There aren't a lot of shows gutsy enough or good enough to pull off a promo image like this one, just like there isn't a lot of TV to make the TV snob in me admit that sometimes the best stuff you'll find is on the small screen.
I never got into Lost. I haven't seen a single episode of Dexter or Breaking Bad or any of the other quality TV that my friends insist that I'd like. Battlestar Galactica was one of the few TV shows that has ever had me watching the days of the week, waiting for the next episode to grab my by the throat and shove me back down into the black hole of its intense mixture of political factions, religious ideology clashes and modern-day War on Terror allegory all set amid humanity's desperate fight to survive a war against the machines we created.
One of the first things I noticed about the show were the production values. Interior sets are detailed and thoroughly convincing, especially the Galactica herself as a museum piece brought out of our 1970s and into a war in which she's hopelessly outmatched. Sound is also terrifically done, from the ambient noise of any setting to the tension-heightening crackling radio transmissions during battle. The space combat is fast and well choreographed so that you always have a sense of what is happening in a dogfight instead of taking a shortcut and faking tension with confusing jump cuts or disorienting pans. It seems trivial until you see it done right; then it makes all the difference for action scenes, and it also helps that the series appears shot on film stock that you'd expect to see in a movie theater.
It's hard to think of another dramatic series as well written as BSG and it earned a score of Emmy nominations and critical acclaim for intelligent, intense writing that often was influenced by the events of the Iraq war as they unfolded and the social commentary the war created. Often you'll find good actors and good performances ruined by poor dialog, but BSG manages the near-impossible: intelligent, convincing dialog good enough to overcome very mediocre acting of some key characters. Katee Sackhoff (Kara Thrace/Starbuck) and Jamie Bamber (Lee Adama) are dead center in the series but their earnestness is usually over the top and their quiet scenes are frequently vacant and delivered flat. It's far less likely to find them cast in the next Spielberg film than it is to find them in the next average TV show that I'll hate. However, Sackhoff has a strong final season and at times truly shines in key scenes.
In contrast, Edward James Olmos as Admiral William Adama is frakking brilliant, as is Michael Hogan as Colonel Saul Tigh. Adama seems to hold his ship and the few tens of thousands remaining of all humanity together by sheer force of will while Tigh manages to be the best gods damned commander you'd ever follow into battle while at the same time watching his self-destructive tendencies threaten to take him apart at the end of each shift.
And here it is: Characters. Even the annoying ones have truly endearing qualities and even endearing characters will annoy you with their sheer human-ness...or Cylon-ness. Despite uneven acting, Battlestar Galactica pulls off engaging drama because even when you want to throttle the characters for being who they are, you still cheer for them and want to see where and how their role in this grand plan will be decided. They suffer greatly and triumph rarely, and in that they manage to drag us along with them.
As far as scifi dramas go you won't find anything as gritty as BSG and it earns its edginess without cheap violence or unearned plot twists. There's intense action, believable human drama, intriguing Cylon drama, a dash of semi-supernatural mystery and some way cool space dogfighting. There aren't a lot of TV shows or movies that I can remember that had me realize I was curled up in my chair with my knees drawn to my chest and holding my breath like I found myself during season four.
And about the series ending that had BSG fans debating and arguing all over the Interwebs the moment it was all over?
Don't worry. It's perfect.
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