Frak me, this is good TV!

Now two episodes into its final season, Battlestar Galactiaca is well on its way towards cementing its place as one of the finest shows in television history. At just 3 seasons and two episodes old, it looks like Battlestar will join Buffy, Angel, Twin Peaks, and perhaps Lost (still validating its own place in the history books) as one of my top 5 shows.

Recently I’ve been able to relive what’s brought us to this final season. You see, the great thing about living with a TV neophyte is that they’re willing to be exposed to all that’s out there (and then reject 90%) of it. Last summer I introduced my partner to Heroes and Lost and I must say the experience of watching those shows over again with someone with fresh eyes was truly wonderful. Now I’ve hooked her on Battlestar and the experience is even better thanks to the continued high quality the show operates at. Every season the show finds new ways to make the show darker both in tone and storylines while balancing the hope and humanity that function as the core of the show. Season 1 looks like Charles in Charge with its upbeat sometimes cheesy, happy endings when compared with season 3’s occupation opener. That’s saying something when your show starts out with the near genocide of the human race.

Enough about the past though, let’s take a closer look at season 4 so far. In the opening episode the writers somehow managed to juggle the multiple balls last season’s spectacular finale threw in the air. The four newly revealed Cylons were catapulted back into action and while they took part in the larger fabric of the battle their newfound heritage never took a back seat. The revelation of the final Cylon model is something that we might have to wait until the end to see, but in the meantime the writers have managed to make it less of a guessing game and more of an intricate plot device to further the show. Starbuck’s reemergence this year was yet another example of Battlestar’s greatness as they took the overdone resurrection storyline and gave it a new twist…no one is happy to see her. Perhaps the best example of why Battlestar is on top of its game came in this week’s episode where Apollo exited the show. Now I’m sure we’ll see more of Lee Adama but his days as an officer on Galactica are over. The character that dominated many of the great battles and operations on the show is dead for all practical purposes, and the send off he received was a beautiful one. In a show where only minutes earlier we saw a number of beloved characters (both to us and each other) fight and flee, this scene of humanity honoring one of its most flawed yet most heroic was moving and gut wrenching. Sure Battlestar is an allegory for the flaws and glory of religion, democracy, and specifically our current national status but at its heart the show is about the good and the bad we do to each other and how we can reconcile that and move forward to make a world for our future and ourselves.