until 9:50, ten minutes before service began. Not fun. Lunch with friends. Home to get Kinsey ready to go swimming at the Y with her cousin. Picked up cousin. Dropped girls off to swim at 2:30. Connor and I go Kroger shopping. Home at 4 to get ready for parents' birthday party at our house at 5. Party. Everyone leaves by 8:30. Finally sit down to watch Amazing Race and Battlestar Galactica (btw, um... did what I think happened on that show actually happen?) Now, writing blog, getting ready to go to sleep. To sleep, perchance to dream....
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Battlestar Galactica is Lost, but Heroes ain't, and Studio 60 is gone
This is hard for me to write, because I've loved BSG and still do to a great extent. I've laid out my problems with Lost before. Terminal end to the show that the producers keep putting off (getting off the island) by inserting all of these character moments (flashbacks) and not really advancing the plot. And as of now, BSG has fallen into this same trap. There is a terminal end to the show (finding Earth) that apparently the producers are trying to put off by doing all of these little character things. The last three episodes have had almost nothing to do with finding Earth or the Cylons chasing them. It's all been character stuff, which is not bad necessarily, but when it's done badly and/or with a 2x4, then yes, it's bad.
And Battlestar Galactica has been. And it needs to right the ship soon, or even though the 4th season has been approved, they still might manage to get it pulled.
Speaking of getting pulled, is there any more disappointing show this season (expectations-wise) than Studio 60? This is the show with the impeccable pedigree, both in production and acting that no one thought could lose. But you know how you make a show like that bad? You make it preachy. And it don't necessarily have a problem with preachiness, but the issue is that it's being done so badly. Plus, the people that Aaron Sorkin is preaching to are already watching the show! And here's where I think the show really fails, particularly in comparison to the criminally underwatched SportsNight and the overpraised but still very good West Wing.
On both WW and SN, there were a plethora of topics to mine storylines from. For WW, obviously the politics drove the storylines and the relationships and character interactions were built around those. Same thing with SN. Sporting events drove it (NFL Draft, Tennis, Basketball, etc) and again the relationships and character interactions worked around those.
With S60, there is nothing there to drive the plot (besides the Macao stuff that Matt and Danny have nothing to do with), and so the major focus for Matt and Danny is not some external force acting on them, it's them in the relationships that are frankly, both badly written and possibly Sorkin working out his Chenowith issues. I wonder if the show will be back at all, now that it's "on hiatus"
What is working now is Heroes. And Monday night was an amazing example of moving plot forward and giving information and satisfying fans while still leaving them hungry for more. We got some resolution to Hiro and Ando (and a cameo by Stan Lee), Peter seems upset while getting more control of his powers, Isaac kills Simone unintentionally, and Matt Parkman teams up with WiFi woman and Radioactive man to get some answers from Mr. Bennett, after Claire tells her adopted father off. In the truest sense of the word, I am anxiously awaiting next Monday, where we'll apparently get some real answers about Mr. Bennett's past. Good times.
And Battlestar Galactica has been. And it needs to right the ship soon, or even though the 4th season has been approved, they still might manage to get it pulled.
Speaking of getting pulled, is there any more disappointing show this season (expectations-wise) than Studio 60? This is the show with the impeccable pedigree, both in production and acting that no one thought could lose. But you know how you make a show like that bad? You make it preachy. And it don't necessarily have a problem with preachiness, but the issue is that it's being done so badly. Plus, the people that Aaron Sorkin is preaching to are already watching the show! And here's where I think the show really fails, particularly in comparison to the criminally underwatched SportsNight and the overpraised but still very good West Wing.
On both WW and SN, there were a plethora of topics to mine storylines from. For WW, obviously the politics drove the storylines and the relationships and character interactions were built around those. Same thing with SN. Sporting events drove it (NFL Draft, Tennis, Basketball, etc) and again the relationships and character interactions worked around those.
