Saying Goodbye to Battlestar Galactica

Tonight, the series finale of the smartest show on television aired, Battlestar Galactica. It's not a show I talk about much, and it took the season 1 set of DVDs to get me hooked in, but after watching that first season of mayhem I was instantly hooked.

The show was a re-imagined version of its 1978 counterpart. It takes place in a far off universe where society lives amongst twelve colonies. After an attack by a robotic race known as the Cylons, created by the humans themselves, the people were forced to board any spaceship available. The main set piece being the Battlestar Galactica, run by their military leader Commander Adama (Edward James Olmos).

The show was definitely a hard sell. It aired on the Sci-fi network, a channel that most aren't even aware of, and at first glance looks like any other sci-fi show; space funerals, unknown technology, awkward languages, and so on. But the show rose high above everyones expectations, and quickly gained critical acclaim among many mainstream publications (ala TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, etc).

The reason for its fame being the incredible crew behind it. Created and developed by David Eick and Ronald D. Moore, the show took on so many themes on such vastly deep levels. They dealt with maturity, love, race, humanity, politics, the struggle of society, and that's just the beginning. The way they integrated all of these themes into this universe was truly masterful. Supported by a stellar cast, featuring Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, and so many more, you instantly found a piece of yourself in all of these characters; witnessing their many triumphs as well as their unique personal flaws.


This show first aired around 2003, a time when my love for television really began with shows like Lost, House, Grey's and so on. It's really something else to follow a show from beginning to end. I got to follow the lives of these characters for five years, watching their individual struggles take place, and then to witness their last moments on screen, truly remarkable.

I remember going to Comic Con year after year, attending the Battlestar panels, being surrounded by so many dedicated fans, who also fell in love with the characters and the brilliant storytelling. This is why I love television, and why I want to be a part of something as epic as this. A combination of magnificent storytelling, the unity of an enormous crew all working for the same goal, and the adoration of so many people worldwide, really what more could you ask for. So to everyone involved in the creation of Battlestar Galactica, I congratulate you on a job well done, and I look forward to seeing more work like this in the future. A piece like this will go down in television history as one of the most emotionally powerful artistic works ever created, so as I raise my glass, I'm sure many will join me in saying, "so say we all."