So…there have been three episodes now and I find it odd that this crowd has been on the quiet side about the subject. It’s not like the first go-around where it was downright embarassing to like the show. Shoddy special effects, weak storylines, feathered hair everywhere you looked and I don’t think the costumes could have been any tighter without the FCC screaming bloody murder even if it was the 70s. I like T’n’A as much as the next guy but, call me weird, I prefer it when it’s attached to an interesting character.

Thank the Lords of Cobal that this is not the Battlestar Galatica of my teenage years. I know, there are geeks out there frothing at the mouth and losing their mathematical minds because Starbuck is a woman in this go around. Since I wasn’t a fan of the first one and I thought Dirk Benedict was best described by the last syllable of his name, not an issue for me. Besides, I believe I’ve mentioned I’m a fan of ladies who can kick ass. I’m not going to do a charactaer analysis for every character, but yeah, so far, Starbuck is my favorite…this week…I reserve the right to change my mind.

The current version of Battlestar is about three shades darker than the first one. It has the grim look that a society that’s gone through being effectively wiped out and set adrift should have. And just like the the original series if you can’t see the parallels between our world and their world, you prolly need a review in basic sociology.

When is it good science fiction? When it tells our story. That’s what made Star Trek in all it’s iterations so interesting. When they show US on the screen but they tell you it’s about them. There’s that layer of plausible deniability, that safe buffer where you can say, well that’s in the future or that’s in a parallel universe or a long time ago in a galaxy far-far away.

After watching the first three episodes of the current Battlestar Galactica, I would say they’ve got the tradition down just right. The characters may be in a different part of the galaxy, but make no mistake about it, we’re watching ourselves deal with destruction, having war thrust upon us, distrust, fear, rebellion, and making the decision yet again to define who we are.