With S60, there is nothing there to drive the plot (besides the Macao stuff that Matt and Danny have nothing to do with), and so the major focus for Matt and Danny is not some external force acting on them, it's them in the relationships that are frankly, both badly written and possibly Sorkin working out his Chenowith issues. I wonder if the show will be back at all, now that it's "on hiatus"
What is working now is Heroes. And Monday night was an amazing example of moving plot forward and giving information and satisfying fans while still leaving them hungry for more. We got some resolution to Hiro and Ando (and a cameo by Stan Lee), Peter seems upset while getting more control of his powers, Isaac kills Simone unintentionally, and Matt Parkman teams up with WiFi woman and Radioactive man to get some answers from Mr. Bennett, after Claire tells her adopted father off. In the truest sense of the word, I am anxiously awaiting next Monday, where we'll apparently get some real answers about Mr. Bennett's past. Good times.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
YouTube: Galactic Empire vs. Colonials
Am I a geek? Yes, and I can prove it, because the following video made me much happier than it really should have.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Heroes Fix
So, it's been since last year that you've seen any new Heroes footage, hasn't it? And you're wondering, is there anything out there that will get me through until January 22 without binge-ing on spoilers?
Yes. Yes, there is. NBC is running Heroes marathons on Mondays. Three hours on January 1st and three hours next week. And on the first, they showed previews of the upcoming episodes. A courtesy the magic of YouTube, I present them here for you.
Now, I could truly geek out like a raving fanboy about this footage. But I won't... no matter the temptation. Suffice it to say, that while previews for shows can be made to look as good as possible, I'm finding it hard not to get excited about this show. Very excited. And with Psych coming back on January 19 and Battlestar Galactica coming back on January 21, winter looks to be very exciting.
Addendum: OK. Elizabeth, you asked for it and now you get it. Geeking out like a raving fanboy over these previews. I'm going to take it by main character.
Nathan Petrelli: Nathan is obviously coming around to accepting that the "Heroes" in the world are there and he is a part of them. I don't know how that will play out, but people really like his character and I think he'll play a major role in the end of this storyline.
Peter Petrelli: I find it interesting that Peter seems to want to be "cured" in these previews. Along with Hiro, he seemed to be one of the only ones to embrace their roles and powers. So for him to be volunteering to let Mohinder and Mr. Bennett(?) inject him seems very weird and possibly out of character. The bearded man that he talks to is played by Christopher Eccleston who played Dr. Who on last season's BBC series. I know from one spoiler that I read that his power is invisibility and that he will be become some kind of mentor to Peter, which makes Peter's desire to be cured even more interesting.
Hiro: Hiro finds his sword! With the weird symbol on it! And there's a shot of T-Rex skeleton behind him at one point! Seriously, the sword seems to be a big deal here and I'm not sure if it's an actual weapon or a symbol. Now, seeing the symbol on the sword makes me wonder about the Heroes themselves and Mohinder's dad's research and who Mr. Bennett works for. Has there been an organization that has worked with people with powers for a long time? At any rate, Hiro is such a bright spot on the show and his enthusiasm for who he is and embracing it is one of the best parts of the whole thing. One other thing: as Hiro's English improves, does Ando become expendable? Or maybe Ando is working for someone else and keeping an eye on Hiro? Just random speculation there.
Claire: She's trying to find Peter again, which is very understandable. He's the only person besides Zach that she's ever talked to about this and she wants to continue that. Speaking of Zach, he's back and filming her again. Does the Haitian give him his memory back? She's also looking at her dad's computer, possibly. She's realizing that her whole existence has been a lie. Which is kind of sad from two perspectives. 1) That her whole existence has been a lie and 2) it really ruins the little father-daughter dynamic going on between her and her dad that was a really sweet aspect to the show. I know it had to happen, but it still disappoints me. And her word: "Mom?" Is she talking about her adopted mother? Her birth mother? Her fake-birth mother?
Nikki/Jessica: Nikki is obviously in jail confessing to murder. Which murder? Take your pick, DL's crew, the money launderer and his gambling friends. Nikki also seems to want to get rid of Jessica and the syringe shots look like her getting poked. Will it work? Will Nikki become the dominant personality or is Jessica actually the dominant personality and Nikki the one that she developed to hide in? No spoiler there, just some random speculation.
DL/Micah: Like I said at the end of the fall season, they've got to do something with this storyline or drop them because I couldn't really care less. The only interesting thing was the two of them looking at Nikki in her cell. Will DL uses his phasing ability and Micah his technological power to get her out?
Issac: He's still clean it looks like and Hiro has come back with him to New York. Nathan finds him and they talk about his paintings. Simone (another character that hasn't registered much on my radar) is there and falls at some point, it seems.
Matt: Matt's obviously ticked at Bennett for kidnapping him, but how will all of that play out? That's one storyline I don't really have a bead on, but I'm really interested. They need to make his wife more sympathetic, because I'd rather not see the two of them get divorced even though Matt really did cheat on their "date."
