BSG: Season 2 review

The second season got to a bit of a rocky start with changes to the opening and the need to resolve prior storylines. There was some good and some bad there. A number of things happened in season 2. While Season one can generally be summed up: Sharon's a Cylon, they find Kobol; it's not so easy for this one. The introduction of Pegasus was a good way to reference the original show, though it went in a completely different direction. 

I simply do not understand what Baltar and Six's involvement was ever going to be regarding the baby. He was never going to raise it. And what would be gained if he did? 

Some of the mythology was cleared up, while other bits became more muddled. I'm not sure I ever know where the show is going anymore. A number of new Cylon models were introduced. We also had some good guest stars appearing.

Bad Caprica Shannon was bad, then became good, then started going bad again. Meanwhile Good Galactica Boomer went from good to bad, then started going good again.

I don't know that the show really knew where it was going all the time this season. After the Caprica story was resolved, they seemed to want to continue swapping between locations. The new location became the Pegasus. Some episodes mid-season suffered from trying to be too much inside the fleet. And now the new location is New Caprica. The over-reliance on Cloud Nine, and never the lush garden spot parts we saw last season, became a problem. The show at its most confused was set here, and I think it was a message from the writers when they blew up the ship at the end of this season. They know it didn't work, and they won't have that crutch now.

I was unhappy with the way some of the threads were resolved (her cancer), and others were a bit dropped. We saw more supporting characters come to the front. There was too much jumping ahead in time. Suddenly it was a month later. Then it was three months later. Then it was a whole year later.

Bits of the New Caprica settlement are interesting, but I'm not sure it works. This sort of thing is very hard to pull off. Lost does it reasonably well, but even they have hiccups. And I still haven't forgiven Lost for its "two islands" development. Desperate Housewives jumped ahead five years. So BSG isn't alone, but it was one of the earlier shows of the bunch to do it. It doesn't feel like a move that matters. It feels like one of those Simpsons episodes where everyone is in the future. It annoys me in the same way that 24 annoyed me by starting season 3 a full three years later, ignoring the cliffhanger at the end of season 2. I think what bothers me most about it is that it took the Cylons a year to find them. I just don't believe that. And aren't there still Cylons among them? Where are they? Who are they? If we had jumped ahead and found the Cylons already in charge, I might have believed it. The move seems like a way to quickly create new story threads and divorce themselves from prior ones. Honestly, it's a Galactica 1980 move. Give everyone a mustache and say it's the future!

Season two had some ups and some downs. Despite some very good elements in season two, I think I much prefer season one. The show seems to be losing its way. I started my BSG viewing in season three, and it turned me off the show. Will I still feel that way? I'm not looking forward to finding out. 

Best episodes: Flight of the Phoenix, Fragged, Pegasus

Worst episodes: Black Market, The Farm