Mid-season review

It's not really the middle of the season yet, but since I'm here, I'll do a quick update on my drama shows.

Battlestar Galactica

This season has been focused even more on broken people and broken relationships. They have covered military occupation, suicide bombers, vigilante justice, torture, genocide, alcoholism, treason, parenthood, post-traumatic stress disorder, slavery, religion, and plague - all in the first 6 episodes. The best part however is how the writers and actors treat the fall-out of all of these changes. Old friendships have been lost, possibly irrevocably torn, and new relationships have developed and grown. Calling this a show about space is like saying the pope is a "Catholic guy with a hat".

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

This show has been given a second chance. I think it's one of the most cleverly-written shows on TV right now. The humour takes some thinking. The pace is always very frantic and you have to pay attention to the dialogue. I've heard it compared to The West Wing, but I never saw that show so I can't be certain. The critics have been very positive but the ratings haven't been what NBC expected. I think it's too hard for people to get. It's a drama with comedic moments, or possibly a fairly serious comedy. I like it for its glimpse backstage to see how a show like this comes together. A sketch comedy series may not be as important a topic as the White House, or an emergency room, or a forensics department, but I'm into it.

Heroes

The one I had the highest hopes for. The one I also feared would suck the most. I remember having that same feeling in the summer of 2002 when I went to the theatre to see Spider-Man. As the opening credits rolled, I was excited for what I might see but I was so scared of it being like the 1960s Batman series. What could the kid from Cider House Rules and the girl from Jumanji do with such an icon. I sat for 121 minutes and when the closing credits rolled, I was fully satisified. I loved it. I knew that there would be a sequel and that we had entered a new age of superhero shows.

All this to say that after nine episodes, I am both fully satisfied and terribly frustrated with this show. I think it's my favorite show and when it's over I am frustrated that I have to wait another week to see what's happening. Every answer brings five more questions. The series has basically wrapped up their first major arc ("Save the cheerleader. Save the world") but has left the story more open than ever. We have our heroes being arrested, chased, knocked out, and straight-up vanished in time and we don't know what will happen. Next week's episode is called, "Six Months Ago" and should answer some of our questions, but will more than likely ask dozens more.