awaiting the return of BSG...

... has been a traumatic experience. not only did it take more than a year for season 4 to come, it has been made abundantly clear by the powers that be that this will be the last season of Battlestar Galactica (imho the best sci-fi series ever to grace television). and now, with episode 4-01 right around the corner, my heart is pounding each day with anticipation, and also filled with an irrational dread that this final season will not live up to the first season, which was absolutely stunning.

no. no way. this is going to be AWESOME.



At the risk of oversimplifying, BSG is the story of a ragtag fleet of humans who narrowly escaped the destruction of all the twelve planets that they once occupied. Flying through space, they are chased by the Cylons, who are essentially robots created by the humans a long time ago. The interesting thing about these Cylons is that they are biologically almost identical to humans, and some even think they are human until they are activated.

As the humans search desperately for a new home -- a legendary lost colony called Earth, they develop a complex relationship with the Cylons. The fleet discover Cylons in their midst; one falls in love with a Cylon and even has a baby; and at one point, half the fleet is trapped on a planet and forced to live in captivity under the control of Cylons.

What I love about this series is that it isn't just a sci-fi story. It is a complex drama that tackles political, technological, economic and social issues that are very much part of our present day life. What kicks ass is that this complex drama is elegantly woven into an ecstatic orgy of explosions, gunfire, and enormous, lethal chunks of space metal.

and then there's grace park. who makes everything worth it.