The 2009 Emmy Nomination Snubs

Last year about this time, I was moaning about the problem with the Emmys and all the people or shows that they snubbed for an Emmy nomination. Here we are, a year later, and I’m still moaning about it because they’ve snubbed many of them again.


Snubbed!
Last year, Battlestar Galactica got snubbed, as did Mary McDonnell, who played President Roslin. Well, despite the fact that the series finished with such a dramatic ending and their final season had some of the best acting ever in the entire sci-fi genre, the series received no dramatic or acting honors. While they had an excellent cast overall, it is simply criminal that Mary McDonnell was overlooked and someone like Mariska Hargitay was included. Let’s be honest here, Mariska’s role of Olivia Benson has run its dramatic course, and her performances this past season seemed reduced to scenes that screamed “for your consideration.” In defense of Mariska, there isn’t a whole lot a person can do to make Dick Wolf’s Law & Order franchise world very compelling for actors. After all, with some of Sam Waterston’s best years as Jack McCoy going virtually unnoticed (he was nominated a few times, never won), it's safe to say that no one in this franchise will ever win an Emmy. (OK Academy voters, make a liar out of me.) Mary McDonnell’s performance in the final episodes of Battlestar Galactic was gripping and virtually ripped my heart out. Also robbed of a nomination was Katee Sackhoff for her performance on BSG as Kara “Starbuck” Thrace. And the series itself went from the doldrums of their middle seasons to being one of the most interesting sci-fi stories ever told. It is just inconcievable that this series could have been so overlooked.

Snubbed!

New to my Emmy snub list is Kiefer Sutherland, who got ignored this year, except for a nomination for “24: Redemption” which was in the movie/miniseries category. This was 2-hour a show that I thought wasn’t all that good, and not anywhere near his great performance for the full season itself. Yet, Simon Baker gets nominated for his bland performance as Patrick Jane on “The Mentalist,” a role that is one-dimensional and, in my opinion, requires little acting range. Maybe the Academy was angry that Jack Bauer wasn’t protecting Los Angeles this past season?

Snubbed!

Another repeat offender on the snubbed list is Robert Sean Leonard, who plays Dr. James Wilson on Fox’s “House.” Let's tell it like it is: there would be no House without Wilson. Leonard plays the perfect confidant, conscience, and whipping boy to House, and he does it so naturally that one forgets that the two are acting. Sure, he has great lines written for him and…oh wait, even the writers for “House” were snubbed. Diagnosis: The Academy of Television Arts & Science are all brain dead.

So, another year, another Emmy rant. I think the only thing that will solve this problem is if the Academy makes a move similar to what the Oscars have done and increase the number of nominees in key categories. With so many shows – primarily dramas - on television these days, it’s a shame that the limit the nominees to only about 6 people in a category. I don’t believe that raising the number of nominees to 10 would in any way dilute the honor, nor would it dilute the importance of the winner, since you can still have only one.

Another thing that hasn’t changed is my opinion of the Academy from last year, where I said “The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences are becoming less relevant to the viewing public, since they rarely represent what viewers think is the best television. For what it's worth, for those I mentioned above that were not nominated, there are many viewers out there who appreciate your efforts and our award to you is continuing to watch your shows.” It’s no gold statue, but I hope it has value to those that were snubbed this year.


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Battlestar Galactica “Daybreak” Series Finale - Will History Repeat Itself?

All photos SciFi

I’m a little late on my commentary about the series finale of “Battlestar Galactica”. There was so much to digest, yet so many things remain unanswered. We’ve all heard the saying, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." This seems to be the case with the people of Battlestar Galactica, as the closing thought is that if humanity is not careful, the cycle can be repeated.

Last week, I gave you my comments on the part one of Battlestar Galactica’s “Daybreak” finale, and this two hour conclusion answered some question while leaving a few on the table. Generally, I liked the finale and thought that it was a fitting close for the series, but there are some things that I didn’t quite like. More on those issues later.

First, a brief overview of what happened. Admiral Bill Adama (Edward James Olmos) had decided to take the Galactica to find Hera (Iliana Gomez-Martinez) and recover her from Cavil (Dean Stockwell), who is on a Cylon ship close to a singularity (a black hole). Baltar (James Callis) has decided to stay with Galactica and help fight the fight. The Galactica teams all plan their attack and after getting everyone ready, they make their jump to the singularity and virtually right on top of the Cylon ship. They meet immediate fire, but as they have Sam Anders (Michael Trucco) hooked up to the Cylon technology, he can communicate with the Cylon technology on their ship, and he shuts down the Cylon’s ability to fire their weapons. The Galactica also rams the Cylon ship, giving them entry to the Cylon ship. Boomer (Grace Park), having second thoughts about kidnapping Hera, kills the doctor who is experimenting on Hera and takes Hera away. When Boomer runs into the Galactica team, including Helo (Tahmoh Penikett) and Sharon (also Grace Park), Sharon gets Hera back and kills Boomer. But things get messy when the team finds themselves under attack and Hera runs off.

