I intended to write up some theories about what is really going on in the BSG universe that AlexW and I have hatched (for details, see this week's episode of Poli Sci-Fi Radio), but I've seen some favorable reviews of last week's episode that have me shaking my head (io9's Analee Newitz loved the episode), so instead I took the time to jot down one of the important ways I think BSG is getting it wrong.  Mostly, I think the writers are getting lazy.  I don't have to helm a critically acclaimed SF show for dozens of episodes so I know I'm not one to talk, but certain expectations were established in season one due to the incredibly strong writing that was going on back then, and damnit, I want my BSG back!  Anyway, some more specific thoughts are below, possible spoilers for those of you who aren't caught up.

"Cuff her!."

Those two words, spoken by Helo in last Friday's episode of Battlestar Galactica (titled "Six of One"), are emblematic of what's gone wrong with this once glorious science fiction TV show.  Helo said the menacing sentence to Starbuck, who was locked in a holding cell on board Galactica because her miraculous reappearance made her fellow shipmates suspect her of being a Cylon.  It seemed to those of us watching the show, and, one supposes, to Starbuck as well, as if Helo was deeply suspicious of his friend and fellow officer, and he wasn't going to let her cold cock him like she had Anders the week before.  His words conveyed a tone of menacing resolve -- as if Helo had been betrayed by his former friend and it had finally come to this.

So Helo marches Starbuck down to the hanger bay where the Admiral is waiting, and Starbuck assumes that Adama intends to set her adrift.  After all, their last conversation was not too friendly -- Starbuck had even called Adama a coward (oh, snap!).  But no, Adama and Helo intend to give Starbuck a ship with an FTL drive so she can follow her mysterious instincts and see if they lead her to Earth, as she claims they will.  And here's the problem: Helo obviously knew that was what Adama intended to do.  So why the "Cuff her!" tough talk?  Who was he trying to scare?  Couldn't he have just said, "The old man wants to talk to you?"  I can understand the handcuffs as a precautionary measure -- Starbuck had just hours before taken the President hostage after all -- but the only reason Helo used that menacing voice with her was for the viewers' benefit -- for the sake of drama... false drama.

By "false drama" I don't mean "melodrama," which BSG is certainly guilty of as well (see Starbuck's showdown with Roslin in this most recent episode for a good example "you don't believe me? Then shoot me!").  False drama gets invoked when characters behave in heavy-handed ways that seem out of character, given what we know, and then the resulting conflict has no real lasting effect.  BSG is chock full of this sort of dynamic.  Every fight Lee has ever had with the old man is an example.  They make up within an episode or two and we're right back to where we were, character-wise, before the fight. 

I would argue that the entire New Caprica occupation was one several-episode-long occurrence of false drama (and also BSG's shark-jumping moment).  What were the major changes that happened as a result of that story arc?  Baltar became president, the Cylons stopped trying to kill all the humans, the search for Earth stopped, Lee got command of a Battlestar... in each case, the clock was reset to zero when the story arc ended -- Baltar was no longer president and Roslin was reinstated, The Pegasus was destroyed, Galactica resumed its search for Earth and the Cylons started chasing them again.  So why did we spend those episodes on New Caprica again?  The only lasting effects seem all too superficial -- Tigh's eye patch, the absence (thank the gods) of Ellen Tigh, some resentful feelings toward Baltar that crop up when it's convenient, Gaeta's bitchiness?  A bunch of humans were killed in the occupation and the overall number of survivors has dropped, but that has had zero narrative effect on the show.  After the occupation, we were right back to where we were before it -- searching for Earth with the rag tag fleet, being chased by the Cylons.  It's like the entire occupation was a big fake-out just to crank up the drama.

I have a feeling Ron Moore and the rest of the BSG creative staff have a huge bug up their butts about trying to keep the fans guessing, but the show being predictable isn't its problem.  Characters not behaving in smart and believable ways that don't rely on false drama is.

And yes, I'd like some cheese with my whine.

Thanks AlexW, for helping me gel these thoughts!