Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome Webisodes

I'm a huge fan of the revamped Battlestar Galactica series from SciFi so I was very excited when I heard about the new prequel series being released online. It follows a young Adama on his very first mission as a pilot. It's very good. Four of the 10 episodes have been released thus far and two more come out on November 23rd. I can't wait! Check out the first episode: 

Geek Gear: Cyclon Target Practice

Cyclon Centurion

Prepare for the coming of the machines with this Cyclon target! Recently these targets have started coming in a wide variety of fantasy themes from Zombies to Lizardmen so why not Cylons? After all, this was the same image used on targets in Battlestar Galactica and it has been reproduced as precisely screen-accurate!

Notice the size of the paper - that's not just a picture taken at an angle. The actual paper is the same trapezoidal shape as all of the paper from Battlestar Galactica! How cool is that?

Geek Gear: Evolution of a Cylon Poster

That last evolutionary jump was the biggest and most important one.

I don't think this one needs a whole lot of explanation. Funny and smart and for any fan of Battlestar Galactica. 

My Battlestar Galactica Summer (2010)

The summer of 2010, I watched the 2003 Sci-Fi (or SyFy *shudder*) Battlestar Galactica television show at the prompting of my friend, Bill. That is, I watched ALL of it. The miniseries. All four (or six, depending on how you count) seasons totally about 75 episodes. The movies, The Plan and Razor. And the multiple series of webisodes still available online. I watched it all. In one summer. If you do the math, I watched about an hour a day on average.

As you can guess, I was instantly hooked. What a FANTASTIC show. I can't recommend it highly enough to any fan of science fiction.

Better than Star Wars?

It's action packed. As you're watching, you never get the feeling that these characters as "safe" because in some metacognitive way you realize that they're the main characters and they can't die. It's got you on the edge of your seat the entire time. What's going to happen next? You just have to check out the next episode to find out. I was glad I didn't have to wait to find out because that would have been torture! There are quite a few ninety degree turns in which the show goes in a completely new direction out of the blue. They always kept it fresh.

It's gritty and mature. Star Wars and Star Trek are both very sanitized worlds - Star Wars is meant to be accessible to children and Star Trek represents a Utopian society. No so in BGS. The "heroes" are often forced into choosing between the lesser of two evils. Sometimes well meaning characters come into conflict with one another when they're both trying to do the right thing. The characters swear, drink, and, well, frak. Quite a lot of fracking, actually.

And last but not least, the characters. FANTASTIC characters brought to life by a fabulous cast. In numerous flashbacks, these characters (and there complex interrelationships) are detailed. Every character is distinct and unique. The cast is quite large (20 or so primary characters) and throughout the series characters that first appeared in the background become quite significant.

Some fans have expressed disappointment at the series finale but I thought it was a fitting end to the series. Perhaps my perspective is different than fans who watched it live on television, but I loved Battlestar Galactica from beginning to end. The only problem? The series is so great, no matter how hard you try your BSG role playing game will never be as cool.

1LR Review: 18 out of 20 - It's a Solid Hit!