Battlestar Galactica Season One: "Bastille Day" - It's Allegory Time, Feel Lucky?

Some joke about putting people in cages. I'm tired.

Ah, the first glimpse of Battlestar Galactica, the sledgehammer subtle political allegory machine. To be honest that's probably a bit mean, in the latter years it got a little less all up in you face with this stuff, but there was always a near overwhelming level of earnestness to it, mostly tied to the character of Lee Adama. And while it's an admirable for a show, let alone a genre show, to tackle modern politics in such an upfront way, you can't help but feel you've slipped into a fancy dress version of a sixth form debate at times.

-This isn't the last of this, and I think they get better at it as the show goes along, but in all honesty I can't say 'Bastille Day' entirely worked for me. Perhaps I'm just too cynical to be preached at in such a steadfast way, but there you go.

- It wasn't a complete washout though, much of the stuff working at the side of the main plot I found enjoyable, but it's hard to commit to liking an episode when its main thrust doesn't really work for you.

- So, at the end of last week they found a water planet, yay, but it turns out everything is frozen to shit and it will require some merciless labor to extract it. So Adama decides that a ship full of prisoners is probably the best bet, but Lee Adama objects to this because these guys aren't slaves etc, so they decide to offer a labor equals freedom policy. Work the water planet, get free.

- Already I think Lee Adama is the most problematic character in the series. They sell him as both a loyal military man and unflinching idealist, someone who kills people because he's told to yet is supposed to be someone who is a firm believer in a liberal morality. Which of these guys he is tends to depend on what scene he's in, and its never very consistent from when he's a protagonist of an episode, such as here, or a supporting character such as '33'. One problem Lost always had is that characters would devolve back to their broader interpretations when they weren't the focus of an episode, but with Lee Adama that gear switch is even more extreme.

- So of course, the prisoners mobilized by a Tom Zarek, a terrorist/prisoner of conscience take everyone hostage. This leads to several political discussions between Lee and Zarek, a character I liked and actor Richard Hatch does well to lend something more to him then to be a walking talking point, on the nature of oppression, what it means to be free and if terrorism is justified. I don't mind shows doing this, but this isn't a delicate example of how intelligent political discussion should go, to say the least. I think the word is ham-fisted.

- The episode did something smart making recurring characters the hostages instead of regulars, because A) it made you think they could die. B) it fleshed out some of the recurring characters, from president's aide Billy, Pilot Dualla, and Cally the assistant mechanic. All of whom had just had exposition before this, so it was a nice touch to see them get some meatier scenes.

- But the psycho prisoner tries to rape Cally bit was a little obvious.

- Cool Baltar/Starbuck moments of the week, she gives the most unprofessional/hilarious miltary reprimand ever, and Baltar has his imaginary girlfriend tell him how to make a Cylon detector using a nuclear Bomb. Great stuff from Tricia Helfer in that scene, who is increasingly feeling like this show's secret weapon.

- If I hadn't seen the show before, I'd be rooting for Zarek to be a recurring character anyway, mostly because even if I didn't like this episode all that much, its a good performance and it feels like there's more to get at there.

- For some reason I didn't think Mary McDonnell was very good in this episode, she seemed a little detached and rushed her lines. I'm sure its just an anomaly, or that I have brain damage.

- The episode resolved itself rather weakly, with rapist prisoner causing a commotion that both allowed Lee to kill him and to point a gun at Zarek and get everyone to call it off. It was good to see him being true to his idealism, and I liked the fact that that he stood up to both Commander Adama and Roslin, but the character doesn't make any sense at the moment.

- Allegory is a difficult nut to crack, because you have to be true to what you want to say but also true to the reality of your universe, and I felt Moore just pushed things a little obviously toward things we would recognize, such as terrorism etc. I also had a problem with Lee essentially forcing the prisoners to take his deal, by all rights he should believe in their right to tell him no too.

- Some good stuff with Tigh, also peripheral to the main story, as his alcoholism begins to feature more drastically.

- Overall a flawed episode, that just seemed to be trying way too hard. It felt like the kind of standalone episode you get while show-runners are spinning their wheels. It's a necessary evil, particularly at the start of a show, when you've got characters to introduce and worlds to establish, but in hindsight they always feel the weakest. What you gonna do.

Rating: 5/10

Battlestar Galactica Season One: " Water" - My Mind Made Of Nuts And Bolts

Water would probably freeze in space right? Whatever, it looks awesome.

