As much as I would like to, I cannot watch any more of the Battlestar Galactica episodes. On Sunday, over a week after I watched the miniseries, I finally was in the right mind frame to watch episode one. It was good, and not nearly as tension-filled as the miniseries, but I could not shake the dread I felt at the thought of having to go through all twenty-three episodes of the first two seasons.
Ever since I was a young child, I have been easily frightened by visual images. I have overcome my fear of the Ghost of Christmas-Yet-To-Come; a fear that began around age six when I first saw Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. However, I still carry other visions that get the adrenaline pumping just from thinking about them. For fifteen years I had trouble using the toilet at night due to a scene from Stephen King’s IT that I stupidly attempted to watch. Even now the paranoia kicks in on occasion, and I have to remind myself that these things aren’t real and I’m safe.
So, you can see why I try to avoid watching scary movies or viewing disturbing images. These things stick with me for too long.
The trouble with Battlestar Galactica is that I am interested in the characters and the story arc. I want to know what happens, but the Cylon element is just too scary for me. Walking alone to my car on Sunday evening, I could almost imagine that a Cylon was right behind me with its red eye sliding back and forth. I knew then that I had to stop watching. It is just too much.
I have been very impressed with what I’ve seen of the series. I can see why folks like it so much. The future technologies seem much more realistic and related to current technology than those presented by Star Trek, for example. I just wish I could watch it, too. But, I know what’s best for me, so I’m stopping now. However, I do plan to read the episode summaries on the Battlestar Galactica wiki. Even though I won’t be watching any more, I still want to know what happens.
Just to let you know, the Cylons become less scary as the two seasons develop. They become less faceless. Cylons become intimate members of the cast, and not all of them are so bent on the destruction of humanity. In the second season there is an episode completely from the point of view of the Cylon society, and the third upcoming season is about a Cylon Vichy-like occupation.
I think part of the point of the show is that we realize how “human” the Cylons really are. They have a religion, and they have dissenters. The second season is amazing, can’t hold in there? 🙂
Thanks for the encouragement, Steven. Just from what I’ve read now of the first season and into the second season, I know I made the right decision. It’s become less of how scary the Cylons are (or may not be later on), and more of how everything seems to be full of hopelessness and despair. I’d much rather participate in a future vision with something uplifting mixed in with the tension.