Fans of Battlestar Galactica can rejoice. Unlike the second
season, which was spilt up into two separate DVD releases, the third season of
Battlestar Galactica has been released on DVD in its complete, 20 episode
entirety. Beginning where the second season left off, with the majority of the
Colonial survivors having resettled on the planet named New Caprica--only to
wind up being taken captive by the invading hoards of Cylons--the first four
episodes deal with life on the rock, and it isn’t very pretty. Katee Sackhoff
shines in the opening shows as her Starbuck character stubbornly fights back
against her captor, the enigmatic Cylon Leoben (played by the superb Callum
Keith Rennie) who is determined to set up house with her, no matter how many
times Starbuck kills him.
The always great Michael Hogan is also marvelous in this dark storyline, as his Colonel Tigh boldly stands up against his Cylon oppressors--first, as a prisoner in a jail cell, and then by becoming the de facto leader of the resistance, which leads to a spirited discussion about the tactics being used between him and Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), once she discovers--to her horror--that Tigh advocates the use of suicide bombers against the Cylons. And as if this wasn’t enough drama, there’s also Adama’s (Edward James Olmos) daring plot to rescue the captured colonists by using the Galactica in a way her original designers probably never intended (and if they knew, they’d no doubt be spinning in their graves).
People who complain that the new BSG is too much like a soap opera had never
seen the third season’s Exodus: Parts One & Two, which delivers some of the
best--and most satisfying--kick-ass action scenes ever on a cable TV series. Yet
BSG still doesn’t slack off regarding its Peabody Award winning storytelling. In
a surprising move, the Cylons are also examined in depth--and in the process,
they are found to be severely lacking. Lucy Lawless, the former Xena, Warrior Princess, is exceptional here as the lone Cylon who pushes the envelope in her investigation into the big questions concerning the mystery of the Cylons’ origins, as well as the whereabouts of the fabled "final five," the remaining human-like Cylons who have not yet been seen--by neither the Cylons, or the viewers.
During the course of the third season, all of the familiar characters--Adama, Starbuck, Lee, Roslin and even Starbuck’s fellow fighter pilot Kat--are tested to their very limits. And the already amazing journey of Gaius Baltar manages to become even more amazing--as well as bizarre, but in a fascinating way. For a character whom I started out hating, and wishing he’d meet a quick demise, Gaius Baltar had become one of my favorites in the series, thanks to the great writing, as well as James Callis’ superb acting. It’s not that Baltar has become sympathetic--quite the opposite--but that Callis’ eccentric performance has made him such a enthralling guy to watch. Baltar has fast become the poster boy for not only just surviving…but doing so in really high style.
I’ve understood some of the complaints about how the new BSG is too dark: after
all, they’re right, the show is very dark. But it deals with a small band of
survivors who’re desperately trying to endure in a hostile universe, while being
pursued by an unrelenting enemy--after the merciless destruction of their entire
civilization. In short, it’s supposed to be dark. Yet, despite the darkness,
despite the overwhelming odds that are constantly stacked against them, these
people never give up; they're always fighting back--and that underlying theme
within the show also actually makes BSG one of the most hopeful TV series I've seen in a
long time. The basic message here is this: no matter what the odds, never
surrender. The people aboard the Galactica may be flawed--they're far from being
angels--but they are heroes in the truest sense of that word.
And by presenting hot button
issues which we grapple with in such a compelling way, by showing them through
the prism of science fiction, there is no better series on the air today that
truly reflects the dark and chaotic times that we live in than BSG. This was
the very same thing that Star Trek once did, and it’s an example of science fiction at its finest.
The standouts among the third season's episodes include Exodus: Parts 1 & 2, the
gripping climax to the New Caprica storyline, and Unfinished Business, with Lee and Kara finally confronting each other.
Thankfully, Battlestar Galactica will have a proper ending once the fourth season is done.
And I, for one, can’t wait to get to the end of this brilliantly captivating ride.
--SF
