THE TV COLUMN : Peace with the Cylons?
Posted on Thursday, March 9, 2006
I’ve never been much of a fan of “traditional” science fiction dramas wriggling with alien races and creatures.
Shows with a Star Wars menagerie of space slugs, porcine Gamorreans, squid-headed Quarren or bug-eyed Rodians are good for a laugh, but I just can’t get into the whimsy. I know those types of shows have their rabid fans. They have the posters and collect the action figures. More power to them; it’s just not for me. On the other hand, space-oriented series such as the late, lamented Firefly on Fox and Sci-Fi’s Battlestar Galactica frequently intrigue me. Maybe it’s because the emphasis is on the characters and not the whiz-bang gizmos or special effects.
Perhaps that was the downfall of Firefly. If the series had some three-eyed Baklakian tree sloths or even a tribble or two, maybe sci-fi fans could have saved it from the merciless and myopic Fox programming plug-pullers.
The critically acclaimed Battlestar Galactica has now made it to the end of a second season. It has an outstanding cast and some of the most intelligent writing and thoughtful, onionlayered character development of any drama on TV. It just happens to be set against the backdrop of space and the human race trying to keep from being extinguished by the pursuing Cylon race of robots.
It has love, romance, action, intrigue, social commentary, a thrilling cliffhanger and Lucy Lawless. Life is good.
Friday’s season finale, “Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2,” kicks off at 9 p.m. and has been expanded to 90 minutes. Set your recorders accordingly.
Naturally, Sci-Fi is labeling the episode “an event.” TV publicity minions really need to consult a thesaurus. Event has long since joined the hackneyed list.
At any rate, the “event” is the conclusion of last week’s thrilling Part 1 where the possibility of peace with the Cylons has been broached.
To this point in our adventure, the last surviving 50, 000 or so human souls have been fleeing through space in a ragtag fleet of spacecraft in search of the mythical planet Earth.
Leading the way are President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell ) and Admiral William Adama (Edward James Olmos ).
Ah, but a habitable substitute planet has been discovered. Does the fleet press on or do the humans settle down and rest their weary bones ?
And can you ever really trust the Cylons, even though they’re drop-dead gorgeous and some of them seem to be friendly ?
Watch your back.
The 90-minute Battlestar season finale follows the season finales of Sci-Fi’s other two Friday night space adventures, Stargate SG-1 at 7 p.m. and Stargate Atlantis at 8.
Meanwhile, Battlestar fans can rejoice that when production of season three begins next month in Vancouver, British Columbia, Lucy Lawless will be on board for a full 10 episodes.
Lawless, adored by millions as Xena, the warrior princess, has been in a couple of Battlestar episodes as journalist D’Anna Biers.
Yes. She’s not only an investigative journalist; she’s a... Cylon ! Her covert mission was to spy on the humans. What devious and nefarious subterfuge could D’Anna be up to ? We’ll have to wait until next season to find out.
MORE TV STUFF Speaking of fierce and beautiful female warriors, the History Channel has a special at 7 p.m. Friday on one. Warrior Queen Boudica tells the tale of the woman who united the British isles against the Romans. It makes for fascinating historical drama. Want more fierce women warriors ? Well, maybe a mall rat warrior. Zoey 101: Spring Break-Up airs at 7 p.m. Friday on Nickelodeon. The popular “’tween” queen Zoey Brooks is played by Jamie Lynn Spears and finds herself and her buds starring in a TV reality show that brings out all the teen angst you can stand. It’s harmless fun. The network news release said the teens “trade backpacks for bikinis” for this prime-time special, but I watched the preview DVD three times and never spotted a single bikini. Hell’s Kitchen will return to Fox for another run June 12. More chefs will subject themselves to humiliation and the verbal abuse of chef Gordon Ramsay. The winner gets to work with Ramsay. Perhaps the losers have to work even longer with him. Alias finally has a finale date set by ABC. The series, which has been on hiatus so star Jennifer Garner could have her baby, will begin the end with a two-hour “event” (yes, ABC calls it an event ) at 7 p.m. April 19. Note that’s a Wednesday and not Thursdays anymore. ABC has promised that although the series is ending, faithful viewers will get resolution to the Rambaldi mess and the birth of Sydney’s baby. Also expected back for the final episodes are Bradley Cooper as Will Tippin, David Anders as Julian Sark and the maybe not dead Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan ). How they’d pull the latter off will be worth watching. But it’s television; it could happen. The TV column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail mstorey@arkansasonline. com
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