What the Frak!!!

Men created androids to do labor. The robots rebelled, they lost, and fled away into space.

Forty years later, the Cylons returned in a surprise series of separate, coordinated attacks, managing to annihilate the 12 colonies that included Aerilon, Picon, Geminon, and Caprica.

The military spaceship Battlestar Galactica is being retired, but fortunately it is still operational at the time of the attack. It is up to Commander William Adama (played by Edward James Olmos) and his men to protect the survivors against the enemy.

Whatever you may have heard about the TV series, you have been misinformed: Battlestar Galactica is more than amazing- it is brilliant. The reviews are grossly unfair: it is not simply wonderful- it's nothing short of excellent.

I have only seen the first season, and I'm hooked. It was one of my best discoveries of 2008. I know this makes me a late convert, so I'm making it my mission to convert you.

Galactica deals with scarred relationships, repressed feelings, bouts of insanity, and questions of identity.

Cylons now look human, with sweat and all. In a post-9/11 world, Galactica has particular resonance. Terrorists now look like us; they are one of us. So far we have met four models, and they have many copies and they can regenerate. Pilot Sharon Valerii (Grace Park) is one of them. She does not know that she is a sleeper agent, and she wrestles with mounting evidence that she is. A game is introduced then: Is there a Cylon among these agents that we don't know of?

Survivors numbering 50,298 board cruisers, and their fleet is constantly hounded. Death toll rises, but there is hope.

Comm. Adama tells the public they are going to the 13th tribe that established a colony outside of their own star system. President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) is skeptical; when she confronts Adama privately, he admits they do not have the coordinates of this mythical colony called Earth, simply because it does not exist. He says, "It is not enough that we live; we have to have something to live for."

Survival is not merely a matter of tactical strategies- it is also an existential crisis.

Roslin was 42nd down in succession. The whole cabinet, including President Adar, has been obliterated in Caprica, and she only gets to be president because she is onboard Galactica as secretary of education. Adama initially refuses to cooperate with her, not because she is a woman, but because she is simply a former schoolteacher.

Her rise to power has a sly subtext: The only time a woman will get to be president is at the end of the world, and it is not by election. And after the Obama-Clinton fight for the Democratic nomination, it takes on further credence. Maybe that's why Maya Angelou picked Hillary over Barack for the primary?

Gaius Baltar (James Callis) is a scientist who has had an affair with the model named Number Six (Tricia Helfer), who appears only to him. Does he have a chip in his brain, or is he going mad? In one episode, she surpises us by showing up in the ship and introducing herself to the officers. By episode's end, she convinces him that there is a God, and he is His instrument. A human scientist who does not believe, and Cylons -androids- who do? What- !

Baltar was instrumental in the obliteration of the human race, and as if to appeal to geeks, he gets the towering hot blonde who looks like a runway model. Her skimpy outfits are implicitly excused because we think it's all in his head.

Tricia Helfer is the show's most astounding special effect. She triggers so many discussions about faith, the nature of love, the allure of being human, and others. Never has a blonde bombshell been used more creatively.

Richard Hatch, one of the stars of the original 1978 TV series, has a recurring role as a dissident with considerable following. He is elected into the Council of 12 and runs for vice president, and we are treated to the turns of the political wheels and deals. It shows us how our thinking that we are choosing the lesser of two evils- the devil you know- leads to more dire consequences. How well do you know the devil you know (or thought you knew)?

You may think that now you don't have to watch the series, but you have no idea what riches await you.

The show is science fiction, but do not let words like jump and FTL deter you from watching. These terms are not prohibitive, and the program is positively addictive. Like many outstanding genre shows, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Battlestar Galactica explores and exploits its limitations, and transcends its form to achieve greatness.

Battlestar Galactica is compelling television at its frakking finest- tense, thrilling, exciting. Nail-biting.