Battlestar Blues
My wife is currently away on a ten-day work trip. Before she left, she wanted to finish up a couple of shows we were watching: Battlestar Galactica and Peacemaker. I watched Peacemaker a few months ago, while I was sick with COVID, and thought she’d enjoy it. Battlestar Galactica came about in a more natural way.
I adore the first episode of Battlestar Galactica, 33. It’s one of the greatest episodes in television history as far as I’m concerned. The mini-series is good, but it’s not until 33 that Battlestar Galactica becomes great.
Last fall, I found myself with a desire to re-watch the first few episodes of Battlestar Galactica. I turned it on and didn’t think my wife would care. I mean, she likes sci-fi, and I always thought she’d enjoy it, but at the time we didn’t need yet another show to watch together.
I decided I’d watch the mini-series and 33 and probably stop there. It was a lazy Sunday, and I thought that would fulfill my Battlestar Galactica need. My wife was in bed, ready to take a nap, but the sounds and dialogue of Battlestar Galactica was just too riveting for her. She gave up trying to sleep about half an hour into it, and I restarted the series so she could watch everything she missed. We watched the mini-series and 33 together that day.
That was the beginning of several months of watching Battlestar Galactica. It was my first full rewatch since the show was on the air. Not every episode is perfect, but overall, it’s pretty darn close. The acting is top notch, the special effects hold up for the most part, and the music… the music is absolutely wonderful.
As we made our way through the show, I found new admiration for Admiral Adama. I was always a fan, and I can’t help but tear up every time A Good Lighter begins to play, but I didn’t realize just how much I respected that character until this watch through. I didn’t even realize it until my wife mentioned it, but at one point I even said out loud, I wish Admiral Adama was my father. I admire his honor so much and his ability to take on the most difficult tasks with empathy and common sense.
I even found inspiration in the show during the “fat Lee” phase and the bluntness that Adama tells Lee to get his act together. I went as far as to create a silicon bracelet to remind me to keep getting fit and not to be “soft”, a kinder version of Adama’s actual comment to his son who had become lazy and overweight.
The final season gets philosophical and religious, and it can be a lot to process during some of the middle episodes, but it ends so well. It wraps things up better than I remembered and when we watched the final episode a week ago, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of melancholy. My time with the crew of the Galactica was over, once again, and here I am back in the real world with no Admiral Adama in sight.
One of the things I love most about sci-fi is that at its core it’s about family. It’s about strangers stuck on a ship or a planet, who rely on each other to get through the day. When I watch or read good science fiction, I feel like I’m part of that crew and when the show ends, it’s almost like a part of me is missing. Luckily, thanks to streaming and physical media, I can always start up the journey once more, and thanks to rabid fanbases, there is usually tie-in comics and books to further explore the worlds I come adore.
Battlestar Galactica is a wonderful journey, and one of the best science fiction shows ever made. It’s almost one of the most digestible even for folks who are not fans of the genre.
