in praise of mary mcdonnell
Posted in Television on March 15th, 2006 by Jeff
I initially resisted watching “Battlestar Galactica“, dismissing it as yet another opportunistic rehash of a nerd show. Plus, no Moffet? WTF. Then I heard some friends of mine were watching it, friends who I don’t normally associate with rampant and ravenous television watching, so I decided to check it out.
And: it’s great. The actors who play Starbuck and Apollo are merely OK, but what really makes the series pop is the supporting work of Mary McDonnell as terminally ill President Laura Roslin. I just watched the episode last night where they christen and dedicate the newly-constructed “Blackbird” stealth ship to her, and honestly, I choked up a bit. Again: I choked up a bit while watching a show produced by the Sci-Fi network. I didn’t believe it either. She’s just. that. good.
Also, the roiling erotic tension between McDonnell and the also-very-good Edward James Olmos (a.k.a William Adama, a.k.a. “Wrinkle Farm”) is almost too much to bear. You know I’m right!
~jeff





