Battlestar Galactica Season 3

September 12, 2006

Read this. Yes, you. The one who doesn’t even watch the show.

Let’s get something out of the way: this isn’t a sci-fi show. It’s not driven by technology or special effects or gadgets or technobabble that no one understands. It’s a drama. It’s the most human, gritty, imaginative, stunning, beautifully written drama ever to grace the screen, in my humble opinion, and in the less humble opinion of a few other people. The show was also the winner of the 65th annual Peabody Award, the oldest electronic media award, which recognizes distinguised achievement in electronic media.

You can find tons of reviews about the first two season all over the web. You’ll consistently hear terms like “powerful,” “gripping,” “gritty,” and read endless paragraphs extolling the quality of the writing and the incredible way the show makes you think about real world issues, and the complexity of characters and the emotion of identifying with those characters when no one’s perfect and there’s not always a good guy and a bad guy. So I’m not going to spend more time on that — just get the miniseries, and then get seasons 1 and 2 and watch them. It just gets better as it goes on. I promise you won’t be disappointed. Even Amanda loves this show.

Which brings us to season 3. The horrendous cliffhanger we were left with and the end of season 2, combined with the extended break (the show ended in March and isn’t on again until October 6th), has whipped the fast-growing fan base into a frenzy. Lately, the cast and producers have started to do interviews about the upcoming season and have said some interesting things, Edward James Olmos (William Adama) in particular:

“When we come back, all hell breaks loose, and it becomes very difficult. What happens on New Caprica is monumental. You see things that are going to make sense , and all of a sudden you are going to start to realize how people can do the things they are doing, like suicide bombers and turning your back on humanity . People will be very moved all the way around by what is going to happen. I can’t tell you how incredible it is and shocking when you get inside of what we’re doing. By the seventh episode, you will be mind-boggled as to what is going on with him and where he’s going. I’ve never seen a show do this to the protagonist on all levels. You’ll be amazed at what these writers are writing. The third season is just monumental. People are going to get spun around like crazy.”

Ã¢â‚¬Å“The writing, the story, the character development is devastating…I cannot tell you. I worked last week and IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve never had a week like that in my life, because everything thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s happening to the human species is into the final steps of its annihilation. So every single moment becomes the end of the existence of the human species, and itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s deadly when you are working at that level constantly. The attention is overwhelming. Both Mary [McDonnell] and I are sitting there going, Ã¢â‚¬ËœMy God. This is too much.Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬Â

– Edward James Olmos

And Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune, who got to see the season 3 opener already:

“It left me feeling physically nauseous. But in a good way. … The makers of Ã¢â‚¬Å“Battlestar GalacticaÃ¢â‚¬Â have never shied away from taking the program into dark terrain, and the first two hours of Season 3 may be the showÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s darkest moment yet.”

– Maureen Ryan, Chicago Tribune

This show is truly stunning, and what we have heard about the upcoming season only whets the appetite even more. I have yet to meet a single person who — having actually given the show a chance by watching a few episodes to really get into the story — does not like it. It’s moving. I think most viewers will think, many times throughout the show, “What would I do in such an impossible situation? How would I feel?” Because on BSG, there’s rarely black and white, rarely definitely right and definitely wrong. And the show can surely be taken as an interesting slant on a slew of modern issues. As my roommate watches the series for the first time (so far he’s done almost the whole two seasons in about five days), I have been catching episodes here and there with him, and I still sometimes pick up subtle meanings I didn’t see before, and still get shivers during certain scenes (especially toward the middle of season 2 — I’m sure some of you know which ones I’m talking about).

To get ready for season 3, you might want to check out the “Story So Far” recap special on SciFi’s web site. But if you can, watch the episodes. Rent them, buy the DVDs, download them, whatever you can do. Stop wasting your TV time with half-baked sitcoms and crappy reality shows. Get your news from the Daily Show, and get your dramatic entertainment from Battlestar Galactica.

UPDATE: There’s lots of links to YouTube videos of the season 3 previews on Galactica Sitrep.

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