By Your Command

Most of you know that I have one TV show that I watch regularly and religiously. The show that I firmly believe to be the funniest, most moral and THE best show on TV… period. That show being The Simpsons. Well I now have a second show that I watch religiously and it’s on the SciFi Channel, in my opinion a network that – although I am a huge sci-fi fan – consistently shows the worst sci-fi and fantasy movies and TV series. Well, not any longer. They have a show that has grabbed me and has me suckling the cathode ray nipple every Friday night at 10:00 PM for an hour. That show is… and this may (or may not) surprise you…

Click here to see what hot new show I am talking about! Yep, that’s right. It’s a modern remake of the 1978 sci-fi show that lasted one season, but still – and keep in mind that I was thirteen and it was the year after Star Wars Episode IV – had me glued to the TV and fascinated with it’s spaceships, battles and silver robots with the one red eye. Folks that know me personally also know that I do not recommend anything lightly… especially TV shows, but the new Battlestar Galactica is a character driven, episodic sci-fi action drama with serious depth, believable and engaging charatcers, and heavy duty story telling, and it has me along for the ride. Even though the old Galactica was a part of my childhood - I even own a Viper pilot's jacket and it still fits - I have no special attachment to it. I don't mind the diffences from the old show - Starbuck and Boomer are now women, some Cylons look like humans, Baltar is not a commander in the Cylon fleet. I see the changes as big improvements. Arguably it has the best writing of any sci-fi TV show of the past fifteen years – beating everything that the Star Trek franchise had to offer - and is more than the equal of Babylon 5. If you haven’t tuned in I highly recommend that you do. Tonight is the third episode, so you can still get onboard and have a good grasp of what is going on. You should also go and rent/buy the three-hour mini-series on DVD (available in stores and online at Amazon.com). It is well worth the money and time invested. The mini-series sets the stage and introduces all of the major, and several minor, characters. But since you most likely don’t have the TV time available to catch up with all that has gone on so far before watching tonight's episode, I am providing you with a brief episode by episode synopsis. Now you can tune in tonight and not be lost in space. By your command!

Pilot Movie (01/2003)
"Night One"
Forty years after the Cylon Wars, humanity's deadliest enemies have reemerged with a vengeance. In a sudden, devastating nuclear attack, the Cylon robots — who have now taken human form — wipe out billions of people across twelve colony worlds. Only a ragtag fleet of Colonial forces is left to shepherd humanity's few survivors to safety. Commander William Adama (Edward James Olmos), a veteran of the Cylon Wars and the highest-ranking military officer left alive, reactivates the aged Battlestar Galactica (retired and turned into a museum) to once again face his greatest nemeses. His son, Lee (Jamie Bamber), call sign "Apollo," joins the fight alongside the fleet's best pilot, Kara Thrace (Katee Sackhoff), call sign "Starbuck." With the president and most of his senior cabinet killed in the attack, Secretary of Education Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) is sworn in as the new President of the 12 Colonies of Kobol. As Adama and Roslin debate whether to fight or flee, the Cylons launch a sneak attack on the new president's ship.

Pilot Movie (01/2003)
"Night Two"
Forced into an uneasy alliance, President Roslin and Commander Adama do their best to lead the military into battle and the civilians to safety. Gaius Baltar, the corrupt genius who inadvertently helped the Cylons infiltrate the government's defense systems has been rescued, treasured as one of humanity's last great intellectuals. No one has yet discovered Baltar's involvement in the Cylon attack by allowing his computer genius girlfriend (a human looking Cylon called “Number Six”) unlimited access — or that he is still haunted, and possibly controlled, by visions of the seductive "Number Six". Aboard the Galactica, Baltar's superior intellect ironically leads to his designation as the authority on all things Cylon. Outnumbered and outarmed, Adama reluctantly concedes that President Roslin was correct — this battle was lost before it had begun. With no choice but to flee, humanity's survivors set out in search of the mythic 13th Colony of Kobol ... a legendary planet known as Earth.

Episode 101
"33"
In the wake of the Cylon sneak attack, the ragtag fleet of human survivors is forced to play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with their pursuers. Every 33 minutes, they make a jump to a new location. And every 33 minutes, the Cylons manage to find them. The pilots are on the brink of exhaustion, relying on artificial stimulants to keep fighting, and the civilians are beginning to doubt the leadership of Commander Adama and President Roslin.

When the Olympic Carrier, a commercial passenger ship, fails to make a jump and then later mysteriously turns up unharmed, Adama fears it has been infiltrated by the Cylons. His choice: destroy it and the 1,300 souls it might still be carrying, or risk the annihilation of the entire fleet. Adama is not alone in fearing the mystery ship. Baltar, who remains mentally connected with his beautiful and deadly Cylon companion Number Six, panics when he learns one of the ship's passengers has information about a traitor in the president's inner circle.

Meanwhile, down on the ruined, Cylon-occupied colony of Caprica, Helo is on the run from another group of Cylons. He's going to need help to make it back to the Galactica — but there's no help in sight….
WB: I give this episode 4.5 out of 5 stars. My favorite episode as of this writing.

Episode 102
"“Water"
Galactica pilot Lt. Sharon Valerii (call sign "Boomer") wakes up soaking wet in the tool room with an explosive charge in her duffel bag. Shortly afterward, a mysterious explosion destroys all the port-side water tanks on Galactica, creating a crisis for the entire fleet. Sharon can't remember a thing, but all the evidence points to her as a saboteur. She confesses her concern to Chief Tyrol, but he can't believe she's responsible.

As water riots erupt, Commander Adama and President Roslin struggle to contain the crisis, putting all the ships on limited rations and assigning Baltar the job of rooting out any Cylons who may have infiltrated the crew.

Meanwhile, on Cylon-occupied Caprica, another avatar of Sharon struggles to save Helo, her stranded Raptor crewmate.
WB: I give this episode 4 out of 5 stars

Episode 103
"Bastille Day"
The fleet has found a source of water, but who will take on the difficult and dangerous job of mining it from the icy planet? Commander Adama and President Roslin send Lee to the Astral Queen, a prisoner transport ship, with an offer for its inmates: Volunteer for this mission and earn "freedom points."

The prisoners not only reject the offer but stage a uprising and hold Lee and his crew hostage. Their leader is Tom Zarek, a freedom fighter convicted of terrorism 20 years earlier. Zarek demands that Roslin step down as president and call for immediate elections to choose a new leader.

While Adama and Roslin organize an assault on the ship, Lee, who read Zarek's radical manifesto while at college, negotiates with his captor. Back on the Galactica, Adama pressures Baltar to develop a device that can distinguish Cylons from humans.

Many light-years away on Caprica, Sharon and Helo struggle to evade the Cylons, unaware that they are being observed by Doral and Number Six.
WB: I give this episode 4 out of 5 stars