Ghost in the Machines - 
by J-Unit
You know, I am not the type of person who doesn't believe that things can't get better the second time around, even when it comes to remakes of old television shows. Take for instance- well, Battlestar Galactica. The original series is a perfect example of what was really an awful show from the seventies that over time gained enough kitschy verve that people remembered they enjoyed it much more than was actually possible. I'm not saying it wasn't fun to watch at times. If there were eight episodes on in a row on SciFi, I could, for instance, imagine a scenario wherein I would skip class and then sustain myself for eight hours with nothing but a glass bowl, a lighter, some herbs of my choice, and, of course, some Diet Dr. Pepper to wash down the mountains of Triscuit and Easy Cheese sandwiches I would start to crave about after about 45 minutes.
But that's just one theory, and has already made this intro way too long. What I am trying to say is that one of the great things about the current Battlestar Galactica is that the producers are less concerned with staying historically accurate to a bad TV show than they are with making sure the elements of their writing will ensure that the current series has interesting plot and compelling story.
All of that pontificating about the virtues of Galactica would probably have sounded a lot better if I hadn't taken a week off from recapping it. If I loved the show so much, why would I just skip the writing? Well, for one thing, nobody really complained, so I let my labor of love slip. As for the other, the combination of a new Big Brother plus hours of football really kind of cramps my style.
Last week did have a fairly important revelation, however. Lucy Lawless showed up for a cameo as a reporter (Diana Burns) who was covering the Gideon massacre, the name given to the incident that took place after Colonel Tigh ordered marines to force supply ships to continue to stock Galactica. In the craziness that followed, several civilians were killed and Diana was about to blow the lid off the whole thing for the entire fleet, which might have been a problem for the military trying to ensure order reigns supreme. We also found out she was a Cylon, which makes things very interesting to say the least.
One of the themes of the last several weeks has been how the crew has been handling things. At first it looked like Diana would focus on scandal, but instead she focused on how the people that protect the fleet are coping with that pressure themselves. The crew of Galactica has basically been on call 24 hours a day ever since the first Cylon attack. There are no reinforcements coming, and there is nobody around to relieve them of their duty, even if they really only need a few hours of rest and relaxation.
There are a lot of people who you could say have had the most pressure on the ship. Commander Adama was shot and has been fighting with the President forever, but he lived and she is going to die, so things are kind of looking up. Colonel Tigh completely screwed things up under his command, his wife is manipulative, and he has received death threats, but really, he thought his wife was dead at the beginning of the show, and now Adama is back. Baltar might have been the person who was ultimately responsible for the Cylons being able to defeat our defenses and is plagued by visions of a Cylon, however the Cylon is hot and he has dreams of sex with her, and he has saved the fleet a number of times and is now Vice President.
Let's see. Apollo has had to save the fleet multiple times and there was the added pressure of standing up to his father, but all of that is resolved. Starbuck was almost lost on a planet, flew to Caprica, was almost killed by a Cylon, was operated on by Cylons, but she made it back and was a hero. Helo had to spend a lot of time on Caprica with all the radiation, but really looks none the worse for wear. Boomer was shot and killed, but she came back, sort of, and she's a Cylon with perhaps millions of copies of her, so why should we care.
No, I think the person who has had the worst time of it has been Chief Tyrel. He is responsible for keeping all of the Vipers and Raptors working, which means he is effectively responsible for the safety of the entire fleet. He then found out his girlfriend was a Cylon, watched while an incompetent commander led to the deaths of several of his crew, returned to the ship to find his girlfriend had been shot and killed. And just when he begins to cope with that, he finds out his girlfriend was cloned, and not only fell in love with another man, but is going to have his kid. Now I am not saying he should kill somebody, but I understand.
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