This is a random rambling about Battlestar Galactica. I can’t get it to come out right, and frankly, I give up. This post sucks. Battlestar was good. And it makes you think outside of the box. That’s what I’m trying to say. But I’m still posting.

I have always been a science fiction fan. Star Wars, Star Trek, Cowboy Bebop. Brave New World, 1984, Blade Runner. Whatever the medium or style, science fiction has always been one of my favorite forms of exploring the human experience.

That said, Battlestar Galactica was a show I got into very, very late. Despite hearing all the rumors and talk about an incredible sci-fi experience, the show didn’t catch my attention until far into its last season. This was most likely due to the campy, craptacular nature of the original and the varying science fiction shows that have been mentioned in the past, such as Babylon 5 and Firefly, that were talked up but barely caught my attention.

“For that one fraction of a second, you were open to options you had never considered. That is the exploration that awaits you… [C]harting the unknown possibilities of existence.” – Q (John DeLancie), Star Trek: The Next Generation

Although dystopias and the continuous questioning of human progress are part of my own personal views, I have a soft spot for Star Trek and its optimism. Though fans and product are both eternally mocked and loved for its own form of campiness, Star Trek provides a view to a world where life is better, but with its own set of problems. Yet, instead of simply trying to overcome problem after problem, its storytellers invited the watcher to try to understand the conundrum beyond the plot device of the week. Through a lens based on tolerance and diversity, creator Gene Roddenberry projected an optimistic worldview in an age of Cold War hostilities.

But, in essence (or cynically), Star Trek is about a set utopian rules and testing these rules with various allegories of (nearly) everyday problems. Racism, good & evil, sharing, artificial intelligence, arrogance, sin, war, death, cheating, whatever. Star Trek was a dispenser for stories that were tackled with the gloss of optimism.

“You cannot play God then wash your hands of the things that you’ve created. Sooner or later, the day comes when you can’t hide from the things that you’ve done anymore.” – Commander William Adama (Edward James Olmos), Battlestar Galactica.

Where Star Trek tested its own fictional rules of tolerance, Battlestar Galactica presented a world where the society was shattered. Star Trek’s stories & world were always supported by a mythical United Federation of Planets and its Starfleet. Few times were such givens blatantly broken by the heroes, as repercussions and uniformly strong moral character seemed to be without shortage in the universe.

In contrast, the crew of Galactica and its ragtag fleet are faced with the abyss of extinction during the entire run of the series. And with that premise, they confront the perpetual questioning of existence itself and sustaining values that they had previously held as inalienable.

“Sometimes, you gotta roll the hard six” – Lieutenant Sharon Valerii (Grace Park), Battlestar Galactica

For me, Battlestar Galactica’s appeal came from this struggle between the divide between order and anarchy. Where Star Trek tested rules that were enforced, Battlestar Galactica tested how the rules stood and bent under duress. And it is this freedom from the rules that allowed a new exploration beyond a single vision of the future. In place of a vision, Galactica explored the fringes and limitations of mankind. And it danced all over it.

Galactica’s “rules beyond the rules” may not seem too revolutionary, but for me, it opened up a new set of considerations. What are the rules where there are no rules? What rules are the rules that need to be rules and which are superfluous? Add to that the considerations of the classic dystopia of technology versus humanity and you’re left with a enormous pile of materials for the dreaming Chief of IT Operations. (No surprise that my position title is inspired by all the ‘chiefs’ that fix everything on sci-fi starships.)

“All good things must come to an end” – English Proverb

Obviously, this post has been inspired in part by the end of Battlestar Galactica. And really, I’d rather talk about that. Because the final episode was a vapid excuse for an ending. No, I don’t really have a problem with the ending itself. But the delivery was awful. The action story never teased the viewer with the possibility of failure and everything felt as if it was scripted and on greased rails running towards a happy ending as fast as possible. Ron D. Moore has said that he felt that it was all about the characters, but really, we need plot too. The character stories were well scripted, but the story lacked punch and whatever complexities were left to the will of God or the Gods or whatever other random plot device they could come up with. Including making Starbuck a frakking archangel or something.

All in all, it was a good run. Galactica made me think. It made me laugh. It made it fun.

Now I just need to find another place for my sci-fi fix.