I Heart Science-Fiction Primetime Shows

Questioning the future of human existence? Worried that all these hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, glacier melts and forest fires are part of a grander scheme to screw with the human race? Do you think it be aliens or maybe even some higher deity behind it all? Feed your fears on ABC!

Seriously, it's 11 pm and I have finished two hours of "Lost" and "Invasion". Jason and I got hooked on "Lost" in Russia and well, "Invasion" was on afterwards so I watched that too. Both are very similar in that very strange crap happens to very hot people, but the part that got me hooked to "Lost" is the questions it begs. Folks with regrettable pasts end up on a remarkably temperate tropical island, thrashing out pecking orders and struggling with their "inner demons" (Amazingly, all but two of these aforementioned hot people have managed to resist the temptation to really get it on, despite the fact they are stranded on a tropical island with an endless supply of coconut oil). But wait, there must be some purpose why they are there! Maybe, this island is some sort of purgatory...maybe it's some cruel immersion therapy...maybe it's a science experiment! Boogity boogity!

This was my first watch of "Invasion", so all I can really tell about the show is that there was this hurricane, then these aliens came, and some people got special healing powers, and now there are these hybrids who looks a lot like Brendan Fraser in Encino Man with flippers. Now its humans vs. hybrids, with a fair amount of God-speak thrown in. I heard the word "God" more often in this episode than Mitch touches his nose throughout all of Dazed and Confused. That means many, many times. But despite not having watched the first thirteen episodes, I got the idea the show was trying to "say" something...like, "Can't we all just get along?" or "Humanity is totally doomed by its own foolish ignorance and fear...Love, The Aliens."

And I like it. These shows aren't the same as "Touched By an Angel" and more pseudo-religious cushy shows that touch upon this material. These shows aren't particularly applauding the love and actions of God as much as examining the strange relationships humankind has between God-deities (though to be fair, these shows only mention a singular God - and "Lost" featured a Catholic baptism), and among themselves within these moral frameworks we have built upon our idea of God and religion. Say what you like, these shows make you think about faith, and understanding, and rationalism, and morality...and other topics I find otherwise "awkward" to sneak into everyday conversation or thought, but honestly, I'm a little glad when they're there. Cause I like these questions, and I remember when they fascinated the hell out of me in high school. These are the themes that make people make sense, and feel connected, and inspire art and love and anger. I spend a good majority of my day flucuating between which moisturizer to use and Triscuit vs. Wheat Thin, so spending 20 minutes out of my day wondering if fear is an greater agent of destruction or construction, or if true redemption from guilt is possible, is very good thing.

And if I have those questions, the questions of life, love and faith delivered to me by people in dirty, tight low-rise jeans...all the better, my friend.