Do I have a knack for phrasing headlines in overly alarming tones or what?
Seriously, though, Wired's Table Of Malcontents takes Adama and crew to task and in doing so makes a hyperspace jump into throngs of scifi fans who worship the show ... me being one of them. Galactica is more serious science fiction than mainstream America probably rightfully deserves.
But even once great shows have the capacity to falter and fail (*cough* Lost *cough* Buffy *cough*) from their original stature and greatness. So do they have any valid points?
I'd say yes and no. I agree that the Cylon Ship scenes have had some moments which have threatened camp. Baltar's treatment is borderline bizarre near-sexploitation 70's genre Buck Rodgers kind of stuff. Do they want to kill him or kiss him? I'll also concur that when you see show helmsmen taking on additional work - sometimes the original labor suffers.
Overall, though, I'm not seeing it. In fact, I almost posted after the last episode which used a boxing metaphor to dredge up recent conflicts which have been brewing between crew members as simply brilliant writing - certainly not the stuff of fanfic (no offense fanfic writers - I come in peace) as the piece alleges. Tigh in particularly is a highlight of this season. In fact, I've preferred some of this season's plot than "Apollo's Arrow" mythology on Caprica from last season.
However, I tip my hat to the Malcontents. It's not easy to be unhappy with a favorite show that is still a favorite with most everyone you know. We've seen that quality is not always an endearing quality in American television, so I welcome someone trying to kick the tires once in a while.
tagged: scifi, battlestar
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Wired Dares Question Battlestar Galactica
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5 comments:
That's a pretty weak top 10 list Wired's got there.
The last couple episodes haven't been my favorites, but they were better than Black Market and by no means disappointments. And most of this season--especially, as you said, Tigh's transformation--has been top-notch.
Also, I didn't see Adama's revelation about the Cylon incursion being a retcon. Rather, I liked that they darkened his brow a little bit and it provided some setup for a pretty good episode.
Ack. I tried to like Battlestar after the first season. I really did, but it seems that all the interesting character development happens off-screen or turns up once and is forgotten about completely. It's like Lee's brother never existed. (I stopped watching 3 eps ago. Has he come up since?) And Dee + Lee = married when all we saw prior to that were a couple of lingering looks during training and an awkward conversation by the lockers. Big character jumps like that annoy me. Were they developed in the webisodes?
But really, the thing that killed it for me was the random porn shot of Sharon doing nude Tai Chi in the ship as Baltar walks past. WTF? I thought this show was above that sort of cheap shot.
Didn't Lee's brother die? Wasn't it partially Kara's fault? Or am I mixing subplots myself?
The boxing episode helped bridge some of the time that had lapsed on New Caprica - one of the reasons I liked it.
And yeah, the nude Tai Chi was cheap on SO many levels. The Cylon ship stuff has had too much emphasis on that kind of crap. The only time it proved interesting was surround the Cylon Plague.
Yeah, Lee's brother and Kara's first husband/fiancé died and it was partially her fault for passing him when he wasn't good enough to fly in combat. That's why it's so weird that he never gets mentioned. If you're with your dead husband's brother that often, you'd think his name might come up once in a while.
Or... y'know, Apollo might be a little less forgiving to the girl who got his brother killed.
Never mind. It's a show that has huuuuuge time gaps between episodes (and scenes). These things happen.
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