President Roslin (Mary McDonnell), who is dying an being held together by lots of drugs, senses Hera is in trouble and runs off and finds her, all the while having memories of her previous Opera House visions. But once Roslin is also under attack, Hera takes off again. Baltar and Caprica (Trish Helfer), who now seem to be able to see the inner visions of each other that they have had in the past, find Hera, and they also rellive their Opera House memories. When they manage to get Hera to the bridge, Cavil is already there and manages to get hold of Hera. The final five offers Cavil the technology of Resurrection if he returns Hera, and he does so. But when the final five get their minds together –using Sam as the conduit - to collect the information for the Resurrection technology to transmit it to the Cylons, and as they are all connected with each other’s thoughts, Tyrol (Aaron Douglas) discovers it was Tory (Rekha Sharma ) that killed his wife. Tyrol then kills Tory, breaking the connection and the transmission to the Cylons. This causes an immediate reaction from the Cylons on the ship, and Cavil kills himself as he knows there is no way out. While all this is going on, Bill Adama orders them to jump and tells Kara (Katee Sackhoff) to get them out of there. The musical message from “All Along the Watchtower” that Kara was trying to decode the week before, trying to find a solution with numbers, realizes that the music is the number code for the jump coordinates. She enters them and the ship jumps, barely staying together. They find themselves at a planet with a moon that looks very much like our Earth, the continent of Africa very visible.

They land on the planet and know that this must be their last stop, as the Galactica can’t take any more jumps or anything much else for that matter. They plan to make their lives there, separating into various groups to live in areas around the world giving them better chances for survival. There are humans already there, but very primitive ones, and they don’t seem to know how to speak. They give the Cylon Centurions the base ship and set them free, hopefully never to return and cause trouble. Bill Adama goes off to be on his own and takes Roslin, who dies en route. Adama buries her and picks that area to build a cabin. Baltar and Caprica also go off on their own, Baltar finding a good place for farming. Lee Adama (Jamie Bamber), now permanently separated from his father, has a nice talk with Kara and she feels that her work is over. While Lee is talking to her and turns away, when he turns back, Kara has disappeared into thin air.

As we move forward 150,000 years, we see a modern day New York City, complete with Times Square. Baltar and Six/Caprica are walking around, talking about how it seems that the people have found themselves in the same place again, and with technology becoming more commonplace and ingrained in everyone’s life. Will they just go through it all over again, like the people of Caprica had to do and even those apparently before them? The hope that this time, we will have learned enough not to.

During all this action, we see numerous flashbacks to Caprica life by some members of Galactica. Lee and Kara recall the night when Lee first meets Kara, and his brother gets drunk and passes out, and Lee and Kara almost decide to have a little “fun” of their own. After Kara disappears, Lee later remembers the pigeon or dove that came into his apartment and then flew out an open door. Roslin remembers a blind date with someone who turns out to be a former student, and later she blows him off to accept a political position. Bill Adama, Tighe (Michael Hogan) and Ellen (Kate Vernon ) find themselves in a strip club partying on, getting plastered. Baltar recalls when Six first asked him for access to information that eventually is what causes the fall of Caprica. It seems like all their lives at the time were somewhat of a mess, or headed that way.


Here’s what didn’t sit quite right with me:

1. The Galactica ramming into another ship. While this seem to throw a lot of people around, I wondered why no one took precautions to strap themselves in somewhere while the ship collided. I also wondered why, if a person can get killed in a simple car accident these days, that the act of ramming a vehicle like the Galactica into another with such force as to tear a hole into it that there weren’t many deaths just from the jolt of the impact.

2. References in previous episodes to Kara being the “harbinger of death” now seem even more vague. The death of who or what exactly? Was it life as they knew it? It seemed to me that when they originally wrote the whole “harbinger of death” line that they weren’t quite sure themselves as to what it would mean. It certainly didn’t seem to be the horrible thing that it was meant to be, seeing that they seem to have found a place where they could live in peace.

3. Kara’s sudden disappearance. I suppose we are to think she was some sort of angel, and when her work was over, she just poofed off into nothingness. It seemed as if she was an angel that could be seen by everyone, why not allow her to stick around a little longer and let he have a happy life with Lee? I guess angels are allowed to be corporeal until a serious relationship comes along.

4. Why did Adama go off on his own? After all he did to mend fences with his son, why leave him now and go at it alone? Why would he not want to first help the rest of the human race get established, and then fade off into the sunset?

5. Why did Hera keep running away? I still don’t get why a child who had been held captive and was finally in the arms of her mother and father would take off. Likewise when she took off from Roslin.

6. The whole Opera House vision seemed to be another thing that when they first brought it out, they weren’t exactly sure where it was going to lead. As the flashbacks to the respective visions occurred, overlaid on the present action, it seemed like someone had taken great pains to try to make the vision make some sense. It seemed more like someone tried to shoehorn a size 9 foot into a size 7 shoe.

7. Adama, Tighe, and Ellen in a strip club. Sorry, that seemed just so "off" to me. And I never liked Tighe, and I disliked him even less, as all he seemed to be able to due in the club is yell.

8. Baltar and Caprica both being able to really see the “people” – or are they angels – that they used to only see in their heads. This scene seemed more comical, and as as result, it was very out of place.

9. Baltar’s Angel speech on the bridge. It seemed weirdly out of place as well. Wouldn’t it have made more sense for all the other people standing around the area with guns to just shoot Cavil in the head? And why would Adama allow the often-untrustworthy Baltar to speak for all of them, and about angels no less?


What I liked:

1. The few references to the original Battlestar Galactic series. I swear I heard the sounds that the original Cylons made. It was obvious, though, when Galactica and the rest of the ships headed into the sun, that one could hear pieces of the original theme. Nice.

2. The scenes where Galactica attacked the Cylon colony. It was action packed, with plenty of centurions and plenty of gunfire. I still don’t buy the whole Galactica ramming the ship thing, but I can look past it since it brought such an intense attack.

3. Roslin’s death was very well done. Death is usually so trivialized on television these days that this one seemed to actually have real meaning. I honestly felt sad when she passed away. Mary McDonnell did an excellent job in this whole series, but these last few episodes, she played the role of a woman - succumbing to death, yet fighting every way she could until she didn’t have to anymore – very well. Emmy worthy, although I think sadly they will ignore her.

