I'm In Love With A Fictional Character

Again!

Six weeks ago I picked up Battlestar Galactica where I left the second season when I left the States. I've tried my best to keep cool this year but I can't hide it any longer: it's the bomfuckingdiggity. Not only do you get episode commentaries online for free long before the D.V.D. box sets release but (for the latest episode) you can listen to them "break" the story in three hours-worth of writer's meetings too. So anyone at all interested in the creative process for television can listen to (i) the preparation, watch (ii) the final edit and then hear (iii) the writers' post mortem. Sweet!

Based on that, I was gonna write some deep analytical shit about dramatic structure. How one-shot stories frequently get expanded into two-parters because there's just so much gold to be mined in the show's concept. How cool it is that the creators let their baby breathe in this way rather than cutting story ideas off before they can fully develop. How they over-use flash-forwards to create mystery and raise suspense levels and that bugs me because the "pre-cap" in the title sequence already sorta does that. How rewarding it is to be a fan of this show and how good they are at keeping you invested in it.

I might have drifted onto 24 because it's the only other show that I watch on a regular basis (until Saturday) and they do an increasingly good job of giving each hour of the day its own dramatic beginning, middle and end.



Like I say, I was gonna write all that... until I saw Starbuck working out in the gym fifteen minutes into tonight's episode. The camera angle focussed on her sweaty pectorals. "She could beat me up," I said, because her arms are twice as cut as mine and any excuse for physical contact with her would be fine with me. "She could do what she wants to me," said my 74-year-old father. "It'd finish me off whatever it was."

She's forthright and you always know where you stand with her. She's beautiful but no cookie cutter. Best of all, underneath that devil-may-care exterior is an intelligent actress from Oregon. Then Starbuck started talking about her ass in that O.T.T. way they do on American T.V. shows:

"Ever since I got back you've been on my ass like a bad rash."
"That's why you're riding my ass so hard."
"You want my ass so bad you can taste it."

It's a good thing I don't live alone yet is all I can say.