Battlestar Galactica – Mark you calendars!
By Marc • Jan 1st, 2005 • Category: Pop Culture, the GeekRight, I know you saw that and thought I was telling you to mark your calendar with the Jan 11 premier date for the new Battlestar Galactica series. Well, that’s not why I’m telling you to mark your calendars. I’m telling you to mark today down because I have to admit that I was wrong. Anyone who knows me, knows that I was dreading this show. I honestly condemned it long before I ever saw it. I made the assumption that the writing would suck, the acting would suck and it wouldn’t last very long because it would be too expensive, much like the first series.
Boy was I wrong. While I’ll admit to having already seen the first nine episodes of the series, don’t ask me how. But, this show is good. I mean really good. The writing is some of the best SciFi drama I have ever seen. Like any new show it’s currently full of character development, but it doesn’t force it. You learn about the characters with a natural flow based on the back drop of the stories told in the episodes. The stories themselves so far have involved the viewer in a single episodic tale, as well as an overall series story arc. Personally, they leave me waiting impatiently for the next episode.
The acting is also much better than in the mini-series. The actors seem more as ease with each other and have a chemistry that makes their characters much more believable. The only real gripe with the characters I have is Gaius Baltar, whose psychological disorders are a little over the top. Hopefully they’ll continue to develop this character further to explain exactly what’s going on inside his head.
The special effects are as good, if not a little better than the mini-series. I guess practice makes perfect.
Over all, the series looks very promising. Rest assured that when it plays on the SciFi Channel, I will be watching it again (and again in reruns). If you liked the old series, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t like this one. If you didn’t like the old series, there’s plenty of reasons why you might like this one. Either way, I urge you give it a chance and form your own opinion.
If you haven’t seen the mini-series you really need to. Borrow it, rent it or click on the picutre on the right and buy it from Amazon.
Marc is a Catholic technology geek living in Tennessee. He blogs at Wild Tangents and is the host of the Catholic Vocations Podcast.
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I agree whole-heartedly. The show is not about the special effects. It has depth to it. The effects are just the icing on the cake and they do not take away from the story or the sub-plots within the story.
p.s. Good review. Keep it up.
Yep. The stories are fantastic, the acting is superb and the FX are just icing on the cake. The only beef I have is with the Baltair character. He’s occasionally annoying, but that could be good acting or bad writing. I’ll side on good acting. His love scenes with Tricia Helfner’s character are pretty racy and are the only thing that would prohibit my kids from watching this. While it is not a family show, the way the original was, there is nothing else besides the aforementioned scenes that is objectionable. I feel this is an adult show because of the topics/themes covered, plus the lack of constant action would not keep most kids interested long enough.
Having said all of that, I would compare this to Star Trek and Star Trek the Next Generation as far as the quality of stories and acting (ST:tNG). However, it is darker and has hit the ground running as opposed to ST:tNG which stunk the first two seasons.
Yes, part of the problem will be maintaining the quality of the scripts as the series progresses. Everything in the ones we have seen so far is new and, therefore, very interesting. The plots and sub-plots could get old and rehashed. (remember some of the ST:tNG “remakes” of ST:TOS episodes?). But as it is so far, it may be the best space-based sci-fi series I have ever seen.
I read the episode recaps from the SkyOne site in the UK.I’m really looking forward to watching the new episodes as they begin to be broadcast in the US.
Cool, I never knew one of my favorite seminarians was a scifi geek too!
I don’t even mind Baltar – at first I was hesitant about his ‘daydreaming’, but they’ve turned it into a deliciously devious plot line, especially in light of Hand of God (episode 10).
I’ll have to agree there, “Hand of god” does shed some light on what’s going on with Baltar, especially considering the “prophecies”, dreams of the president , etc….