What a cute little girl! Or boy, if you grow up and that's what you feel is inside you.
Since it debuted as a miniseries in 2003, many critics have praised Battlestar Galactica to the extent where they often sound like Sci-Fi Channel marketing employees. They regularly praise the series' dark tone, bold allegory, and above all else, its deft writing. It has picked up dramatic Emmys and garnered a respectable cult following - many have declared it to be the finest sci-fi series of all time while others have called it the best series on television. So what makes the new Battlestar Galactica so special? In my opinion, just about everything.
That's right. Welcome to my Battlestar Galactica PIMP POST. Grab a piece of cheesecake, sit back, put on your favorite epic movie soundtrack, and enjoy.
First and foremost, the show develops a relentless tension that's simply unmatched in television today. I have to give a lot of credit to the actors involved here - they don't simply deliver the stocky performances we've seen littering sci-fi for so many years. Instead, they inhabit their roles to the point that it's easy to forget you're watching a group of fictional characters. Their relationships are weaved throughout the story and trust is constantly called into question - some characters grow stronger, some are devastated by what they find about themselves, and others don't live to decide either way. Even those in minor roles make survival seem like a dream in the face of countless odds.
Every great story has great conflict fused into its bones, but Battlestar Galactica makes internal and external conflict its mainstay. Characters clash, races fight, class warfare erupts, friends question friends, and many question their own identities. As it stands, the humans are as much of a threat to their own survival as the Cylons are. My favorite thing about these explorations is that it all feels so incredibly relevant. The stories incorporate many of the themes and questions our society has faced in this new millennium. There are ongoing examinations of terrorism, religious fundamentalism, democracy, monotheism, propaganda, self doubt, and governmental bureaucracy. The show is political and pertinent, but it never passes judgment on any of its subjects - even its villains are given room to breathe with sympathetic characteristics and motivations.
This series' brilliant conceit is that enemies are often sane and rational, and many good guys and gals are obsessed, flawed, and ruthless. What really fascinated me was this: that Battlestar Galactica is not science fiction, it is merely the world we've always lived in, made futuristic and shiny. With laser beams.
See, you know when I assign a new series tag for LJ, it's big news.
That's right. I totally dig the warhorse beast of a series that is Battlestar Galactica. It took me three years to actually finish the first episode (through bouts of sweat and tears and the occasional drool of boredom) but I've done it and now I'm zipping through the first season like a pony on rollerblades.
Where there's a will, there's a way. As well as usually a really hot guy in the process. And a bunch of spaceships to boot.
Oh and Jamie Bamber's pretty, pretty face and soft, adorable voice? EEEEEEEEEEE I AM GOO.
Franz Ferdinand's new album, "Tonight", just recently slapped itself out onto the shelves and quite frankly it's catchy and fantastic. I have it on repeat on itunes. I totally forgive the three years of absolute inactivity, boys!
Making a sandwich makes Julie "feel like a real person", she tells me. Uh.
Also? I honestly detest competing with my classmates in almost anything though especially anything academic. It creates a horrible atmosphere and it's utterly tiring and pointless when you come down to it and whether you win or lose (first of all, how can you even justify that anyway?) proves nothing and that's just one less person you can have an innocent cup of coffee with right there. (But then again? Some people are just nasty anyway so scratch that last part. They deserve to go down in flames, the arrogant bastards.).
So, all you wonderful organisms. WATCH BATTLESTAR. It's a show about a bunch of people in hot uniforms in space playing hop-scotch and laser tag with robots! They are all mentally five.