Lost vs. Battlestar Galactica

I've had the question in my mind which of the shows currently on right now are my favorite, as both Lost and Battlestar Galactica are among the best shows I've ever seen. Both are in their third season, and both have captivated me for a long time (I caught on to Lost late in the game, but spent a 3-day period catching up on it). Both of them have all the aspects that make TV shows addictive: Compelling characters, fascinating plotlines, continuing multiple story arcs for different characters, and mystery and intrigue. Up until very recently, I have been stunned by both, and each time thought that each show must be my favorite. And then the holding patterns started showing up.

In Battlestar Galactica, humanity is stranded on a crappy planet, surrounded by cylons. In the season finale, they jumped forward a year in time in the middle of the episode, in a very "what the hell was that?" fashion. The second season of BSG was split into two separate DVD sets, and you can't even buy them in a single set... and they're $40 each. The people of Battlestar Galactica did get off the planet, and got caught up in some crazy crap, and I'll get to that later.

In Lost, the season ended with the hatch exploding with three of our heroes in it. Three more were captured by the Others. The rest were back at the camp, which is "OK," because they tend to be minor characters. The three primary people are imprisoned, and we get to start a holding pattern here. What will happen this episode with Jack and Kate and Sawyer? Oh, they're still stuck in their cells. The first two episodes, which would have been great as one two-hour premier episode, were weak and flat. Last episode (an episode which seemed like a "hm, this guy is breaking his contract" episode), was about half commercials, and not a whole lot happened, except that it's clear they're introducing new characters, because they're busy killing off old ones. The "Fall Season Finale" is supposed to show next week, and to that I say "Wha? Did the season start?"

There lies the crux of the issue. Both shows started the season out in a holding pattern. Neither of them started out all that interesting, with our heroes being dominated by their respective captors. In both cases, we have a separated cast, each in their own little problem world (to some degree).

In Battlestar Galactica, most of humanity was on the planet, hosed, but fighting back. It ends up being a lose-lose situation, until they manage to break a message through to the people on the ships, who are on a skeleton crew, and soft from a year of doing nothing. But they do something. The two battlestars come back and rescue everybody in a rather spectacular fashion, destroying one of them, but also a lot of cylon ships. New alliances and new rifts are created in the cast, and new storylines and plot devices are created, with all the castmembers that we know and love. We do have a somewhat split cast, but for a very different (and quite intriguing) reason.

In Lost, our three primary heroes are captive to the Others, and they stay that way. They try to get out now and again, but they go back to their cells. Nothing much happens. Some folks try to mount an offensive against the Others, but nothing happens. Other folks try to seek out our heroes, but nothing much happens. Our heroes try to psychologically manipulate the Others, but everybdy's playing everybody else, so effectively nothing happens. J.J. Abrams has a talent for creating these fascinating shows that pull America in for two seasons, and then flush it down the toilet in the third season. I still have hope for Lost, but it seems like it's kind of winding down. I'll watch it for a while, because it has a lot of potential, but Lost is losing me.

So there ya have it. How to screw your characters up with examples of what to do and what not to do. You can hose your characters, but move the plot along. If there is the opportunity for change, take it. Make your characters fight against the odds and accomplish something. Maybe not end the oppression by the bad guys, but let them accomplish something. A lot of us are stuck in situations that we don't feel we can change, and it's inspiring to see people who are in similar situations, but do something, and do it to some result. I'm getting that from Battlestar Galactica, even in the last show, where someone makes a positive change, and someone else in the same place intentionally slides into their own personal hellhole. They made decisions that are going to impact them, but it was obvious that they made decisions, and those decisions changed their situations. Lost is (right now) all about people who are powerless to change their situations. So there ya have it. Battlestar Galactica maintains it's high quality, Lost is slipping.

A Science Fiction Fogey

Wow I feel old. Let me 'splain.

I'm 36 years old. That's not so bad. I was born in late 1969. My mom was pregnant with me when man first landed on the moon. These were the days of adventure. I grew up watching Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, and pretty much every other science fiction piece of crap I could get my hands on. There was a dry period there for a while in the early and mid '80s until Star Trek: The Next Generation came out, and then producers wised up and realized there was good money to be made in science fiction.

But I'm 36. I remember those days. I remember having an afro because that was the style in the '70s. I remember VW's back when the reliable ones were in production. I remember a time before computers, ATMs, the internet, or even FM radio (or at least FM radio's popularity). I remember Han Solo shooting first. I think what gets me the worst is that I know a few people in their early 20's, and have been watching them get exposed to the new Battlestar Galactica. They have no idea what it used to be. They have no idea THAT it used to be.

