A review of the BSG Season 4 episode “Revelations,” is now available:

“Revelations” brings to a close the opening half of Battlestar Galactica’s final season. As such, you certainly expect this to be a monumental episode. And truth be told, it is just that. For fans of Battlestar Galactica, this will always be a can’t-miss episode — with good reason. It is unfortunate, then, that the episode’s story is so poorly contrived. Despite a few rather poignant character moments, and the clumsy attempt at a theme of reconciliation, the overall episode is a return to the hyper-drama nonsense which has become BSG’s hallmark. An episode of this magnitude deserved better.

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A review of the BSG Season 4 episode “The Hub,” is now available:

Though subtly stated, the episode’s primary theme is resurrection. The rebel Cylons want to eliminate their literal resurrection – to break down the walls between them and humanity. In fact, when the Resurrection Hub is finally destroyed, an Eight says, wistfully, “Now we’re the same.” Not quite, but it’s a sentiment designed to promote the episode’s theme. More importantly, and prominently, is Roslin’s resurrection. Her physical health is still very much up in the air, but this episode is all about her spiritual resurrection, aided by the episode’s primary conceit: Roslin’s visions of Elosha on an empty Battlestar Galactica every time they jump through hyperspace.

As the episode unfolds, Roslin’s “Inner Elosha” plays a role similar to the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, taking the President to the moment of her death in the sick bay on Galactica. Elosha’s “character” alternates between kindly and critical tones as she pushes Roslin to confront how her character has unraveled over the course of the series. I must admit that I find such an attempt to now retroactively try and justify all of the inconsistent writing throughout Seasons 3 & 4 in such a simple stroketo be a bit contrived and illegitimate – but, to give credit where it’s due, if this is a sincere attempt to not only correct Roslin’s character, but also the perpetual inconsistencies, then I applaud the attempt. Time will tell whether or not this was just a fancy narrative choice for a single episode, or the continuation of an attempt to “resurrect” the legitimacy of Battlestar Galactica as a series.

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A review of the BSG Season 4 episode “Sine Qua Non,” is now available:

What’s interesting is that I have noticed a great clamor about how the last episode, “Guess What’s Coming For Dinner,” was a step back in the right direction for the series. It most certainly was not. It was a hollow, empty, even pretentious exercise in exposition. The truth of the matter is that *this* episode, “Sine Qua Non,” with its fundamental thematic elements and character focus, represents the true beginnings of a possible return to legitimacy. Unfortunately, despite the fact that this episode, finally, had a worthy foundation on which to build its story, the result is marred by the same problems that have plagued Battlestar Galactica since the end of Season 2: melodrama, overacting, contrived conflict, and a messy, careless approach.

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