Good science fiction series are very rare, and a such Battlestar Galactica started out as a godsend. It initially offered just about everything you could wish for. But gradually it lost its credibility and its momentum.
Let's start with the good though, of which there is plenty. First of all, this is finally an SF series that makes space combat spectacular. Granted, there is not that much space combat, and there is some annoying reuse of footage every now and again..but the effects look great, the dogfights are appropriately frantic, and there is real tension.
Next, there are the excellent characters. The entire cast does a great job at portraying real, complex and (deeply) flawed characters. The Gaius Baltar character is absolutely brilliant.
Also, this is a show that is not afraid to shock, take chances, and deal with controversial subjects. This is not one of those old series in which only the extras are killed. Apart from the main characters, very little is safe and the show will kill off your favourites time and again. It also deals with quite relevant and tricky moral dilemma's in mostly intelligent ways. This is SF as SF is meant to be, with more focus on ideas than on technology.
However, all is not well. Pretty soon it becomes clear that the main plot line feels very doctored just to get to the point where the writers can introduce a new moral dilemma into the mix. People constantly end up doing unforgivable things to each other or to humanity or behave in very implausible ways just so they can get into another Interesting Situation. For example, the amount of things Gaius Baltar gets away with is very hard to swallow..but he's too interesting to kill off so he stays no matter what silliness he pulls off.
This is bearable up to a point since, granted, many of the individual episodes and the characters are still a lot of fun, but after a while they settle on New Caprica in season three it becomes a bit too much. Also, the show really starts to suffer once the Cylons more or less start to play nice. Firstly it doesn't make an awful lot of sense and secondly it kills of a lot of the tension.
Ultimately this is still a good show, since at least at the start it does almost everything right. It has spectacular combat and nice characters, is appropriately dark, and deals with mature issues. But as the show continues, the main storyline isn't very fulfilling and the whole thing just becomes a bit too hard to swallow
Let's start with the good though, of which there is plenty. First of all, this is finally an SF series that makes space combat spectacular. Granted, there is not that much space combat, and there is some annoying reuse of footage every now and again..but the effects look great, the dogfights are appropriately frantic, and there is real tension.
Next, there are the excellent characters. The entire cast does a great job at portraying real, complex and (deeply) flawed characters. The Gaius Baltar character is absolutely brilliant.
Also, this is a show that is not afraid to shock, take chances, and deal with controversial subjects. This is not one of those old series in which only the extras are killed. Apart from the main characters, very little is safe and the show will kill off your favourites time and again. It also deals with quite relevant and tricky moral dilemma's in mostly intelligent ways. This is SF as SF is meant to be, with more focus on ideas than on technology.
However, all is not well. Pretty soon it becomes clear that the main plot line feels very doctored just to get to the point where the writers can introduce a new moral dilemma into the mix. People constantly end up doing unforgivable things to each other or to humanity or behave in very implausible ways just so they can get into another Interesting Situation. For example, the amount of things Gaius Baltar gets away with is very hard to swallow..but he's too interesting to kill off so he stays no matter what silliness he pulls off.
This is bearable up to a point since, granted, many of the individual episodes and the characters are still a lot of fun, but after a while they settle on New Caprica in season three it becomes a bit too much. Also, the show really starts to suffer once the Cylons more or less start to play nice. Firstly it doesn't make an awful lot of sense and secondly it kills of a lot of the tension.
Ultimately this is still a good show, since at least at the start it does almost everything right. It has spectacular combat and nice characters, is appropriately dark, and deals with mature issues. But as the show continues, the main storyline isn't very fulfilling and the whole thing just becomes a bit too hard to swallow