Battlestar Galactica Season 2 begins

Midway through BSG Season 1, Episode 4 (I forget the title, but Starbuck captures the Cylon raider) I say to myself, no, I fucking pray to the Lords of Kobol, “Please, please let it stay this good.” I can’t remember the last time I wished that for a TV series.

Then they started with the whole Cylon gods thingie, and God’s purpose and I went “Oh fuuuuck…” Even before Season 2 premiered, I had a whole bunch of stuff I wish they’d keep/change/try. Michelle Pessoa has an excellent Season 2 wish list which pretty much mirrors the one I have in my head.

So when BSG Season 2 finally premiered, I was a little nervous.


IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN SEASON 2 YET, YOU SHOULD STOP READING NOW

What I liked:

They didn’t open with the whole Cylon god mumbo jumbo. Episode 1 opens with an FTL jump screw-up where they lose the entire fleet; the Raptor crew that crash-landed on Kobol last season are fired upon pretty much immediately.

The camera work is getting better in the outer-space scenes. They retain the hand-held style, but the framing’s better and they're trying new things. When Galactica misplaces the entire fleet, the way they pull out to emphasise how alone the ship is, is quite well done. They also have some neat bits where cameras are mounted on the sides of engines to show the viper’s speed and maneuverability,

New reveals with the Cylon raiders, without giving away too much. Showing the way they’re launched - like a shark shedding teeth - is a nice touch. And there’s that new model of raider we saw briefly in one of the episodes last season.


What I didn’t:

The character flaws are too obvious. Yes, Crashdown’s not a good leader, but didja have to make him such an asshole? Yes, Ellen Tigh’s a manipulative bitch, but she was more subtle, more under-the-radar with her scheming last season.

They’re starting to repeat the effects shots. The hard landings, the cannon fire, are all being recycled.

The Caprica story arc is shown just to re-establish. There’s no progress, no moving forward. Yes, Sharon’s a Cylon. Yes, she’s pregnant. Move on.

They cut out the title sneak peak. Now, I wasn’t sure myself when I first saw it. But the material and the editing was so strong, showing the scenes before the episode didn’t spoil or reveal anything. Set against the drums, the sneaks energized the episode. Why did they cut it out?


But hey, it’s still early days yet.
And despite all my nit-picking, I am glad it’s back.