*SPOILERS*: Late-comers to Battlestar Gala...

[longmanshort]

My housemate recently picked up the box-set DVD of the new Battlestar Galactica.

I must say, Sky managed to completely botch the advertising of this when it first started - both I and my mate saw the adverts at the time and decided not to watch because it looked really crap.

Oh how wrong we could be ...

Lovely, well-thought out, gritty sci-fi that does take liberties sometimes and can occasionally be cliched but doesn't shy away from making political points (without JMS in sight!) and some great performances.

Watched last night's new episode and it ACTUALLY GETS BETTER!!!

[Funt Solo]

I'm a big fan of this - and was on the edge of my seat lastnight, as per usual.

The plot reveals aren't as glacial as most modern US television shows, and anyway, the action keeps things moving along apace.

Oh - if you've got the Season 1 boxed set, but haven't seen the 2-part mini-series that started it all - then you should buy that as well.  Whatever you do, don't Wikipedia this as it's chock full of season 2 spoilers and I accidentally glanced at them and got two horrible spoilerific frights.



SPOILERS ++ YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ++

The fact that the opening two shows have had one of the cornerstone characters of the series laying on a bed with tubes sticking out of him points to the strength of the supporting cast.

Plus, we've got three key locations at the moment to switch between (just like in Return of the Jedi) and too many unresolved mysteries to mention.  But I'll try.

- Where will the pregnant cylon go?
- Is she a part of the collective or does she just want to be an individual?
- How on Cobol can Dr. Baltar have a baby with a woman that only exists as some kind of imprint on his mind?  Or is that just a metaphor for the pregnant cylon's unborn child?
-What the frack will Hiro and Starbuck do to get off the planet and back to the fleet - given that their last known location is now occupied by a Cylon base-star and anyway they have no ship?
-What will motivate Adama to release the president and his son from the brig?
-What use is that bloody arrow, anyway?
-What will become of the Cylon assassin that took down Adama?
-Who else is a Cylon?  We only know about 4 of their human models - and aren't there 9 or thereabouts?

[Matt Timson]

Questiom number three is pretty easily answered- if Number Six is already pregnant by Baltar, it'll be because they were having *actual* sex (as opposed to in his mind) right before the Cylons turned up and trashed Caprica.

[Funt Solo]

Aha - I was forgetting about that.

(All this human/Cylon hybrid baby stuff reminds me of V, the tele series, and that movie where the household robot takes over, kidnaps the woman, impregnates her and then delivers the baby right at the end - which looks normal but then lets out an inhuman scream of robotedness!)

[the shutdown man]

As to your last question Funt, someone (you never see who) in the pilot episode left a note in Adama's room saying "There are only 12 Cylon models", and we've seen 4 definite Human-Cylons so far, and there is all that speculation about Tigh's wife being one too, so there's planty of room left.  

I' have been wondering about the arrow too, how could it really be any use. But one thing Galactica has done very nicely on a few occasions is work religious themes into the stories really well, mainly through Baltar's "visions" (i.e. he guesses the target right during a mission because "God " speaks to him) so I'd say they've got a nice trick lined up here.

[Marbles]

I just watched episode 12 of season 2 (god bless the internet & emule p2p!) and you can rest assured its even frackin' better than season 1.

[Bico]

It would be even better if someone would point out that substituting the word 'frak' for 'fuck' was embarrasing several episodes ago...
The internet is great, though, ain't it?  24 is stonking so far, and Sky tv can kiss my arse.

[Roger Godpleton]

I really wish C4 would pick this up. I'm fed up of reading about how great it is :( (No offence).

[Bico]

The BBC have already picked it up, so at least when they get around to showing it, you won't have to sit through Vernon Kaye acting like a smug arsehole every time it starts.
On the other hand, it'll probably be shown at half eleven on a saturday night - barring snooker and darts highlights.  The box set of the first series is less than twenty quid on play.com.

[The Amstor Computer]

Vernon Kaye acting like a smug arsehole every time it starts

You mean it's not just me who has noticed the nasty, mocking attitude the C4 presenters have to both the sci-fi shows they screen and their fans? Enterprise and Stargate are pish, but the sneering and piss-taking from the presenters - at their own audience! - seems ridiculous.

[dweezil2]

There's no excuse for not picking up the DVD box set-it really is frakkin' great.Sorry, I mean fuckin' great.

[Bico]

"not just me"?

No offence, but there's not much room for interpretation where T4's treatment of the audience it seems to actively chase is concerned - open contempt for 'sci-fi nerds' is seemingly the only language Kaye knows.
Mind you, if I had to lay money on which channel would show open contempt for its audience, C4 would be my first choice.  Nothing that schedules that much Hollyoaks has a respect for itself, never mind its audience (or humanity in general).

[The Amstor Computer]

No offence taken - it's just that having talked with several people who just couldn't see the problem I had with the way the presenters handled the segments around the sci-fi section, it's refreshing to read that someone else recognises it!

[Funt Solo]

S P O I L E R S

One of the characters used "motherfrakker" in the last episode, ya drokkin' funtwit!

Both actors then collapsed in hysterics...not sure if that was scripted.

[Rex Banner]

Season One boxset is in the play.com sale for a mere ?17.99 at the moment.