Saturday, January 31, 2009

Reality TV??

First things first. Someone please poke me in the eye with a fork to divert the pain. Although done lovingly, I must have read 'Max Drives Away' 30 times today.

And now on to the post:
Mrs. LIAYF and I rented the first couple of Battlestar Galactica Season 4 Dvd's a few nights ago and have been enjoying catching up on this series, which we left off on a couple of years ago before we canceled our cable subscription.

Now I do realize that this is a Science Fiction series and you are supposed to suspend disbelief to a certain extent when watching, but what happened on last night's episode 'Escape Velocity' took things so far away from reality that I almost had to turn it off.

The scene in question took place after a funeral for Cally, who was uncerimoniously dispensed of through an air lock in the previous episode. Grizzled old Colonel Saul Tigh, and Tory come to visit "Chief," Cally's husband and also a Cylon (machine/human hybrid for those who are unfamiliar with the show).

Anyway, when they arrive, the Chief's now motherless toddler Nicolas, perhaps 15 or so months old, is crying inconsolably while the Chief sits at a table distraught and doing nothing about it. Saul looks at him and says "You gonna do anything about the kid?" Chief responds "Probably needs changed." To which Saul says "I'll get it". He goes to another room and the crying immediately stops.

As Tory starts talking with Chief, not 15 seconds later Saul returns obviously having magically calmed and changed the previously inconsolable toddler who remains unseen in another room.

(Would you trust this guy to change your toddlers messy diaper?)

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Now, I can suspend disbelief for most of this show because the possibility of a fleet of Humans searching through the galaxy for Earth, while being chased by the Cylons who are intent on wiping out all of humanity.......hey, it could happen.

But a grizzled old one eyed Colonel, calming and changing an inconsolable little boy in 15 seconds flat? How naive do they think the viewers really are? I guess we are not the target audience anymore.

Just to think . . . a couple of years ago I would have blissfully missed that sticky little detail.

10 comments:

Dan said...

Battlestar jumped the shark for me at the beginning of season 3. and the first two seasons were so good too :(

James (SeattleDad) said...

@Dan - Yeah, this season is not as fresh as it was early on. Still, when it is the only thing you watch all week, it can hold our attention.

Idaho Dad said...

I think Colonel Tighe just stuffed the kid in a soundproof closet. Used to work for me! :)

Idaho Dad said...

I think the slow episodes of BSG would work so much better if you were watching them on DVD and didn't have to wait a week to see the fast-paced episodes. The most recent one, for example, was an edge-of-your-seat nail-biter.

James (SeattleDad) said...

@Idaho Dad - You must be right since watching it on DVD I hadn't really noticed that there were slow and fast episodes.

And I was wondering if Tigh might have somehow 'disposed' of the kid.

SciFi Dad said...

We watched the miniseries premiere and S1 of BSG because of strong recommendations from friends, but just couldn't see getting S2 or beyond. The biggest sticking point (which may have been answered in future episodes) was machines getting pregnant.

Anonymous said...

Ha ha, that is classic! I've "practiced" diaper changes and trying to sooth a crying baby and it took me a lot longer than 15seconds!

James (SeattleDad) said...

@SciFi Dad - They probably explained it at some point but I missed it. I can put that point aside cause it is all just science fiction and good scifi is hard to come by.

@New Dad - Yes, they should hire us as consultants before signing off on the scripts.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Battlestar Galatica! And don't you think they would have invented some sort of super duper diaper changer/baby soother? I mean, come on, they can jump across light years and make AI robots, they should be able to make a damn machine to change a baby! :)

James (SeattleDad) said...

@Super Mega - I guess with Colonel Tigh, they did make a 'machine' that could do it. LOL.