Cally Annoyance Point

From Bastille Day, in reference to biting off Mason's ear on the Astral Queen, "He's lucky that's all I bit off."

From IMDB.com: "The character of Cally was supposed to be killed off in the original drafts of this script, but David Eick decided he wanted her to fight back during the rape scene rather than be killed off."

Frack.

“I didn’t know we were picking sides”

33, Water and Bastille Day

33 and Water always have been my absolute favourite episodes. That may change on second viewing of seasons 4 and 4.5 (Oh, the tension! Oh, the dramatic reveals! Oh, the sweet high definition!), but I think for now I am safe to say that these episodes hold a place in my heart as the hook that grabbed me into the BSG universe.

Yes, that’s right, 33 and Water were the hooks. Yes, the Mini-Series is excellent, yes, it grabs you hard and doesn't let go, but 33 and Water, sweet Water; they just squeeze...

Let’s compare. The Mini-Series is given the freedom of introducing you quickly (well, as quickly as a three hour long pilot needs to be forced) to a lot of characters and giving them tiny, teasing back-stories that you know may or may not be fleshed out later. It has to tell a lot of story in a limited time frame, and not just the event as it happens, but a brief history of this universe needs to be told for context. The Mini-Series is given the liberty of using dramatic effect to draw you in, just as much as it uses the story and characters. There is drama, suspense, action, excitement, story, and character, but the character part, by fault of the amount of story being crammed into three hours, is the part that slacks, if any part can be considered lacking. But BSG is a character-driven show, so 33 and Water are when you really start to fall in love.

The reveal of Sharon as a Cylon at the end of the Mini-Series is drawn out to perfection in Water, especially in relation to Head Six's comment about sleeper agents not even knowing they are Cylons, and yet acting out programming. Grace Park's performance as Boomer is phenomenal, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Boomer's character arc's consistency is what makes her one of my favourite characters in the show. I especially loved her tension in the Raptor when she and Crashdown find water - the twitch of her thumb on the detonator speaks volumes about her internal conflict of human/Cylon loyalties.

The story with Sharon and Helo on Caprica brings a different depth to both iterations of Boomer. Knowing that this Sharon is a Cylon and knowing that she knows that she is Cylon but is playing at being Boomer, and that Helo doesn't know that she is a Cylon or even that Cylons look like people (did you follow all that?) is dramatic irony at its finest. But the questions of her plans and motives are tantalizingly unknown, plus it leads us to wonder if Sharon on Galactica will act with the same assurance in her true identity as her counterpart does. Or, conversely, if Sharon on Caprica will have the same conflicting loyalties that Boomer has shown on Galactica.

(I must interject here to say that I am a huge fan of Tamoh Penikett’s Helo, and have been right from the start. Apparently the writers wanted to drop his storyline, with the implication that he died on Caprica, but viewers wanted to know what happened to him. Phew!)

Jeff has never been Starbuck’s biggest fan, much to my chagrin, because I have always found her deep and fascinating, not to mention a wonderful exercise in opposites – strong and yet adolescent, self-assured and yet fearful, beautiful and yet masculine. Now, knowing her entire storyline (just a tease, no real spoilers…) Jeff is feeling more like he can appreciate her character – flaws, irritations and all. I love the scenes when she and Lee approach the Olympic Carrier. She is delighted to send a warning shot across their bow, but balks with horror at actually shooting the ship down. But when push comes to shove, she is an officer, and obedient to her superior officers, and to the Old Man.

Bastille Day has never been my favourite episode; while I acknowledge the weight and importance of Tom Zarek to the arc of the series, it doesn’t mean I have to like him! It was interesting to note the reactions of those who had not seen the show; they thought Bastille Day was the best of the night. I can concede its importance to furthering the show’s deep and involved storyline. It introduces a number of ethical questions, and speaks to some realistic challenges that the fleet is going to face. They do need elections, they are a society, and they do need consistent and responsible politics. Not to mention the questions of food and water for 50,000 people. I think as a long-time fan of BSG I had taken for granted that the show asks the hard questions, and it was refreshing to be reminded that it is rare programming that isn’t afraid to challenge itself again and again.

I also really love the quiet and emotional introductions of the Memorial Hallway, and of President Roslin’s borderline obsession with updating the population count, both being constant touchstones of life in the fleet.

Overall, a gripping start!

Toaster Ratings:

33:

Water:

Bastille Day:

Cally Annoyance Point

From the Mini-Series, in reference to the FTL jump, "I hate this part."

