I’m working my way through the DVD of s2 of Battlestar: Galactica, and what strikes me, as it did the first time I watched it, is the wonderful relationship between the leaders of the military and civilian populations, Commander Bill Adama and President Laura Roslin respectively.

They’ve locked horns several times over who has jurisdiction over what, especially in time of war. At one point, Adama sacked Roslin and threw her in the brig, which led to Roslin escaping and denouncing … READ MORE

When I watched the season two episode of Battlestar: Galactica, Pegusus, my first reaction was that they’d finally jumped the shark. A year and a half of excellent storylines for women, and they blew it with Admiral Kane, who perfectly fit the stereotype of the female leader who is completely heartless. She abandoned her civilian fleet to human-hating androids because they slowed her military down, but before she did that, she took whatever civilians - doctors, engineers, etc - she … READ MORE

Ha, knew that would get your attention. The season two episode The Final Cut follows a filmmaking crew traipsing around the Galactica, shooting a documentary. At one point, they end up in the officer’s locker room, with Apollo (Jamie Bamber) clad in a towel which slowly slips down, first to reveal a thigh, then to be clutched precariously at the centre of his abdomen. At this point, I was leaning forward, mouth agape, praying for the towel to fall. I … READ MORE

There’s a scene from Shallow Hal (before the place where I walked out of a friend’s home because I found the movie so appalling I couldn’t sit through it) where Hal goes into a restaurant with an absurdly fat girl whom he sees as traditional heroin-chic skinny due to some magical maneovering earlier in the movie.  They sit down and she orders an ordinary or perhaps over large meal - cheeseburgers or some such.  His eyes grow approvingly wide, and he congratulates … READ MORE

The Battlestar: Galactica episode Home, Pt I showed me how easy it is to portray women as competent leaders in crappy circumstances - as easy as it is to do the same men. I need go to further in comparison then Sam Carter in Gemini.

In Gemini, Carter comes across her Replicator (evil robotic replicating devices) clone, dubbed by fans as RepliCarter. RepliCarter promises all sorts of pretty vague things, so long as the they help her. Against better judgement, Carter … READ MORE

An s2 episode of Battlestar:Galactica, The Farm, got me thinking, and here’s why:

Our heroine, Starbuck, has got herself stuck on a foreign planet. Using her resources, she meets with a group of renegades, only to be taken in battle by what appear to be a kindly hospital team operating on what resources they have.

At one point, a doctor points out that, given the population is at a critical low, the most pressing need is young females with working uterusus.

To which … READ MORE

I’ve been procrastinating a post on Battlestar Galactica’s Starbuck for a few weeks now, but given the most recent episode (the shock of which I will attempt to leave unspoiled in this post), it seems that this is the time to actually write it.

Scarlett wrote some great posts a while ago about the women of Battlestar Galactica, including one on this very controversial character. At the time, the most controversial aspect of her personality was the … READ MORE

Six is a Cylon who mainly exists in the head of Gaius Baltar, the man partly responsible for the annihilation of his civilisation because he was too arrogant to stop thinking with his penis and start thinking with his brain. She’s beautiful, manipulative and brilliant, with a strong sense of spirituality which is fascinating, given she’s little more then a robot.

Six primarily exists to seduce and destroy. She attaches herself to Gaius and uses him to access vital technology to … READ MORE

Laura Roslin inherited the presidency of the twelve colonies because she was the highest-ranking member of parliament to survive the attacks on the colonies - at #42. Understandably, with little experience in politics, there are many within the fleet - especially within its military arm - who are wary of being led by someone who some refer to as a glorified schoolteacher (she’s the Secretary of Education.) If that wasn’t bad enough, she’s battling cancer and suffering hallucinations from the … READ MORE

Sharon Valerii, aka Boomer, is a fascinating character because she plays so many variations of herself. There are two main Valeriis in season one - the one on Galactica who has no idea she’s a Cylon and struggles with Cylon instincts, and the one on Caprica who knows she’s a Cylon but struggles with human emotion.

Boomer is a competent pilot who’s judgement is clouded because of her involvement with a senior officer, Tyrol. When a commanding officer to both of … READ MORE