Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

Impressions before seeing it
What I had heard was basically that it was a pointless collection of flashbacks looking at some major events in the series from the Cylon point of view. Sounded worth watching, anyway.

How was it?
The above description pretty much sums it up. Some footage from the series is re-used, but we also get new stuff because, of course, we didn't see a lot of the Cylon side in earlier episodes. Though I don't know if I would necessarily say it's about the Cylons so much as it is about model #1, the arrogant and ruthless model known as Cavil. Apparently, most of what the Cylons did was all his idea, and while this final movie doesn't really give us new answers to anything, it gives us his motivations and everyone else's reactions to them, making it a good character piece. I think that, in his pride, Cavil wants to be loved without having to feel love in return, without understanding what it is, because he thinks it's a human weakness to feel it. He just wants to be God's favourite, and he wants to do it by exterminating those sinful humans because, you know, God hates all sinners and everything is a sin. I think some of this was already touched on in the series anyway, but here we get the expanded version. Again, there's no shocking revelations. Like the Lost webisodes (yes, I'm comparing this show to Lost again), or even the Ben Linus epilogue scene to some extent, it fills in blanks that weren't necessarily begging to be filled but are still interesting to see for the sake of completion.

However, and I alluded to this in the season four post, one thing has been bothering me since season one that was still not answered here. I may have to watch that episode again in case I missed something, but the circumstances under which Ellen Tigh first arrives on the Galactica were strange to me. Adama suddenly takes off in a Raptor without telling anyone where he went, comes back with Tigh's wife, then resumes his usual duties without a peep and has no interactions with her for the rest of the episode (that I can remember)? Just felt like something was missing...

Recommendation
Much better than Razor, because at least the Cylons are characters we've known the whole time, but like Razor it doesn't really add much to the series. I'd still recommend it for fans of the show, though, if only for the chance to spend a little more time with these cool characters we've come to love. The absence of President Roslin does sadden me a little, though, being one of my favourites.

Battlestar Galactica - Season Four

The fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica was split in half by the writer's strike (and subsequently released that way on DVD), but to me half a season is stupid, so this post pertains to all of season four.

In last season's amazing finale, we had discovered all but one of the Cylons (or, rather, they discovered themselves) and ended with another reveal that wasn't necessarily all that surprising, but still cool. Now, as the series draws to a close, the crew is closer than ever to finding earth, the Galactica is falling apart, President Roslin's cancer is getting the best of her, humans cooperate with Cylons (though that war is not over), Cylon history - and the identity of the last model - is revealed, and a mutiny is started. Also, people die. Things have to get worse before they get better, and it sure makes for some great entertainment.

After certain events in the season, I started to form a theory that maybe everyone was a Cylon and there was no such thing as human beings. In one way it might have been a cool plot twist, but it also would have been a cop out and anyway I was wrong. It turned out that many events, apparently, were related to God. I guess I should have seen that coming, as religion has been a part of the series since the beginning (especially from the preachy, monotheistic Cylons), but it almost seems contradictory for God to play such a role in science-fiction. I'm not labeling that as a flaw, though; I like that it's something to set Battlestar Galactica apart from other sci-fi stories.

The finale, while maybe not exactly what I was expecting, was more wholly satisfying than, say, the series finale of Lost. While Lost's ending mainly serviced its characters and left several mysteries unsolved (still partly satisfying, though), I felt that Battlestar managed to do both. Some of its answers may be a bit vague, yes, but at least there are answers, and its ending waxed closer to mindblowing (but not quite) than I'd always hoped Lost's would. However, I didn't find it as moving as the Lost finale, so there's that. Still, it's been a wonderful journey with wonderful characters, and it's not over yet because I still have The Plan to watch, which I'm hoping will explain one specific plot point from the first season that has been bugging me all this time... More about that when I write that post.

Best Episode: "The Oath" and "Blood on the Scales", an exciting two-parter in which Gaeta and Tom Zarek start an uprising and take over the Galactica. I was kind of hoping the finale would top that one, but it didn't.

Battlestar Galactica: Razor

Razor is a TV movie produced between the third and fourth seasons of Battlestar Galactica, which seemed a little late to me since it takes place in season two. It tells the story of the Battlestar Pegasus before it was found by the Galactica, and while the Pegasus arc was my favourite part of season two, I found this to be rather dull. Those three season two episodes were awesome because it was the main cast from the Galactica, whom I loved, against the crew of the Pegasus, whom I hated, in a civil war. Razor keeps the main cast to a minimum and gives us nearly two hours of those pricks I was hoping not to see again. I mean, okay, the message of the movie is that sometimes you have to make awful and difficult decisions for the greater good, but Admiral Cain seems to do it without hesitation or remorse, and that's why I never liked her. I feel like Razor was a late attempt to make the audience sympathize with the crew of the Pegasus, including a new character who was introduced as the lead in this and then killed off, almost making her pointless as a part of the series as a whole. I don't know if there were fans begging for the Pegasus' backstory, but I can honestly say I was not curious.

