Lower Decks

I’m sure there are those at the Observation Lounge who, after reading my latest complaints about Battlestar Galactica, have asked themselves why I keep watching when I obviously don’t enjoy the show. I’d like to be able to say that Ronald D. Moore sneaks into my house every Friday night and holds a gun to my head so I’ll watch Battlestar Galactica but I can’t because that would be libel. In my defense, I actually did stop watching three episodes into Season Four. But more on that later.

When SCI FI Channel first announced it was “re-imagining” Battlestar Galactica, I wasn’t thrilled. Not because I had an emotional connection to the original series — it was an enjoyable romp but nothing incredible — but because at the time it had been my experience all attempts to remake “classic” television shows as feature films had resulted in disaster. A big budget, four hour miniseries wasn’t all that different from a big budget, two hour movie. I still shudder thinking about the movie version of The Wild, Wild West.

So, when the miniseries debuted in December of 2003, I didn’t watch it. Again, this wasn’t because I was upset at the thought of SCI FI Channel and Ronald D. Moore creating their own version of Battlestar Galactica. I just wasn’t interested. But a good friend kept telling me how great the miniseries had been and after months of his pestering I finally agreed to watch the premiere of the television series on January 14th, 2005.

Actually, I watched the second half of the two hour premiere (“Water”) and taped the first (“Water”) to watch the next day. I don’t remember my actual reactions but I didn’t hate it or run screaming from the room. On the other hand, I didn’t keep watching after those first two episodes, so it couldn’t have made that much of an impact. For reasons I can no longer remember, I watched “33″ for a second time the following Monday and then again a month later. Weird, I know.

Then, in early March, I watched the ninth episode of the series (“Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down”) a few days after it originally aired. Again, I can’t remember why. Maybe there was nothing else on. Maybe that same friend had continued to pester me. In any event, I was hooked. By July I had caught up on the entire first season, thanks in part to one of SCI FI’s marathons. I found the series thrilling, the story lines both complex and engrossing, the space battles exciting and the question of the ultimate Cylon plan perplexing.

When Season Two premiered on July 15th, 2005, I was there with bells on. I watched every episode when it was first aired. At some point, though, I started noticing that I wasn’t enjoying the show as much as I used to. I can’t point to a specific moment or even a specific episode (“Black Market” would be a good place to start, but I know the problems started earlier). In general, I think it was the growing emphasis on religion and mysticism that I found off-putting.

Certainly, religion had been a part of the series from the very start. I didn’t have a problem with its inclusion in the series, and in fact found it interesting at first. But when it started to take over the series, particularly in connection to Roslin, it wasn’t interesting anymore. The idea that Roslin’s cancer was cured by baby Cylon blood was a bit hard to swallow as well.

Still, for the most part Battlestar Galactica continued to be appointment television. The arrival of Pegagus seemed to reinvigorate things; it also brought about the aforementioned monstrosity that was “Black Market,” however. But then, on top of the religious overtones, episodes became increasingly bogged down in political machinations. The shocking Season Two finale (“Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2″), with its jump one year into the future and the Cylon invasion of New Caprica, was more than enough to keep me interested.

When Season Three began, there was of course the novelty of learning more about the Cylon occupation of New Caprica. But the storylines were once again compelling. The day “Exodus, Part 2″ was set to air (October 20th, 2006) I lost power. That meant no cable and no cable meant no Battlestar Galactica. That is, until an extension cord, a flashlight, a small television set and a hybrid SUV with a power jack were MacGyvered to allow me to watch one of the best episodes of the series to date.

Unfortunately, once the action returned to the Galactica, so to did the slow-as-molasses movement of the plot. Episodes began to take on a rather exposition flavor; that is, the focus seemingly shifted entirely away from plot advancement in favor of character growth (or, as was often the case, character stagnation and/or out-of-nowhere shifts in loyalty). There were still some aspects of the series that I enjoyed, some aspects that reminded me of earlier seasons. But it became increasingly difficult to find any of the characters relatable or respectable or even decent people.

I find it difficult to enjoy television shows where all of the characters slip back and forth between “good” and “evil.” That’s the reason I couldn’t get into Showtime’s Dexter. Yes, the acting was stellar and the writing was amazing, but the main character is still a serial killer and that just didn’t work for me. With Battlestar Galactica, as more and more characters slipped into a moral grey zone and, in many respects, became totally different characters. Some might call this growth and I can understand that. But it wasn’t growth for me.