Well, we don't particulary like you, Cally.

Thoughts on the Mini-Series

First, a disclaimer: Okay, I will try my best not to make any comments that spoil this for people who haven’t seen it, but I can’t make any promises. If I drop teasing hints here and there, bear with me! If I full out reveal something you didn’t know, sorry! You have been warned.

It’s amazing what a combination of fresh eyes and 20/20 hindsight will bring. No matter how many times I have seen the Mini-Series, I am always drawn in and surprised. There is always some little thing – a look, a bit of dialogue, a seemingly insignificant person in the background – which I didn’t pick up on previously. The interaction between Head Six and Gaius is much more interesting than it had been before I knew the nature of their relationship. Kara’s run through the ship serves a fascinating introduction to characters both integral and seemingly unimportant. And boy do Michael Hogan’s acting chops ever shine! Only Clint Eastwood has perfected the growl better.

Watching with people who have not seen any of the show before was also a treat: a friend’s comment about Head Six (“I am going to find her really annoying”), the surprised look on their faces when they realized that three full hours has passed, our friend’s passionate belief that Chief Tyrol will certainly be revealed as a Cylon!

What I love about the Mini-Series is its ability to immediately draw you in to an entire universe; it quickly introduces a whole fleet (in fact, a whole creation!) worth of characters – good, bad, evil, angelic or something completely different and unknown - who you just can’t wait to learn more about. It brings you hints of deep religion, fascinating colonial politics, and a history as fraught with excitement, war, drama and tragedy as our own. The Mini-Series is the perfect setup for telling these stories, setting up this history, and fighting a terrifying (and sometimes quite familiar) war in an amazing and character-driven way.

I remember back to the first time we watched BSG - a friend had convinced us against our protesting that we should watch the Mini-Series with him, and so we did. And we didn't - couldn't - stop there! I think we watched another six episodes straight. Addictive doesn't describe it.

We have since watched the first season three times; the full series up to the end of season 3 twice; 4 and 4.5 once on TV only; and the Mini-Series 33 and Water another time again. Repeated screenings really do make this show better. And it is not just knowing how the characters turn out and what events transpire that enriches the experience (though it does, oh how it does!), but it is marvelling at the depth and breadth of the writing, acting and directing, the attention to detail - BSG has a very rich and complex mythological canon, and sci-fi fans are unforgiving! – and the absolute story-telling of it all.

On to the technicalities. The last time I watched the Mini-Series was on HD-DVD (yes, we are that obsessed that we have multiple formats!), and I have a few comments about that.

Point 1: I was relieved that they had managed to sync up the audio. My two biggest pet peeves when it comes to audio-visual entertainment are when the aspect ratio is wrong and when the audio and video are out of sync. Both irritate me tothe point that I would rather not watch something. Usually the aspect ratio is something that can be fixed with tweaking of settings, and usually the audio-sync issue is something you only see on TV channels (A&E HD is notoriously bad for it). But when it is on a high-definition release of something, I will not stand for it! You’d think that with the high-def release of a sci-fi TV show you could take the time to do some QA and make sure your audio and video are synced. Anyways, now we have Blu-Ray, and our beloved Starbuck is saying the words as her mouth moves, and I will stop ranting.

Point 2: The video cut is as good as can be expected. There are still a few scenes that are grainy – grittier than the overall feel of the show, that is. I’ve read that the quality of the video presented in the Mini-Series, while impressive, is less than we should come to expect throughout the rest of the series. If this is the case, than I am truly excited about what’s to come. There are some very impressive battle scenes in the Mini-Series and they looked better than ever in Blu.

The Blu-Ray release is THE definitive way to enjoy BSG.

The Mini-Series is introduced by none other than Ron Moore (RDM) himself- for those less obsessed; RDM is the brainchild behind the reimagining. RDM’s introduction primarily served to congratulate us on purchasing the show on Blu-Ray, and that it is the ONLY way to see it as he originally intended.

When watching, I’ve kept in mind that the intended presentation of the show is to make you feel that your part of the action- which certainly leads to a rather gritty production. Battlestar Galactica will never look like a George Lucas production- (Thank the Lords of Kobol). As a result, some grit and picture grain are to be expected – and embraced.

The audio track also sounded better than ever. I am fortunate enough to have a sound system that is able to take advantage of the DTS-HD Master audio. Each explosion shook the condo and the Anti-Aircraft guns on the Galactica fired a particularly satisfying “thud.” Maybe the neighbours didn’t like it, but we sure did!

