Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Random thoughts of a Tennessee fan on life, sports and more TV shows than any one person should be allowed to watch.
About me
Name: Michael
Location: Nashville, TN
E-mail me!

View My Complete Profile
100 Things About Me
My Facebook Profile
My Wish List
Syndicate Big Orange Michael


Also For Your Reading Pleasure For Your Listening Pleasure (Podcasts)
Slice of SciFi
PodCulture
Two Insane Fans: The Statler and Waldorf of Doctor Who commentaries

Archives
04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004
05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004
06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004
07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004
08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004
09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004
10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004
11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004
12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005
01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005
02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005
03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005
04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005
05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005
06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005
07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005
08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005
09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005
10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005
11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005
12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006
01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006
02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006
03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006
04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006
05/01/2006 - 06/01/2006
06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006
07/01/2006 - 08/01/2006
08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006
09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006
10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006
11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006
12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007
01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007
02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007
03/01/2007 - 04/01/2007
04/01/2007 - 05/01/2007
05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007
06/01/2007 - 07/01/2007
07/01/2007 - 08/01/2007
08/01/2007 - 09/01/2007
09/01/2007 - 10/01/2007
10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007
11/01/2007 - 12/01/2007
12/01/2007 - 01/01/2008
01/01/2008 - 02/01/2008
02/01/2008 - 03/01/2008
03/01/2008 - 04/01/2008
04/01/2008 - 05/01/2008
05/01/2008 - 06/01/2008
06/01/2008 - 07/01/2008
07/01/2008 - 08/01/2008
08/01/2008 - 09/01/2008
09/01/2008 - 10/01/2008
10/01/2008 - 11/01/2008
11/01/2008 - 12/01/2008
12/01/2008 - 01/01/2009
01/01/2009 - 02/01/2009
02/01/2009 - 03/01/2009
03/01/2009 - 04/01/2009
04/01/2009 - 05/01/2009
05/01/2009 - 06/01/2009
06/01/2009 - 07/01/2009
07/01/2009 - 08/01/2009
08/01/2009 - 09/01/2009
09/01/2009 - 10/01/2009
10/01/2009 - 11/01/2009
11/01/2009 - 12/01/2009
12/01/2009 - 01/01/2010
01/01/2010 - 02/01/2010
02/01/2010 - 03/01/2010
03/01/2010 - 04/01/2010
04/01/2010 - 05/01/2010
05/01/2010 - 06/01/2010
06/01/2010 - 07/01/2010
07/01/2010 - 08/01/2010
08/01/2010 - 09/01/2010
09/01/2010 - 10/01/2010
10/01/2010 - 11/01/2010
11/01/2010 - 12/01/2010
12/01/2010 - 01/01/2011
01/01/2011 - 02/01/2011
02/01/2011 - 03/01/2011
03/01/2011 - 04/01/2011
04/01/2011 - 05/01/2011
05/01/2011 - 06/01/2011
06/01/2011 - 07/01/2011
07/01/2011 - 08/01/2011
08/01/2011 - 09/01/2011
09/01/2011 - 10/01/2011
10/01/2011 - 11/01/2011
11/01/2011 - 12/01/2011
12/01/2011 - 01/01/2012
01/01/2012 - 02/01/2012
02/01/2012 - 03/01/2012
03/01/2012 - 04/01/2012
04/01/2012 - 05/01/2012
05/01/2012 - 06/01/2012
06/01/2012 - 07/01/2012
07/01/2012 - 08/01/2012
08/01/2012 - 09/01/2012
09/01/2012 - 10/01/2012
08/01/2013 - 09/01/2013
10/01/2017 - 11/01/2017
11/01/2017 - 12/01/2017
09/01/2022 - 10/01/2022
10/01/2022 - 11/01/2022
11/01/2022 - 12/01/2022


Monday, December 11, 2006
TV Round-Up: Battlestar Galactica
The Passage
Maybe the thought of Jane Espenson, a writer from one of my all-time favorite shows (Buffy) writing for one of my current favorite shows set the expectations bar too high for this episode.

I went into this week's Battlestar Galactica, desparately wanting to love this episode. I've been looking forward to this one since I found out Jane Esponson was writing for Battlestar Galactica earlier this summer.

So, imagine how bummed out I feel when I have to say--I really didn't like it.

Don't get me wrong--it's no where in the same neighborhood of bad that "Black Market" was last year.

But in some ways, it committed a bigger sin--"The Passage" was just sort of there. It didn't elicit much more response of me than some of the later season seven episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation did. It wasn't necessarily a horrible way to spend an hour, but it wasn't necessarily a great way to spend an hour. Instead, the episode was just sort of there, full of good ideas, most of which should have grabbed my attention and held it for the duration of the episode, but none of them really ever came together.

I've enjoyed the various plot threads the new Battlestar is willing to explore. I liked that we're exploring the issue of what would happen if the food supply was to dwindle and how Galactica would re-supply itself and the fleet. And, yes, there was an obstacle between the fleet and the raw supplies for food here. But then again, this same plot thread existed back in season one's "Water."

