TV: The Weekend in Sci-Fi

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


mojo-photo-battlelogo.gifmojo-photo-torchlogo.gifIf you were out and about this weekend and noticed a lower ratio of geeks hanging around than usual, there were two reasons why: the season premier of Battlestar Galactica on Sci-Fi Friday, and a hyped episode of Torchwood on BBC America Saturday, its third-to-the-last before the season finale. So, how were they, and was there any significant political/religious allegory or sexual identity boundary breaking, respectively?

After the jump: flying away from Earth makes my head hurt, and seeing it burned to a crisp makes me holler.

mojo-photo-battlesupper.jpg

Much of Galactica‘s appeal has been its eyebrow-raising political symbolism; they famously seemed to identify with Iraqi insurgents in the third season, for instance. So for those of us who found that aspect of the show more intriguing than the mystical mumbo-jumbo, this episode was a bit of a disappointment. The major development—the unexpected return of Starbuck (after clearly dying last season) in a spotless ship and claiming a miraculous sighting of Earth—is way off in la la land; throw in President Roslin’s apparent headache premonition of a Cylon attack, moments before it happened, and Baltar’s coven of “one-god” lovelies, and you’ve got an episode full of The Magical and Unexplained. However, it’s worth remembering that the first series was apparently a thinly-veiled reimagining of the story of Mormonism (the Galactica home world of Kobol a reference to the Mormon Kolob), so there may be intriguing references to real-world religion here, something they make explicit with the Last Supper-referencing photo on the Sci-Fi home page (see above). Is Starbuck like a space-age Joseph Smith Jr., trying to bring her lost tribe to a promised land? The Cylon thing is also a little obtuse: four characters, who have apparently lived full lives among humans, turn out to be secret Cylons, despite the fact that, well, they hate Cylons, and now they’re worried they might be “switched on” at any minute to wreak havoc amongst their friends—what’s that a metaphor for? “All will be revealed,” say the previews, and I hope they’re serious; any Riff readers out there with theories, comments please!

mojo-photo-torchsmall.jpgTorchwood, on the other hand, offered emotion instead of big themes, and finally seemed to come together after what has been an inconsistent and dissatisfying season. I’ve already written about Captain Jack’s sexuality, but more and more his lascivious remarks (aimed at both men and women) seem more like, well, workplace sexual harassment than ground-breaking visions of a post-sexual identity world. Thankfully, this episode pushed the increasingly-annoying Jack to the background and focused on Gwen, whose attempt to balance her life outside Torchwood with her career battling creepy-crawlies has made her the most compelling character on the show. Rather than “go large,” with end-of-the-world scenarios or crazy aliens, this episode went small, with a pretty straightforward “missing persons” plot, and Gwen battling Jack for answers on behalf of the people left behind. Sure, it was the “Rift” that was kidnapping people, spitting them out deformed, aged, and nuts; but the sci-fi aspects were really kept to a minimum. The real focus was the agony of loss, and whether you’d really want to know the terrible fate of a loved one, rather than hold onto the slim hope contained in a mystery. Impressively, the episode didn’t take sides; Gwen’s battle for truth seemed righteous, but did she end up causing more pain? It was all surprisingly touching, if a bit “Lifetime-y.” Apparently the season finale has already aired in the UK (spoiler alert!!), while we have to wait two more weeks to see what happens. Will Torchwood end up as the “imitation Buffy” it’s felt like all season, or will it forge a new path?

Photos courtesy Sci-Fi and BBC America.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate