Oh yeah, baby, only a day and some change until Battlestar Galactica is back. I thought I’d take a quick moment, after rewatching the first ten episodes of Season 4, to remind everyone just why this return is so anticipated.

1. I tweeted this yesterday during my marathon, “I had forgotten, but more happens in the teaser of BSG than in most hour long shows!” The teaser, or the section before the opening credits run, is usually used by hour long dramas to set a basic mystery, or specifically on cop shows to show the initial death (and allow for a cheesy line to be spouted out by the star). The shear amount of content in the opening sequence of BSG is incredible, with often real, major plot points happening in those first 3-8 minutes. It’s unique to the show, and amazing.
2. The Mystery of the final Cylon. There have been clues, but this show has also been known for its misdirection. Is it all some higher metaphor? Is one of the five one of the “human” crew members? Is it an “original” of one of the other models? Is it humanity as a whole? There are about 10,000 theories out there, so one of them is bound to be right, but then, I’ve been surprised.
3. The cast of this show is one of the best ever assembled on television. There are beautiful people, seasoned veterans, character actors, and leading men. They have such a real chemistry together, you truly believe that these leaders of the last bastion of humanity are a family in the strongest sense of the word.
4. It makes me so happy. The triumphs on the show have become few and far between, but oh, what triumphs they are. The moments of joy are unmatched and lend the sense of excitement and accomplishment that the characters feel straight to the audience. At these moments, it’s like being a member of the crew, in a way that no other show can match.
5. It makes me so sad. This may seem like a strange thing to love about a show, but it just helps define this program as the real deal. It’s not all sunshine and lollipops, but the down moments aren’t necessarily frustrating, and they always mean something. The final scene of episode 4.10 was one of the most heartbreaking moments not just in TV but in greater entertainment media, especially in genre stories. To go from such highs to such lows in a split second like that perfectly captures one of the most difficult and most real parts of the human condition.

It all kicks off again tomorrow night at 10/9C, and I’ll be counting down the moments. These are just the top five things I love about the show. Care to share some of yours?

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