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Right off the bat, a difference: we go from “previously on Battlestar Galactica” straight to the opening credits. I don’t recall this ever before. There’s always a cold open, usually with an intense moment leading into the opening titles. Then, the opening music normally transitions from choral to exciting percussion with flashing previews. That too is missing in “Daybreak, Part 1.” Eerie. (Eerie is a funny-looking word when it’s capitalized, ain’t it?)

We are then endowed, as it were, with knowledge of what came before. Not just going back to Caprica City before the atomic horror, but a glimpse of creation. All very religious. Then the dialog begins, and we see a very Earth-like existence. We see our life before the bomb that will come, is what the writers are saying. Business, limos, kissing, drinking, celebrating, families, cooking, swearing, dying, yelling, normal “Earth” stuff (with all the actors playing themselves five years ago) — except Laura Roslin walking into a city fountain as part of a reaction to horrible news. That’s not every-day. That’s symbolism. So back we go to the Battlestar, and its and Laura’s dismantling.

Not much else causes me to comment throughout the episode. Except when Admiral Adama says to Cara Thrace: “I know what you are. You’re my daughter, and don’t you forget it.” Wha?!?! So I looked it up: he considers her a type of surrogate daughter. Oh. Okay.

Next week, in our final episode, we plunge pell-mell into a black hole and all die. Great.

A brief opening in B&W featuring a swimming pool … is this Sunset Boulevard? Nope. This is even more messed up than that. Season Two of Breaking Bad begins.

After this visual, “Seven Thirty-Seven” starts in earnest with a bloody scene in a junkyard that I know I’ve seen before. Why was that first part so familiar, where Tuco lays into the other guy and gets off on it? Did I see a sneak preview, or was that simply taken from the first season? Not sure, but wondering….

Now I gotta say something about the opening credits that take place during the part I’m writing about. Bryan Cranston plays a chemistry teacher, so the show’s titles are designed with element symbols. Breaking Bad Created by Vince Gilligan, for instance, uses bromine, barium and chromium. I used to love the periodic table, so it’s fun to see sodium, hydrogen and especially stuff like molybdenum and yttrium go by, squeezed into the names of actors and producers. Some elements get used more than once, with bromine showing up at least three times, but I think they should have used vanadium, too:

Q: We see a credit that says “Director of Photography MiChael Slovis.” What’s wrong with this?

A: There is no element with the symbol Ch. Vanadium — or sulfur, or iodine; any others? — would have worked for our DP, who surely deserves better! He’s not even an itinerant DP, but works on BB regularly. I’m keeping an eye on your future credits, Mr. Slovis.

I’m also keeping my eye out for Co-Producer Sam Catlin (calcium), Producer Melissa Bernstein (beryllium) and Consulting Producer John ShiBan (barium). These are three people in the biz that I hope to get to know.

The titles are not the thing, though. The thing is the story and its presentation. Thanks to Bialy / Thomas this is a well-cast show, and I liked this episode. Strong beginning to Season Two!

I have been commenting every week on this blog about episodes of Battlestar Galactica. Since it’s about to end, I’ve been thinking in the back of my mind that I should blog about some other show. Tonight it suddenly hit me: Breaking Bad is my next blog-worthy show. It stars Brian Cranston — who likes working with his pants off, according to behind-the-scenes commentary from last season. I admired Season One immensely and it’s about to start its second season on AMC tonight. (AMC is also home to Mad Men. Of course.)

If you need to, go catch up (via DVD or iTunes) on its strike-abbreviated first season, wherein a desperate high-school chemistry teacher makes high-quality crystal meth as a reaction to all the problems in his life. Immense problems ensue, of course, but I can’t wait to see what happens to these kooky characters from New Mexico. Stay tune for some Bad television. It’s sick and it rocks.

Only one episode remains in Battlestar Galactica! Okay, two episodes, but they’re going to be Part I and Part II of a big final episode.

In “Islanded in a Stream of Stars” we get a strong sense of Hey I’ve seen this before when we see Anders babbling in a tub of goo. This is a hopeful event for the Cylons’ future.

Then we have a non-hopeful thing for humans, what with giving up on the title ship. I don’t believe it. The ship is falling apart, yes. The writers are certainly not afraid to go there, sure. Destiny of a species is much bigger than one machine, true. But I just don’t believe what Adama and Tighe say in the quiet ending to this awkwardly named episode (directed by its star, Edward James Olmos):

“So we’re gonna send her off in style. To Galactica, best ship in the fleet.”

“To Galactica.”

Look, listen: lotsa piano! I vaguely think there was some piano playing on a previous episode of BSG, but it seems pretty fresh to have a pianist in the bar in this episode. A pianist for Cara Thrace to flirt with and to take out her frustrations on. Frustrations that her destiny still isn’t resolved and there are only 3 episodes remaining! Time for three more instruments — a violin, recorder and accordion? — but surely not enough time to figure out what’s what with Starbuck! And Hera! And the whole shebang!

But seriously. The piano player remains nameless, and they name a composer we don’t know here in our world (Nomien?) — and discuss the pronunciation of his name. Lovely touches in writing, both those things.

