jetpack_monkey | BSG Miniseries

Enjoyed it? Sure. Hooked? I wouldn't say that. Will I still be sticking the first season on my Netflix queue? You bet -- because I *might* get hooked. I'm like the guy who tries heroin, shakes his head and says, "You know what? Not quite completely dependent on this yet. Let's give it another shot." I'm sick in the head.

Pilot episodes (or miniseries, whatever) have the unfortunate burden of having to introduce a basic concept, a passel of characters, large chunks of their backstory, all while serving the master of clear and present conflict.

Luckily, BSG is ready-made for clear and present conflict (unlike, say Firefly, which -- much as I love the opening two-parter -- does need to kick its own behind to get moving). Action happens on the fly, and only about a third of the character exposition (mostly relating to Cmdr. Adama's son Zak) feels awkwardly wedged in.

A *lot* of characters. Seems like television's making a shift towards huge ensembles lately, which is fine if it's played right. BSG seems to have a handle on it -- each character gets their due, even two minor bridge officers whose names completely escape me right now. Some interesting personalities that I'm looking forward to seeing again.

Except I, uh, don't understand the Starbuck love. Interesting character on paper, acted well enough, but there's something missing there that just doesn't let me "get" her. Mostly I thought she was an arrogant asshole and not a pleasant one. She appears to have improved by Season 2 -- I liked her more in last week's ep, but felt the same "meh" this week.

For my money, the Roslin/Adama conflict really played the best for me. Both of them have completely valid viewpoints given the situation, but they grate a bit (and from my understanding, they completely clash by the end of Season 1). I love that kind of drama. Toss in the wild card of Apollo finally forgiving his father but finding a leader he really respects in Roslin... Fun fun fun.

Baltar. Love. Love. Love. I want to see more of him. Front and center, every episode. The all-scheming, all-dancing around the truth Baltar Show. Watch as Baltar connives! Watch as Baltar plots! Watch as Baltar pulls a Crichton with a Harvey you'd actually want to see naked!

I think the miniseries took a misstep with separating Adama from the ship for a little heart-to-heart with the Cylon. I understand that they had to establish to somebody other than CompletelyAwesomeBaltar that Cylons can look like us, but this is the sort of plot that works better as character filler in the middle of your season. In a pilot, it just slows the action down and makes a grand concept seems small and tinny.

Speaking of small and tinny, how awesome is it that they made the requisite cable television cheese factor a plot point? Somebody deserves a hug for that.