Sine Qua Non

Television has gotten so intriguing the last 2 years. I suppose we have HBO to thank for that. It seems The Sopranos, Deadwood, The Wire, etc., have had a powerful influence on the rest of the industry, allowing intelligent, unique programming to invade the wasteland of reality and procedural cop/lawyer/doctor bullshit that has dominated TV for a decade. Guess Lost deserves some credit too. . . Only a few shows in that decade have caused me to leave HBO - The West Wing, the Whedon shows, maybe 24 until it jumped the shark. But that has all changed. The last 2 years have brought a plethora of guilt-free television worth watching. Heroes, Chuck, Pushing Daisies, Eureka, Weeds, The Tudors - not to mention upcoming fare like JJ Abrams' Fringe, Whedon's Dollhouse, and Ronald D. Moore's Virtuality - all deliver quality entertainment on a weekly basis.

Virtuality may be in the works, but Moore is still running the best show on TV, Battlestar Galactica. Since we are trying to shift to more user-friendly and less depressing material here at Aristeia, I thought weekly reviews and commentary on these shows would be a welcome addition, and what better place to start than BSG? I am a day late, I know, but what the fuck? In the age of the DVR, who is watching TV at 9PM on a Friday night?

"Sine Qua Non" brings back one of my favorite characters from last season, the deliciously cynical and disturbed attorney Romo, pictured above. We get Lee's ascension to the Presidency, but I think everyone saw that coming. Adama resigns, frets about Laura, and leaves Galactica to wait for her. But for me, the most powerful scenes revolved around Tigh and Caprica Six. I love Tigh, and Caprica Six has become, for me at least, really intriguing and emotionally arresting. It is amazing to me that this is Ms. Helfer's (also above) first crack at acting, the extremes she has shown us in the various Six denominations throughout the show have been impressive. Sex kitten to violent revolutionary to stilted lover, and she is able to play it off all in her face, her eyes, her body language. Plus, she is so . . . gorgeous. Hard to take your eyes off her. Anyway . . . the dynamic between her and Tigh in the last few eps has been priceless. And now she is pregnant? So, sticking with our established mythology, does that mean Tigh loves her? Or loves the image of Helen? Because he is one of the Final Five, does that mean he is somehow different anatomically, can impregnate another Cylon? Does that matter? I realize nitpicking the exposition is kinda missing the point, but cmon, this is good stuff.

The fight scene in Adama's quarters is another highlight, if only for the laugh we get out of his ship getting smashed . . . again. Let's face it, this is a bleak program, smiles are few and far between. Always a nice touch. And how bout the look on Tigh's face when Adama tells him he is a "changed man?" Love that. Overall, I really feel the season is starting to come together nicely. This episode really tried to do a lot, but I get the feeling that has more to do with the writer's strike rushing everything. Ultimately, this is it - last season - so as many threads and plotlines they want to explore, I am down for the ride.

I talk to a lot of people and read a lot of lit trashing last season's twist, making Tigh, Anders, et al into Cylons, and I was a little skeptical at first as well. What, they have Bob Dylan on fucking Caprica too? But the variety of directions taken this season has sold me. I thought the whole second half of the season was weak last year, I have always felt the show bogs down when they try to do the self-contained 1 hour episodes. They have gotten back to the serial storytelling this year, and it has really brought back the paranoid, disturbed atmosphere that made the show so successful in the first place. I appreciate they like to try and lure in new viewers with the one-shots, but who is coming to the party this late? Now that they are servicing the fans again, we seem to be hurtling toward a final arc that will tie up all these Easter eggs and plot threads that have been building since the beginning, and I am stoked. Is Adama a cylon? Starbuck? My money is on Laura or Lee, but I am sure it will be something completely off the wall . . .