Why I watch (and love) Battlestar Galactica

As I’ve stated enough times for everyone who knows me and reads this blog to want to put me out an airlock — though Laura Roslin may beat them to it if I keep talking about her man’s sexiness — I am utterly amazed at the quality of acting on Battlestar Galactica. And now I’ve learned that the most touching scene I’ve ever witnessed on film, the final moments of “The Hub,” was shot in one take. ONE TAKE!

Seriously, unless I completely misunderstood the official Ron Moore podcast on the episode, which I listened to this last week, the achingly beautiful reunion scene between Admiral Adama and President Roslin was shot in a single take, which is amazing because it is so emotionally complex and completely exposed.

After listening to a few of those podcasts this week, I tell ya, my respect for the acting abilities of Mary McDonnell and Edward James Olmos is growing by leaps and bounds — and it was already in the stratosphere before BSG ever aired. These days I find myself watching them with my eyes popping wide in wonder and feeling incredibly privileged to be able witness these two pros work together, and at a level that is truly astonishing.

And don’t even get me started on Olmos instincts for dramatic improvisation, which are absolutely genius. He knows how to play an emotional moment in a way that reaches into the very heart of you. For example, I learned from the podcast that he improvised the placing of Adama’s wedding band on Roslin’s hand in the deathbed vision in “The Hub.” That is a very powerful and poignant moment as Adama has never taken that off, not after his divorce or even the death of his ex-wife and mother of his sons. It is as much a part of him as his sense of loyalty. For him to take that off and leave it with Roslin … wow. Also, back in “Escape Velocity,” the scene where Adama is reading to Roslin from Searider Falcon, there’s a moment where he looks up and sees she is sleeping then lowers the book and speaks as though from his heart. That was apparently an Olmos improv. The words were apparently scripted, but Olmos elected to not read them from the book, and in doing so, it gave that moment a confessional and intimate feel, as though Adama was speaking of his own feelings for Roslin, which made for an all-the-more touching scene.

To be completely honest, McDonnell and Olmos were the original reason I even gave this re-imagined series a chance. When I first heard they were remaking BSG, I kept thinking, “Do we really need another Battlestar Galactica?” I mean, I loved the first series. It was great fun, if a bit on the campy side, but not really a show I thought would ever be remade in any form, couldn’t even imagine why someone would want to. Then I heard about the casting of McDonnell and Olmos as the leads, two actors I’d liked immensely for years and whose judgment I respected when it came to choosing material. I decided to give it a chance on the merits of those two actors alone and I’m so glad I did, because I can now say I’m one of the lucky ones to have found this show from the beginning and followed it through to present — and will follow it through to the end.

I’m sure some people will disagree with me, but I believe Battlestar Galactica may be the best show to ever air on television. It was seemingly tailor-made for me, or at least my particular tastes in science fiction in mind, which is why I’ve said before that this is the show I’ve waited for my entire life.

I care about these characters, have bonded with them and want to see what happens to them. It matters to me in a way a television show never has before, which is something I credit to everyone associated with the show — the writers, directors, editors and cast, and most assuredly Ron Moore and David Eick who gave this show a HUGE dose of reality. That realistic edge makes this show more immediate to me as a viewer and not just another piece of entertainment. There is a very real sense of something at stake for the characters I care about, and the writers have made no bones about it that they’re not afraid to maim, kill or bring those characters tumbling down in ways you never imagined, if it’s what’s in the best interest of the story.

Even though it’s sometimes painful, I greatly appreciate that sort of integrity in writing, that steadfast refusal to bow to status-quo storytelling, and because it helps maintains the realism they injected into this show. Why do I say that? Because no one is safe in this life just because we want them to be, not even those we care about most in the world … same goes for those characters I love most on BSG. I honestly think that makes me appreciate the show more, makes me realize how great television can be when the perfect mix of elements converge at a single point and place in time. It’s quite magical, actually, and in the case of Battlestar Galactica, thought-provoking.

Without compromise and unlike any other TV series I’ve watched before, Battlestar Galactica holds up a mirror to us as a species, showing us quite clearly who and what we are — the picture is not always a pretty one — and examines the very nature of what it means to be human. I believe this exploration is wholly relevant to us today and that it will be relevant a hundred years from now because, on the whole, I don’t think mankind has evolved all that much over the millennia. We still struggle daily with our nature, the good and the bad, and there’s always a question about what the outcome will be in that battle. How could there not be when we are swayed by our emotions and loyalties, our convictions and beliefs, our hopes and fears? This inner struggle is what Battlestar Galactica brings to the fore and shows us quite well that even the best of us are locked in that eternal war within ourselves. No one is safe from it. Not me. Not anyone. Not Roslin. Not Adama. Not Baltar. Not Apollo. Not Starbuck. Not even the Cylons. This is who we are and this is what Battlestar Galactica’s cast and writers have not been afraid to show us on a weekly basis.

All that said, I suspect there are a great many people who are not watching Battlestar Galactica now but who will discover it in the years to come and say to themselves, “This is great television! Where the frak was I when this was on!?” All I can say to them is better late than never, and remind them that they now have a window of opportunity to catch up on the first three and a half seasons, and join us faithful fans for the final part of the journey when it airs, probably sometime early next year. It promises, if the mid-season finale is any indication, to be quite a ride.

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