One thing you should know about me, if you don't yet, is that I take my television seriously.  Not so seriously that I've actually rewatched DVD sets over and over, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's musical episode excepted, but enough that I spend lots of time reading other people's opinions on what it all means.  Too much time?  Absolutely.  But being able to watch shows that delve into our inner selves and explore the spiritual questions we all ask is a simple pleasure for me.

As a religious person, I am grateful for the bounty of shows of late that have been unafraid to explore a realm beyond our here and now.  I just said goodbye to Battlestar Galactica, a show that mixed Greek, Christian, mono and polytheism all within one program with a heapful of prophecy, doubt, faith, messianic figures, and angels thrown in for good measure.  It could have taken itself to a place where all that belief comes to naught, where people have just been deluding themselves for years, centuries, or millennia in the case of the Final Five, to a place where no one had a plan.  I was afraid that it would after a half season full of dark, depressing humanity.  But in the end, Battlestar didn't take that road.  Instead, it embraced its spiritual themes and allowed the divine, whatever form it took in their world, to intervene and guide its people to their home.

Lost is another show that caught me with its religious undertones.  Sure, polar bears on tropical islands and monsters made of smoke are intriguing enough, but those details weren't what hooked me on the show.  No, that was John Locke, the man of faith, who we've discovered over time has indeed been in the right to believe.  Not necessarily everything he has believed has been right but the fact that he has been willing to keep his faith despite knowing that he hasn't always followed the correct path, continues to make him a compelling figure.  His nearly unwavering belief in the miraculous nature of the island has provided a witness so compelling that the man of science has begun to believe him after all.  Like my own, John's faith comes with both respect for that which is beyond my understanding and a healthy fear of what it may be and can do.  Jacob and Christian don't exactly strike me as types you want to spend a leisurely evening with, if you know what I mean.

There is a new series that is ready and waiting to take on my religious musings. Out with Battlestar Galactica and in with Kings.  This one is directly derived from the Old Testament, with plenty of liberties taken to reimagine the rise of King David in a modern society.  It is beautifully shot, well acted and chockfull of juicy portents.  The character of Reverend (Prophet) Samuels has made me sit up and take notice in his every scene thus far, from smearing motor oil on David's head to encouraging him to read and interpret the signs around him.  I'm looking forward to all the drama that is inherent in this story as well as the inspiration and questions it will stir.  When you live in a time and place when the existence of god is not questioned but simply IS, then what happens when you fall out of its favor?  Is there room for doubt in that reality?  And is the miraculous recognized as such more easily?

Thank you television, for bringing me shows that allow me to explore religion and all its mysteries.  I may protest when you crank out crime procedural after crime procedural, but for these, I am grateful.