I just finished watching the finale of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, which my wife bought for me on Blu-Ray for Christmas.   Technically speaking, the picture and audio quality of the series was awesome, but what really struck me, especially when the series hit its stride, was the story telling.

For those who aren’t into the genre, let me tell you a little secret: sci-fi is not about the ships or the action or the special effects.  When it gets right down to it, what I love about sci-fi, and what I think most fans love about it, is what good sci-fi has to say about ourselves and what it means to be human.  Whether set in the future or the past, it seems this self-examination is what good sci-fi is all about.  What does it mean to be an ethical person?  What do we do with good and evil?  How do we understand and balance the material and rational with that which we cannot explain?  Why do we love, hate, lust and betray?

These questions the BSG series delivers in spades.  As the series progresses, we experience all the loss, loneliness and other struggles of a refugee people struggling to survive.  We see people struggle to understand what of their old lives, identities and preconceptions to hold onto and what to jettison.  Do the old political factions and systems make sense in this new world where humanity numbers 50,000 souls?  What do we make of the gods who have seemingly abandoned us to our enemies?

The spiritual struggle that the characters went through is what I think I found most compelling, refreshing, and perhaps surprising, although I don’t know why I would be surprised.  Again, the best of the genre acknowledges that there is more to this world and this life than can be explained through material means.  Perhaps I find it surprising because in the world in which we live, people who believe there is more out there than the material are often derided and even hated for their supposedly narrow and superstitious views.  Throughout the show, however, characters recognize that their paths appear to be guided by a force greater than ourselves.  How true, even in our own lives.

When I was young, I never would have guessed the trajectory my life has taken.  Who would have thought that I would go through five years of music school and countless hours of lessons, rehearsals, and concerts only to end up working as a programmer 500 miles from where I would have expected to be, with music an important yet relatively peripheral part of my life?  I certainly would not have chosen such a costly and painful “dead end.”  And yet, if I would not have embraced music and developed a lasting passion for it, I would have never met my wife, never settled in an area where my talents can be put to good use and where I am growing in many ways, not the least of which is in my walk and relationship with God.

I loved the new BSG.  I loved the nuances in the music and the storytelling, the arcs of the plot, and yes, the special effects.  The writers took the crew and the audience on one heck of a ride, and at the end, I have to say, it was a frakkin’ good show.