Hi, my name is jfruser. I have hillbilly cable teevee that only gets Discovery and a some Spanish language channels in addition to the locals. And Oxygen <shudder>.
Hence, I have not seen any of the new BSG episodes until quite recently. A neighbor was kind enough to rip them off his DVDs, save them to his external HD, and let me watch them. loan me his DVDs.
So far, I have seen seasons 1 & 2 and am halfway through season 3.
General Review
Overall, I think it is a very well-done series. Probably the best TV in the last few years. Not just "best scifi," which usually is an analog to "fastest gimp," "smartest feeb," and "prettiest female Russian weightlifter."
BSG is of high quality not due to special effects or ray beams, but because it pays attention to the basics: plot, character development, immutable human nature, acting, writing, direction, etc.
Matter of fact, BSG's special effects & battle scenes are not nearly as flashy as many produced in the last few years. I think, however, they do well with what they have to work with and went with a grittier look for their space combat scenes.
Characters
Edward James Olmos has taken his role as CDR/ADM Adama and wiped the deck with it. EJO has a spot-on combination of age, gravitas, and ferocity the role requires.
Mary McDonnell is a decent Colony President Laura Roslyn. The character sometimes slops its way into PC ridiculousness, but does not dwell in the PC fever swamp for too long before she gets all bloody-minded, as the character needs to be in such a dire situation.
Katee Sackhoff as Kara Thrace/Starbuck does very well with the the now (NOW?) requisite "woman warrior who kicks everybody's ass" role found in some...er...most...er...every similar action flick. If we're a-gonna have a token WWWKEA, KS pulls it off with the fewest cringe-worthy moments.
Michale Hogan's owns his Saul Tigh functional alcoholic character.
Jamie Bamber as Lee Adama/Apollo is a bit of a disappointment.
Cylons
Making some of them darn-near-human was a wise choice. Cyclopean shiny metal robots get boring, right quick, and half of the drama gets sucked right out if you are limited to robotic antagonists.
Making them corruptible by excess human contact was an even better idea.
Milieu
The creators did a fine job with setting, back story, etc. I think such gets more attention since the LOTR hit the theaters. Tolkien's works just pulsated with history and background, much of it not revealed at the time, only hinting at a leviathan under the surface.
The religion aspect of the humans is also well done. It is polytheistic, but not shallow and perfunctory. It even holds the key to their temporal salvation.
I enjoy the aversion to ray beams as evidenced by 9mm & 5.7mm pistols and what look like .50BMG rounds in the fighters. I like the fact that nukes get used when appropriate.
Intersection with Contemporary Politics
I found a couple of the shows a bit cringe-worthy. Take the episode that honed in on abortion. Here we have the last remnants of the species fleeing for their lives and this is a debate? Not only that, but the Pres has been "fighting for reproductive choice" all her life? Gimme a break.
The GWOT/BSG nexus is somewhat strained. Painting the Cylons as American occupiers is snort-inducing. Sorry, but the USA did not kill billions of Muslims, chase them across the Earth, and use their women as living incubators.
Getting Away with (almost) Murder
The officers of the BSG seem to bathe in teflon every day.
No bone-head call, act of stupidity, or flaunting of authority gets a good shellacking.
Oh, I get the bit about not having the luxury of booting personnel, due to the very few humans left. But, some of what goes on needs more than token discipline...to maintain discipline.
Conclusion
Run and get yourself a copy of the series. It is better than anything else on teevee and you don't have to watch commercials.