- A quick touch-base with the characters before we get going to avoid further confusion. Commander Adama, is the tough but fair, high-ranking military officer on board Galactica, His son Lee is a pilot/squadron captain dealing with issues of idealism, Starbuck is a girl pilot, only hates everyone and everything in the most awesome way, Baltar is a genius scientist who unbeknown to everyone caused the end of the world, and also hallucinates an apparition of the Cylon model (number Six) that seduced and betrayed him. The Cylons are our robot villains who look both like humans and terminator like monsters, Boomer is a pilot who is also a cylon sleeper agent, something she doesn't even know herself, Laura Roslin is the interim president of the human race, Helo, the soldier stuck on a nuclear ravaged planet, Tyrol is an engineer and Saul Tigh is Adama's right hand man. Exhale.

- OK, without further ado lets get into ' Water'. Ron Moore made the good decision to nominally have each episode to focus on a character, but not have the arc narrative and the rest of the cast disappear, like what happened in the earlier years of Lost. Instead we continue to build the world, yet give each character a turn in the spotlight to deepen and such. 'Water' was the turn of Boomer, our unknowingly villainous cylon sleeper agent.

- Now the concept of the 'mole' is something run into the ground with serialized action/adventure shows. Usually played for maximum mystery points, BSG is doing something a little different with it. It tells us Boomer is a cylon from the get go, and rather play the character as a plot point, it's exploring Boomer betraying her adopted family and friends against her will, and the effect it has on her, rather then just for a holy shit it was her moment.

- The arresting opening sequence sees Boomer in the ship's armoury, covered in water with no idea how she get there. I love the amount of visual ways Moore tells his story. We go on to find that boomer has in her sleeper cylon state, planted C4 in the ship's water tank, the subsequent explosion of which vastly minimizes the fleet's supply of water. A desperate Boomer recruits sometime boyfriend Tyrol to help her cover it up.

- I won't say Grace Park gives a good performance as Boomer, because she doesn't. Not really. She's kind of wooden in this episode, but Moore's writing of the character makes her interesting enough to watch anyway. Park isn't the worst actress in the world, but she's a little flat is all I'm saying. Aaron Douglas gets to give Tyrol a little more texture in this episode, a character perhaps the most under-developed of the regulars at this point.

- The slow opening was a nice. calming touch after the fast-paced ride that was last week's episode. It's nice to see quiet moments in any sci-fi show, but seeing characters like Tigh. Lee, Roslin and Adama alone, in moments they're not bound by military exposition is important for their characters.

- Ah, the beginnings of Lee Adama, political idealist are seen in this episode. I hate that guy.

- Enjoyed the calm way everyone dealt with the disaster, rather then resorting to hysterics. It gives the impression that life-threatening situations are a daily occurrence. Which of course they are.

- I don't know quite how I feel about the Boomer/Tyrol plot except to say that it makes Boomer more interesting and Tyrol less interesting. Doing anything for love is one thing, but helping out someone when they've clearly stolen and used explosives against your friends, and by all logic can only be a cylon agent is definitely another. Don't be such a sap, tyrol.

- Some prime Baltar in this episode, from his blase, could give less of a shit attitude in the tactical meeting to his sexually charged card game with Starbuck. Good times. Starbuck is already my second favorite character, she plays the assholeness with a creditable humor. It makes it fun and not taxing. Enjoyed that rare scene between them very much.

- Edward James Olmos' performance as Adama is easy to ignore, but its a very savvy, emotionally rooted one. As is that of Mary McDonnell as Roslin. Old people are always good actors aren't they?

- Also, the comedy stylings of Tricia Helfer anyone? The way she delivered 'you have a friend' as Gaeta followed Baltar around made me laugh out loud.

- Our Helo sideplot on Caprica doesn't really go anywhere this week, just him continuing to get closer to the other Boomer Cylon. They shall robot/human sex very soon.

- Boomer is part of the search team going out looking for H20 and of course she's the one to find it, and kind of has to fight her way through her programming to tell her flight buddy. I kind of liked that scene, but do wish Park could have brought more to it.

- I always say a show's second episode should be its worst, because it has to continue to world build yet without the novelty of the pilot. Yet for the most part 'Water' was a pretty solid outing, setting up the world, the hierarchy of the miltary and the government, the continuing saga of Baltar and Boomer's A story pretty effectively. It had a lot to get through and did it mostly effectively. It lacked a little of the flair and style of last week's episode, but that was inevitable.

- What's effective is that BSG is less at the whim of whose episode it is, and is capable of producing a compelling episode about one of the less then compelling characters. Solid if not extraordinary.

