I think I may have been recommended the new BSG about a thousand times by 50 different people. I don’t quite know why I didn’t get round to watching it. I’ve been intending to for a while, but I kept telling myself I watched too many TV shows, and didn’t have space in my life for another one. I was right, but I should have done what I normally do, and prioritised TV. I’ve always loved Sci-Fi and though nothing may replace DS9 in my affections I do enjoy almost all sci-fi shows.
Last night some new friends of mine invited a few of us over for a BSG-fest. We watched the three hour pilot/miniseries and then another four episodes (which may give you a clue as to the next few updates here). It was fantastic. I wouldn’t say it stood out hugely from other Sci-Fi, I don’t think the scripting was better or the concepts more interesting that Star Trek or Stargate at their best. But it was the most consistently tight opening of a Sci-Fi series that I have seen. I should point out here that I’m not including Firefly, because it just seems to mean to compare it to other shows it’s so good. BSG was good from the beginning. All the Star Trek shows had high and low points, and were great at their best, but often dull when off their game.
I love the set up, and the characters, Gaius Baltar could easily become my favourite, but Apollo seems pretty awesome too (my friends will tell you I always have a soft spot for the morally straightforward “boring” hero, over the slightly more off the wall cooler hero cf. Luke vs Han). The president and the commander also seemed very well done to me, and I think that’s a real strength as it’s often the authority figures that seem to suffer in terms of being well-rounded characters in other Sci-Fi.
In terms of the production they seem to have borrowed a leaf from Joss Whedon’s Firefly book in terms of how they shoot the space scenes, making it a little more shaky and dirty, so it feels more realistic. I’ve never had a problem with suspension of disbelief, so I don’t feel that this enhances my enjoyment, but it doesn’t impede it either. The camera also seems to be focusing a lot on hand held shots and pretty heavy close ups. Again it’s an interesting choice, and I don’t see a huge upside or downside, so it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out. Of course my perspective on the camera may have been altered by watching it projected onto a wall, making the ‘screen’ excessively large. I have many other thoughts on the show, but I’ll let them drip out gradually in future posts rather than waste them here and have nothing else to say in other updates.