4. I enjoyed all the flashback scenes, and wish they would have done this more often in the series as it seemed to add such depth to the characters. Knowing what they had, and what they were going through while living in Caprica before its destruction seemed to make their quest for earth even more desperate. It also explained why they decided so easily to chuck it all and start over with a much simpler, less complicated life.

5. The cameo by Ronald D. Moore, the writer and producer behind the re-imagining of the original series. He could be spotted in the last segment, at a newsstand.

6. The ending. Out of all of the bad times they had during their search for Earth, the ending had great hope. Sure, in 150,000 years they may have been getting back to where the are in a position to start the conflict all over again. But the idea that maybe subconsciously they have learned from all this and that they may not be destined to repeat it meant that a cycle can be broken. Maybe those feelings of déjà vu, or the appearance of what may be “angels” in the series are really deep seated memories that have been passed along over the eons through their DNA, and somewhere in there is a warning message that may stop the human race from completely turning themselves over to technology.

All in all, it was a great finish to a very good series. It made up for that one season or more where the show just seemed to languish in the dark, depressing doldrums. The finale gave a glimmer of hope for them. And you never know, if they haven’t learned from their past mistakes, someone can resurrect the series at some later time, and just start all over again.


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Battlestar Galactica Series Fraktacular “Daybreak” Part 1

All Photos from SciFi

The series finale “fraktacular” of Battlestar Galactica (SciFi) began this past Friday with part one of a three hour episode titled “Daybreak.” This last season, the series did a wonderful job of bringing the many years and many pieces of the puzzle together. While watching this one hour episode (which will lead up to the two hour finale on Friday, March 20 at 9:00 PM on SciFi), I found myself wondering what took them so long to bring in the back story of the Capricans before the Cylons destroyed their world. It added another dimension to the show that I had not seen in quite some time.

During the flashbacks, we discover that Bill Adama (Edward James Olmos) seems to be having his arm twisted to attend an event. Baltar is starting his fling with who we later know as Six (Tricia Helfer), while he tries to take care of his father, who seems to be a crotchety old man that Baltar treats like he’s unwanted baggage. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) is cooking a dinner for her beau, Zak Adama (Tobias Mehler) and is meeting his brother Lee “Apollo” Adama (Jamie Bamber) for the first time. Lee later battles a pigeon that somehow got into his apartment. We also find that before Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) became president, she had a happy life with her two younger sisters, one of which is soon to have a baby. Sadly, she finds that her sisters and father were killed in a car crash by a drunk driver, sending Roslin over the edge for a while.

But reality soon sets in, and we see that in the present that Roslin is dying, and the Galactica is being evacuated. Baltar wants his people to have representation and argues with Lee, and Lee doubts Baltar’s sincerity, accusing him of never doing a selfless thing in his life. Kara is trying to figure out the meaning of the mysterious melody that her father taught her years ago and some of the Cylons hear in the heads, looking for a math solution. She and Bill Adama plug back in Sam (Michael Trucco) in order to get a clue from him. Afterwards, we find that Adama has decided that they have to go after Hera, since Sam gave them clues to her location. Hera – the first human/Cylon child - had been kidnapped by Boomer (Grace Park) and taken to Cavil (Dean Stockwell), who plans to study her body. Adama and Kara put a line of red tape on the floor of the deck and he asks for volunteers for the mission to save Hera. Those who want to go on what will likely be a one way mission are asked to stand on one side of the tape, and those that want to stay to stand on the other. It seemed that Baltar had chosen to stay, although it’s possible that he later crossed over the line.

There is one big problem, however. The Cylon colony where Hera is being held is located next to a naked singularity – a black hole. There is also only one viable jump point for the Galactica to enter there, and it’s well guarded.

This means that we are probably in for an exciting two hour finale.

I don’t want to over-analyze the little snippets of the lives we have seen of the Capricans during the flashback. Roslin clearly has no family left,she dying, and therefore nothing to lose, which is possibly why she tags along on the mission to save Hera. Lee’s pigeon could very well symbolize the eventual death of his brother Zak (a wild bird that gets into someone’s home has often thought to be the harbinger of death). Adama hated to be called on to attend something he clearly doesn’t want to, but now he is asking his crew to go on a mission which may cost them their lives. Baltar was a slimy schemer on Caprica, and can he really change and do anything that won’t benefit him? Will Kara find out the secret to all in the music, and find out how she seemed to have died and then come alive once again?

Hopefully, all out questions will be answered in the finale. I have to say that, even despite the season when the show just seemed to drag and go nowhere, I think I am sorry to see the it go.

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Battlestar Galactica “ The Oath” Suspenseful, Unsettling

Friday’s episode of Battlestar Galactica (SciFi), “The Oath.” was probably one of the most suspenseful of the entire series. It was also extremely unsettling. Things seem to be unraveling very quickly for the crew of the Galactica and for the fleet.

A quick recap, and then my comments at the end:

In last week’s episode, “A Disquiet Follow My Soul”, we saw Gaeta (Alessandro Juliani ) conspiring with Zarek (Richard Hatch ) on how Zarek can gain complete power over the fleet and to get President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) and Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos) out of power. In “The Oath”, the plan begins to unfold as Gaeta manages to utilize the other crew members he has recruited to the cause in order to break Zarek out of the brig and get him off the ship, returning him to Colonial One. Zarek gets off Galactica under the cover of clearing the flight deck from a fake fuel leak, but one crew member sees that Zarek is being spirited away.

