In honor of the premier of the fourth and final season of the best sci-fi reimagining the world’s ever seen, I’m going to geek the fuck out today and do nothing but talk about Battlestar Galactica until the credits roll at about 10:59pm this evening. That’s how I roll.
So let’s get the geek love started. Without further ado, I give you The Five Best Characters on Battlestar Galactica. If your list is different, you’re clearly so very very stoopid.
Oh, and clearly there will be some spoilers below. If you’re not caught up through the end of season three, proceed with caution.
1. Admiral Bill Adama.
No question about this one. Without Edward James Olmos’s Colonial Big Wig at the conn, the whole show would have collapsed in on itself before the end of the original miniseries.
2. Chief Tyrol.
Great to see a fat knuckle-dragger in an important role, and another example of that gritty realism that makes BSG fans all tingly.
Most sci-fi tends to focus on the sexier roles, the officers running the ships and flying the planes, while the enlisted people are little more than extras. Like how soap operas always focus on the rich, and the doctors, and the cops.
Not so with BSG. Shit’s dirty and used, and the writers give lots of love to the people who make the ship run. Part of what gives the show that edgy/realistic aspect.
And Chief’s a true man of the people*. When conditions go to shit on the refining ship, who stands up to Adama and Roslin (and does time in the brig for his efforts)? Damn straight.
*Except, of course, that we now know he’s not a “man” after all…
3.Colonel Saul Tigh.
I already know at least one person who disagrees with me on this one, but Colonel Tigh just plain kicks ass.
He’s a take-no-shit, take-no-prisoners company man to the core, willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish the mission. Suicide bombers? Fo shizzle. Killing his own wife when she collaborates with the enemy? Damn straight. Refusing to talk even after the Cylons pop out his eye? Fuck ya.
Sure, the man has a wee bit of a drinking problem. And maybe he’s a little bit assish at times. But if you ever end up living for months in enemy territory, is there anybody else you’d rather have on your side?
4. Dr. Gaius Baltar
Oh, Baltar. You handed your people over to the Cylons, resulting in the deaths of billions. And for what? So you can get a little piece of Number Six ass?
Still, though, the narcissistic doctor/traitor/vice president/president/traitorous coward/love machine that is Baltar is one of my favorites. I love hating him. This is one of those cases where the new BSG beats the felgercarb out of its old skool counterpart.
5. The Brother Cavil skinjobs
Hard a hard time picking just one person to round out the list. I dig Helo, for instance, and Tom Zarek (with bonus points for the fact that he’s played by Richard Hatch, the dude who played Apollo on the original version).
But the Brother Cavil cylons win the tie-breaker due to the simple fact that I heart Dean Stockwell. Are you going to tell me that a guy who’s creds include Dune
Admittedly, Cavil almost fell off the list for getting groiny with Colonel Tigh’s wife on New Caprica, but one of my favorite things about BSG is that everybody has their faults.
And if he gets some incurable rash or his synthetic willy falls off as a result, he’s just a bullet away from a new body.
