Galactica does Leonardo!
Battlestar Galactica
This is a pretty impressive thing, actually. Usually, let’s face it, science fiction sucks. For every Foundation, Duneor Star Warsout there, there’s about a hundred really bad movies or books. TV series are even worse. Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Doctor Who are about it for good television sci-fi. Even the original Battlestar Galactica really sucked ass, and don’t get me started on crapfests like Andromeda, Buck Rogers or the most recent version of Flash Gordon. Actually, pretty much everything broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel is really, really awful.
Battlestar Galactica, is, however, a major exception. This is a TV series that is, more than any other sci-fi show and more than most other dramas, very much about our world. True, it takes place in a far distant part of the galaxy, where humanity is fighting a war for survival against robots of their own creation, but despite that, it’s our world the show really focuses on, and not just because humanity is trying to reach Earth.
Through the first three seasons we saw episodes dealing with religion, abortion, labor disputes, an insurgency against an invading army (something Slate.com described as “Battlestar Iraqtica”), terrorism, civil rights issues and election fruad. People in this series don’t fire phases or photon torpedoes; they use bullets and nuclear missles. They don’t get Tarkelean flu, they get breast cancer. Nothing about the series seems unduly futuristic or alien. It’s all very easy to relate to, and very real on many levels.
Even the very scenes themselves are evocotive of our world. When President Rosylin is sworn into office, the scene is a direct homage to the swearing-in of President Johnson. A corridor filled with pictures of missing and dead people puts one in mind of the fences outside Ground Zero right after 9/11. Baltar leaning back with arms outstretched, his eyes facing skyward, can’t help but bring to mind the Crucifix.
The acting and writing on the series are also incredibly good. Edward James Olmos impresses me every time he is on screen, as do the other actors. The FX are mind-blowing (Galactica dropping like a stone inside the atmosphere of a planet while launching Vipers before it jumps away remains one of the best visuals in a series full of great eye candy). The characters on the show have layer upon layer of great depth. Even the villain of the series, Gaius Baltar, is not so much evil as just simply very selfish, and certainly quite complex.
Now, one problem with a show like this is its serial nature. Really, you can’t come into this, the fourth and final seasons, without knowing what has gone before. So I tell you all now; go to Netflix and rent all the previous three seasons, or go buy them. Then watch them. Then start watching the current season. You will be happy you did!