Gaeta is also in the perfect position on the bridge as he can control many of the systems and communications within the ship and can block communication from other ships in the fleet. He uses his position to carefully control information coming into Adama, going so far as to outright lie to Adama and other crew members on the bridge so they don’t suspect what is going on, and making them think that there is a fire on board. Systematically, those crew members who have aligned themselves with Gaeta and Zarek work to take control over Galactica.

Meanwhile, Lee Adama (Jamie Bamber ) is on Colonial One, in an emergency session with the Quorum. He is trying to convince them to go ahead with the plans to incorporate the Cylon FTL drive technology, saying that it is essential to the fleet. He also states that Zarek was in custody because he was agitating against a lawful order. But Lee is shocked as Zarek waltzes into the session, gloating that even Adama knows when he holds a losing hand. What Lee does not know is that Zarek was not released with Admiral Adama’s knowledge, and when Lee tries to establish contact with his father, he’s given the brush off from his father – although this was at the hands of Gaeta.

When Lee senses something is wrong, he heads back to Galactica, and is taken into custody by the rebelling crew members. Lucky for him, Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Katee Sackhoff ) has noticed that an insurrection is taking place, and she manages to arm herself. She manages to catch the crew members trying to detain Lee, and, shooting one, manages to get them to back off. She and Lee continue to work to get word to the Admiral that something is wrong, but it’s too late. Gaeta had already taken control of the bridge and Admiral Adama and Col. Tighe (Michael Hogan ) are being escorted to the brig. Lee and Kara try to find President Roslin in order to protect her and also enlist her help.

Also, Helo (Tahmoh Penikett), Athena (Grace Park), and Hera are dumped in a room with Tighe's Six (Tricia Helfer ) and Anders (Michael Trucco). Helo is bleeding and unconscious. Six thinks they are all going to be killed, because some can’t handle the thought of Cylons being able to procreate. Athena thinks they will be kept alive and used as a bargaining chip with the rebel Cylons, seemingly thinking that Anders will hold some special wisdom. But, as the final five, Anders says he has no grand wisdom to offer. Athena urges he keep that to himself.

But Tighe and Adama manage to distract their captors while being led to the brig, and shoot one and take the other hostage. Lee and Kara get to Adama’s quarters and find Roslin there, and they bring her up to speed. Roslin finally seems to get out of the funk she has been in and she decides to address the fleet. But, in order to get wireless access to get the message out and bypass Gaeta’s communication control, she make contact with Baltar (James Callis ). Tyrol is already there with Baltar, as he had a heads up about the uprising, and he’s working to protect the compound. Roslin manages to convince Baltar to let them use his secret wireless communications system in order to get a message out to the fleet, appealing to his need for self –preservation. Much to Gaeta’s and Zarek’s surprise, she does a fleet wide broadcast and appeals for calm. She says they have come to a crossroads, and that after generations of conflict and losses on both sides and with supplies running low and limited options their former enemies may represent their last and only hope. The Quorum is also listening to the message. She says that for those who reject this alliance with the Cylons, she begs them to reconsider their actions and reject the traitors who would are using fear of the Cylons to destroy Colonial civilization. Gaeta finally finds a way to cut her off.

Lee and Kara finally catch up with the Admiral Adama and Tighe, and together they work to get Roslin off the ship Tyrol (Aaron Douglas) has a way to get her off the ship, and they use a secondary storage airlock in order to bring in a ship and get Roslin out. Baltar also goes with her. But the renegade military is on their way to the airlock, and Tighe and Adama says they will stay back to fend them off to allow Roslin’s ship to depart in safety. Once Gaeta realizes what is going on, he gives the order to arm all weapons, engage the target, and destroy them. But Adama and Tighe won’t go down without a fight. As the traitorous military tries to break into the airlock, Adama remarks to Tighe "it's been an honor to have served with you my friend." The Marines roll in a grenade, and it explodes. And we're told this story will continue.



Needless to say, the Galactica is in grave peril, as is the entire fleet. In fact, they may be in just as much danger from their own people than they were from the Cylons. While many may have thought a few seasons ago that Gaeta would turn out to be a Cylon, it seems that he became an even worse threat to them by his traitorous actions. I found myself hoping that when all this is said and done, that Gaeta dies a horrible death. I usually don’t like to wish that on a character, but his actions have been the lowest of the low. Likewise, Zarek also shows that a leopard can’t really change his spots, and is living up to the conniving, scheming, power hungry man he has always seemed to be. I wish him the worst as well.

It was good to see that Roslin came to her senses, albeit a little late. Had she stepped up to her job and done it sooner, maybe this would not have happened. She created the leadership vacuum that allowed Zarek the hole he could use to squeeze in and gain control. It also allowed rampant fear of the Cylons to overcome those members of the fleet who were weakened in spirit by finding a devastated earth. So she deserves a good chunk of the blame for the environment, which allowed mutinous thoughts to fester.

All in all, a great episode that left me hanging on the edge for the continuation of the story next week. Based on the previews, I suspect things will only get worse. But, if they can purge ALL the evil from the fleet – and I don’t mean the Cylons – maybe they will still have a chance. One can only hope.


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Battlestar Galactica "Sometimes a Great Notion": The Plot Thickens

Battlestar Galactica (SciFi) returned to finish off its ten-episode closing of the story. And now that the series seems to have found its way – after being lost so long in a quagmire of too many pointless personal storylines – I’m almost sorry that this is the beginning of the end.