Mohinder: Obviously embracing his role as the science guy and teaming up with Mr. Bennett to cure(?) the Heroes who want to be cured. Will he move to Texas to help Bennett? Where will "The List" play into all of this?
Sylar: He seems to be slightly comatose at this point, but I'm thinking that roach walking across his floor is either not long for the world or an indication that there is some way out of his cell.
And finally, Mr. Bennett: The list is very important to him. Is it to find these Heroes to protect them or to protect the world from him? He's in some organization without initials (OWI) that wants Sylar alive and he's taking his orders from someone else, particularly about keeping Sylar alive. I'm really enjoying this character and curious to see how he's going to develop.
So that's my deep geeking. I love this show. Obviously. And I'm really looking forward to the 22nd.
Yes. Yes, there is. NBC is running Heroes marathons on Mondays. Three hours on January 1st and three hours next week. And on the first, they showed previews of the upcoming episodes. A courtesy the magic of YouTube, I present them here for you.
Now, I could truly geek out like a raving fanboy about this footage. But I won't... no matter the temptation. Suffice it to say, that while previews for shows can be made to look as good as possible, I'm finding it hard not to get excited about this show. Very excited. And with Psych coming back on January 19 and Battlestar Galactica coming back on January 21, winter looks to be very exciting.
Addendum: OK. Elizabeth, you asked for it and now you get it. Geeking out like a raving fanboy over these previews. I'm going to take it by main character.
Nathan Petrelli: Nathan is obviously coming around to accepting that the "Heroes" in the world are there and he is a part of them. I don't know how that will play out, but people really like his character and I think he'll play a major role in the end of this storyline.
Peter Petrelli: I find it interesting that Peter seems to want to be "cured" in these previews. Along with Hiro, he seemed to be one of the only ones to embrace their roles and powers. So for him to be volunteering to let Mohinder and Mr. Bennett(?) inject him seems very weird and possibly out of character. The bearded man that he talks to is played by Christopher Eccleston who played Dr. Who on last season's BBC series. I know from one spoiler that I read that his power is invisibility and that he will be become some kind of mentor to Peter, which makes Peter's desire to be cured even more interesting.
Hiro: Hiro finds his sword! With the weird symbol on it! And there's a shot of T-Rex skeleton behind him at one point! Seriously, the sword seems to be a big deal here and I'm not sure if it's an actual weapon or a symbol. Now, seeing the symbol on the sword makes me wonder about the Heroes themselves and Mohinder's dad's research and who Mr. Bennett works for. Has there been an organization that has worked with people with powers for a long time? At any rate, Hiro is such a bright spot on the show and his enthusiasm for who he is and embracing it is one of the best parts of the whole thing. One other thing: as Hiro's English improves, does Ando become expendable? Or maybe Ando is working for someone else and keeping an eye on Hiro? Just random speculation there.
Claire: She's trying to find Peter again, which is very understandable. He's the only person besides Zach that she's ever talked to about this and she wants to continue that. Speaking of Zach, he's back and filming her again. Does the Haitian give him his memory back? She's also looking at her dad's computer, possibly. She's realizing that her whole existence has been a lie. Which is kind of sad from two perspectives. 1) That her whole existence has been a lie and 2) it really ruins the little father-daughter dynamic going on between her and her dad that was a really sweet aspect to the show. I know it had to happen, but it still disappoints me. And her word: "Mom?" Is she talking about her adopted mother? Her birth mother? Her fake-birth mother?
Nikki/Jessica: Nikki is obviously in jail confessing to murder. Which murder? Take your pick, DL's crew, the money launderer and his gambling friends. Nikki also seems to want to get rid of Jessica and the syringe shots look like her getting poked. Will it work? Will Nikki become the dominant personality or is Jessica actually the dominant personality and Nikki the one that she developed to hide in? No spoiler there, just some random speculation.
DL/Micah: Like I said at the end of the fall season, they've got to do something with this storyline or drop them because I couldn't really care less. The only interesting thing was the two of them looking at Nikki in her cell. Will DL uses his phasing ability and Micah his technological power to get her out?
Issac: He's still clean it looks like and Hiro has come back with him to New York. Nathan finds him and they talk about his paintings. Simone (another character that hasn't registered much on my radar) is there and falls at some point, it seems.
