Edward James Olmos

With The Wire now off the air, Battlestar Galactica can make a strong case for being the best show on TV.

The last ten episodes of Battlestar Galactica deliver plenty of puzzles, prophecies and dreams; answer questions and raise others; and pay off characters in satisfying and usually surprising ways.

A labor of love...so it's appropriate that the film should also be about love, the spanner in the works that allows humanity to triumph over machinery.

Now the film can be more fully appreciated for what it is: an influential inspiration to Latino filmmakers and a powerful, non-politicized depiction of the wages of American immigration policy.

The show has meandered back over too-familiar ground in its fifth and sixth seasons, stalling for time when it should be daringly advancing its storyline.

While we've seen plenty of R-rated action buddy comedies before, the stream of amusing banter here comes with plotting that has a few good tricks in reserve.

A harmonious set of themes, about vocation and ambition...the role of family...and the meanings of life and death.