Welcome to the first KHYRON.NET Sci-Fi Showdown Galactaholic review. Over the coming weeks, I will be reviewing the latest episodes of the Sci Fi channel's hit show, Battlestar Galactica. As with the Gate-To-Gate edition, the Galactaholic edition will be posted every Monday night for your reading pleasure. Reviews are written--for the most part--from memory and prior to me listening to writer Ronald D. Moore's weekly podcast. Each episode will be given a rating on a 10 point scale, as well as a single word or phrase to describe my final thoughts.

Alright, we've all waited long enough. Let's get down to business with the review for the season 3 opener of Battlestar Galatica...

Occupation/Precipice - Written by Ronald D. Moore

Pound for pound, Battlestar Galactica is the best show on television. That said, even a diehard super-fan like myself can admit that after the season 2.5 episode Resurrection Ship, Galactica has seemed to have lost some of its edge. With hit and miss episodes like Black Market and Scar (for the record, I liked both episodes), certain fans have voiced concern that season 2.5 marked the shark-jumping moment for the show. Indeed, after the shocking "One year later..." they pulled on the season finale, even I had my doubts that season 3 could top the unbelievable first season.

Straight up, those doubts were dead wrong.

With the season 3 premier, Ronald D. Moore and crew have created a darker, grittier Galactica that (dare I say it?) is every bit as hardcore as the stellar first season.

The premier opens in standard Galactica form, featuring a montage set to Eastern sounding music. In a series of extreme closeups, we see Colonel Tigh (Michael Hogan) in what appears to be a prison cell, as well as someone wiring an explosive device of some kind. At its climax, Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos) is seen throwing a model violently onto the Galactica's tactical display console. Battlestar always seems to have the most moving montage sequences, and this one was no exception. They definitely started the season on a high note.

With the season 2.5 conclusion moving the story ahead by a year, they missed out on a year of characterization opportunities. So in the first opening minutes of season 3, I was most interested in seeing how each of the characters had changed. The first and most shocking of these character changes was with Tigh. Looking completely different from the past 2 seasons, he's now sporting a shaggy beard and a missing right eyeball. Always a gritty character, his new look makes him even that much more of a hard-ass. Having been a Michael Hogan fan from the start, the increased importance placed on the Tigh character is a welcome addition in my book.

Wasting no time, the episode quickly moves in to the realm of political commentary. After the characters Tyrol and Anders detonate an improvised explosive device to kill a few Cylons, A Leoben model remarks, "Frakking insurgents." Its pretty obvious by now that this season will be taking more than a few jabs at the current Iraq war. Although the parallels are anything but subtle, they certainly give the show some serious dramatic quality. Thankfully, however, Ronald D. Moore was successful in keeping the issues as muddy as possible, thus avoiding useless political pandering. While preachy at times, the show asks the hard questions without giving a definite 'right' answer. As Americans, we can relate to both the humans and the Cylons. This blurring of the line between right, wrong, man and machine was the high point of the second season, and from the looks of it, will be a cornerstone of season 3.

One of my favorite scenes of the episode featured a discussion between President Gaius Baltar (James Callis) and several Cylon models--including the cynical preacher, Cavil (Dean Stockwell). Filled with more politically relevant commentary than I could count, it was a good showcase for both Stockwell's ability as an actor (he makes it look so easy...) as well as the superb writing on the show. I've been waiting for these Baltar/Cylon interaction scenes for a while now, and so far they've been everything I could have hoped for.

Now, back to dramatic character changes. Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace is in a bad situation at the start of season 3. Held captive in what appears to be the luxury living quarters of the Cylon model Leoben, she is being forced to keep her humanity while being brainwashed to love her Cylon jailer. With her hair in a more feminine style and being thrust into the role of a reluctant mother, the character is starting to become increasing female, as opposed to simply being a woman cast in a what was previously a male role.

By a third of the way in, the show switches gears to the other main plot--the 2 Battlestars that fled with the rag-tag fleet when the Cylons showed up at New Caprica. Lead by Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos), the reduced crew is having a poor time preparing for a rescue mission. Lee Adama (Jamie Bamber) has certainly let himself go. In the only dramatic character change close to that of Tigh's, Lee has gained quite a bit of weight after being given command of the Battlestar Pegasus. I must give kudos to the makeup department on the fat suit. For a television show, the amount of work the crew has put into making it look better than some movies is nothing short of exemplary.

Then came the show's first big "Oh shi-!" moments. In a move seemingly ripped from the headlines, Colonel Tigh and his resistance (insurgent) movement plan a suicide bombing of a New Caprican Police graduation ceremony. Putting on a stereotypical explosive vest, the suicide bomber slaughters not only a few Cylons but more than a few of his fellow humans, as well. Designed to be a way for the humans to enforce their own, thus taking the security burdens off of the Cylon's backs, the police force becomes a target for the human resistance. For a second there, I forgot that I was watching a work of science fiction and not the evening news. Usually I'm not a big fan of such an obvious political message, but Galactica manages to keep the narrative flowing without shoving a specific ideology down your throat. It presents some pretty tough questions (Is suicide bombing ever justified? What does it mean to be a traitor? Can good intentions bring unspeakable horrors?) but again, no one side is presented as either absolutely just or completely evil. They're walking a thin line, but for now I'm going to give Moore and the writing team the benefit of the doubt in keeping the show from degenerating into a full-on liberal soapbox.

In the wake of the suicide bombing, the show moves on to the next commentary--detention without trial and prisoner torture. In a scene shot with a hand-held effect similar to that of "The Shield," ski-mask wearing New Caprican police take dissidents from their homes and ship them away for eventual execution. The premier comes to its shocking conclusion just as the detainees are about to be shot down. Among the group are main characters Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) and Tom Zarek (Richard Hatch). And although fan-favorite Cally (Nicki Clyne) is freed at the last moment before the Cylons start shooting, I'm left counting the minutes before we can learn the fate of 2 of the show's most prominent characters in the next episode.

Uncompromising and incredibly relevant, Battlestar Galactica's season 3 opener proves only further that it is still the best show on television. Any doubts about whether or not Battlestar can still pack a dramatic punch are now all but destroyed. And although it's starting to border on preachy, the plot is doing what all good sci-fi plots should: examine the core of human interaction and conflict.

Rating: 10/10 "Godlike!"

~Khyron, 2006