counterculture

So the big thing these days among the blogs I read is to make posts about the television series “24″. I can honestly say I have never seen a single episode, and find most of the posts somewhat confusing, or just outright odd. Thus far, from reading those posts and talking to my parents, the show is thus named because its season encompasses an entire 24-hour period, with each episode literally lasting an hour of “show”-time, even factoring in the commercial breaks. From there, the show follows the life of counter-terrorist “Jack Bauer”, and his many exploits saving America, defeating evil, and all that good, fancy stuff.
Well, never having seen a single episode, I cannot say I know much beyond that. And having missed the previous X seasons, I figured that picking it up in mid-stream would not be the best course of action. And since I am attempting to curtail my spending, buying the previous seasons is not an option either. So… yeah, this post is not about “24″.
Rather, this post is about the best science fiction television series still being produced. My loyalties will always rest with “Firefly” being the all-time best series, regardless of how short it turned out to be, and with “Babylon 5″ having the outright best storyline of any science fiction series (and being a damned good show on top of that), and with “Star Trek: The Next Generation”… well… just because. But this one is definitely the best of the bunch that still have new episodes coming out on a weekly basis.
Nope, this post is about “Battlestar Galactica”. Now that is some good scifi television. Great special effects, wonderful intrigue, well-acted characters, and enough non-PC religious and political topics to send a liberal into a complete flat-spin, nose-dive of doom. And did I mention the special effects? Of course, one first has to get past the fact that Starbuck is now on the other side (of the gender war, that is), and that the chrome toasters of the past are … well … in the past, but once reality is suspended (twice – once for our reality, and once for the reality of the older series), life is good.
Suffice it to say that you should watch an episode on your own… Not sure how well you will fare if you pick up the series mid-stream, but the DVDs are definitely worth the money. If nothing else, there are some damned good explosions, good-looking chicks not wearing much, and enough technobabble to drown any nerd . At any rate, the rest of this post will exist on the other side of the break, to avoid giving virgin eyes spoilers.

This past week’s episode was… odd. First off, the prophecy requires the prophet who is going to bring the 12 Tribes to Earth, to die before they arrive. President Roslyn is obviously the prophet mentioned (and has been proclaimed as such, and accepted the yoke herself), but now her death has been postponed. In fact, her cancer has been completely cured, and should no longer be a problem whatsoever. Well, if the prophecy is correct (and it has proven to be close thus far), we are still in for a death… It is just going to be a little more messy than was otherwise on the agenda.
Second, what on God’s Green Earth ™ were they thinking by injecting Cylon/human hybrid blood into their President? They have no idea whether or not Cylons really are entirely organic (what about the presence of nanites in their bloods), and no idea what a human/Cylon hybrid blood would be like whatsoever. Sure, it has no blood type, nor Rh type, but that merely means it is compatible with everyone, not that you should actually inject it in someone else. I mean, sure, it has wonderful healing properties, and all that good jazz. But you would think that they could have at least asked before injecting what could prove to be quite problematic blood into the most powerful person in the organization at the moment. God forbid she starts turning, archaic and trite though that word may be.
Third, who did not see the kiss between Adama (the older variety, that is) and Roslyn coming, and what hole have you been living in for the past two seasons? Granted, they are on the opposite end of the spectrum on so many different things, but… still… who could not have seen that coming?
Fourth, Baltar is in some serious trouble once Roslyn puts together what she saw in her delusion-dreams. It had to come out eventually, to be sure, but it seems something of an inconvenient time for it to happen, what with him being the vice president and all. But once this comes out in true force, and once his complicity with the Cylons completely comes out… it is not going to be pretty.
Fifth, the introduction of the corporeal Six is an interesting story twist, especially with Baltar torn between them. How this turns out for the Six in his head and the “real” Six is going to be interesting to watch.
Sixth, what the frak is with the gorram nuke? I mean, sure, resistance needs to be placated and all that good crap, but by giving them a full-blown, in-your-face, fully-functional (God, I hope not) nuke? Yeah, that seems like a smart course of action.
Anywise, that is all for today. More later .