Matt: Matt's obviously ticked at Bennett for kidnapping him, but how will all of that play out? That's one storyline I don't really have a bead on, but I'm really interested. They need to make his wife more sympathetic, because I'd rather not see the two of them get divorced even though Matt really did cheat on their "date."
Mohinder: Obviously embracing his role as the science guy and teaming up with Mr. Bennett to cure(?) the Heroes who want to be cured. Will he move to Texas to help Bennett? Where will "The List" play into all of this?
Sylar: He seems to be slightly comatose at this point, but I'm thinking that roach walking across his floor is either not long for the world or an indication that there is some way out of his cell.
And finally, Mr. Bennett: The list is very important to him. Is it to find these Heroes to protect them or to protect the world from him? He's in some organization without initials (OWI) that wants Sylar alive and he's taking his orders from someone else, particularly about keeping Sylar alive. I'm really enjoying this character and curious to see how he's going to develop.
So that's my deep geeking. I love this show. Obviously. And I'm really looking forward to the 22nd.
Monday, October 23, 2006
The Geek Comes Forth...
Battlestar Galactica
Holy cow (or frack, if you prefer). Friday's episode was just incredible and really showed the epic nature of the show. From the Galactica jumping into New Caprica's orbit and then jumping back out in one of the coolest FX shots I've seen to the Pegasus suprisingly/unsuprisingly showing up to save the day and ultimately being destroyed and taking out two basestars with it. Adama (Edward James Olmos) shaves the mustache, (President?) Roslin (Mary McDonnell) is back on Colonial One and things seem to be as they should be, except....
Ellen Tigh died because of her collaboration with the Cylons and her husband Colonel Saul Tigh had to kill her in what maybe is the emotional touchpoint of the entire series and some incredible Emmy worthy acting from Michael Hogan. Kara Thrace (Starbuck), the abused fighter jock, had to give away a piece of her soul to her captor Leoben in order to save her daughter, who it turns out was not actually her daughter. There are collaborators from the Cylon occupation that made it back to the Galactica and they will have to be dealt with in some way...
Galatica is hitting emotional resonances that you just don't expect a TV show to hit and I'm really enjoying the ride so far.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Look, here's the thing. I expected to have a show to watch on Monday nights, but I really expected it to be Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which I still watch, and both the acting and the writing are really good, but I don't like it as much as the two previous Sorkin shows (The West Wing and the criminally underwatched SportsNight). Maybe the characters aren't as likeable or interesting. Maybe the stories aren't as good. Maybe I don't care as much about the behind the scenes approach to a late night comedy sketch show as I did about the White House or SportsCenter. Whatever the reason, Studio 60 just isn't working for me.
Heroes
What is working for me and has become Monday night appointment TV is Heroes. In this show, evolution is happening. People are changing. Ordinary people have powers that are extraordinary.
An oily politician can fly. His brother seems to be able to absorb other powers. A comic book geek from Japan can stop time and teleport himself to the other side of the world. An internet stripper has a strange and violent alternate personality. A high school cheerleader is literally indestructible. A California cop can read minds. There's a heroin addict who can paint the future, but only when he's high. There's some creepy guy in glasses tracking all of these people down... and happens to be the adopted father of Claire, the cheerleader. There's someone else named Sylar who seems to be the Big Bad of the show and also appears to be telekinetic. And the plot is driven by a painting of the addict, showing New York being consumed in a nuclear blast that these heroes must stop.
Seem geeky? Well, it is, but it's also very character driven. It's about all of these ordinary people starting to explore and use these powers and realize that there is a purpose behind them and that there is a greater calling on their lives than the typical mundanity. But they also have to deal with family and the typical mundanities that surround them. It's well made and well acted.
It's also much, much better than Lost, because of the simple fact that it actually answers questions rather than answering in a completely unintelligible way that raises three more that will probably never get answered. Lost is in Season 3 now, but does anyone really have any idea what the heck is happening on that show?
For me the true test of a great show is if I feel the need to search for "spoilers" (plot points that have not yet happened on the show, but have leaked out from the studios) or if I want to see it develop over the course of the episodes. On the last two seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I read spoilers incessantly. I just wanted to know how it would end. I was invested in the story, but not seeing it play out. For Battlestar Galactica and Heroes, I avoid spoilers like the Plague, not wanting to know ahead of time, but trusting the writers to reveal things as the shows progress. In three seasons of BSG, I haven't been let down yet. Only four episodes into Heroes and things look great so far. I hope they stay that way for both.
btw, there was a Heroes marathon on NBC last night (they didn't have football for some reason), and at the end, they showed a two minute preview of the rest of the season. It's really interesting (and has great music too, if someone knows what it is). Here you go...
