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These are just some of the questions that are asked in Season 3, and some of them are actually answered—at least partially—in this fantastic season for one of the best shows to ever hit the airwaves. Or, I guess, the cable and satellite waves.

I’m not going to lie and say all the Season 3 episodes were spectacular just to get you to buy it and watch it, no matter how much I want this show to get more popular. There were a couple of clunkers in there to be sure: “Passage” was very disappointing to me, and I thought “A Day in the Life” was one of the most boring episodes ever. But the season as a whole was great, and I really mean GREAT, as in wonderful, gripping, gritty, engaging—basically every good adjective you can think of to describe a television show.

The two-parters that begin and end the season are particularly appealing, especially the build up in the season finale and the revelation of four of the five remaining Cylons. And I honestly think that composer Bear McCreary’s version of “All Along the Watchtower” from that episode was my favorite song in all of 2007.

There are many good things about this show, but I think the thing that really makes it work so well is the copious amount of conflict in every episode. Conflict drives story, and this season had it in spades. Just watch the superb “Unfinished Business” if you don’t believe me.

There are a lot of extras besides the episodes themselves, but much of it has been available before, including the podcasts by Ron Moore and others. Episode commentaries are almost always enjoyable, including here. The video blogs of executive producer David Eick are a mixed bag. I found some of them extremely boring, as they only showed some behind the scenes looks at the filming of episodes in detail (although, admittedly, as a former background actor I may be more jaded about these than the average viewer). Others were great, especially “David Who?” on disc six, in which the cast members play up Eick’s absence from the set to the hilt. James Callis’ part in this is especially fun.

Probably the biggest extra is the 110-minute long extended version of “Unfinished Business,” the controversial “boxing” episode that was original about 44 minutes in length. Many fans didn’t like this episode originally, but I thought it was a fantastic way of dealing with some of the conflict that was going on, as well as a good way to show flashbacks about what had happened during the time before the occupation that was skipped over in the Season Two finale.

As much as I usually enjoy extended and directors’ cuts with my “the more, the better” outlook, I have to admit I was disappointed here. After watching the extended version, I went back and watched the aired version again, and the latter was actually much better, especially regarding what was assumed by the viewers rather than thrown in our faces. It’s a good lesson in how cutting things down in screenwriting and editing to the bare essentials can really do wonders for a story.

Overall, this set is definitely worth the price for any BSG fan, whether they’ve seen the episodes or not. In fact, I have a feeling the entire series is something most sci-fi fans are going to want in their collection for a long time to come.

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