Feb
24
The last seven days have been a speedy blur of BSG highs and more highs, and I can now proudly say that I am halfway through season two. Today, I have five episodes I want, nay, must salivate over. So, through the power of the written word my mission to convey how immense this series is continues. Enjoy.
Following on from ‘Resistance’, the next episode I encountered was the though-provoking ‘The Farm’. Flitting between events on Caprica and Galactica everything about this episode was spot on. It’s great to see Commander Adama back at the helm, and I think it’s a real masterstroke in characterisation that he is standing by Colonel Tigh despite some of the bad decisions he made during his brief time in command. Then there’s Starbuck’s discovery of the titular farm, suffice to say this chain of events makes me dislike the Cylons that little bit more.
‘Home: Part 1’ started off extremely promising and saw Starbuck, Helo and Boomer returning to the fleet. I loved the dynamic between the group Roslin assembles for the mission to Kobol: there’s Apollo in full-on lapdog mode, Boomer as a prisoner for hire and Tom Zarek plus his minion planning a nasty fate for Apollo. Hardly the recipe for success is it? Thankfully the end of this first-part saw Commander Adama deciding to reunite the fleet (a great moment), and in ‘Home: Part 2’ we got to see the Kobol mission succeed thanks to Adama and his rescue team helping out. With so much going on it’s a real credit to the series that character still remains the primary focus. Despite ‘Home: Part 2’ slipping into sentimental territories on occasions (just how many people does Commander Adama hug on Kobol?), the conclusion of this episode sets the series off on a more defined course – to Earth.
The next episode I watched was ‘Final Cut’, and following the events of the previous two-parter it was nice to spend some time on Galactica. With Boomer immediately chucked in the brig, life on the ship is immediately made more interesting knowing we have a good/bad Cylon onboard. But the focus of this episode was very much on the crew, and through the camera of roving reporter-cum-secret-Cylon D’Anna Biers, we are given a great insight into the ship’s minor crew members. I mean, who’d have known that Gaeta had a tattoo? And that Dee has daddy issues? Not I, and it’s due to insightful episodes like his one that we get to know the show’s characters better. Like all really great episodes of BSG, ‘Final Cut’ also offers a blistering subtext to ponder over, and in the case of this particular episode it’s that little matter of the media’s relationship with the military.
‘Flight Of The Phoenix’ was a Boomer-centric episode, and featured this turncoat Cylon assisting Commander Adama and co to cure a deadly virus that is spreading through the ship’s computer system. Chief Tyrol and Laura Roslin turn in great performances in this episode, and the Chief’s mission to make a fighter plane from scratch was a great way of presenting team unity on screen. So that’s another week of viewing over with, and as always I can’t wait to see what future instalments will bring.
Season two, I salute you.
To read my previous entry in this blog series, hit the link. Let us know your definitive thoughts on this show’s second season below.
You’ve just passed the point where BSG ceased to be an SF show in my book. What was Starbuck driving on Caprica ? A frakkin’ Humvee! They didn’t even bother to dress it up or call it something else, this is a motor vehicle designed and built by AM General of South Bend Indiana.
Alarm bells started to ring for me as early S01E02-Water when Tigh made that quip about given lemons they’d make lemonade. I could put that down to sloppy writing. Starbucks Humvee was the first clear sign that the writers and producers didn’t want to be working on an SF show, they wanted something else where they could preach about their issues and views on our contemporary world. I’m in tune with the messages they were sending but there’s better platforms, The Wire, Generation Kill and The West Wing all spring to mind.
But BSG was first and foremost an SF show and SF fans have standards, as do fans of procedurals like the CSI franchise and aficionados of medical dramas. You have to get the facts and details right or you’re gonna take the viewer right out of the show. Imagine an episode of ER where the surgeon says something like “Pass me that curvy knife with scissor handles, I think I can rewire his eyeball.” How well do you think that’d be received ?
Now imagine an SF show set thousands of years away from our own time, in a part of the galaxy where Earth isn’t even on the star charts let alone in the neighbourhood, imagine the characters driving around in Hummers or Ford Escorts. As an SF fan with working eyeballs hooked up to a working brain, then these things take you right out of the story. Our only window into the world of BSG is through the TV screen, we have to take everything at face value, so when we see Starbuck driving Helo around in a Hummer then we have to ask why. Do the Colonials share anything else with Earth ? Did they get the design from us or is it something they somehow passed down to us ? How big a clue is this ? What does it mean ??
Oh wait, it’s just sloppy writing… So you have to ask yourself what else is sloppy writing and what points actually bear some thought ? But we shouldn’t have to sort out the wheat from the chaff like this, it takes us out of the story and SF is *supposed* to immersive by its very definition.
This was a sign of things to come and BSG becomes less and less an SF show as the episode count ticks by. It was still damn good television at this point, “Final Cut” and the upcoming Cain storyline are the highpoints of the show for me, and they remain some of the best hours I’ve spent in front of the TV for a very long time. I just wish I’d spent those hours watching an SF show instead of BSG.
Someone spending far too much time nitpicking there… BSG was on constant high form throughout its four year run, bringing us tension-filled stories and some brilliant space battles – who cares if the writing is a little sloppy for one episode or two? No series has perfect seasons. But BSG remained thoroughly entertaining and my only gripe is they couldn’t go to another season!
Caprica is also shaping up nicely too – Have you watched any of this yet, Shaun?
I just have to comment on the above points from DRAX…….seriously man that is nitpicking to the extreme!! It is a TV show, and a damn good one at that. What show is perfect?? I am a bit obsessive and details at times, but you are a being a little anal to say the least! SO its not a scifi show if there is a recognisable car in a scene?? !!
Come on!!
Keep enjoying
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