Rating: 6/10

Battlestar Galactica Season One: " 33"- Eyes On The Clock And The Road

Maybe one day, you can have small little toasters of your own.

I watch a lot of TV, and one of the selfish benefits of being such an anal retentive viewer is that I get to pass shows on to whatever social group I may be involved with at any given moment, and look all smart and awesome. And while I've turned a lot of people onto a lot of shows, I've never successfully turned anyone on to Battlestar Galactica. I've known a couple of people who've liked it, but they came pre-affiliated. For all my nagging, screaming and crying that moment of conversion has never happened, and with consideration I've decided to take the cause to the streets, and every Thursday I'll recap a new episode of this endlessly enterprising, smart and unique show. It's going to be my first large scale re-watch too, so personally I am very much looking forward to re-immersing into this universe.

- Having said this of course, I've got a sneaking feeling that Season One may be quite a bit worse then the seasons that followed it, so I guess we'll find out if that's true.

- Maybe not though, because '33' for the most part is a crisp and well-executed episode. Ingratiating us again with the universe after the mini-series, whilst being a pretty thrilling chase movie of an episode at the same time. The downfall of so many first episodes is they get too caught up explaining to actually be engaging as their own story, but this one manages to dodge that bullet, showcasing many of the shows intentions from the get go.

- The set-up sees The remainder of the human race fleeing blindly through space, with the Cylons, a sentient AI race who just destroyed the known worlds hot on their tail. For reasons unknown to the humans, the Cylons keep finding them every 33 minutes, which means those fighting back don't get to rest, eat or sleep. We're thrown into the midst of the frontlines, from the top military brass stuck in the control room, to the pilots barely allowed to leave their jets. There's such an atmosphere of bleak despair, the sheer exhaustion on everyone's face builds up the atmosphere nicely.

- The high-concept set-up means the show can get to work on all he characters too, without wasting too much time on what's going on.

- Liked a lot how the episode intercut Baltar's fantasy scenes at his riverside mansion with the hectic main action. Elegant shit. Plus metaphor heaven.

- Early scenes of the show are not afraid to pursue grey areas can be scene in the episode's treatment of the Olympic carrier plotline, something I won't spoil in too much earnestness

- Speaking of which, the danger of BSG perhaps is its earnestness, and while its nice to these officers get pissed off, be irrational and just generally be assholes ( Saul Tigh and Starbuck in particular) there's still something innately good and noble about everyone, from the in over her head President Roslin (Played effectively by Donnie Darko's Mary McDonnell) to the gruff but fair Commander Adama. They might be subtler takes on these familiar tropes, but they still are those familiar tropes. Particularly in this episode.

- Still like the gallows humor going about. That makes watching despair much more enjoyable.

- Also like how the episode is building the smaller characters already, Roslin's aide Billy and Deck-Lt. Dualla are both small characters that get nice moments in this episode.

- Gaius Baltar in the early going at least, is the reason this show isn't just an ultra-polished version of Stargate: SG1. Baltar is by all means of measurement a coward and a traitor, and possibly the human responsible for the end of the world. On paper he's the easy villain of this show, but thanks to both the shows intentions and the funny, charming performance James Callis gives, it asks you to root for him. Its the first note of ambiguity in a show that went to grow many, but in '33', he's the audience surrogate into this militaristic world, a welcome presence of selfishness and humor in amongst the straight-faced nobility of the soldiers. Oh yeah and he also hallucinates metaphysical conversations with the Cylon chick Six he once banged. K?

- Tricia Helfer's performance as Six is awesome. I grant she's hot, but I've seen many hot actresses try to play sensual and fail, yet Helfer is encapsulating.

- I couldn't go much further without mentioning Starbuck, played fantastically by Katee Sackhoff, who is basically Humphrey Bogart as a hot chick. Delivering her limited material in this episode with an amusing hateful candidness. It gets much, much better.

- There's a great pace about this episode, that sets up the vibe of Battlestar Galactica as a road movie. A post-apocalyptic story as bleak as any, only skew sci-fi/fanboy. But I hear what your saying, its' called Battlestar Galactica and that just sounds shit and immature and yadayada. But Television is always the medium of how and not what, a terrible premise can make for great TV, and a great premise can make for shit TV. And even in this episode, ostensibly its first, the ambition and craft in Ron Moore's writing is plain, and this is not just another wish-fulfillment space fantasy, its something altogether smarter and engaging.

- My gut feeling though is this might be the best one for a while. Still bold writing, moral ambiguity and space battles make for an exciting 40 minutes of TV. Fucking solid opener.

Rating: 8/10