Let's begin...
Battlestar Galactica, Sci-Fi Channel, Fridays 10pm
IMDb; SadGeezers Guide; Sci-Fi Channel; TV.com; TWoP; Wikipedia
A new series based on an old series which I haven't seen enough of to comment upon or have an entry here. (There are various differences between the two series, probably more than I'm aware of. But I can tell you that in the original series, Starbuck and Boomer were male, and here they're female. Also, in the old series, there weren't Cylons who appeared human.) Maybe someday I'll try to watch the old series in order from beginning to end. But from what little I have seen, I was never terribly interested. And I wasn't too interested in this new series, either, especially since some of my friends said it sucked. Fans of the old series, of course. But then other friends (also fans of the old series) said it was good, and of course I've read plenty of glowing reviews throughout the first season, which made me kind of wish I'd been watching. So, finally, a week or so prior to season 2, I caught a marathon of season one, and I liked it well enough, so I'll keep watching the series.
Anyway, it begins with a miniseries (IMDb; Sci-Fi Channel; Wikipedia), in which the Cylons attack and destroy all 12 Colonies of Man (each colony's name is based on a Zodiac sign, btw). The Cylons are robots created by humans decades ago, which rebelled and won their freedom, but haven't been heard from for quite awhile. Then suddenly they attack, unwittingly aided by a scientist named Dr. Gaius Baltar, who's having an affair with a woman who turns out to be a Cylon called Number Six. Yes, some Cylons now appear human, though not all do (the fact that some Cylons appear human is a secret a few humans know, and keep from everyone else through most of the first season, to prevent a panic). These Cylons are fully biological and can feel emotions, pain and pleasure, and so forth, though they're still stronger than real humans. And some are sleeper agents, which means they don't even know they're Cylons. Anyway, with all 12 Colonies destroyed, along with most of the human fleet, all that remains is one old Battlestar, called Galactica, which is about to be decommissioned when the attack hits. (There's a great deal of old-fashioned tech aboard Galactica, but I think the same is true of all the ships and Colonies; some things look even a bit more primitive than what we have on Earth in the present, and I don't think this has anything to do with Galactica being an old ship.) It leads a small fleet of commercial ships (the main one being Colonial One, which houses the new government), carrying the last 45,000 surviving humans, to escape the Cylons and search for Kobol, birthplace of humanity, and hopefully Earth, the 13th Colony of Man, which many (including Commander Adama) consider to be purely mythical.
The commander of Galactica, William Adama, will form a shaky alliance with Laura Roslin (who we like), the former Secretary of Education, who, as the senior surviving member of the government (43rd in line of succession), assumes the position of President. Their goals are generally the same, but they are sometimes at odds. Torn between them is Adama's son, a pilot and Galactica's CAG (Commander, Air Group), Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama, whose own moral compass often puts him on the President's side, against his father and commander. (There are, I guess, two types of smaller ships the pilots fly; Vipers, which are one man fighters, and Raptors, which generally have a crew of two but can carry more, and are used for recon.)
Firmly on Adama's side is his XO, Colonel Saul Tigh, who nevertheless has some personal problems. Then there's Dr. Baltar, who is only really on his own side. He does seem to regret his part in the Cylon attack, and is constantly afraid people will learn his secret. Also, his former lover, Number Six, continues to appear to him in visions (which rather reminds me of Harvey in Farscape (sci-fi 1). Of course, these visions can be rather embarassing. His attention often seems to wander, he may speak to Six and seem to be talking to himself. She can even affect him physically, sometimes sexually. So his behavior is often quite nervous, suspicious, and everyone seems to think he's odd, but they put up with him because he is of help to them, especially in creating a Cylon detector. He is sometimes assisted by Lt. Felix Gaeta.
Speaking of Cylons, there is a sleeper agent aboard Galactica, a pilot, Lt. Sharon "Boomer" Valerii (who we like), who is constantly troubled by doubts concerning her own humanity. For a time she has an affair with Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol, head of the mechanics who keep the Galactica's Vipers and Raptors repaired. Also, while Boomer is unaware she is a Cylon, there is another copy of her (there may be countless copies of any human-looking Cylon, and whenever one is killed, its memories are downloaded to one of the copies) back on Caprica, one of the Colonies, who does know she's a Cylon, and is working with other Cylons to keep an eye on a pilot, Lt. Karl "Helo" Agathon, who gave up his seat so Baltar could evacuate during the attack. He and Sharon become lovers, until he learns she's a Cylon, and rejects her. But she's fallen in love with him.
