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BSG: the best show on television, period

Just in case you're not aware of it, there's a great TV show called Battlestar Galactica. It's a remake recreation of the original show from the seventies, but much darker and more realistic. Despite the sci-fi setting, don't let that fool you - the show treats many timeless human issues like meaning of life, love, religion, betrayal...

I won't go into detailed analysis of why this show is so good but one thing is obvious: without the most excellent soundtrack that keeps getting better season after season the show wouldn't be half as good. The music is original with lots of unusual instruments and expresses emotion in a way previously unheard of for a TV series.

The last season's final episode was a shiny example of that: perfect synergy of picture and sound, great timing and excellent execution.

Now, just a couple of episodes later there's another genius example of the use of music and lyrics to enhance the viewing pleasure. In the episode 7 of the season 4 (warning: spoilers ahead! If you haven't watched the episode, don't read further) called Guess What's Coming to Dinner we all witness great vocal capabilities of the actor Alessandro Juliani (aka Felix Gaeta).

While recovering from the leg amputation Gaeta sings to reduce stress and cope with pain. The lyrics are original and so is the music, but the way the song is delivered will send chills down your spine. The song is appropriately named Gaeta's Lament and both the lyrics and music sheet are available.

Even better, a thorough analysis of how the song came to be and how it improves the narrative, especially at the end when the hybrid is awaken (awesome scene!) can be found at the Bear McCreary's blog. I highly recommend you to go through it. Considering how much thought and love when into making an episode like this no wonder it turned out as good as it did.