Television: A single brief geek interlude in this sea of gayness.

While this is not the purpose of my blog (if it even has one), I will make an exception at this point to make a case for Battlestar Galactica. I won't do this again until the series finale which will air sometime next year.

I didn't watch this show until well into the third season (it will conclude at the end of its fourth), and I only started because I had heard that it won a Peabody award (other recipients include South Park and The Colbert Report) and had received nothing but rave reviews from critics. I decided I would see what the fuss was all about by watching the first few episodes. I was not disappointed.

I find that television really is the idiot box it's made out to be. Most sitcoms and dramas talk down to their audience, believing us to be incapable of understanding stories with complex plots and depth of character. This has begun to change in recent years due to the influence of cable networks like HBO and Showtime who have upped the bar by creating innovative dramas like The Sopranos, Oz, Deadwood or Dexter. Battlestar Galactica is at least equal to, if not greater than, all of these shows. There is absolutely nothing else on television that I would promote and defend in this manner.

Battlestar Galactia is the quintessential television show for the post-9/11 world. The show itself begins with what is essentially a massive terrorist attack that wipes out nearly all of humanity. The 50,000 some-odd survivors of this attack flee into space in search of a new home in the hopes that our species will survive. On the deck of the Galactica there is a wall of photographs of the crew's dead and missing loved ones, eerily reminiscent of the 9/11 memorials. The only real science fiction elements of the show are spaceships and robots. There are no aliens, no laser guns, no silver space suits, and the techno-babble is kept to a minimum. The sci-fi serves merely as a metaphor to allow storytelling opportunities. BSG is more of a political/military/personal drama than anything else. These people talk like we talk and dress like we dress. They love, hate, have sex, drink, smoke and do drugs. This is no white-washed fantasy world. Furthermore, the show is shot in a gritty, quasi-documentary fashion, often with a free cam that ads to its realism drastically.

Nothing is ever black and white in Battlestar Galactica. Over the course of the series we've watched characters we love do thinks that we hate, and come to feel sympathy for some very, very bad people. Even the supposedly villainous Cylons are complex, three-dimensional and far more human than we'd probably like to admit. The show does not deal in absolutes and exists only in shades of gray. This is particularly admirable considering the way in which our politicians and media try to oversimplify life. Every issue that the show has dealt with, ranging from abortion and suicide bombings to stolen presidencies and abuse of authority, has been presented in a weighty, considered manner, with both sides fairly represented. Furthermore show's politics is murky and it doesn't preach for any particular viewpoint. What more can one ask for?

It's also philosophically interesting and important. The primary question that it addresses (it directly asked this in the miniseries pilot) is whether or not humanity as a species is worthy of survival. Heavy stuff. It also deals directly with issues of identity. What does it mean to be human? In the least four seasons we've seen the gab close between the humans and the mechanical Cylons. Furthermore, how do we know who we are? What happens when we find out we're not who we thought we were? We've also watched several main cast members deal with the ramifications of discovering that they're not actually human. Not since Blade Runner, has anything dealt with these issues in such depth. Battlestar Galactica is not a television show, it's an experience.

To bring thing's back to focus a little, I'll turn to the gay/hottie issue. Ok no, there are technically no gay characters on the show, and they've never really dealt with the whole gay thing. In the past however there has been one badass queen-bitch lesbian and her Cylon girlfriend. The Cylons themselves are kind of pan-sexual and we see girls kissing girls fairly often. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace is also a total lesbian but doesn't know it. As far as the guys go, we have some great eye-candy in the form of Jamie Bamber. Here's Jamie in all his glory.

He is one beautiful piece of man. Oh, and British to boot! *drool* There's also Tahmoh Penikett (Karl "Helo" Agathon) and Michael Trucco (Samuel T. Anders), who help to up the hottie factor dramatically. Finally, there's one for the niche market in James Callis who delivers a brilliant performance as the slimy Dr. Gaius Baltar (you may recognize him from the Bridget Jones movies). Here's James with the gorgeous Tricia Helfer:

Ok, SPOILER WARNING. If you watch the show and haven't seen the mid-season finale, don't read beyond this point.
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Ok?


After a three year long journey, the remainder of the human fleet finally found Earth last night. It began as one of the few moments of genuine happiness on a very, very dark show. Seeing the joy on the faces of the entire crew of the Galactica as they celebrated the discovery of their new home was very moving.

All of this changed dramatically when they reached the planet surface. I freely admit that I, who have a heart as cold as ice, nearly cried when I first heard the clicking of the geiger counter as Admiral Adama picked up a fistfull of black, lifeless dirt. What they discovered was not present day Earth, Biblical Earth, or even prehistoric Earth, as many fans had guessed, but a post-apocalyptic Earth. Yes, we blew ourselves to hell.

That final tracking shot of the entire cast surveying the ruins of our civilization in utter disbelief was one of the most shocking, tragic, and haunting moments in a show that is known for them. Seeing the looks of horror and disappointment on the faces of both the humans and Cylons alike was absolutely heartbreaking. Interestingly enough, it appears that they're standing in what remains of lower Manhattan, as the ruins in the water behind them resemble the Brooklyn Bridge. If so, this strengthens even further the notion that Battlestar Galactica is very much a product of our decidedly darker post-9/11 world.

You can watch that masterful piece of cinematography below:


Apparently the remaining episodes of the series won't be aired until 2009. They can't come soon enough. Here's the jaw-dropping trailer for the final half of season 4:


Geekily yours,