Thinking when we watch!

Some Good TV episodes for ethical and spiritual reflection. [Note - I said refection not education are we clear people!]

Battlestar Galactica.

Ever since I got hooked on Battlestar Galactica a couple of years ago, I noticed not-so-subtle references to Judeo-Christian theological influences. There are countless examples throughout the show: a “chosen” or select group of survivors traveling great distances trying to find the prophesied “home”; and the twelve tribes of mankind, the debates of spiritual vs. material reality. The influence is almost exclusively the use of archetypal character arches and not some subversive plot of Hollywood to destroy the faith. But like most on the SyFy channel it is always a little bit off at times. Either way it is always-good drama to talk about with other old-time of the genre and the occasional SyFy neophytes.

•“Flesh and Bone” (season 1, episode 8) - Compelling scenes with aural allusions to waterboarding and torture, as well as rich dialogue about the being human and being an artificial life form.

Other good episodes are

“Guess What’s Coming to Dinner” (season 4, episode 7)
“No Exit” (season 4, episode 15),
“Deadlock” (season 4, episode 16),
“Someone to Watch Over Me” (season 4, episode 17),
“Islanded in a Stream of Stars” (season 4, episode 18),
“Daybreak parts II & III” (season 4, episodes 20 and 21)

Lost – Thanks to Mark D. Liederbach for turning me on to this show, (you just got to love TV on DVD!)

•“White Rabbit” (season 1, episode 5) - two scenes from this episode are great - jack Shepard tells the group that they have to learn to live together or die alone, and the other in which John Locke speaks dramatically about looking into the eye of the island and seeing its beauty.

•“Exodus part 2” (season 1, episodes 24/25) – there is a a rich discussion between Jack and Locke on science and faith.

•“There’s No Place Like Home, parts 2 & 3” (season 4, episode 13) - Locke says the island is a place where miracles happen and tries to persuade Jack to stay on the island.

House. – this show is a train of bioethical questions and sometimes the train wrecks.

•“Informed Consent” (season 3, episode 3) - Here we have multiple scenes featuring a patient who wishes to die and not be treated while Dr. House tricks him into continuing testing/treatment.

•“Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don’t” (season 1, episode 5) – It has a scene where Dr. House and a nun with a mysterious ailment debate God and faith.

•“The Socratic Method” (season 1, episode 6) - I strongly encourage the scene with Dr. House and his nemesis Dr. Cuddy about the ethics of using unapproved protocols to shrink a patient’s tumor so it could be operated on. It is very interesting!

(Roll credits!!!)

In the end I ask myself…. Do I watch to much TV? Sadly a little vices whispers yes.. ….