Mysterious glowing cradles

Finished watching the first season of Battlestar Galactica yesterday (I keep on top of the latest trends) and figured this would be a good a time as any to give a little rundown of the reasons why I enjoy it so. Besides sexy robots of course.

It's post-apocalyptic
The premise is that mankind has been reduced to some 40,000 in number, fleeing for their lives through space from an enemy (the cylons) they themselves created. You want a planet nuked, take Caprica -- where some are left behind. One scene that sticks out is when Boomer and Helio are forced to land and then hold the refugees off at gunpoint. And one of the crew members makes the sacrifice to stay behind and save one of the great human minds, who just happens to be the next reason this show rules.

Gaius Baltar
Oh this little bastard. It's hard to decide what his deal is. On one hand, he pretty much caused the death of the human race. On the other hand, he amuses me. His relationship with a cylon is hilariously ambiguous. Is what he sees generated by his subconscious, or did they plant a chip in his brain? I think the idea that he killed the human race made him crazy, enabling him to have invisible air-sex with a robot who nobody else can see. That probably only makes sense if you watch the show. Watch him uncomfortably squirm out of situations!

Religion

One of the biggest parts of the series, it is a major part of the plot (the search for mythical earth). The president has visions that were predicted in religious texts. It's also interesting that the cylons believe in the "one true god" while humans are polytheistic -- thus the cylons religion is far closer to those prevalent in the real world today.

The nature of humanity/ethical questions
In one episode, the humans capture a cylon and torture the shit out of it. Is it OK because its only a cylon? Answer: Probably, that cylon model is a jerk. This is just one example. There's another subplot with a terrorist who is running for president and all kinds of other plotlines that deal with complex ethical issues and the nature of man in space. No moreso is this true than when Adama stages a military coup and takes the president into custody in the final episode of season one. Speaking of which:

Edward James Almos
His gravelly-voiced Commander Adama is one of the most well-developed characters on television, if not this show. That is to say, there are tons of well-developed characters throughout the show, including women!

Green Booze
Everybody gets periodically shit-faced on something called Ambrosia, especially Colonel Tigh when he has a cup in his hand.

The use of the word frak
It's like some new f word or something.


Cliffhangers
The plot is full of them. The bonus to watching this series on DVD after the fact is you don't have to wait through commercial breaks, or weeks between episodes, or months between seasons. I anxiously await the arrival of season two in my mailbox.


That's about all I can come up with right now, cause I am distracted by the thoughts of sweet cylon love.