For those interested, the song is called "Together,' by Krystal Meyers, off of her "Dying for a Heart" CD. She's apparently a Christian artist as well.
Holy cow (or frack, if you prefer). Friday's episode was just incredible and really showed the epic nature of the show. From the Galactica jumping into New Caprica's orbit and then jumping back out in one of the coolest FX shots I've seen to the Pegasus suprisingly/unsuprisingly showing up to save the day and ultimately being destroyed and taking out two basestars with it. Adama (Edward James Olmos) shaves the mustache, (President?) Roslin (Mary McDonnell) is back on Colonial One and things seem to be as they should be, except....
Ellen Tigh died because of her collaboration with the Cylons and her husband Colonel Saul Tigh had to kill her in what maybe is the emotional touchpoint of the entire series and some incredible Emmy worthy acting from Michael Hogan. Kara Thrace (Starbuck), the abused fighter jock, had to give away a piece of her soul to her captor Leoben in order to save her daughter, who it turns out was not actually her daughter. There are collaborators from the Cylon occupation that made it back to the Galactica and they will have to be dealt with in some way...
Galatica is hitting emotional resonances that you just don't expect a TV show to hit and I'm really enjoying the ride so far.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Look, here's the thing. I expected to have a show to watch on Monday nights, but I really expected it to be Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which I still watch, and both the acting and the writing are really good, but I don't like it as much as the two previous Sorkin shows (The West Wing and the criminally underwatched SportsNight). Maybe the characters aren't as likeable or interesting. Maybe the stories aren't as good. Maybe I don't care as much about the behind the scenes approach to a late night comedy sketch show as I did about the White House or SportsCenter. Whatever the reason, Studio 60 just isn't working for me.
Heroes
What is working for me and has become Monday night appointment TV is Heroes. In this show, evolution is happening. People are changing. Ordinary people have powers that are extraordinary.
An oily politician can fly. His brother seems to be able to absorb other powers. A comic book geek from Japan can stop time and teleport himself to the other side of the world. An internet stripper has a strange and violent alternate personality. A high school cheerleader is literally indestructible. A California cop can read minds. There's a heroin addict who can paint the future, but only when he's high. There's some creepy guy in glasses tracking all of these people down... and happens to be the adopted father of Claire, the cheerleader. There's someone else named Sylar who seems to be the Big Bad of the show and also appears to be telekinetic. And the plot is driven by a painting of the addict, showing New York being consumed in a nuclear blast that these heroes must stop.
Seem geeky? Well, it is, but it's also very character driven. It's about all of these ordinary people starting to explore and use these powers and realize that there is a purpose behind them and that there is a greater calling on their lives than the typical mundanity. But they also have to deal with family and the typical mundanities that surround them. It's well made and well acted.
It's also much, much better than Lost, because of the simple fact that it actually answers questions rather than answering in a completely unintelligible way that raises three more that will probably never get answered. Lost is in Season 3 now, but does anyone really have any idea what the heck is happening on that show?
For me the true test of a great show is if I feel the need to search for "spoilers" (plot points that have not yet happened on the show, but have leaked out from the studios) or if I want to see it develop over the course of the episodes. On the last two seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I read spoilers incessantly. I just wanted to know how it would end. I was invested in the story, but not seeing it play out. For Battlestar Galactica and Heroes, I avoid spoilers like the Plague, not wanting to know ahead of time, but trusting the writers to reveal things as the shows progress. In three seasons of BSG, I haven't been let down yet. Only four episodes into Heroes and things look great so far. I hope they stay that way for both.
btw, there was a Heroes marathon on NBC last night (they didn't have football for some reason), and at the end, they showed a two minute preview of the rest of the season. It's really interesting (and has great music too, if someone knows what it is). Here you go...
For those interested, the song is called "Together,' by Krystal Meyers, off of her "Dying for a Heart" CD. She's apparently a Christian artist as well.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Battlestar Galactica
I try not to watch as much TV as I used to. I seriously used to have a show I would watch every night of the week. Now thought, I watch news, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report. I also watch sports, but my must watch episodic TV is only the Shield and Battlestar Galactica (ok, the Amazing Race and Survivor).
