Next stop: Earth

While “Heroes” gained mainstream popularity and “LOST” captured the minds of intelligent viewers, the most consistent high-quality genre show on television found a home on the lowly Sci Fi Channel.

The re-imagining of the campy 1970s “Star Wars” rip-off “Battlestar Galactica” became one of the best-written shows on TV over its first two seasons, turning a stale idea into a modern show with surprisingly biting commentary.

The third season of “Galactica” sees the human survivors of the Cylon robot attack stranded on the planet of New Caprica and under robotic Cylon control. The humans react with insurrection that leads to loads of infighting, discussions of right and wrong and a suicide bombing. Eventually, they make it back aboard the Galactica and deal with other issues including a treason trial, the civil rights of deckhands and, of course, trying to figure out who is or is not a Cylon, the tricky human-appearing robot enemies.

The biggest problem with season three of “Galactica” is the use of more stand-alone episodes later in the 20-episode arc. After the opening four episodes chronicle the issues within New Caprica, the episodes get much broader and tend to lag a bit. However, the show’s production is so good and the relationships between the characters are so intense that even weaker episodes seem great in comparison to lesser shows.
 
True to “Galactica” DVD form, the set includes extensive features. Creator Ron Moore’s podcasts for almost every episode provide great insights into production and address many fans’ concerns.

The video diaries from Galactica’s other developer, David Eick, give little looks into many episodes throughout the season. The most important aspect of these features isn’t that they’re so groundbreaking; it’s that the viewer can obviously see how much the people involved with “Galactica” care about the show and its fans.

Although it’s the weakest so far, season three of “Battlestar Galactica” still includes a number of fantastic episodes that any other show wishes it could produce. With only one season to go, the journey to Earth is almost over for Galactica, and it’s about damn time everyone jumps on board.