Another important character is pilot Lt. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace. She's a maverick and is sometimes at odds with her superior officers, especially Tigh. She is close to the Adamas, as she was once in love with Lee's brother, Zak, who died years ago. She feels some guilt over this. But she's now falling in love with Lee. Meanwhile, Gaius is falling for her.
President Roslin has an assistant named Billy Keikeya, who forms a relationship with Petty Officer Dee Dualla. Then there's a prisoner named Tom Zarek, who some consider a terrorist and others consider a freedom fighter. He eventually is elected to the new Quorum of Twelve, and then runs for Vice President. But he loses to Dr. Baltar, who had also been elected to the Quorum, without even running.
I think that covers pretty much all the characters. Well. There are plenty of obstacles to overcome, from the need to find water and fuel supplies, to Cylon attacks, to internal conflicts between Commander Adama and President Roslin, to... well, all kinds of things. And there are religious themes. The humans, those who are religious at all, worship gods, apparently the ancient Greek ones. Cylons believe in one God, and Six is always trying to get the atheistic Baltar to believe in Him. Then there are ancient prophecies, predicting the current plight of Humanity, and Roslin appears to play a part in these prophecies (including a fact known to few people, that she's dying of breast cancer). Her belief in these prophecies ultimately leads to a greater rift than ever between herself and Commander Adama.
Well... anyway, eventually, in season 2, Galactica meets up with another Battlestar, the Pegasus, commanded by an admiral who's gone rather crazy, and who is at odds with Adama. Eventually she's killed, and Roslin promotes Adama to admiral, and Lee becomes a commander, and given Pegasus to command. And eventually Baltar is elected President, and a settlement is started on a planet dubbed "New Caprica." But then the Cylons attack and occupy the planet. Between seasons 2 and 3 there is a series of 10 webisodes you might want to watch, about some things that happen during the occupation, the resistance that is formed, and whatnot. Meanwhile, Galactica and Pegasus and the fleet are away for several months, but in season 3 they show up to evacuate the humans from New Caprica. The Pegasus was lost in the battle, but the crew transferred back to Galactica. And... I'm forgetting or neglecting to mention plenty of important things that happen in each season. Sigh. I suppose I should mention that Helo got back together with the Sharon on Caprica, and they had a child together, half human and half Cylon, but when the people on Caprica were rescued (in season 1 or 2, I don't even remember now), Sharon was imprisoned on Galactica (the original Boomer was killed, if I recall, after an attempt on Adama's life). And Sharon's baby was taken from her, and given away, while Sharon was told the baby died. But in season 3, it will end up in the hands of the Cylons. Still, eventually Sharon would be proven trustworthy, since she always knew she was a Cylon, and chose to help the humans anyway. Not sure what else to say now, but it all is really rather interesting... even if I don't think it's quite as good as the critics and many fans seem to think....
The Terran Federation is evil. Roj Blake rebels and is sentenced to prison or whatever. He and other prisoners are sent to investigate a strange ship found abandoned in space, because the crew of the prison ship don't want to risk their own necks finding out what the ship is or if it's dangerous. The prisoners manage to take control of this ship and escape, and cause trouble for the Federation, who constantly hunt them. I think they called the ship Liberator. Very interesting and disparate characters on the crew as well as their enemies. My favorite characters were Villa Restal and Kerr Avon. Also there were a couple of computers, um, called Slave and Orac, I believe. Maybe another, I forget. Eventually the ship is destroyed and they get a new one, which I think they called Scorpio. To be honest I don't remember the show well, but I did like it and would certainly watch it again and recommend that you do the same. Or, y'know, watch it at least once.
The Visitor, FOX
IMDb; TV Tome
Sometimes reruns on Sci-Fi Channel.
Didn't last long, and I don't remember it well. And it probably wasn't too great, but it was okay. John Corbett played this pilot who'd been abducted by aliens, decades ago, and then returned, not having aged. I think he wanted to find his family or something, but mainly he just went around contacting people who he figured could do things to change the future. He'd learned alot of stuff from his time in alien captivity, along with other abductees, and they all knew the world was gonna end soon or something, and weren't going to do anything about it. But he escaped and returned to Earth to try to influence people who could influence events or whatever and change Earth's destiny. But the other abductees weren't happy about this. Um... and that's about all I can think to say. It was kinda interesting, I guess.