Sci-fi escapism has a touch of reality

[GoldCylon]

Sci-fi escapism has a touch of reality
'Battlestar Galactica,' with its dark outlook and socially relevant issues, resumes its second season
By John Coffren
Sun Reporter
Originally published January 5, 2006
That television's last interstellar opera left standing could have risen from the ruins of a campy '70s sci-fi series has as much to say about today's hot-button issues as a shortage in outer-space escapism.

Battlestar Galactica, the top-rated show on cable's Sci-Fi Channel -- and the only date in town for hard-core fans -- is a dark vision of humanity on the brink of extinction, fleeing its own robotic creations. That's a far cry from the optimistic outlook that disappeared with the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005) in May.

And in a post-Sept. 11 America, it may be no wonder that more than 3 million viewers -- many of them Star Trek devotees -- are expected to be aboard tomorrow night at 10 as the second season of Battlestar Galactica resumes.

The original story of a sneak attack that nearly wipes out a civilization has a "strong resonance" with viewers, according to writer/producer Ron Moore.

"I realized the audience was going to bring that [Sept. 11 fallout] to the party whether I wanted them to or not," he said. "I always saw that as an opportunity. And I wanted to go there.

"And no one else was staking out this territory. No one else is tackling issues the way we're tackling them."

Indeed, for fans of science fiction of the space variety, there has been little aside from reruns on the horizon since Star Trek: Enterprise signed off. The networks rolled out a bumper crop of sinister-alien shows this past fall: Threshold (since canceled), Invasion and Surface, but these hybrids are equal parts science fiction and horror -- a giant leap for many space-adventure fans. And Sci-Fi's Stargate series (about humans co-opting alien technology to go galaxy-hopping) has never found a large audience.

Meanwhile, Time magazine's online edition named Battlestar Galactica the No. 1 television show of the year and the American Film Institute put it in the top 10.

And many fans apparently agree, including members of the Star Trek Association of Towson who've jumped ship from Star Trek.

"I just began watching [Battlestar Galactica] at the beginning of the second season. I hate to admit it, but I got hooked immediately," said Rhonda Collins. "Even if I wasn't a sci-fi fan, I like the different format for television and good writing."

Battlestar Galactica lifts off tomorrow night with a two-part episode, "Resurrection Ship," the first of 10 episodes to close out season two before season three airs this summer.

In Part 1 of "Resurrection Ship," the commanders and crews of the battlestars Galactica and Pegasus are afforded an opportunity to strike a serious blow against their enemy, the Cylons, if they can avoid a shooting war with each other.

If these updated Colonial warriors seem too contentious and offsetting, it's by design. Moore, speaking from his home in California, defends their actions as being realistic.

"All these situations are pretty much things that you could imagine human beings doing in desperate situations with different agendas and in conflict with one another, like wasting inordinate time and resources while they're facing an even greater threat from without. Because it seems like one of the circumstances of human existence is our ability to really [hurt] ourselves.

"Science fiction at its best is socially relevant, interesting and provocative," Moore added.

"I'd rather have some reality to the show, than tying it up every night with a happy ending," said Towson's Collins. "That isn't real life, even for sci-fi fans."

Collins can expect more of the same, rather than a switch in tone to grow Battlestar Galactica's audience, Moore said.

"Galactica would never have a broad fan base," he said. "[Battlestar Galactica] is a thoughtful, provocative show that challenges assumptions. It's not fun and games. If you want something interesting, if you want something that won't make you feel comfortable every week, but it will make you think ... this is the show for you.

"You do something bold, you might fail, and that's why people don't do it," Moore said in reference to science fiction shows that are content "plowing over old ground."

As part of his re-examination of the series' original concept, Moore elevated the Cylons, little more than target practice in the original Battlestar Galactica (1978-1979), to an insidious enemy employing religious fanaticism, sleeper cells and sneak attacks to attain its goal: humanity's extinction.

As a writer on several Star Trek spinoffs and motion pictures, Moore had experience crafting tales about artificial intelligence, but he wanted this series' villains to be very different from previous models.

"I think one of the conceits of the show is that the Cylons know humanity inside and out," Moore said. "They see themselves as the children of humanity. We don't really play the Cylons sort of like Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the android who was always grappling to understand humanity. The Cylons understand the dynamics, the emotional complexities. Even if they struggle to experience them perfectly, they do get it."

And like the Cylons, Moore has a plan. Future episodes include "Downloaded," a Cylon point-of-view story that explores the Baltar-Six relationship where fans discover that the sexy, cool, robo-babe (Tricia Helfer) could be as delusional as her human boyfriend.

In "Scar," a Cylon raider keeps killing Colonial pilots, forcing Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) to go after "the shark in the water." And in the second-season finale, Moore promises "a big twist and a very different direction" for the show against the backdrop of a newly discovered, habitable planet (not Earth) and the question: Should they stay?

There's no question that fans are staying with Battlestar Galactica for now, but Moore expects his universe to again get more crowded ... sooner than later.

"I have no doubt that even as we speak there are people sitting around Paramount Pictures mulling over how to bring Star Trek back," he said. "It's just a question of who they want to revive it and at what point they choose to do so."

>>> Battlestar Galactica 10 p.m. Friday; Sci Fi Channel