I loved Battlestar Galactica (BSG) when it was first on in 1978. I was at the height of my Star Wars love and this had space fighters and lasers and those kind of things. I didn't care if it was cheesy and not very well written. I got to seeing science fiction every week. Even watching the series again on SciFi Channel about 5 year ago, it was all of those things, but I still liked it.
So when I heard that the SciFi Channel was redoing the series as a miniseries, and that one of its stars, Edward James Olmos, said that if you liked the first one, you shouldn't watch this one, I didn't. But then, I started hearing great things about the new series. And that it was produced and developed by Ronald D. Moore, the creative force behind Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (the best series, in my opinion), and I started to get hopeful.
So when the miniseries became a full fledged series, I decided to give it a chance.
This may be one of the best TV series I've ever watched.
It's incredibly topical. The series starts off with a surprise attack on humans by the Cylons (who can look human; there are still metal ones) and only 50,000 humans escape. As a result there is deep seated fear about who might be a Cylon and who might not, all while trying to survive the pursuing Cylons and to find Earth, their promised land.
The show examines what it means to be human, if sexual assault is an acceptable means of obtaining information from prisoners, and even if torture is acceptable.
And it even has cool space battles.
The reason I'm writing about this today is two fold:
1) Season 2 starts tonight (Friday) at 10 PM EST/9 CST on the Sci Fi Channel
2) Something added from the 1978 series is religion. The good guys (Colonials) are polytheists that worship representations of the Greek and Roman gods and the bad guys (Cylons) are monotheists who say things like, "God loves you and has a plan for your life." I'm going to choose to believe that Moore doesn't think Christians are bad people (although Pat Robertson seems to trying to prove me wrong). I think he wants us to think about how what we say sounds. Hearing words that I've said and heard a lot coming from someone evil does make me think about it. Does that make it less true? No, but it does make me think about how someone not familiar with that language hears it. There is also the President of the Colonies that believes she has been chosen by the gods to lead the colonials to their promised land.
The whole show is very well done and to be really honest, it's a drama set in space rather than a space opera. And it does what good art should do: makes you think about what you think.
I highly recommend it.
I loved Battlestar Galactica (BSG) when it was first on in 1978. I was at the height of my Star Wars love and this had space fighters and lasers and those kind of things. I didn't care if it was cheesy and not very well written. I got to seeing science fiction every week. Even watching the series again on SciFi Channel about 5 year ago, it was all of those things, but I still liked it.
So when I heard that the SciFi Channel was redoing the series as a miniseries, and that one of its stars, Edward James Olmos, said that if you liked the first one, you shouldn't watch this one, I didn't. But then, I started hearing great things about the new series. And that it was produced and developed by Ronald D. Moore, the creative force behind Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (the best series, in my opinion), and I started to get hopeful.
So when the miniseries became a full fledged series, I decided to give it a chance.
This may be one of the best TV series I've ever watched.
It's incredibly topical. The series starts off with a surprise attack on humans by the Cylons (who can look human; there are still metal ones) and only 50,000 humans escape. As a result there is deep seated fear about who might be a Cylon and who might not, all while trying to survive the pursuing Cylons and to find Earth, their promised land.
The show examines what it means to be human, if sexual assault is an acceptable means of obtaining information from prisoners, and even if torture is acceptable.
And it even has cool space battles.
The reason I'm writing about this today is two fold:
1) Season 2 starts tonight (Friday) at 10 PM EST/9 CST on the Sci Fi Channel
2) Something added from the 1978 series is religion. The good guys (Colonials) are polytheists that worship representations of the Greek and Roman gods and the bad guys (Cylons) are monotheists who say things like, "God loves you and has a plan for your life." I'm going to choose to believe that Moore doesn't think Christians are bad people (although Pat Robertson seems to trying to prove me wrong). I think he wants us to think about how what we say sounds. Hearing words that I've said and heard a lot coming from someone evil does make me think about it. Does that make it less true? No, but it does make me think about how someone not familiar with that language hears it. There is also the President of the Colonies that believes she has been chosen by the gods to lead the colonials to their promised land.
The whole show is very well done and to be really honest, it's a drama set in space rather than a space opera. And it does what good art should do: makes you think about what you think.
I highly recommend it.
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