First, a quick recap of the episode "Sometimes a Great Notion", more comments from me afterwards:

When we last left the rag-tag members of the Battlestar Galactica (in the epsiode ”Revelations”), they had found earth, but it wasn’t quite the earth they expected. What they found was the desolate remnants of a largely populated planet, which had been reduced to wreckage and radioactive soil. Needless to say, they were disappointed. President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) picks up a lone plant that she finds sprouting from the ground. There are no signs of human life. It appears the planet was nuked about 2,000 years ago, and they realize they traded one nuked planet – Caprica – for another. Admiral Bill Adama (Edward James Olmos) wants to call it a day and just leave to look for another home.

Meanwhile, Dee (Kandyse McClure ) finds a pocket watch in the sand with a bag with a ball and jacks and she takes them back to Galactica with her. Roslin wants to get out and she seems to later spiral into a depression, not taking her meds, burning the Pythian prophecy scriptures book, and isolating herself from everyone.

But before they abandon all hope, Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Katee Sackhoff ) decides to try to find the source of the beacon signal that drew them to Earth. She and Leoben (Callum Keith Rennie) find an emergency locator beacon, and also some debris. Close by, they find wreckage from a Colonial viper, with the number "757 NC” to which Starbuck states the number on her viper is 8757 NC. Worse yet, there is a body in the viper, with blonde hair, and wearing an ID tag that clearly says “Thrace”. As the “hybrid” once told Starbuck she was the harbinger of death and that she would lead them all to their end, she freaks. Horrified, she wonders if that is her body in the viper, then who is she? Later, she burns the body in a pyre.

Also still on earth scoping out the situation are the Cylons, who find bones and a metal helmet which looks like a Cylon centurion helmet head. Roslin concludes that the 13th tribe settled here and created their own Cylons, with Apollo (Jamie Bamber) adding that, like on Caprica, the machines rose up and killed their masters. But, all of the bones found on Earth are Cylon bones, which imply that the 13th tribe was made up of Cylons, Centurions and “skin jobs.”

Roslin is horrified, and when Apollo says she must tell the Quorum something, she walks away silently, and Adama tells Apollo, "Carry the ball."

Adding to the unsettled feeling, both Tyrol (Aaron Douglas), Anders (Michael Trucco), and Tory (Rekha Sharma) who are still back on Earth, begin to have what they believe are memories of life on earth, and they realize that they had lived there before – before all the devastation 2,000 years prior.

Back on the Galactica, it seems that depression is setting in with the crew. Apollo and Dee seem to have a nice evening together and it appears maybe they are going to recapture their love for each other. After Adama gives a speech to all members of the fleet to help motivate them to continue on to look for a new home, tragedy strikes. Despite the fact that Dee told Apollo that their “date” was the most fun she's had in a long time, she hangs up a locket, her ring, pulls out her weapon, and shoots herself in the head. The death seems to devastate Apollo and Adama.

This causes Adama to obtain a gun from a crew member, and he takes it into see Tighe (Michael Hogan) who is drinking, just like Adama has been. Adama and Tighe argue about Tighe being a Cylon, and Adama thinks that Ellen - Tighe’s dead wife – may have realized that there was something wrong with Tighe and why she was always looking to other men. He’s clearly trying to pick a fight. But Tighe is on to Adama, and won’t use Adama’s gun the way Adama may want him to. They both end up just drinking more. But later, Adama instructs his crew to look for the closest G, F, or K-class star system nearby, and to ask the Cylons if they want to come along for the ride. He promises the fleet he will find a new home.

Back on earth, Tighe talks to D’Anna (Lucy Lawless) and she’s decided to stay on earth. Later, when Tighe walks into the water – is he going to just end it all? – he puts his hands in the water and picks up some debris. It triggers a memory of him in a suit, in an area that appears to have been bombed. In his memory, he sees Ellen lying under a pile of rubble, and back in the water, we see him groping at the water as if he is trying to dig Ellen out. But in his vision, Ellen tells him all will be OK, everything is in place, and they will be reborn together. As there is an explosion in his vision, Tighe find himself back in the water, with Tighe saying, "Ellen, you're the fifth."



I thought this was a very well crafted episode. It seemed to answer some questions, while raising a few more. If Ellen is the fifth, then what does that make Starbuck, who is alive, yet what seems to be her dead body was found in a wrecked viper? And if the other 4 are having memories of earth before the devastation, could this mean that there are more of them than the “final five” who may have been "resurrected"? Is it possible that they are all decedents of the 13th colony and they are all Cylons? Would it be odd if the people they are looking for are really themselves? Still, it is clear that some of them have been there before and may have the answers buried in the memories.

I was not surprised to see members of the fleet reflect a sense of defeat and hopelessness, but Dee’s suicide took me completely by surprise. I suppose I should have seen it coming – she was happier than she had ever been, and probably assumed that it was the best she would ever feel. With their arrival on earth a huge disappointment, her actions signaled what many in the fleet, including the leadership, was feeling – a deep sense of loss, that everything they had worked for, fought for, and died for, turned out to be dashed, with no hope remaining. Still, it almost seemed selfish of Dee to take that way out, in essence, adding to the despair of the others.

And who is – or what is – Starbuck? If that was her body in the viper, then how did she become “resurrected” and whose hands? She always felt someone was guiding them to Earth, and maybe she knows there is some power out there who is waiting in the wings – somewhere – or who is watching over them, sometimes taking a direct hand in guiding them. Somehow I think that Starbuck will have the answer to it all.

These final 10 episode are off to a great start, and I am looking forward to wherever the story will take me. Somehow, I have a sense things will end out well for them if they can just all hang in long enough. It would be a great reward for people who stuck with the series even through the bad times.



