It's Like "Dynasty" in Space

Have you seen the revamp of, "Battlestar Galactica?" You haven't? Oh, you really must, but let me warn you, your life could turn out like this (thank you, "Portlandia," which you should also watch):



My hubby is a longtime sci-fi fan, and I am not. I have found occasional faves within sci-fi and fantasy, but in general I don't enjoy it. This dislike can be boiled down pretty simply into one idea:

Futuristic, sci-fi, fantasy worlds lack green grass, plants and trees. Living in these worlds would be a complete nightmare. Why spend more time than you need to contemplating them?

Okay, I know that is an overgeneralization, but think about it! It is often true, even with great stories. I like the movie, "Blade Runner" as much as the next gal, but how much time are those folks in a peaceful park? That's right, they are never in a peaceful park.

It has never ceased to amaze me that some of my most granola-crunchy, outdoorsy, "let's go for a six-hour hike" friends can spend hours devouring nature-less sci-fi novels, while I, a girl who is not afraid to say hates camping and considers a great outdoors day one in which I spend time in a climate-controlled environment with views of pretty scenery from big windows, can't tolerate the lack of nature for more than twenty-five pages.

The sci-fi books and movies that I love usually involve some sort of mystery---my favorite genre, by far---so I forgive them the grasslessness and go with the intrigue. That said, when "Battlestar" started years ago, I watched it with Mike, because---truth be told---over the years he has faithfully committed to learning to like my faves, like mysteries, crime stories, comedies, and period dramas, and I needed to throw him a bone. Had I realized that, in fact, this was going to be one of the most amazingly intriguing mysteries I had ever watched within the first five minutes of the show, I would have run to the couch and prepared for my eyes to happily glaze over.

You see, without giving much away to spoil the fun, the main gist of "Battlestar" is that, among the main characters, some are not human, but are actually cylons---robots created by man who, of course, became too powerful and rebelled against their creators---hidden in plain sight. That's good stuff, and along with smart storylines each week, the question of "Who could it be?" kept that show fascinating right to the end.

About a season and a half in to "Battlestar Galactica," I turned to Mike and said,

"You realize this is a soap opera, right? This is like 'Dynasty' in space. Guessing who is a cylon is a lot like trying to figure out who has an evil twin sister, or a nefarious secret past. This is really a chic show on spaceships."

Gulp. Blink. Gulp-again. He knew it was true.

Of course, chic-show, guy-show---what does any of that mean, anyway? Good writing is good writing. We hunkered in and watched that series through to the end, and even well after it had concluded have had endless discussions about it---what we would have changed, what made sense and didn't make sense, etc..

Fast forward to last year and our new obsession: "Downtown Abbey." Wait, you haven't seen that, either? Okay, the minute you finish this blog, please go directly to the PBS website and catch up on last season, so you can catch up with this season---you'll be busy for about 24 hours, so make no plans until tomorrow. Maggie Smith, alone, makes this series worth watching, but the whole thing is brilliant.

Mike and I love it, and often spontaneously exclaim (much like the characters in the "Battlestar" skit on "Portlandia,") "This is so good!" while watching it. At one point, mid-season last year, Mike turned to me and said, "I can't believe I like a show like this so much." His meaning? Likely that it was too many corsets and not enough spaceships for his usual taste. My response:

"Honey, this is just like 'Battlestar Galactica' in fancy dress at an English manor with upper-class and servant-class drama."

Guess what? "Downton Abbey" is not just for the ladies.

So, word of warning: if you catch up on our latest fave, and come to our house to watch it (all our welcome!), please be aware, you might here us say things like this:

"Thomas and Mrs. O'Brien are definitely cylons."