Battlestar Galactica Forces Me to Switch Eye Doctors

I have—had—a really cool eye doctor. He comes from a family of doctors to begin with (his brother is my dentist, and their dad was an eye doctor too), and he was the first optometrist to give me contacts for astigmatism. I mean, I've been wearing contacts since I was 15, and I've always known I had astigmatism, so why didn't one of my previous doctors give me these lenses?

But anyway, the thing about this doctor is that he really enjoys chatting, so sometimes the appointments take a while. I don't mind because we both love science fiction and have lots to talk about.

Except . . . Last time I was in, he told me I had to try watching the updated Battlestar Galactica. It was like homework. From an eye doctor. It was fine because I had been planning to try the show anyway; I loved the original as a kid. (I'm not that old—though today is my birthday!—I watched reruns with my dad.) Had the biggest crushes on Dirk Benedict and Richard Hatch, though I would have been hard pressed to decide between them. I used to make up all kinds of stories about Starbuck and Apollo, though, and all the trouble they would get into.

As for the present, well, my eye doctor told me to start with the two-part miniseries, and I finally sat down and watched the first part. (And I do love Edward James Olmos, too, from those Miami Vice days . . . Though I once asked my dad why his face had all those sorts of dimples in it, and Dad said, "Bad acne as a child," but I thought he said, "Bad acting as a child," as was astounded that bad acting could do that to a person.)

I didn't like it.

It was just so . . . slow.

And I'm therefore not at all compelled to watch the second part, much less the whole of the television series.

Let me say that, yes, I do value character development, and I am pleased to see that this version of Battlestar Galactica took the time to build that. So many shows don't. But . . . There were almost too many characters being developed here. I think shows like Babylon 5 do it better in that they only focus on one or two at a time, yet everyone gets their moments to grow and shine. And maybe BG, once in series, does the same. But this miniseries just could not hold my interest. Gah.

But how do I go back to my eye doctor and say as much to him? I may actually have to change doctors to soothe my guilt, though why I feel guilty is a mystery. Maybe I'm worried I'll disappoint him? Thus far we've been so much on the same page about these things. (He does also love B5.) How can I face him and say I didn't like BG?

Well, my next appointment isn't until spring. Maybe he will have forgotten by then? Seems unlikely. There's probably even a note in my file or something. Maybe I should skip the remainder of the miniseries and just try the show itself? Hmm. Possibly.

But that chick will never take the place of Dirk Benedict. No way.