A Battlestar
Fan
Won Over
It
has been a while since a sci-fi show has been as mesmerizing
as Battlestar Galactica. With all the debates,
and frustrations of the original TV series’ fans,
BSG has molded a new universe that hits questions
of humanity to the core.
Don’t
get me wrong, the old series was fun. Heck, I grew up with
it, and would beg my parents to take me to Universal Studios
Hollywood just to take the back lot tour and get awed by
the Cylons and that lone colonial viper pilot who shoots
his lasers and splits the toaster in half.
Well,
that series is no more. It was fun while it lasted, but
this new BSG is definitely an upgrade. Season 3
is about to take flight, and we are in a reality and time
where machines have turned on their former masters and have
destroyed all the colonies. A fleet of survivors have fled
into the abyss of space for hope, and have sought out the
last hope for mankind to survive -- a myth of a planet and
a colony that has split off from the others into deep space,
and that myth is Earth.
As hokey
as that sounds, it sets the premise of both BSGs,
but this time with a twist. Beyond the basic idea of Cylons
vs. Man, names of characters, and basic ship designs, nothing
is the same.
Battlestar
is a great show, simply because it delves into the human
psyche as to what should be right and wrong, and once you
feel you know what that concept is, it often makes you suddenly
take the opposite side. This show brings out the best in
both ideologies it sets forth, and then brings about the
worst. Season 3 is about to start, and as James Olmos stated
many, many times at the convention “This season will
be the darkest ever.”
Start
with trying to figure out who, what, or what is up with
Baltar and his intriguing relationship with Six (The hot
blond human Cylon). Whether she is his imagination, or there
is something at play here, has been a mystery since the
pilot episode. There has always been that doubt in everyone’s
mind as to which one of the humans is in fact a Cylon.
At Comic-Con,
what did in fact intrigue me most was how ballsy the writers
sounded in where they were taking the series. As most dramas
will take the apparent white vs. black racial issue and
give it a subtle twist, BSG takes issues like that
and simplifies it all no matter what the social issue today
is, and put it in the Cylon vs. Human world and deal with
it there.
As a
viewer, you have the choice to interpret today’s social
problem either by sympathizing with Cylons or Humans, or
even by feeding your mind with questions on why you have
chosen that particular side.
We seem
to be predestined to hate the Cylons for what they have
done to the humans in season 1. In season 2, we start to
understand more and more how the Cylons operate and by the
end of the season we ask ourselves if a half breed should
be a good thing or a bad thing? Should we trust the fact
that we can love unconditionally or should that take a backseat
and use all logic in staying alive? What is more important
sustaining life, or following hope to insure life to go
on? And my favorite food for thought, when does humanity
take that turn and will pursue acts of evil to insure its
survival?
How
this show invokes these feelings is darn good writing, especially
if we are taking Cylons and sympathizing with their characters
at some point. Humanizing the inhuman, and dehumanizing
what we know is human. Again, beautifully written and integrated
into today’s social issues. Besides that, even the
cast seems to be great eye candy.
As a
precursor to the new season starting there are the Battlestar
Galactica WEBISODES. Each slowly brings the finale
of season 2 and beginning of season 3 closer together as
the back stories are being told to prepare you for a highly
anticipated season. As the panel and Olmos hinted, you will
see the darkest show on television this season, where humanity
is a very ugly thing. From just the first two webisodes
you will get the idea of where the season will start to
take off, and what issues will start to rise to the surface,
this, and it’s only a several minute webisode.
One
wonders if they will ever go back to trying to find Earth,
and with all that is going on, does it really matter? I
mean, we have our own problems I think.
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