But. However. Come on. Wowsa. Okay. Here’s the thing: about 15 or 20 minutes into “Someone to Watch Over Me” — a title of a great George & Ira tune from the days when piano was still king — there’s a close-up of the piano being played. I’m pretty sure the actor playing the piano is an actual piano player. (Wish I knew the actor’s name.) But something goes wrong when, after seeing a very strong connection between the action of his playing and the notes I was hearing, suddenly the last note of an arpeggiated run was sounded up an octave or two, and yet we saw him play the note down a half-step. Whoops! Or is that how pianos work in that world, man? Now that’s some mind-blowing philosophy.

And was that, or was that not, a visual reference to Chico Marx and his piano-shooting style? Little known fact: Chico pronounced his name with an “ih” sound in the middle, not as in the Spanish.

I am late in watching the latest episode of Battlestar Galactica and writing about it. But I never watch in real time, anyway. Thanks, “TiVo”!

Okay, in “Deadlock,” we see lots of Number Six (played by Tricia Helfer) and Ellen Tigh (played by Kate Vernon). It’s directed by Jane Esperson (most episodes are directed by men). I liked this episode. It was different from others episodes recently, except maybe for the part involving Gaia¹. No subtitles of where/when. “Human” experiences within relationships were its focus. And I got what the history of humans and Cylons were … after absorbing all the info last time and then seeing them talking about it this time. I get it.

BSG is almost over! I don’t know how they’re going to wrap things up in just four more episodes, but I was taken in by the strong shift in the story line. Such a different feel, and yet it seemed rite. Wurd.

If you look on IMDb, you won’t find information on an important character that recurs on early episodes of United States of Tara, your favorite show about DID and clever writing. I’m bothering with this because I’m watching the show. I’m a fan. Well, I sometimes like it, sometimes not. (Are we really supposed to believe this is Kansas?) But Toni Colette is buh-rilliant, so that keeps me watching no matter what happens. Plus there’s my long-standing crush on Rosemarie DeWitt to consider.

Trying to figure out who’s who amongst our guest stars was a little tough, so here’s what I finally figured out by watching the end credits: Tiffany, the woman that hires Tara to paint a mural, is played by Jessica St. Clair. As of today, that’s just not on IMDb anywhere.

Another episode of Battlestar Galactica. Such a turn from the previous episodes of fighting, tension, action, killing, plotting, etc. In “No Exit,” several main characters do not appear at all, but we instead see a lot of talk amongst the Cylons. The 12th one and some of those we haven’t seen in a while, the ones aboard Galactica herself. Talk, talk, talk. Geek talk. Lots of numbers: 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 3000, etc. Lots of discussion about how this is part of history repeating itself, including the time frame on Earth currently (or at least in a period near the Holocaust). If you don’t know the show, there’s nothing to say about it. Even if you watch, what is there to say? (My friend Neil said this about the episode: “John Hodgeman? Hahahahaha.”) The first minutes with the 12th Cylon are the most important, it gets a little wordy. But, along the lines of where our present history and BSG intersect, go back and read James Parker’s article in The Atlantic from a couple of months ago. I think he nailed it, with his comparison to the views of L. Ron Hubbard.

One somewhat tangential thing I was thinking of: If I suddenly found out that reincarnation is how things work and that I had a past life wherein I did bad things, would I feel weighed down by that? Would I suddenly feel responsibility for that other person’s decisions?

In the post-election months, I have seen Saturday Night Live a few times, and each time I’ve felt the episodes are somewhat unremarkable. Before, there was a Tina Fey thing in the air. And Amy Poehler. Now that’s all gone. Of course, SNL has had many unremarkable episodes over the years, but what’s saving them now is that Kristen Wiig is pretty amazing. She’s in so many skits! And she rocks!

A few weeks back, she played Ginny and Judy Grimes on one recent otherwise unremarkable SNL that is now SNL gold. Go to Hulu.com, search her name, click randomly. Most likely you’ll find: brilliant + hilarious. Last week, did you see her Bjork?! And don’t forget Junice! These are the good old days. We will look back and say that about Wiig on SNL. We will also look back and think of Obama, too. I suppose.

I don’t know who’s paid what on SNL, but I suspect that Lorne Michaels and musical guests are overpaid, but Kristen Wiig is saving the show and deserves more dough!

Starting to watch the 4th episode of BSG‘s final half-season. More Felix Gaeta. More blah blah blah. Where’s Starbuck, the 12th Cylon, the stuff we’ve been waiting for?! In the words of a friend of mine, sent via SMS before I could even watch this episode:

Doood! Is it just me of has BSG been sorta off with the new episodes? I mean, who gives a frak about Gaeta? And a coup killing off the quorum?? I dunno. It’s feeling weird.

I concur.

But the good of this episode: the talented Mark Sheppard is brought back to play Romo Lampkin, the tough lawyer who cares so much about animals. He gets hired on a “field trip for justice” — to defend Admiral Adama on charges of treason. Good actor, good character, good plot point for our times. Nice!

Okay, the episode’s over now. So much death on this episode. Useless killing. Just like our planet here. Damn. But maybe the good guys prevail in the end?