Then you've got the whole subplot on the Cylon ship with D'Anna continuing to commit suicide in order to download. At least we got a nugget of information that she's trying to see the five faces of the other skin-job models. But it seemed like the whole plotline was brought up including Baltar's finding out about it and then summarily dropped. As I think back on the episode, did we even cut to the Cylon fleet in the final act? It does bring up an interesting dynamic that D'Anna trusts Baltar more than the other Cylon models, but is that trust well founded? The guy did betray his entire race to the Cylons, so what exactly makes you think he's not going to betray you to get ahead? I mean, based on his pattern of behavoir, there is only one person Baltar cares about and that is Gaius Baltar. He can change sides in a conflict quickly and will do so if he thinks it will lead to his continued self-preservation. So, why does D'Anna trust him? And what will Baltar do with this information? And is D'Anna headed toward being the sixth Cylon skin-job to be boxed? And if close to half the skin-jobs have to be boxed, what does this say about being a skin-job?

And then we have the Kat plotline. I get that Battlestar is trying to do what Deep Space Nine did and have a rich tapestry of supporting characters. And, for the most part, it does. But I don't think Kat was necessarily going to be one of them. For one thing, she was brought in as a mirror to Starbuck, which worked well in the episodes we saw with Kat last year. And while Ron Moore and company had an opportunity to make her more than just the "anti-Starbuck" earlier this year when Starbuck was down on New Caprica, I think they dropped the ball big time on it. So, here we get to a storyline where we find out that Kat isn't show she says she is and she's got a terrible secret from the past. And before you can say "redemption" Kat is driven by guilt to redeem herself, even at the cost of her own life. Which this all could have been good if it hadn't all come up five minutes before. Yes, we had hints on how driven Kat was, as we saw with her issue with stims (thanks to the "Previously on..." we are reminded of this), but other than that, none of this was all that well set up or excecuted. It almost felt like they wanted to find a way to kill off a character and went, "Well, why not do Kat?"

At least last year when Billy was killed off, he'd had a character arc and his motivation was a complex one. Here with Kat, it just seemed a bit too one-note. Which, considering how rich the tapestry that is Battlestar Galactica ususally is, that's a big shame. Also, considering how rich the character backstory could have been for Kat had they dropped these hints all along or even developed her a bit this season, it seems even more of a shame.

It still was not a horrible episode though. It was a bit misguided and bit too much of the "been there, done that" syndrome, but it wasn't terrible. It wasn't a complete and utter waste of an episode nor was it exactly breaking any new ground. It was just content to tread water, holding time and having plotlines revolve without any movement forward. Maybe it's designed to make us catch our breath for big things to come next week. I hope so. I can forgive one down week in a season and certainly Ron Moore and company have shown the ability to bounce back. Let's just hope they bounce back this week.

Labels: ,



posted by Michael Hickerson at 12/11/2006 12:34:00 PM | |
Comments: Post a Comment


Follow me on Twitter!




    Follow me on Twitter!


    Recent Comments
    Awards


    Web Sites I Visit
    CrossWalk.com
    Daily News Journal
    Doctor Who News
    Go Vols
    Go Titans
    The Tennessean
    The Tennessean's Titans Coverage
    Trek Today
    TV Guide On-Line
    Washington Post Redskins Coverage
    USA Today


    Favorite Authors on the Web
    Orson Scott Card
    Peter David's Blog
    Keith R.A. DeCandido's Blog
    Neil Gaiman
    Elizabeth George
    Philip Gulley
    Stephen King
    Donald Miller
    Lisa Samson's Blog
    Robert Whitlow

    Musical Links
    Carolyn Arends
    Sherrie Austin
    Cherryholmes
    Lee Domann
    Fleming & John
    Sara Groves
    Jennifer Knapp
    Jars of Clay
    Carolyn Dawn Johnson
    Cindy Morgan
    The Monkees
    Nickel Creek
    Nothin' Fancy
    Rebecca St. JamesRay Stevens
    Steep Canyon Rangers
    Williams and Clark Expedition
    Rhonda Vincent and the Rage
    Jaci Velasquez

    Blogging Links

    Powered by Blogger Weblog Commenting and Trackback by HaloScan.com Listed on Blogwise
    << ? Blogaholics Anonymous # >>

    My Blog Chalk

    Michael/Male/31-35. Lives in United States/Tennessee/Smyrna, speaks English. Eye color is brown. I am in shape. I am also creative. My interests are Reading/Swimming laps.
    This is my blogchalk:
    United States, Tennessee, Smyrna, English, Michael, Male, 31-35, Reading, Swimming laps.



    You Are Visitor

    Free Web Counter


    Looking For Something Specific?
    Search this site or the web powered by FreeFind

    Site search Web search


    Blogskins
    Powered by Blogger