Battlestar Galactica: A season too sweet, too short

Editorial from the San Diago Union-Tribune, regarding the length of the first season:

March 30, 2005
What amazes me so much about Battlestar Galactica is how much I'll miss the grim and gripping saga between the finale of a too-short 13-episode season Friday night and the start of a second season in July.
This from a die-hard Trekkie who likely won't shed a tear when Enterprise finally clunks its way off the interstellar stage later this spring.
Much to my surprise, the producers have continued to find amazing depth in the tale of 47,000-odd refugees fleeing the destruction their civilization by renegade androids. Where the cheesy 1970s series quickly resorted to plots about aliens, clones and gods, the new Galactica deftly drives the story along with tension, mystery and interpersonal conflict between richly-drawn characters.
The dramatic premise of the show -- that the Battlestar Galactica and a relative handful of Colonial spaceships have just escaped from the Cylons and are always on the verge of being discovered -- is tautly maintained from episode to episode. (I also found the original miniseries "fierce and entertaining."
The series may not be "hard" science fiction with realistic physics and detailed calculations, but the main plot is driven by "the situation": Early episodes dealt with the strain of continuously fleeing the Cylons; running short of water due to sabotage; the search for water; running short of food; running short of pilots; the search for fuel; political tensions as people demand a say in their government.
There really hasn't been a need to contrive storylines involving, say, the need to fly the fleet past an ice planet with a giant gun on it. Once you build a more or less coherent universe for your characters to move around in, some storylines will develop naturally. Galactica reminds me a lot of Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space 9 in that way.
The nature of the Cylons -- the fact that some can now take human form -- also adds a continuing tension to almost every interaction on the show. In a parallel to today's terrorism fears, the Colonials constantly fear Cylon infiltrators. And until everyone is tested and his or her loyalty is confirmed, anyone could be a Cylon. (Who'd expect an episode about torturing a robot to be so thought-provoking?)
Layered on top of this are the political clashes: President Laura Roslin vs. Commander William Adama, Roslin vs. populist rebel Tom Zarek, plus Dr. Gaius Baltar's new role as Roslin's vice president. And we have all the interpersonal issues: Adama and his son, Lee (Apollo); Lee's thing for Lt. Kara Thrace (Starbuck); Adama's issues with Starbuck over the death of his other son, Zack; plus too many more to list. Even if you don't for the sci-fi, it's a bloody wonderful space soap opera.
The show also has had an appealing sense of unfolding mystery to it. As the introductory narrative explains every episode, it's clear that the Cylons have some sort of plan. It was never clearly explained why they chose to wipe out humanity. Simple revenge? Because humans don't believe in their one god? For the old sci-fi adage that they'll eventually wind up fighting with humans over resources anyway? Is the Cylon god just a token of faith -- or a product of their networked consciousness or a mainframe somewhere?
Plus there's the whole Lt. Sharon Valerii (Boomer) / Lt. Karl C. Agathon (Helo) thing that's been going on on Caprica, some sort of Cylon experiment gone awry. It's clear the Cylons want to feel and somehow need to interact with humans to do it. I can't believe Helo's the only survivor. It wouldn't surprise me to see more of them turn up, or to see Cylon-raised humans or Cylon-turned humans show up to harass the Colonials.
The last few episodes have introduced some new supernatural elements, with Roslin apparently having visions and prophecies apparently coming true. Unless you're talking Jedi, I'm always a bit troubled when writers blend their supernatural elements with their sci-fi -- people look silly enough talking about things foreseen in ancient writings without holding blasters in their hands -- but if the Galactica folks can pull this one off without sending everyone back to 1980s Earth in white uniforms, I'll be happy.
Ever since DS9 went off the air, I've wished Trek could do half so well.
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