Dang! I didn't know this many people actually read through these blogs, let alone commented on them. I will have to keep better watch on mine in the future. Let's see about answering the questions/comments posted...

NeedlesEye: Very good point...natural selection at its best, if you ask me!

Sagrilarus: I, personally, have not been directly involved with any branch of the military, but am both related to and friends with many who have. However, my views stem mostly from simple facts.

Racially speaking, the modern military is much more ethnically mixed than the crew Battlestar sports. As for age, veteran NCO's are the foundation that any good fighting force is based on. If it weren't for them guiding the way, these kids being trained by the thousands wouldn't be worth much once the real fighting started. Keep in mind, it's not that I dislike the show, it's just that I wish they added a couple more grizzled vets to help break up the kiddie party the have going.

Maugwai: I would have to disagree with your decommissioning idea. I find it hard to believe that they would bring in a whole new crew for a decommissioning to replace the last one which served on it. I realize that militaries can be somewhat wasteful, but the thought that their personal department would reassign every single crewman prior to a decommissioning, bring in an entirely new one (which would be unfamiliar with the ship and it's individual characteristics), but leave its commander is just a bit beyond my ability to accept. I realize that this is a work of fiction, but I doubt a supposed 'modern' military would behave as the one presented.

As to your race comments, I don't think you read my review closely enough. I admitted that Battlestar varied from the traditional caucasian cast in several key places. My problem with their use of race came from the supporting cast/crew...meaning all those other faces you see in the background. All I wanted was to see a bit of the racial variety demonstrated in the main characters reflected in the rest of the crew.

Your gender point is very well taken. Sci-fi does tend toward the testosterone and Battlestar did an excellent job of mixing genders. I especially enjoyed the casting of a female Starbuck.

As for age, this ship was about to be decomissioned. It would make sense that the only people on Galactica would be either retiring commanders or relative newbies.

As for race, have you seen the show? The commander is a Hispanic Indian. The communications officer is black. The third in command appears to be Polynesian. Boomer is Asian. As sci-fi shows go, it's pretty good about ethinicity. It's also very good about gender, which is something most men never notice.

Are or were you in the Navy, Oxyopia? I am curious about where you baseline your age and race opinions.

Sag.

About the character ages, perhaps the younger ones could run faster to get to the transports. ;)

I totally agree that many of the characters seem rather 'wooden' in mien, and I do believe it might be a result of the overall story (as you mention), but it might also stem from the actors getting to know their characters. I felt that with the improvements in story and the deepeing of plot, the actors learned to play their characters better. As you stated, the election episode was a good example of the writers branching out from their traditional faire and offered the viewer a different take on the Battlestar universe. It seemed that the actors responded to this and tried offering more to their character than before.

Of course, my opinions could be tainted from the fact that a viewer tends to learn more about a character the further in the series they watch, resulting in a deeper understanding of their backgrounds and motivations. Realize, I'm not intimating that the personalities of several of the main characters could do without improvement.

Whenever I do get frustrated with lack of emotion some of them display, I like to think how'd I react if everyone I knew outside of my co-workers, along with everything other than that my office building, was suddenly destroyed, and I would have to spend the rest of my life (however short that may prove to be) depending on the resources and personal that I put up with on a daily basis. I would like to believe that I, too, might shut down emotionaly if faced with a inescapable lifetime stuck at my current job, along with the morons I am forced to work with.

-Oxy