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24, Lost, Battlestar, Closer: Premiers and Restarts In January 2009

The winter doldrums, filled with reruns after reruns, will soon be over with the season premiers and season restarts of a few good shows in January. Here’s what’s coming up:



24
Sunday 8:00 PM January 11, Fox

After waiting for what seems like an eternity, the new season of 24 will get off to its official start. If you recall, we had a 2 hour “bridge” to the new season which aired on November 23 titled “Redemption” . This two hour episode was billed as a set up to the new season, but those that know better understand that it was just the discards of their failed start on the season. That two hour “bridge” episode was passable, but they were wise to change venue and move on to something more interesting. In fact, watching that two-hour episode only piqued my interest when they aired the preview of the real new season at the end.

Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) is coming back to Washington DC to face his accusers, and of course trouble ensues. A national security matter drags Jack back into the fray, and he’s shocked to find that his dead friend – who now appears undead – Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), has a hand in it. It looks interesting and may be the best show starting up in January. The season premiers on Sunday with a two hour episode, and continues in its normal day on Monday January 12 at 8:00 PM for another two hours.

24 Preview



Battlestar Galactica
Friday 10:00 PM January 16, SciFi

The crew of the Battlestar Galactica has reached earth. But the earth of when? Things look desolate and all blown to bits. Was it at the hands of earth people or someone else? What will it mean for the people of the Galactica, whose whole purpose since the first season was to reach earth and now find it desolate?

Personally, I’m glad that this will be the final run for the show. The show languished in a deep pit of depressing storylines that went nowhere for what seemed like 2-3 seasons. Now that they finally got somewhere and they’re where they wanted to be – with problems of course – hopefully they will have a big finish. Technically, this isn’t a new season; it’s billed as season 4.5, the last half of season 4. But there has been so much time between segments that it feels like a new season. Since I usually like to finish what I’ve started, I’ll see this series through to the end. But, I think I’d rather see Jamie Bamber start up his new role in the UK version of Law & Order.

BSG Preview





Lost

Wednesday 8:00 PM January 21, ABC

The Lost season premier is being billed as a three hour event , with the first hour a recap of what happened in the previous season. And I’m one of those people that will need a recap. I remember only the last bits of the final episode from last season, and if I recall correctly, the island blew up and disappeared, with some members of the group making their escape. This series has probably taken more twists and turns than any other show out there, and this has been a detriment. When the series first started it was almost fun to spot all the little embedded codes and messages that seemed to be the cornerstone of the mystery, and after a while those little things became so numerous it was burdensome to try to keep up. The flashbacks were joined by flash-forwards that made things worse. This is another series that has run its course and needs to be over. Because frankly, it lost me.


Lost Short Recap




The Closer
Monday 9:00 PM January 26, TNT

Kyra Sedgwick returns as LAPD Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, but instead of being in charge of the Priority Homicide Squad, she wrangled herself into the top spot of the newly created Major Crimes Division. This was a smart move for the series, as it will allow the team to get involved in a whole new myriad of crimes. When we last left the team, they were trying to thwart a plan to massacre hundreds of people, which gets one of their squad directly in the line of fire. I’m assuming the season premier – or shall I call it a season restart since the episode is still listed as being in season 4 - titled “Good Faith” will wrap up this story.

Brenda’s also has her wedding coming up with the woefully underutilized FBI Agent Fritz Howard (Jon Tenney), but if we know Brenda, we should expect that even the process of getting hitched won’t go off without a hitch.

The Closer is a great series with a great cast.Hopefully with their new focus of “Major Crimes” they can expand their horizons and make this good show even better.



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The Problem with The Emmys

It seems that every year, the Emmy nominations miss someone or something. This year, I think there were quite a few obvious snubs. One would think that with The Sopranos out of the picture, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences - AKA the Emmys - would have finally taken a look at some performers or shows that it overlooked in previous years during the time that they fawned over The Sopranos. But no, the Emmys still seem to have blinders on when it comes to certain performers, genres, or even networks.

Here’s who and what I think they missed.

SNUBBED!

Battlestar Galactica – Most notably, Mary McDonnell should have received a best actress nomination. Her performances as President Laura Roslin were consistently riveting. In fact, where I had previously jumped off the Battlestar Galactica train for a while, McDonnell’s performances were one of the things that drew me back in. Same for the likes of Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck) and Tricia Helfer (Six) and Edward James Olmos (Admiral Bill Adama). The Emmys doesn’t have a good feel for the sci-fi genre, and it shows by many snubs for acting and for the show itself.

SNUBBED!

Vincent D’Onofrio, Law & Order Criminal Intent – How could the Emmys ignore D’Onofrio’s nearly painful performance in the episode “Untethered”? It was one of THE most uncomfortable episodes I’ve seen on television in a while. D’Onofrio’s character Robert Goren being subjected to torture seemed very real. Sure, D’Onofrio gets panned every now and then for his overacting, but in this episode, and a few others this past season, he was able to perfectly relay the inner pain and conflict of his on-screen persona. The episode “Untethered” was almost a visible representation of his grief and turmoil that he’d faced in previous episodes. The Emmys also seem to hate Dick Wolf or the entire Law & Order franchise, which it has consistently snubbed year after year. I just don’t get it.

SNUBBED!

Robert Sean Leonard, House – Sherlock Holmes needed Dr. Watson as his sounding board, and Dr. Greg House needs Dr. Wilson for his. Likewise, part of the success of Hugh Laurie’s performances (Laurie was nominated) is the interplay between House and Dr. James Wilson. In many cases, Leonard had the better lines of the two, and he delivered them with the perfect blend of wit, disgust, concern, and annoyance. Robert Sean Leonard's Wilson is the Yin to Hugh Laurie's Dr. House Yang. OK, that sounded dirty but it's not. Leonard plays Wilson so well it almost makes one forget that it’s just a TV character that we’re watching.

