On Friday arguably the greatest sci-fi television series of all time starts it’s final season. Battlestar Galactica has turned spaceship drama into human drama, and has presented us with some of the most interesting and complex fictional characters ever seen on TV.
In fact, Dr. Gaius Baltar is my favorite TV character ever — he’s even surpassed Fox Mulder — because he is so incredibly rich. Mix the self-interest of Iago, the guilt and indecision of Hamlet, and the arrogance and wit of Benedick, and you’re half way to the fascinating Baltar. A near-Shakespearean role like this demands a British stage actor, and the astonishing James Callis absolutely mesmerizes. With every scene Baltar plays opposite his imaginary cylon lover, or talks to himself, or worms his way out of a sticky situation to save his skin — you can tell the writers love writing this character.
And so it is with great anticipation I await the development of Gaius Baltar for one final season… He has come from scientist playboy, to traitor of the human race, to charismatic (and incompetent) President… And the last few episodes of season three saw him turning into a religious cult figure — this should be good…
[...] But look at that robot body with an LCD head. WOW. Either that kid is going to grow up to become Gauis Baltar, or he’s going to need some major therapy. Maybe [...]
[...] who has read my blog knows I love Gaius Baltar and think he’s the greatest character ever. So I’ve been a little disappointed lately, as he’s kinda disappeared from the DRADIS. [...]