My Wife the Cylon

A brief story about watching TV will help you at unexpected moments and how your husband will tease you afterwards. My wonderful wife is what I describe as a born-again nerd. She used to be cool, I mean really cool. I have seen pictures of her from her days in Boston and San Diego in the early and mid-nineties, and she so would not have even given me the time of day. This alone is a measure of

How we pick what we watch, especially during the fall blitz

During the summer, I recruited some wonderful guest bloggers, and we recently discussed how we pick what we watch.From Dan:For me, the genre shows I pick tend to be based on the concept of the show. If it doesn't conflict with something else that I watch, I give it a try. This has led to some major one season wonders. On the other hand, it led me to Battlestar Galactica and Lost, so I can't

I finally succumb to Battlestar Galactica

I couldn't stand it anymore.The new Battlestar Galactica is so freaking good. (Okay, frakking good.) All through season one, I kept thinking about reviewing it, and telling myself that I just didn't have the time. And I really don't. I'm reviewing three shows right now. I reviewed four at once a few years ago, and I thought I was going to go nuts. But at least it airs during the summer, so

Battlestar Galactica: An Exciting, Edgy Space Drama

[Originally published on N:Zone in 2005]I have a confession to make. I was willing to watch a few episodes of the new version of Galactica, but I was positive -- absolutely certain -- that I wouldn't like it. I rarely watched the original; I thought they took a really good dramatic concept and made a kiddie show out of it, and I didn't like it, even when I was a kid. I expected the new

Do We Have a Lack of Faith?

February 25, 2003[Originally a Billie's Bytes column]Welcome to my new column!My major obsession first:No solid news yet on the fate of Buffy, with only six episodes left and counting... but the handwriting is certainly on the wall that this is The End. Sarah Michelle Gellar is in negotiations to do a movie in August, after filming the (ick) sequel to Scooby-Doo, and August is when shooting on

Battlestar Galactica: Hub

Roslin: "I love you."Adama: "About time."Interesting that such a heavily military episode should also be so philosophical, and so full of heart. There was a lot of blood, too.This was Mary McDonnell's episode, and they certainly gave her a good one. Roslin discussed her own approaching death during the jumps with her own subconscious (represented by the long dead Elosha), which was an

Battlestar Galactica: Sine Qua Non

Lee: "Why are you doing this?"Adama: "Because I can't live without her."I found this episode disappointing. And I'm a cat lover.Yes, I got the symbolism. Losing Roslin was the last straw for Adama, just as losing his cat was the last straw for Romo Lampkin. But I honestly thought Adama was too disciplined, too focused on the survival of his people, to leave a total frak-up in charge of the

Battlestar Galactica: Guess What's Coming to Dinner

Starbuck: "When we meet up with the Colonial fleet, I don't know if they'll feed you or frak you."I loved the title of this episode so, so much. It wasn't just clever and funny. If you think about the plot of that classic movie, it suggests that the rebel Cylons will intermarry with the Colonials and come "into the family".Essentially, Six, Leoben and Sharon were saying: We know what we did

Battlestar Galactica: Faith

Leoben: "Don't expect the fate of two great races to be delivered easily."As usual, they're not afraid of the big topics. The nature of life and death, Cylon retribution via sacrifice, the reconciliation of two warring races. BSG makes most other shows look fluffy in comparison.Secret Cylon Anders was like us, the audience: the very picture of confusion, a sort of emotional yo-yo. We could

Battlestar Galactica: The Road Less Traveled

Gaeta: "So now the Cylons want us to rescue them. That's novel."This week, the Battlestar Galactica production of Mutiny on the Bounty.Come on. It was inevitable even before Starbuck brought Leoben on board and took him to her quarters. Too many of the crew of the poop ship Demetrius suspected Starbuck of not coming back *right*. She actually looked nuts, too. Stringy hair, questionable

Battlestar Galactica: Escape Velocity

Tyrol: "I didn't pick this life! This is not my frakking life!"I'm soooo confused. What is going on? I hate it when I get to the end of an episode and I don't know what actually happened. Tyrol is evidently having a completely unique identity crisis. His tirade in the bar about how much he despised everything about Cally was really amazing. He all but told Adama he was a Cylon, and he

Battlestar Galactica: The Ties That Bind

Cavil: "We're machines, dear. Remember? We don't have souls."I had a really hard time last night trying to figure out how I felt about Tory putting Cally out the airlock. I've always felt a little sorry for Cally. Tyrol never loved her; I think he just felt sorry that he broke her jaw. But I could never understand why she married him after that, no matter what the circumstances. Cally was

Battlestar Galactica: Six of One

Six: "Something extraordinary has happened. Something is calling to us."This episode was so engrossing and went by so fast that it felt like it was ten minutes long.Number Six just started a Cylon civil war. Was it really about the Raiders (which felt a bit like animal rights to me) or was it inevitable that Six and Sharon would break away? It made sense that Sharon would back her up, but I

Battlestar Galactica: He That Believeth In Me

Adama: "What should I believe? Should I believe my heart or my eyes?"Don't you love it when something is over and you spend half an hour discussing it afterward? I have really missed this show.Changes and identity crises. The Four were having a real problem accepting their Cylon-ness. Especially Tigh, who spent forty years in the fleet and killed his own wife because she was a collaborator.

Battlestar Galactica: Razor

Six: "Trust me, Lieutenant. In the end, we're all just human."We all knew basically what happened on the bad ship Pegasus. But actually seeing it unfold was something else again. The scenes in the "present" (which was actually near the end of season two) were an intentional contrast to what happened on the Pegasus "ten months ago." We saw many of Admiral Cain's choices in comparison with the

Battlestar Galactica: Crossroads (2)

Tory: "This isn't happening. Please tell me this isn't happening."I'm sooo confused.Tigh, Tyrol, Tory and Anders (whose name should start with a T) got switched on by "All Along the Watchtower" and now they believe they are Cylons. This raises so many questions in itself that I could just present a list as the rest of my episode review. (But I won't.) (Okay, there will be some questions.)

Battlestar Galactica: Crossroads (1)

Lee: "Are you done?"Adama: "Yes."Lee: "Then so am I."So where was all this drama hiding in the last few months?I'm usually on Adama's side, but this time, I was totally with Lee. Lee was trying to do what he had been instructed to do, i.e., keep the trial on track, while Adama was disrupting it by trying to take over instead of allowing all five judges to do their jobs. Yes, Lee probably

Battlestar Galactica: The Son Also Rises

Lee: "Dad, I'm fine."Adama: "No, you're not."Lee: "Why?"Adama: "Because I'm not."I don't know whether it's just depression over losing Starbuck or a general feeling of malaise about where Battlestar Galactica is going, but this was the sixth episode in a row that just didn't do a lot for me. (I went back and counted.)That being said, the growing conflict between Lee and his father was cool,

Battlestar Galactica: Maelstrom

Starbuck: "The only destiny I have is as a world-class frak-up."What just happened?I was completely unprepared for the death of my favorite character. At the end, I just sat there feeling disturbed and frankly, pretty seriously pissed off. No destiny for Kara, huh? Did she hit the eject lever, after all? If she is truly gone, why couldn't she have gone out in a blaze of glory?Leoben told

Battlestar Galactica: Dirty Hands

Gaius: "Caprican. Oh, to be Caprican. Seat of politics, culture, art, science, learning..."Is it elitist of me to prefer stories about the fleet leaders, the Cylons, and the viper pilots?The scene where Adama decided to execute Cally was one of those "wow" moments. I absolutely believed Adama would have done it, too. And I thought it was great that when Tyrol gave in, Adama gave in, too.