Battlestar Galactica is one of the best shows currently on television.  Much like other recent, popular TV series, BG is a continual story connected with consecutive episodes.  It is not a plot you can jump into midway; you have to start with the pilot and watch the show sequentially.

Galactica has introduced a number of plot and characters over its three and a half seasons.  Soon, season 4 will resume on January 16th from its mid-season hiatus.  These final episodes will conclude the story started back in 2003 with the relaunch of the show.

The Galactica relaunch was pitched shortly after the 9/11 attack.  The original show was about a small fleet of human ships on the run from a robot army.  The dark re-envisioning set-up humanity’s destruction and their exodus.  The cast is constantly in flux, growing and evolving new characters while others meet an untimely end.  They, too, are re-imagined versions of the original’s cast.  The playboy Starbuck is now a woman, and Admiral Adama is far more militaristic.

The Robotic Cylons now include human looking terrorists amongst their ranks.  These spies present scenarios where one might consider the strict security of a military rule.  The paranoia and desperation of the humans despritely try to survive is well portrayed.  Admiral Adama comes across as a good man, even if his methods sometimes anger the civilian government.  Conflict between humans is as common as against their android enemy.

The plot is full of mystery and twists.  Red herrings are common and help keep the show from becoming predictable while still presenting new information.  This helps keep the show from wandering and becoming ‘lost,’ but without constantly leading the audience with simple clues.  It’s often frustrating to see a character or show continue confused after the reveal is made obvious; BG is rarely predictable.

There is very little negative to say about Galactica, other than spoilers.  Spoilers easily ruin entire seasons of build up for Galactica.  As I mentioned above, BG is hard to predict not because you can’t guess what may happen next, but because so many different things could happen next that can’t all be true at once.  The show leads you down several mutually exclusive paths and picking the correct one is difficult.  If, however, you knew the outcome would be a certain way, the show would lose tension.

Battlestar Galactica may soon be wrapping up, but it is not too late to enjoy this great show.  Avoid commercials, sit down, and watch through the previous seasons on DVD.