SNUBBED!

CSI (the franchise) – Like Dick Wolf and Law & Order, the Emmys seem to loathe the CSI franchise. I can understand why they ignore CSI Miami. Yes, I watch the show faithfully but regular readers of my blog know that it’s more for the camp and comedy than the acting of David Caruso. But CSI and CSI NY – the latter which I am warming up to more and more – is filled with great performances by many of its lead characters. William Petersen has created such a deep, complex character in Gil Grissom, yet it seems the Emmys overlook him because Grissom is so low key and clinical. Despite the fact that Gary Dourdan is on the outs with the show, he turned in several memorable performances this past season. It seems that the Emmys don’t like procedural-type shows, but the CSI franchise has done a lot to create episodes that stay with the format but are told in creative ways. I don’t know what they expect from this show, but the millions upon millions of viewers this franchise receives can’t be wrong.

My conclusion is the Emmys are broken and they need fixing. It seems that even though the number of television shows have expanded as more cable channels develop their own offerings, the number of nominees haven’t increased proportionally. It seems wrong that, for example, that the outstanding lead actor in a drama category only has five nominees, the same as the number of nominees for movies/miniseries, the latter having far fewer in overall numbers of shows. Maybe they need to up the number to 10 nominees to give others a fighting chance, or, at least just to recognize the performance? So what if they have a bigget crowd for the Emmy dinner and show.

It would also be great if there were a way to obtain viewer input to determine nominees. For the Emmys to ignore shows that are clearly hugely popular makes the Emmys look like a bunch of elitist snobs who think the common people don’t really know what makes great television.

Bottom line: The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences are becoming less relevant to the viewing public, since they rarely represent what viewers think is the best television. For what it's worth, for those I mentioned above that were not nominated, there are many viewers out there who appreciate your efforts and our award to you is continuing to watch your shows.

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Battlestar Galactica Reveals a Big Frakkin Bummer!

All pictures from Scifi.com

I take back all the bad things I previously said about Battlestar Galactica. It seems that this season, Battlestar Galactica seems to have found its way, not just back to earth, but also to the viewers. They got back on track for their quest for earth, and spent a lot less time on the inner anguish of its key players as it did last season. It all led up to a fantastic mid-season finale.

How do I know this? I know it because SciFi’s web site is streaming the mid-season finale episode – “Revelations” - on its web site today, before it airs on their network tonight. And that’s something that a TV junkie like me really enjoys.

Last week’s episode left viewers hanging with President Roslin (Mary McDonnell), and Baltar (James Callis) and other Galactica pilots on a Cylon Base ship when the Base ship “jumps” away. D’Anna (Lucy Lawless) has been reactivated and brought to the president in the hopes she’ll reveal the final five; Baltar is injured while Roslin struggles with a confession he made, and the Base ship jumps back to an area where Adama ( Edward James Olmos) dad is waiting.

So, do you want to know what happens next? I sure did, which I why I am glued to the computer screen watching the episode. Be wary because if you're waiting until tonight to see the episode, there are big spoilers here.

In "Revelations", Apollo (Jamie Bamber) is the acting president, and D’Anna decides to hold everyone hostage on the Base ship until four of the final five are turned over to her, and she knows they are on Galactica. She also wants Adama to go to Galactica with her to get them. Meanwhile on Galactica, Gaeta (Alessandro Juliani) gets a signal that the Cylon base ship has returned to Galactica’s air space. When D’Anna and Adama arrive, Apollo is happy to see them, but some on the ship – the secret Cylons – may not be so happy. Tory - who we know is one of the final five - says she needs to go the Base ship to give Roslin her meds. Apollo is not so sure about this, but Adama sees the chance of her being a hostage not a big risk at this point.

Apollo, Adama, and Tigh (Michael Hogan) are mulling over what to do next, but it’s generally agreed that if they lose the four Cylons, they lose the Base ship and earth along with it.

Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff), Boomer (Grace Park), Apollo, Tigh and Adama discuss the next steps. Meanwhile on the Base Ship, D’Anna, who has recognized Tory (Rekha Sharma) as one of the final five, introduces her to the other Cylons. And Roslin is finishing her patch up of Baltar after almost leaving him to die in the last episode.

Tory comes in with Roslin’s meds, and say she came back to be with “her people.” Roslin is stunned, but rationally appeals to Tory to try to convince D’Anna to back down.

D’Anna tells Apollo she just executed one of the hostages and will continue to kill more if they don’t cooperate and turn over the rest of the Cylons. Apollo tells Adama to go on with the rescue mission, but if it fails, destroy the Base ship. In the ship’s bay, Tyrol (Aaron Douglas) is hearing loud buzzing/humming noises, and so do Tigh and Anders (Michael Trucco) . Tory also hears the noise on the base star.

Tyrol, Tigh, and Anders converge on the viper that Kara flew on her alleged trip to earth and think a clue to Earth or the answer is there. Tigh then goes to Adama and tells him to scrub the rescue mission, and when Adama asks for options, Tigh tells him that the music he heard long ago was a signal – a Cylon signal – that switched him on and he can’t turn it off. He says he’s one of the five. Adama objects, “Quit frakkin with me.” Since he’s known Tigh for so long, after all, Tigh has aged and Cylons don’t. Adama thinks Tigh is deluded, maybe from a chip implanted in his head when he was held captive. Tigh seems to think that D’Anna will back down if Adama threatens to eject Tigh out of an airlock.

