03-23-2008, 01:47 AM
Specifically, the re-imagined series final season. I've watched a lot of relatively modern sci-fi shows. (Let's say, from the time of STrek-Next Gen spin-offs, Babylon 5 to Buffy\Angel, Firefly, LEXX, SG-1 and even ugh, Andromeda.) Some are good, some not so good. But all of them no matter how good in their own right and circumstances, almost always seems to have something missing for me. Some suffer from franchitis, some have more ambition but not the budget to match it. And some are just plain unlucky and did not have good timing.
What dissapoints me the most though, is when a show is just starting to deal with something interesting, or dealing with something in an interesting way, it backs off at the last second.
By the next episode, everything is nicely reset back. No harm no foul. And if there are consequences, it's either just cosmetic or so simplistic that you wonder if the creators thinks all of it's audiences are in fact, drunken chimps with ADD. Can't throw anything too complex or else the audience will get confused and angry.
The new Galactica however, is the series that I've been waiting for.. I knew it by the time I watched the very first episode. And while there are episodes that works as stand alones, anyone who didn't watch it from the very beginning ep.1, will probably be confused. And the creators offers no apology for it. Speaking for myself, I applaud that approach and dedication.
It's lean, mean, and smart. It hasn't pulled a lot, if any punches yet. And it made me do something I haven't done in a while. Ask with genuine interest, 'I did not see that one coming...so what's going to happen next?'. For me, it nailed what good storytelling is to me. Giving me something that is both familiar and strange. Macro and micro. It gave me what I want as an audience, yet it doesn't. Galactica manipulated my feelings and viewpoints. In the best way possible.
Finishing up my rambling, I am looking forward to the final chapter of the story. I have some sadness that it will end, but I am happier still that the creators have the guts to stick to their guns and have an ending to this story. Cue the taiko drums and bring out the fifth cylon. I'm ready to get my mind frakked.