NewscomaGot A Two-Pack Habit And A Motel Tan

Watching Battlestar Galactica last night was an amazing journey that I liken to being very thirsty and finally getting a cool glass of fresh water that helped with the craving but didn’t quench my desire for more.

I came in late to the game with BSG, I admit. I’ve seen most of the shows and the first season is going to be hitting the fam’s Netflix so I can remember it again. Maybe the break of 13 months was a good thing.

I want more.

Spoilers beneath the fold if you haven’t seen it …

There is something about television shows that deal so directly with faith and doubt that makes me come out of my skin. Gaius as a religious leader who starts to believe it while having so much apprehension and self-loathing is amazing. The idea that humans worship Gods and the Cylons believe in only one God is so daring and exquisite as it sets the base for everything. I know BSG is a show that pushes science fiction with themes of politics and religious fervor combined with military might and political maneuvering but it always works.

Starbuck thinks she’s only been gone for six hours although the crew has mourned her death for two months. She says she has found earth but the people that loved her doubt her story. If you remember, the whole earth thing was brought up by Adama in the miniseries to unite the survivors of Caprica. It was an effort to lift morale and to avoid a bigger issue and that was that the human race was in a big pile of poo by the very things (Cylons) of their own making. In many ways, the crew and residents of BSG bought into political propaganda. Interesting.

BSG cannot be defined easily. The multi-layers of the characters, none good nor bad exclusively, just human (well sort of) and desperate, is what makes the show function so well.

I find the one word that describes BSG so well is “flawed.” Leaders are flawed, arrogant and self-righteous. The crew is flawed, with four of the most intricately placed leaders from blue-collar Tyrol who fought so valiantly in the Resistance to Anders, a hero among heroes discovering they are what they hated the most. I think Saul will have the roughest time with his discovery. Their discovery that they were not what they thought they were, remember Boomer, is intricate. They realize they are on borrowed time, and Kara, who may or may not know what the hell she’s talking about although I suspect she does, is once again, not believed. The survivors are sheep, if you will, following along because they don’t know what else to do. Even the Cylons are flawed. Wicked, delicious and looking for the same thing the humans are.

The show is about many things and the fact that it can draw a realistic analysis of politics and fundamentalism that is so parallel in real life is inspired.

So, let’s return to the end of last year and listen to All Along the Watchtower and how it applies to this last season.

[youtube=[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsat4XSYR6o&hl=en]

Just about perfect.