Although the series finale of 'Battlestar Galactica' (BSG) was on about a month ago, I finally was able to watch it this last weekend (thanks, DVR). For the last six years, BSG has been the most daring and exciting sci-fi anywhere on television. BSG was originally a cheesy but much beloved series that lasted but one season back in 1978, television's attempt to jump on the Star Wars bandwagon. Count me as a fan of the original series.
The announcement that the Sci-Fi Channel would attempt a "reimagining" of BSG was met with much excitement (and also concern) in 2003. You see, as with many sci-fi properties, the original fanbase for BSG were a small but dedicated lot.
BSG is the dark story of human beings creating robots and computers to do their heavy lifting. The robots, called "cylons," at some point become so advanced that they gain consciousness and freewill. Naturally, they turn on their creators. A holocaust occurs, where cylons wipe out the human race save about 500,000 or so survivors who gather on a ragtag convoy of space ships searching the galaxy for a new home and avoiding cylons. These are humans, but not earthlings. In fact, "earth" is part of their religious mythology as a "lost tribe" of humans. As if this weren't enough, there are certain new models of cylons that are indistinguishable from humans, and several of these models are with the fleet. Some are even "sleeper" cylons who do not even know their own identity. There are many details and plot twists, but this is the very basic premise.
ABOVE: The brilliant Edward James Olmos plays the always intense Admiral William Adama, seen here scowling at the latest challenge to the survival of the human race
After a flawless opening mini-series in 2003, BSG was up and down through its four seasons and various supplemental webisodes and TV movie entitled 'Razor.' That is the honest truth, notwithstanding the orgasmic reviews that the show received during its run. While missteps were surely made at times and the byzantine plotlines (often an issue with good sci-fi) sometimes frustrated, I appreciate that the show always challenged, took risks, and kept evolving in surprising ways. It would have been easy to please fans season after season with space battles and sci-fi action, but BSG chose instead to excite primarily with ideas and plot twists. Edward James Olmos as the brooding Admiral Adama and James Callis as the cowardly but dangerous Dr. Gaius Baltar were especially rewarding throughout the run of the series. Through the sci-fi template, the creators of BSG were able to address a host of issues, including religious faith, destiny, man's relation with its creations, the environment, political systems, revolution, war, peace and terrorism.
The second half of the final season was a microcosm of the entire series. Amongst some episodes that were confusing or a bit emotionally overwrought (this is an almost unrelentingly dark show), there were also some of the best of the entire series. For instance, the three episode arc dealing with the brutal mutiny aboard the Galactica led by revolutionary Tom Zarek (played by Richard Hatch, a lead from the original 1978 series) and disaffected officer Felix Gaeta was especially exciting and powerful, and asked serious questions about democracy vs. strong leadership in times of crisis. Scenes such as when Zarek has the entire Quorum (the fleet's fledgling attempt at a democratic legislature) executed when they do not back his revolution and his arrest of Admiral Adama stay with you long after you have seen it. The entire series was full of such powerful plots and stories.
The finale was inevitable in some ways, and I found it somewhat satisfying. Don't worry, no spoiler here. But a show that proposes that the music and lyrics of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" have cosmic and mathematical significance to unlocking the secrets of the universe and the ultimate relationship between cylon and human (this is a major plot point in the end)...well, that's just kinda cool.
Sincere thanks to BSG for 6 years of sometimes brilliant, sometimes frustrating (but never boring) frakking television.
4 comments:
Richard Hatch was on Battlestar Galactica? That must have been before he went to jail for not paying taxes on the $1M he won on Survivor.
Ha. No, this would be another Richard Hatch...
Good review.
One random comment, Baltar's character was so amazing in all but the last two seasons of the show. Then he became irrelevant. But,
SPOILER ALERT (SORT OF),
it seems that he may be god in the future. I think it was a poor attempt to save him and wish they had kept his character more interesting than just a man whore who ultimately grows a conscious at the 11th hour.
That's a fair criticism. I thought his cult was good for comic relief more than anything. I kind of enjoyed that though.
SPOILER ALERT
Also, the original '78 show was largely designed around Mormon mythology. I am not sure how much the new show followed that. But if that was the case, then perhaps the Starbuck character is the Angel Gabriel (in Mormon belief)?
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