MEGAN AKA THE NEWBIE: Last week, I was intro’ed to the magical world of Battlestar Galactica (as an aside, I keep asking my husband, “Is this version better than the one starring Lorne Greene?,” just so I can see his eyes roll).
This week, BBC America showed the second half of the Battlestar Galactica miniseries, setting the stage for the series itself. While last week was all about destruction and death and tough decisions and smooching, this week was all about reunions and life and tough decisions and smooching. The more things change...
Anyhoo, this part was easier to follow since I now know the characters a bit more. There were parts I thought were super-cool:
—the space battles were awesome! Unlike other space shows, this space is eerily quiet, except for the soundtrack’s rhythmic drums. And space itself is greenish and spare, not all chock full of stars.
—I can see why everyone crushes on Kara Thrace, aka Starbuck, aka I Will Kick Your Ass Where You Stand. Her responses to events and emotions are so nuanced, and she is clearly (to me, at least) the axis around which everyone and everything else spins.
—where many other series would have punted in sitches such as when the ship had to jump, stranding civilians, having the President cave on her difficult decision as Capt. Adama counted down, they didn’t. Loved that. Likewise, I liked it when the Commander made the best decision for his ship, if not for himself, staying with the crazy guy in the artillery room.
That isn’t all I loved, but it’s the major points. I’ll share what I didn’t love later on; now to Redline_ for her response.
REDLINE_ AKA THE FANGIRL: I haven’t seen more than maybe 2 minutes of the original series, but just their costumes are painful to look at; I don’t think I could handle it.
Bear McCreary’s the composer for Battlestar, and I can’t even tell you how much I adore his music. I have all the soundtracks and have listened to them countless times. It’s a problem. (But not really because it’s AWESOME and thus my behavior is completely justified.)
Very well put about Starbuck. I’m so glad you’re liking her. As I said last week, it was the second part of the finale that she and Apollo both started really clicking for me.
The show is all about rolling the hard six and shades of gray with regard to morality and ethics. Makes you stop and think and really examine your own beliefs.
Confession: I only got to watch half of part 2 on Saturday because my roommate dragged me out to dinner. But: I refused to go until after Starbuck and Apollo’s reunion scene. “I thought you were dead.” / “Well, I thought you were in hack.” / “It’s good to be wrong.” / “You should be used to it by now.” / “Everyone has a skill.” Awwww!
But I digress. Megan, what’d you think of that ending? Did you see the twist coming? You on board for more?
MEGAN: I should say I also loved that reunion scene, and the whole palpable sexual tension thing really worked for me as a romance reader. I am on board for more, for sure, and I liked the twists at the end—no-one knows where Earth is, and the blowhard complainy PR guy and that cute Asian girl are both cylons. (In her case, a really caring cylon? Or she’s just faking it? In which case, what’s the difference between cylons and humans? I expect we will be exploring that conundrum in the future).
But there were some parts I didn’t like:
—I appreciate a slimy, Iago-like character as much as the next person, but the scenes with Gaius and the Sexaholic Cylon dragged. I also kept wondering if the people who kept disturbing his cylon reveries happened to notice what I assume was a large erection, and if so, did they really want to work with the guy, given that he’s sporting a stiffy every few minutes?
—The old guy, Colonel Tigh, that Starbuck punched on the first part of the miniseries looks disconcertingly like John McCain, which isn’t his fault, obviously, but is distracting. He kinda talks like him, too. Not revealing too much of my political bent, but that doesn’t make me like him anymore. And I already don’t like him.
—The navigational guy is just...unpleasant to watch move around. He seems super-uptight and kinda prissy.
—All the smooching. I mean, I like smooching, but it seemed unncessary, especially with the President’s assistant and the smokin’ hot Officer Dualla. I still don’t buy that she’d find him attractive. I felt some of the smooching was gratuitous. Plus making out in front of a kid? Not cool.
—The double-layered tank tops don’t seem to fit properly, either on Starbuck or McCain-guy.
REDLINE_: Oh my god those BALTAR scenes! Unfortunately, there are a LOT more where those come from. Truth be told, I tend to fast forward through them when I rewatch because it’s a lot of the same.old.thing. (Though I actually think the scenes in which Baltar’s talking to himself are great for comic relief.) But it’s funny because sometime during the series I became a fan of both Baltar and Six. Well, not head!Six, exactly, but I don’t want to spoil you. I can’t say I ever really LIKE them, but I can’t imagine the show without their particular brands of crazy. And James Callis and Tricia Helfer are amazing. There’s a storyline in the middle of Season 2 that they knock out of the park.
TIGH! It’s SO HARD to do this because I have all this knowledge that you don’t have, so I want to tell you why I love Tigh but I can’t because it won’t make any sense for quite some time and I didn’t like him at this point either. So I won’t.
I think we’ll have to agree to disagree about the smooching because it was one of those I’m-so-glad-we’re-alive moments that I can’t begrudge any of them (in fact, there should have been so many MORE!). And because I am totally in favor of Dee/Billy. Billy!
The fashion of BSG does leave a lot to be desired. But I’m fond of the duty blues. Especially the way they bring out some of Lee’s finer attributes...
And if that’s not a good stopping point, I don’t know what is. To think—this was only the mini! Imagine the fun we’ll have discussing the series proper.
Megan Frampton is the Community Manager, Romance, for the HeroesandHeartbreakers site. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband and son, and is apparently busy every Saturday for the foreseeable future.
redline_, aka Heather Waters, is the HeroesandHeartbreakers.com production associate. She lives in Astoria (Team Queens!), New York, and may be listening to a Bear McCreary album at this very moment.
