Maureen Ryan

As Gaius Baltar, the scientist who got humanity into this mess by consorting with a hot blond Cylon, James Callis is a twitchy, lustful delight. [15 July 2005, p.C1]

Perhaps the most refreshing thing about this re-imagined "Battlestar" is its darkness (and by that I don't just mean the show's dusky blue-and-brown visual palette). This new "Battlestar," which is creatively helmed by "Carnivale" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" veteran Ronald D. Moore, doesn't pretend that the aftermath of the mass destruction of most of humanity is anything but deeply scary. [14 Jan 2005, p.C3]

Season 1 Review: As it relaxes into the students’ lives, and explores their feelings about lovers of other races, the semi-compromised state of student journalism on campus, and the mental cost of always bracing for the next round of idiotic statements from aggrieved white bros, Dear White People does an increasingly assured job of depicting the amused frustration and disillusioned exhaustion of these students.

Ultimately, The Vow is an impressive and even transfixing achievement.

Modern Love, when it works, provides the kind of soothing comfort supplied by an inviting armchair, a warm fire, or a mug of hot tea on a chilly night. It’s the TV equivalent of a hand-knit cardigan or an Instagrammable latte; a mood of transitory wistfulness appears to be the goal, not some chest-thumping artistic statement about Life.

The Staircase, ruminative and humane to the end, remains one of the finest examples of this genre.

The Fourth Estate, which chronicles 16 months in the life of The New York Times, is reasonably competent, but it’s also superficial and oblivious a little more often than one might like.

"Safe" takes itself a bit too seriously now and then ... But overall, it tends to avoid the sloppy, meandering tendencies of its more prestige-driven TV brethren. It’s a highly watchable, semi-pulpy serial loaded with reveals, clues and cliffhangers, and the core cast is generally quite good.

The documentary keeps adding layers of complexity to the tale until one is entirely hooked by its ambiguities and twists and turns -- and soon, as with a great novel, one can't wait to see what happens next.

There are moments of heart-piercing beauty amid the horror; this season’s directors are skilled at finding color-saturated or windswept tableaus that recall classic paintings of rural worlds and faithful congregants.