I will say that the default setting that I normally use for my centre channel was not sufficient and I found myself turning this up a few points in order to fully catch all of the dialogue. After some adjustment the centre channel was crisp and clear as one would expect. The dialogue is still a bit too “bass-y” for my preferences.

Rating:

In the spirit of BSG, we are changing our rating system to toasters.

Episode:

Video and Audio:

It comes with a frackin' toaster!

Hello!

We just picked up the new North American release of "Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series" on Blu-Ray. My wife (Liz) and I will be watching it over the next six months (three episodes per week) in order to make it last. We will be sharing the experience with three friends who have never seen the show before, and one who has.

We'll post our thoughts on each episode in this blog; and will also include some of the insights from those joining us who are looking at it with fresh eyes. We're really excited to share the experience with those unfamiliar to the series and glean new insight from their fresh perspective.

We'll assign each episode with a letter grade- both for the quality of the actual episode and for the picture/sound quality presented on Blu-Ray. We'll try not to bog down the rating in an overly technical fashion.

I think we can all remember high school- and that an "A" is likely what you're aiming for (and an "F" is probably best avoided when possible).

We'll also speak about our impressions of the Blu-Ray cut. We've seen the entire series on DVD (except for 4.5, which we've seen on TV) and also saw the first season release on HD-DVD. I've read that the Blu-Ray cut is particularly stunning, and surpasses even that of the HD-DVD version. We're not overly technical folks, but we'll let you know what we think.

I''ll start with my first impressions of the physical presentation of the set.

The packaging itself is...unique. It's kind of hard to explain, so look at the picture to the left for a better understanding. I will say that the boxes that hold the discs don't exactly excite me. The discs just slide into a cardboard sleeve. Seems a bit sketchy for a $250.00 (Cdn) investment. Suffice to say that I will be taking great care each and every time I take a disc out- even more so when putting it back.

I'm surprised that Universal didn't learn their lesson about flaky packaging after the HD-DVD release of season one. I seem to recall a large number of defective issues and quite a few complaints that resulted in returns/exchanges due to scratched discs.

This new package, while different from the HD-DVD set, seems to have the same potential to damage the actual media.

The set comes with a Cylon action figure, which is a nice touch. I'd have gladly traded it in however for more bonus content- the one glaring omission from this set is the 10 "The Face of the Enemy" webisodes. For those who have seen the series, I'm sure you can appreciate that these webisodes are rather important to at least one character's story arc. For the benefit of those who haven't seen the whole series, I'll leave it at that.

I read somewhere that their omission was purely an oversight and that they will likely be included in the DVD/Blu-Ray releases of "The Plan" later on this year.

I've also been reading that a number of people are quite upset that the set didn't include all of the pod casts. I have heard a number of the pod casts throughout past few years and while quite entertaining, I can't picture myself sitting around the TV listening to one. I'd personally rather download them myself and listen in the car or on the iPod. I am very excited by the prospect of multiple extended episodes- particularly from season 4.5. The series finale felt a little rushed to me and I've read that this episode in particular is expanded upon quite a bit.

What I really think that the set should have included was a booklet that told you which episodes were on which discs- and provide a brief description of each. This set includes 20 FRACKING Blu-Ray discs. Quite surprisingly, nowhere in the package does it break down on which disc each episode is located.

Very strange....

Regrettably, it seems as though Universal has gone for style over practicality with the packaging.

Later on this year the set will be released in other international regions. On the right is what the set is going to look like in Australia:

I'd personally much rather have this set- It's got everything the other one is missing- A hard plastic case for the discs to firmly snap into; quick and easy accessibility and a book-presumably to describe what each disc contains.

Overall, I'm satisfied the look of the North American set. I just can't get past the lack of a solid build for the container. Content-wise, at first glance I'm quite pleased with the 70 hours of bonus material. My only sticking point is the lack of the inclusion of the 10 "The Face of the Enemy" webisodes.

All will be forgiven on this front if the rumors prove true and they include them on the future release of "The Plan".

Packaging: C-

Bonus Content (and first glance): B+

Packaging and bonus content aside, the real reason for our purchase (and the point of this blog) is to watch the actual show. I have read that Ronald D. Moore is a firm believer in the Blu-Ray format and feels that this is the only way to fully experience the show as it was intended. We're pleased to say that viewing will commence very soon!

We're going to start with the Mini-Series on August 4th. This will be our 6th time through, but it never seems to get old. Comments will be posted shortly after. Both my wife and I will make posts to this Blog.

Grab your gun, and bring in the cat!