Raising Cain

The bitch is back.

One of the telltale signs that I have enjoyed a particular television program is my reaction immediately afterwards. For example, after watching the season finale of Battlestar Galactica tonight (yeah, yeah, I know their schedule is askew) I literally said "Holy shit" to my TV screen.

I then pressed "rewind" on my TiVo (I love you, TiVo!) to watch the last two minutes again. And then I did it again. And a third time. After that, everything finally sunk in. And it was good.

Tonight's episode, entitled "Pegasus," is a direct remake from the original (read: campy) series. In it, a sister battlestar (the Pegasus, commanded by Lloyd "Mendelbaum! Mendelbaum!" Bridges) appears after presumably being destroyed in a cylon attack. The new series' creators kicked this version up a notch:

1. "Commander" Cain has been cast as a woman (Michelle Forbes, pictured above).

2. Cain is recast as an Admiral, thus outranking Commander Adama (Edward James Olmos).

3. The two commanders do not see eye to eye.

I won't spoil the fun for those of you who haven't seen it yet - including Bill, who really needs to get DirecTv! - but the last two minutes were as exciting as anything "24" can dish out.

I can't wait until January.