The fleet is going to hit the fan. They're reunited, no longer divided, and now this war has taken on dimensions that no one was prepared for. Is it any wonder that every Friday, I find myself wishing that Battlestar Galactica were eight hours long? I can hardly stand it when each episode reaches another jaw-dropping end; I want the show to continue for the rest of the weekend! Then again, the intensity and real-life parallels of the show could leave me a bit exhausted with that much exposure... I don't want to admit it, but I s'pose a weekly dose is all that I am emotionally prepared to handle. Oh Lord, it's hard to be a Galacticaddict!

Speaking of emotionally prepared, I have to say my biggest shock of this week's episode was watching Saul "put his wife to sleep." All along, my feelings towards Ellen Tigh have been similar to my feelings for Gaius Baltar. They're both characters that I love to hate and hate to love. At one time, I even thought that maybe Ellen was a cylon! She's obviously so toxic, especially to Saul, but at the same time, I can't help but empathize with her, because just enough of her humanity shows its face when least expected. That's one of the great things about this show's writing: these writers don't let us get comfortable with seeing the characters in black and white. The lines between hero and villain are often blurred, and a Science Fiction show becomes one of the most eloquent social commentaries one could ever be challenged with.

This was one of the few times that Ellen's toxic actions were seemingly motivated by love – at least, her selfish version of it. On the surface, I understood that in her warped mind, "she did it all for love," so I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. But when I "consider the Saul," it's obvious to me that he would have rather died in that prison than jeopardize The Resistance. Had Ellen really known her husband and felt true love for him, she would have chosen a different kind of sacrifice to help him. Maybe she would have taken up arms with The Resistance, rather than use her womanly assets as a weapon. Even though her acts seemed like love, it was a selfish, toxic version of it, and Saul had to do what he had to do for the survival of his species. To me, the whole scene when Saul cried for her, telling her "I love you, you know," was such a tangible one. Haven't most of us felt a deep love for somebody toxic to us? And haven't we felt a genuine sense of mourning and loss, even though severing ties with that person is ultimately best for us? I know I have.

Toxicity. Ugh. What a relief to see Starbuck stab that Leoben and this time, have a way out before that snake grew another new skin! That is one character that is not in the "gray area" for me. He is creepy, he is evil, and I wanted to take a shower after he forced Kara to "declare her love" and kiss him. Ew, yuck, ew. I’d had a feeling that when sweet little Casey "had fallen" down the stairs, that Leoben pushed her, and now I'm absolutely sure of it.

It was a huge surprise to find that Casey was not a cylon-Starbuck hybrid, but a stolen human. The look on Kara's face when Casey and her real mother reunited was heartbreaking and profound. The extent of Leoben's manipulation surprised even Kara, I believe, but so did Kara's newfound understanding of a mother's fierce love and protection. I believe that this knowledge will come in very handy for Starbuck as the war picks up intensity... and be a detriment to the cylons.

Three moments gave me the most goosebumps this episode:
[Every episode contains many of those moments].

1. Apollo finally growing back some space stones and taking his place as the Apollo we've all known, complete with disobeying orders and saving the mission, despite what "dad" told him to do. "I never could read your handwriting." So perfect.

2. Laura Roslin taking her command of the Presidential ship. She looks so graceful and dignified behind that desk.

3. Commander Adama's grin as he walked around, cleanly shaven, observing with proud serenity his reunited fleet getting back to work.

As the season continues, will all be fair in love and war? Some of the cylons are beginning to understand the concept of "love," and the fleet is back together. Will the cylons' reunion with Hera make them into a greater force than what the fleet is prepared to fight, or will love for this child throw the cylons off-guard and deeply change them? Will Gaius Baltar and Number Six betray the cylons, or stand even stronger on their side? Will Sharon betray The Fleet after learning that she was lied to about Hera's death? Will The Fleet want to fight for New Caprica, or decide to move on and find Earth? Will we see more of Richard "Zarek/Original Apollo" Hatch? [I hope so]! And finally, my biggest question: will this show ever get the Emmy and Golden Globe nominations that it so completely deserves?

Labels: Battlestar, BattlestarGalactica, Blog, Commentary, Galactica, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, ScienceFiction, TV, TVBlog, TVCommentary

 An excellent article on the opening episode of this season's Battlestar Galactica.

One thing that remains resonant with me as Battlestar Galactica pushes buttons and explores both spiritual and political themes is that... when we lose our sense of humanity, we lose our ability to thrive and evolve as a species. The only way that the cylons have been able to evolve is to take on human form, and to surprisingly, begin to feel, think and believe things that they hadn't anticipated when starting this whole "birthing" experiment.

It's equally as thought-provoking to experience the "human" cylons presenting a whole new "face" of "the enemy" to the fleet/civilians, making it more difficult for humans to kill them without thinking about it first. The same conflict is more and more present as the human cyclons interact with the fleet/civilians. It's interesting that what seems to be de-programming "Sharon" is her capacity to feel emotions like love, trust and recently... loyalty to people that she was once programmed to destroy. It's really an eloquent way to explore these issues without being "preachy" or taking one particular side.

I love Galactica because it explores all of the gray areas in some very deep and profound political, social and spiritual issues. These issues are far too complex to be cut and dried, black and white. When we begin thinking in black and white terms, we may as well all be robots too. I'm always so thrilled when art and fiction remind us of these very resonant real-life things... it's why I loved V for Vendetta, too... come to think of it, Galactica really has that same epic and profound scale as V for Vendetta... except on a weekly basis, which is great!

I'm really pleased that Galactica earned a Peabody Award, because it's been confounding and disappointing to see it passed by at the Emmy's and Golden Globes year after year. It's because Science Fiction has a "stigma" attached to it; it's been that way for years. Nobody on "the boards" of "esteemed Hollywood societies" want to give credit to Science Fiction as a relevant and award-worthy genre. I hope that maybe Galactica can tear down that stigma. I know that Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide have wanted it to take home some awards... maybe that will encourage the rest of the "industry" to take notice and give them the "official acclaim" that's been long overdue.

This season looks like it will be the darkest ever, and I cannot wait to see how life on New Caprica all unfolds.

SPOILER ALERT:

What did you all think of the first episode? What do you think is going to happen with Starbuck now that she has a half-cylon daughter?

Labels: Battlestar, BattlestarGalactica, Galactica, political, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, ScienceFiction, social, TV, TVBlog, TVCommentary