Battlestar Galactica

by Mike Shea on 25 October 2006

99% of television, books, movies are crap. Every so often, however, we get some real beauties, some real gems. Stephen King's Dark Tower series, George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones, Shane Carruth's Primer, Charlie Kaufman's Eternal Sunshine on a Spotless Mind, J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5, and most recently Ron Moore's .

is the best science fiction on the air. It's up there with Firefly and Babylon 5 and may end up eclipsing both of them - an incredible feat.

puts more action, drama, story, and epic science fiction into less time than any show I've ever seen. If you doubt me, watch the whole series and pay special attention to the three episodes between seasons 2.0 and 2.5 called Pegasus, Resurrection Ship 1, and Resurrection Ship 2. These episodes, especially the beginning of Pegasus, pack more story before the introduction credits than most shows have in an entire season.

Then, when you thought it couldn't get any better, they wrote the end of season 2 and began season 3. Never have I seen such an amazing shift in a story on a TV show. With only about four hours of actual screen time in five episodes, they managed to have a story more powerful than all of Star Wars.

isn't perfect. I love that Cylon Raiders are actually cybernetic organic creatures, more like hunting dogs than tie fighters. I love when Starbuck sees one she shot down and it's lying on it's wing with a hole in it's head like a dead creature instead of a space ship. I will never buy, however, that Starbuck can get inside of it, stuff a jacket into a hole the size of a baseball, and fly it into the vacuum of space by tugging on tendons and kicking large kidney-like organs. This is a small quip, however, for an amazing show.

If you haven't watched this show, go rent or buy the DVDs for Season 1, 2, and 2.5. Then go subscribe to the iTunes season 3 season pass. It is the best show I've seen on TV in a long long time.