Battlestar Galactica had become a soap opera. The bitter relationship between Lee and Starbuck took center stage for a while, and I didn’t care. Helo fought the good fight against a racist doctor, and I didn’t care. The fleet fractured along socio-economic status, and I didn’t care. But then, in “”Maelstrom,” it looked like Starbuck had been killed off and I will freely admit to being thrilled. Starbuck, once a strong character, had been so decimated by constant jumps from one emotional level to another as the story dictated, and although it seemed unlikely that Starbuck was gone for good, a small part of me hoped so.

The final episodes of Season Three, with Lee defending Baltar and Baltar becoming a religious icon, were a far cry from the first few episodes of Season Three. I found the season finale (“Crossroads, Part II”) almost insulting as a fan of the series. My actual response at the time: “That was just awful. In so many ways. Utterly predictable, no cliffhanger, no shock, we still are not sure who the Final Five Cylons are, and Lee saves Baltar with an impassioned speech on the stand? Come on.” Using “All Along the Watchtower” as the wake-up call for Tigh, Anders, Tyrol and Tory was confusing, to say the least. It wasn’t Bob Dylan’s song, but a nearly exact copy? Hrm.

I considered not tuning in when Battlestar Galactica returned for its fourth (and final) season. But as the lenghty hiatus continued, my frustration at the series began to fade. I rewatched the last eight episodes of Season Three in preparation for Season Four. Somehow, I managed to gloss over the very parts of those episodes that had been so off-putting when they first aired. And I stuck with Season Four through the first three episodes. When Cally was killed, though, so too was any remaining interest I had in the show. She, too, had seen her character torn apart of the years, but I still hated seeing her sucked out into space.

I stopped watching.

It wasn’t hard. I just didn’t tune in to SCI FI Channel on Friday nights. I watched something else. I can’t say my life suddenly changed for the better without Battlestar Galactica in the mix but I wasn’t investing time in a television show that I didn’t like. As a general rule, once I start watching a television show I don’t stop watching. One of the few examples, aside from Battlestar Galactica, is Star Trek: Enterprise, which I stopped watching during its third season. But just as I returned to Star Trek: Enterprise, so to did I eventually return to Battlestar Galactica.

I watched a marathon to catch up and I will admit to being intrigued by the midseason finale (“Revelations”) when Earth was revealed as a barren wasteland. But after just one exciting episode (“Sometimes a Great Notion”) the show once again became little more than political intrigue in space. The mutiny was exciting but ultimately fell flat when everyone was happily reunited (aside from all those who died, of course). And the disappointing episodes just kept coming. The return of Ellen (in “Deadlock”) wasn’t exciting and when Starbuck spent an entire episode hallucinating and playing the piano, I was kicking myself for being dragged back in.

But now, with the final two-part episode only a few days away, I find myself more serene about Battlestar Galactica. It’s not a terrible, evil show. It’s obviously a quality production, although admittedly I feel the writing has taken a decided turn for the abysmal. The acting has almost always been superb, even when the characters themselves are out of character or sobbing uncontrollably against a wall episode after episode. I know there is absolutely not chance that the finale will be satisfactory but it looks like it will be exciting. At this point, that’s enough for me.

I don’t begrudge ardent fans their love for Battlestar Galactica. Nor do I think those who complain about it (myself included) are any less valid in their lack of appreciation for what the series became. If there was one thing I could change about these past five years it would be the manner in which Battlestar Galactica was aired. Rather than premiering new seasons at random intervals and showing them in two parts, I would have preferred four seasons of thirteen episodes, shown straight through either in the summer or in the winter, premiering at the same time every year.

Having only thirteen seasons in each episode would force the producers and writers to craft tighter arcs and would, hopefully, do away with many of the weaker standalone or filler episodes. And showing the seasons at the same time each year would allow viewers to know when to expect new episodes of the series rather than keeping them waiting for months and months at a time.

When Battlestar Galactica comes to a close, I’ll remember it as a television show that squandered much of its incredibly potential yet nevertheless offered about one and a half wonderful episodes before sinking into a gentle malaise. I don’t think it has changed the face of television, although it has helped SCI FI Channel over the years, nor is it the single best television show of all time.

Am I a better for having watched it? No, probably not. But then, as much as I love television and as great as Battlestar Galactica could be at times, it is just a television show. Like any television show, it has its fervent fans, its vehement critics and everyone in between.