When I exposed Esther (Heidi's 20-year-old sister) to BSG, she was having a hard time pronouncing the word Cylon when it was printed on the screen. That was a completely foreign concept to me. When I first saw the word Cylon printed on the screen, all I could hear was Dirk Benedict's voice in the back of my mind saying the word. Esther had never even known this show existed prior to the Sci-Fi Channel's retelling of it. I think what got me even worse was Nate's (Heidi's cousin, who I believe is 23) . In the linked post, he talks about the miniseries being like a "wannabe scifi movie." OK, ouch.

Perhaps it's just because I know from what depths of mediocrity this particular show arose. I have been quite pleased to hear that for quite a while Esther was hiding away watching the first season whenever she could, but in her case, I was returning the favor (she got me hooked on Lost). Y'know, it was a crappy show in the '70's, but I was 8. I hadn't developed my sense of critical appreciation yet. For me it was all, "Ooooo, spaceships! Laser guns!" and I got obsessed. As an adult, I've tried to sit through an entire episode, and have managed to do so I think once, and that's only because I was trying to get Heidi to remember the show she last saw when she was 3. So I'll admit, I'm a bit biased. To hear such lack of knowledge pains me, and to hear such harsh criticism even more so.

More musings from a dedicated geek

So anyway, I've learned something. But first, backstory! Commander Adama in the old version of Battlestar Galactica was a very spiritual man. All the characters were very symbolic, and larger than life. The dialogue was stilted, and the acting was bad, because nobody was really a person, everybody was a symbol (that or it was just the '70's, and nobody cared about that sort of thing in Science Fiction in the '70's... to make my point, I'm going with the symbolism thing). Once all of humanity was destroyed, and Adama was responsible for the rest of the human race (which previously spanned twelve worlds), he went on a spiritual quest for the remaining "tribe" of humanity from the scriptures, in this mythical place called Earth. The updated Battlestar Galactica is much more realistic. It's a bunch of real people, filled with crap that real people go through (angst is very addictive in a TV show), but adding to it the fact that the entire human race has been wiped out and it's pretty much up to Commander William Adama (with the help of the previous Secretary of Education, who is the only living member of the cabinet, hence the new president) to get people off their collective asses and out somewhere, anywhere. Earth is also some mythical place from the scriptures that supposedly the 13th tribe of humanity went to eons ago, but the thing is, Bill Adama doesn't care about it. He's just making it up so he can get people moving and not sitting around waiting to be blown away. There's more, but it's not important right now. Watch the new series. It's good stuff. Anyway, I learned that Adamah (pronounced the same, and the h is optional) means ground or earth in Hebrew. Adama was named so in the original series, which was suppoed to parallel the Hebrew Exodus, as a symbol of the quest for Earth. It was a pretty thinly-veiled symbol, but it's kinda neato. Please note, the original Battlestar Galactica was pretty much an unwatchable show. I liked it as a kid, but I was also 8 years old. New one good, old one bad. But I still thought I'd share my new knowledge with you. Yes, I'm a geek.

Battlestar Galactica

Just to establish my dominance in geekdom, I thought I'd post here about the one show of which I'm currently obsessed: Battlestar Galactica. I remember working for Studios USA when David Eick and the guy who played Apollo on the original show came through to pitch this show. At the time, it was suppoed to be the original thing, 20 years later. I like this way better: a retelling of the original story, just done well (y'know, with elements like character interaction and plot). I shook "Apollo's" hand when he introduced himself and I said, "Yes, I know. You were a hero of mine when I was a kid." This, of course, thoroughly pleased David Eick, and he started pitching the show to me. Boy, wouldn't it have been a kick in the pants to be working on that show right now. Ah well. C'est la vie.

But I have gotten Heidi hooked on it. It didn't take long. She watched one episode with me (the premiere of the second season was on our three-month anniversary, so I asked her to record it), and then she saw another episode on her own, and she got sucked into my geeky vortex. I will not be held responsible, but her brother, Darrick wants to get her hooked on World of Warcraft, too. I won't turn her to the dark side on that one, but if she comes over of her own volition, I probably won't complain too much. But I digress.

Anyway, she now wants to see the first season of the show to catch up. I just found out the first season is on DVD (I was gonna get it anyway... I just have a little more incentive now). She's coming over tonight, and we're heading out with Matt to get some Korean food (after the show, of course). I think I may have some DVD's for her.