As Tigh is being led away, Adama has a major meltdown in his office, full of drink and destruction. Apollo comes to help and console him, telling him NO ONE suspected Tigh. Apollo tells Adama to pull it together, but also says he’ll take care of it. His "taking care of it" is to punch Tigh, and demands to know the identity of the others. D'Anna’s call interrupts him, telling him he’s running out of time. He counters by telling her that he’s going to flush Tigh out the launch tube. Apparently Tigh tells Apollo the identity of the others, as the military come to get Tyrol and Anders. Anders tells Kara it’s true, but also tells her to keep checking that viper to find something to help them find Earth. Tigh, Anders, and Tyrol are joined together in the launch tube, and Apollo asks for the Base ship on line. Meanwhile, Kara continues checking out the viper, looking for something, some clue, anything that would help them find Earth.

Roslin is told D'Anna is going to execute more hostages, but Baltar says he’s the one to go to her to try to talk her out of it. D’Anna wants to use the Base ship nukes to help “convince” Apollo. But Baltar presses the point that Apollo is not one to be toyed with. Apollo clears the tube of everyone but Tigh. Baltar continues to work on D’Anna to no avail, she’s determined to use the nukes. Apollo also has his hand on the air lock key, but Starbuck runs in and stops him from going through with opening the air lock, saying that the three Cylons just gave them earth.

Starbuck shows Apollo the signal she found on the viper, but Apollo is skeptical that this leads to Earth, and also doubts Starbuck’s feeling that a higher power is orchestrating this whole thing.

In a show of trust, Apollo brings over D’Anna and shares the information with her. Apollo reminds D’Anna all the 4 have been granted amnesty and they can stay or go – but where does everyone go from here? She agrees to release the crew, and they will all go to Earth together.

Apollo has the projected course, and asks Adama for orders to take them to their new home. But Adama is still not sure of himself and Roslin presses him. This is it – she says – it’s everything they’ve been working for. She wants to see him pick up that first fistful of earth. As Adama walks away, Apollo tells Roslin he’s had the shortest presidency ever, but she reminds him of how he is still needed. When Adama comes back, he seems to have a new resolve to make things work, and decides to go ahead and “roll the hard six” and all go together as fast as they can to the Earth coordinates.
So, as Roslin gives the order, the ships in the fleet jump to what they hope are the coordinates for Earth. And, as everyone arrives at the destination it looks like they HAVE arrived on Earth.


Adama addresses the fleet, and says they journey is at end and they have arrived at earth. There is much celebrating, everyone doing so in his or her own way.


The joy ends, though, as we see Adama grab a handful of earth on Earth…it looks black and lifeless. As the view widens, it appears that the Earth to which they have arrived is one that looks like it has been completely obliterated of all life. It appears there was a large city, now there are only the remains of twisted metal.
Major bummer.

Seriously though, this episode took all the past season of this series, and, while spending a season or so in the doldrums, have now really cranked things up a notch. Yes, they got to Earth – but the Earth of what time? It appears to be in our future – but is it also Galactica’s future as well? Was there a time component missing from those precious coordinates? Or, has so much time passed from when Galactica founding tribes went off and found Earth that we here on Earth have just blown it all to hell?

I had almost given up on this series with last season, and was somewhat skeptical as this season started out. But, they seems to have gotten themselves in gear, and realizing that the end was near for the series, decided to finally bring some closure to the Earth issue and the issue of conflict with the Cylons. Or – has another door just been opened and will there be new conflict and new challenges? Either way, I am now back on the Battlestar Galactica love train, and am really looking forward to the finish of this season. And I’m very happy with these “Revelations”



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Battlestar Galactica Returns April 4

Image from Sci-Fi

Science fiction fans probably already have their calendars marked for April 4, 2008, which is the date for the return of the reportedly final season of Battlestar Galactica.

I’m happy about both – the return AND the final season.

Why? Well, I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with this show. I really enjoyed that they took a campy, cheesy late 1970s science fiction TV show and turned it into something much deeper and much more intense. The current version is somehow darker and more desperate. Unfortunately, that’s also the part of the show I have grown to dislike. It seems to wallow in its own darkness, with story lines that sometimes drag so deep into despair that it ceases to become even remotely entertaining on any level.

There were some episodes in the last seasons where the storylines wasted too much time on individual characters. It seems that they sacrificed the story of their desire to get to earth by dwelling too much on the crew’s inner turmoil. I don’t mind shows that make you think or reflect, but I don’t like shows where the angst is so oppressive that you feel like you’re being slowly strangled while watching.

The low point of the series, I thought, was “Fat Apollo” – which is how Jamie Bamber refers to himself in the role. Of course, the normal svelte Bamber was wearing what they call a “fat suit,” but that still didn’t make it any better. Maybe because it seemed obvious it was a fat suit? Yes I understand the whole purpose of the storyline, which seemed to indicate Apollo had given up in more ways than one. Still, I thought it was a storyline that could have been best avoided.

It also seems like that the show became overly cerebral and almost devoid of action. The series initially appealed to me because of its action and clearly improved special effects from the 1970’s version, but then the series just seemed to slide helplessly into a mass of darkness and confusion.
So I will be watching when the season premiers on April 4, but not really because I want to. I feel like I have to. I’m hoping this final season will bring some closure to a series that started off so well.

By the way, the April 4 epsiode summary is below, along with a promo and interview:

He That Believeth in Me
Season 4 picks up where the third-season finale left off, with Starbuck's mysterious return unhinging the Galactica crew in the middle of a Cylon attack. Meanwhile, Anders enters the space melee and has a surprising standoff with a Cylon raider.



Short Promo Preview



Preview and Interviews (From Hypaspace)




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