Battlestar Fantastica
Tuesday 01/20/2009 3:55 PM
 Screenshot of one of the many great scenes in “Sometimes A Great Notion,” the opening episode of season 4.5 of Battlestar Galactica. File Under: Someone Else's Image; Television; Video Capture |
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Battlestar Galactica (BSG to regular watchers and fans) just debuted the opening episode of the last season (they're calling it season 4.5) last Friday.
[Insert my euphoric proclamations about BSG being the best purely sci-fi television series, no, make that the best purely sci-fi moving picture story ever. Yeah, I'm looking at you Star Wars and Star Trek. (Note my use of “purely” so I can get a pass on ranking LOST vs. BSG.) How BSG creates an epic struggle on a limited budget that is downright Homeric when you look at it from beginning to end.]
We're coming to the payoff and there are unanswered questions galore. We can only hope that the Sci-Fi channel will live up to their promise in all the season 4.5 marketing materials:
YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUTH
It is truly special to see these competent actors working so hard to make this space opera so real, so tangible, so visceral. It's all a made-up thing, yet the gut-wrenching twists and reveals keep coming harder and faster and in this last episode, “Sometimes A Great Notion,” we've seen how (once again) prices must be paid, even when — especially when — the costs are so high.
I remember watching Star Trek with my dad when I was a kid. As we've all watched Edward James Olmos grow into the character of Admiral Adama, I've smiled at the thought of what my dad might say about him, how my dad might identify with him.
Sometimes when I'm watching BSG, marveling at its surprises, compelled to not miss a scene, I remember sitting on the floor of the living room when I was much smaller and younger watching Captain Kirk, all the while knowing, feeling the presence of my dad sitting in a large comfortable chair behind me.
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