So about 80-90% of this was dull and pointless to me, but there was a small amount of more important information that I appreciated: we got some flashbacks of a young Adama discovering human/Cylon hybrids, and a very interesting tidbit about Starbuck that I suppose no one but the viewers are aware of now. But all of that stuff could have easily been slipped into a regular episode, avoiding the need for this pointless story about horrible characters I care little about. To be clear, this is a matter of circumstantial taste. I am really loving the series itself, and this wasn't technically a bad movie, I just hate the crew of the Pegasus, and since they were the stars of Razor, I wasn't feeling this one.

Battlestar Galactica - Season Three

At the end of season two, we took a startling but very interesting jump a few years ahead, where much of the crew is living on New Caprica. It lasted for about five episodes in season three, and they were a great five, but I was pleased when it ended and everyone was reunited again. It could have gone on too long, but it didn't. I was also pleased to see Roslin return to the presidency, coming full circle in bringing things back to normal again.

Looking at the season as a whole, it was actually kind of epic if you consider what everyone went through in those 20 episodes. In a couple of dark episodes, some established characters died, the fleet came closer to finding Earth, four of the final five Cylons discovered themselves and each other in a very cool scene, and loyalties between humans and Cylons were split further when signs pointed to them co-existing peacefully as a better solution. There wasn't a bad episode anywhere; I love these characters too much to get bored with them.

Best Episode: There were so many great moments this season: The crew reuniting on The Galactica after escaping New Caprica, Adama challenging Tyrol to a boxing match, Kat's heroic rescue through the radiation belt, Adama's reaction to Starbuck's birthday card, all of the sweet moments between Adama and Roslin, and the last few minutes of the season finale (which, while I predicted the twists and reveals, still awed and excited me because of the way everything was executed.) I guess I'll go with the finale, "Crossroads: Part 2", where Baltar's trial comes to a close after a strong speech from Apollo, four people simultaneously discover they are Cylons, and after correctly guessing that and who was piloting the ship ghosting Apollo, my world gets rocked anyway.

Battlestar Galactica - Season Two

Not that season one was bad in any way, but I think season two was a big improvement, mostly because when I wrote up my post for last season there was really only the one candidate for best episode, and this season has several because of some really cool, high tension storylines.

I haven't really changed my opinions of which characters I like and dislike (although Col. Tigh's wife Ellen is easily worse than he is, but I knew that last season). Even as Starbuck went into a disastrous downward spiral and President Roslin's approval ratings dwindled as she made some difficult decisions, I still liked and respected them as characters, and that is a testament to the show's writers. I suppose I dislike Gaius a little since he is so shady and tends to be morally grey a lot of the time, but he also provides comic relief so I don't hate him. We're also given two more Cylon models and a look into their motives. I was puzzled last season when they seemed to place a lot of emphasis and both love and God, both of which should be irrelevant to a machine, but here it is explained... sort of.

One thing I will say that bothered me slightly is that some of the romantic relationships seemed rushed, like we were only given a short time to see two people fall in love and then were suddenly supposed to just go with it (which I did, because there was no other choice), Lee and Dualla especially. But only a minor complaint, because I am loving this show.

Best Episode: For me, one of the coolest parts was in the season finale, "Lay Down Your Burdens: Part 2", when we jump a year ahead and see where everyone is at, because I've always liked seeing the shocking differences between then and now when you saw nothing in the middle (like in The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time when you go back and forth, or like My Generation should have done better but didn't). However my pick for best episode - and I'm going to cheat a little here - is "Pegasus" and "Resurrection Ship" Parts 1 and 2, a three episode arc in which the Galactica finds a lost battlestar from the fleet, but the commanding officer outranks Adama and a civil war ensues because she is a cold bitch trying to take over the fleet, and seeing the crew of the Pegasus is almost like a Bizarro version of the Galactica crew. Awesome stuff.

Battlestar Galactica - Season One

On a whim I decided to get into Battlestar Galactica, so I downloaded an episode and then bought the complete series on Blu-ray.

It started off a little slow, but after a few episodes I really got into it. This is not just a science fiction show, it's a smart and strongly acted character piece. I was particularly impressed with some of the scenes involving Edward James Olmos and Katee Sackoff as Adama and Starbuck, who grew to be two of my favourite characters (although I more or less like everyone except for Colonel Tighe, who is a drunken old douchebag.) Third favourite is probably President Roslin, who for some reason many of the characters have a problem with even though she is an intelligent and capable leader.

To be honest the plot isn't even that complex: in classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers style, there are evil robots (Cylons) who look, feel, and act human so that it's very hard to tell who is one, and the crew of the Galactica, the last surviving members of humanity as far as we know, are trying to fight them in order to make their way home to Earth, which to them is merely a myth because they're so far into the future. There are only 12 Cylon models, and in the first few episodes we are shown 4 (possibly 5 if the ones who don't look human count). I imagine the rest of the series will bring us many cool reveals on the other 7 or 8, and no doubt some will be people we've already been introduced to - for example, Leoben tried to tell Roslin that Adama was a Cylon but, assuming there is any truth to that, he didn't say which Adama.

So, yeah, I find this show impressive because sci-fi can sometimes be corny or heavily reliant on action and visual effects (not that Battlestar is lacking in those departments), but instead we get a whole lot of interesting characters and scenes that mess with our heads a little as Galactica tries to survive in the void of space. Nice shocking ending too, I'll probably start season two almost immediately.

Best Episode: "Flesh and Bone", in which Starbuck interrogates a Cylon and a lot of dodgy mind games are played.