"Battlestar Galactica," Year One

I've made a few attempts at watching the 2004 version of "Battlestar Galactica" over the years, because it's one of the most influential and popular science-fiction television series ever made.  However, there are some significant barriers to entry, not the least of which was that it kicked off with a miniseries that I had trouble getting a hold of.  But more importantly, "Battlestar Galactica" is a grim, visually unappealing show that is primarily about military forces at war with a brutal enemy.  I like some science-fiction in this vein, but the armed conflict wasn't such an overwhelming component of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "Babylon 5."  Also, I'd come across enough spoilers for the show and criticisms of its storytelling that I had a pretty good sense of its major weaknesses.

Still, I considered "Battlestar Galactica" a big blind spot that I was determined to try and address.  So, now I've watched the first season, including that pesky miniseries, and I find myself very ambivalent.  So far, I like many of the characters, especially Adama (Edward James Olmos) and Roslin (Mary McDonnell) as these constantly clashing military and administrative leaders of the Caprica survivors, and Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) for being such a great maverick figure.  I'm less enthusiastic about Gaius Baltar (James Callis), the weaselly scientist who constantly sees visions of a seductress Cylon, Caprica Six (Tricia Helfer) trying to lead him astray, and the planetside adventures of pilot Helo (Tamoh Penikett) and Cylon Number Eight (Grace Park).  The fairly one-note Boomer (also Park), Apollo (Jamie Bamber), Tyrol (Aaron Douglas), and Saul Tigh (Michael Hogan) haven't had much of a chance to show what they're made of yet.

However, it's really the plot and themes that give me pause.  So far, the miniseries and the premiere episode, "33," have been the most impressive parts of "Galactica" because the stakes are so high.  They depict the conquest of the planet Caprica by the Cylons and the evacuation of the human survivors aboard a ragtag collection of spacecrafts.  This is a messy and haphazard business, and the first part of the season is largely spent trying to secure water, fuel, and other necessities for longer term survival.  The sacrifices that have to be made are horrible, and there's a real sense of urgency and terror as the situation develops.  However, as the season goes on, and the humans manage to establish a more manageable status quo, the business of finding a new homeworld and identifying the Cylon infiltrators are the new goals, and they're a lot less compelling.  I find the Cylons particularly disappointing, since artificial life forms are often the most interesting characters on science-fiction programs, but the Cylons just act like regular humans for the most part.  We don't learn much about Cylons as a species, except that Caprica Six and several of the others we meet are religious fanatics obsessed with divine plans and finding salvation.  There's religious symbolism all over the show, from the Twelve Colonies, to Gaius being set up to be both a Judas and Messiah figure. 

And all this would have been fine if "Galactica" had more interesting characters or the stories were more tightly written.  However, "Galactica" strikes me as rather dated in its worldbuilding and very limited in its production quality.  It's a convenient idea that all the human characters in the show are of non-Earth origins, so there's no need to deal with any real world political, religious, or cultural issues.  However, all the basic social structures are exactly the same as what we'd expect on Earth.  As a result the "Galactica" universe often feels very shallow, and often very limited by being framed from a military POV.  Most big crises only take an episode or two to resolve, but nearly everyone is harboring melodramatic secrets throughout the season.  You can see the creators pushing back against the "Star Trek" model that featured a more sanitized, utopian future.  "Galactica" has sex and swearing (kinda), everyone is very fallible, and the harsh realities of space travel come into play more often.  However, they're really fumbling the tone management.  Every time the creators try to venture outside of the narrow confines of the gritty military adventure, things get awkward.  Everything involving the politics and media comes across as oddly retrograde.  The costuming is awful.  The episode with the dinner party tries for a more humorous touch, which is a disaster.  And the theme music sucks.  

Part of the issue is that I've gotten used to shows like "The Expanse," and "Foundation" that have much bigger budgets, access to better acting talent, and movie quality effects.  This isn't the fault of "Battlestar Galactica," which was groundbreaking for its time, and noticeably more ambitious than its contemporaries like "Star Trek: Enterprise."  However, this does impact the watching experience, and though I've committed to finishing the series, it's going to take more effort and patience than I was hoping I'd need.

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