Beauteous 'Battlestar Galactica'

Last season, I was ready for Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica" (10 p.m. Friday) to end. The episodes seemed to be marking time and the story too often lacked forward momentum. Not anymore.

The early episodes in this final batch have been riveting: The first answered questions and raised new ones; the second slowed things down to begin setting up political intrigue with character drama; and the two most recent episodes featured a tense, action-packed mutiny storyline that ended with executions in the hangar bay.

But the best moment came when President Roslin (Mary McDonnell), under the impression that her lover, Admiral William Adama (Edward James Olmos), was dead, declared to the mutineers in a booming crescendo: "No. Not now, not ever. Do you hear me? I will use every cannon, every bomb, every bullet, every weapon I have down to my own eye teeth to end you! I swear it! I'm coming for all of you!"

It was an almost Shakespearean soliloquy, a stirring call to arms. These episodes of "Battlestar Galactica" reminded me of why I loved the show in the first place.

But what I found most interesting was how these episodes put the show's older cast members in the spotlight. Let's face it, we don't usually see sixtysomething action heroes in prime time, but that's what "BSG" viewers saw when Adama and Saul Tigh (Michael Hogan) took up weapons to protect an airlock while Roslin escaped in a Raptor.

And when it comes to love stories in prime time, it's rare for viewers to see characters over the age of 40 getting kissyface. But has there been a more touching scene than Adama with his arm wrapped around a bald, cancer-stricken Roslin as the pair slept?

Network executives take note: Even though the older characters have been getting the most face time and best storylines this season, ratings are UP among young viewers, with the show scoring its best ratings since its season two premiere in 2005. Imagine that.

Hear that, network execs? It's not about the age of the cast, it's about the writing and performances. Young viewers will watch shows with older characters. And right now there's none better than "Battlestar Galactica."