The first season of BSG was a spectacularly refreshing take on sci-fi on TV--heck, TV in general--and I was left feeling awed by the writing and vision of the show, a feeling I'd not had since the second season of Babylon 5.
Would the second season of BSG live up to my hopes? Yes and no. Season 2 was seven episodes longer, and the additional work required to write these extra episodes was apparent in a drop in overall writing quality. Yes, there were real gems like 'Pegasus', 'Downloaded' and 'Lay Down your Burdens Pt II', but they were offset by the dreck that was 'Black Market', and other disappointments like 'Home Pt I', 'Fragged' and 'Resistance'. Looking back on what I enjoyed and what I didn't, it becomes evident that the first half of the season was slow to find its stride--in fact, I wasn't truly engaged until 'Final Cut' and 'Pegasus', episodes 208 and 210.
Then there was the mid-season break--after having gotten left with the cliffhanger standoff between Galactica and Pegasus at the end of 210, it was months before that story-line would be resolved. However, I was not--unlike many other fans--disappointed with either parts of 'Resurrection Ship' and for me this signaled a significant upswing in writing and better yet, it seemed that Moore's interest in producing good, rather than 'common' television had returned.
While 'Epiphanies' wasn't my cup of tea, it was required to resolve the President's cancer. The less said about the filler episode called 'Black Market' the better. From there, the season didn't have a miss IMHO. From the enjoyable 'Top Gun' in space episode 'Scar' to Billy's death in 'Sacrifice' and The Beast claiming yet another CO, right into the Cylon POV in 'Downloaded' and culminating in LDYB, where in the second part the entire series changes, leaving us breathless and wondering "What the Frack now?!?"
It's been a great ride from 210 onward, and I'm waiting with bated breath for Season 3 to start in October. BSG's failures in Season 2 can be attributed I think to trying to be more 'conventional' television that it should be. The show is about breaking eggs, and dragging the audience kicking and screaming into the 'realism' presented by the genocide of an entire people and how the survivors deal with that.
My advice to Ron Moore is to focus on what made BSG the mini-series and Season 1 great--real characters, realistic situations and an uncompromising desire to tell the story how it needs to be told, no matter what conventional TV wisdom says.
Until October, I guess I left to build models, and listen to Resurrection Ship from the album "Battlestar Galactica Season Two" by Bear McReady for my BSG fix.
Cheers,
Sean
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