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BATTLESTAR GALACTICA |
Series Overview
Commander Adama - Edward James Olmos President Roslin - Mary McDonnell Captain Adama (Apollo) - Jamie Bamber Lt Thrace (Starbuck) - Katee Sackhoff Dr Baltar - James Callis Number 6 - Tricia Helfer Lt Valerii (Boomer) - Grace Park Colonel Tigh - Michael Hogan Chief Tyrol - Aaron Douglas Billy Keikeya - Paul Campbell 
OTHER SEASONS Mini Series Season 1 Season 2 Season 4 Razor OTHER TREKS THROUGH SPACE Babylon 5 Star Trek The Next Generation Deep Space Nine Enterprise Space 1999 
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Series OverviewAt the end of Season 2, the human race was stranded on the inhospitable world of New Caprica under the yoke of the cylon occupation. Time has passed, relationships have formed, marriages been made and a resistance is busily blowing up anything it can and trying to kill the President who allowed it all to happen, Gaius Baltar. Out in space, the Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus wait for a chance to make contact with the colonists and mount a desperate rescue attempt. Only the first four episodes of this third season deal with the occupation itself as the series really wants to deal with the aftermath. Pivotal events are shown such as the deaths of some characters, the signing of death lists, torture both physical and mental, suicide bombings and the all-important rescue, but only so that the rest of the series can deal with the emotional fallout of all that. The last three episodes, for example, deal with Baltar's trial and its effects on the main players, most especially Jamie Bamber's Lee 'Apollo' Adama. Collaborators deals with the thorny issue of those who helped the cylons, for whatever reason and Torn talks about the collective guilt of those that suffered and those that ran away. Then there's the small matters of the search for Earth and the continuing cylon plan. Earth is dealt with in the trilogy of Less satisfying are the human stories. Whilst Admiral Adama and President Roslin's relationship slowly deepens (with continuing fine performances from Edward James Olmos and Mary MacDonnell), the four way love triangle (sure it's a square, but love square doesn't sound right) involving Starbuck and Apollo is pulpy and soap opera-ish. Season 3 of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is a step down from the astonishing first two seasons, but the bar was set so high that even this dip in quality does not risk its place as one of the finest science fiction shows ever made. TopOccupationThe last remnants of humanity lie beneath the Cylon heel. On the harsh world of New Caprica, the Cylons now command, but there is an insurgency fighting back with guerilla attacks, aided by a secret source within the very heart of President Baltar's human government. Starbuck is locked in a death and life cycle with a cylon who wants to play husband and wife, Colonel Tigh is released from prison thanks to the energetic efforts of his wife and joins up with Chief Tyrol to plan an attack on the newly formed human police force. Out in space, the Galactica sits, waiting for contact from the planet and the beginnings of a plan to get the survivors back to the fleet. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is back and it starts off with a scorcher of a set up episode. The world has moved on and it's time to get to know what's happening with everyone before the real storylines start. It's also a stunningly brave set up considering the situation in Iraq at the time of production, dealing as it does with an insurgency against an alien oppressor, suicide bombings, the imposition of a collaborating police force and all from the point of view of the occupied. Subtle it might not be, but brave it certainly it. The individual situations are as complex, adult and brutal as ever. With Tigh's wife's infidelity proving to be in the cause of getting him out of prison, the resistance leaders struggling with the need to do dreadful things in the name of freedom, Apollo on the Pegasus getting fat and soft without the constant adrenaline rush of war and Baltar locked in the cage of his own making. Most fascinating of all, though, is Starbuck's prison, playing home with a cylon determined to break her to love him, killing him time and again only for him to return in a new body. Psychological torture of a frighteningly refined kind. In the very first episode, this new season proves that the quality bar is as high as ever. TopPrecipiceNow that Galactica is in contact with the colonists on New Caprica plans are made for a last-ditch desperate attempt to rescue them. Unfortunately, the suicide bombings have made the Cylons very nervous and they decidet hat a crackdown on the insurgency is necessary, ordering the round up of anyone suspected of being a rebel for execution. Ellen Tigh is also in over her head. The cylon with whom she has been sleeping in order to secure her husband's freedom demands to know the exact whereabouts of the next resistance meeting. The location that she supplies is that of the forward guard of Galactica's rescue team, led by the newly installed Sharon as its leader. Occupation opened up the series with an excellent set up episode that brought us up to speed with what's been going on with the colonists. Now the real story gets underway and immediately proves that the quality of the opener was no accident. The plot lines surge together to an incredibly exciting climax and the cylons open fire on both the rescue team and the insurgent prisoners. Once again, though, it is Starbuck's story that, despite being the quietest, is the most impressive because of its unexpectedness. The introduction of Kacey, a daughter created from the eggs removed from her in Season 2 episode The Farm throws her into a stunning emotional whirl. Is it really her daughter, is it human, is it a controlled cylon creation? No matter what, it's going to alter her world. TopExodus - Part 1The rescue team evade their attackers and the insurgent prisoners are freed. The plan for the rescue attempt is prepared for as everyone is briefed and gets ready. Sharon is critical as she must get the launch keys to the grounded ships and only a cylon can do that. Cylon model number 2 is having strange dreams involving Hera, the child of Sharon and Helo, whom they believed to be dead. A human seer tells her that she will hold the child in her arms, but they will lose all that they have acheived on New Caprica. Ex-president Roslin gives orders that the child must get off the planet as an absolute priority and the Cylons decide that if things get too bad they will just destroy the settlement with a nuclear strike and start again. The first part of the rescue story that will lead to all the action in the second part and as a result you could expect the quality to dip a little, but it doesn't. There are difficult decisions being made all around. Colonel Tigh learns that his wife is the traitor who gave away the location of the rendezvous with the team from Galactica and knows the action that he must take. Starbuck finds her world changing with the continued presence of Kacey, but that is never really convincing. Can the cylon really believe that the child has changed her hatred of him and can she really believe that he would fall for such a trick? The unbearably exciting climax to Precipice is got around by cheating. This episode goes back in time to show that the truth about the slaughter of the insurgents was learned about by the colonists and a team was sent out to stop it, but what follows is exciting and action-packed enough to get away with it. Throughout all of this, though, there is time for the character moments that are so vital to the success of the show. Adama and Apollo disagree on the course of action that can only lead to the destruction of Galactica and the death of her crew, Adama making a suicide run because he can't live with leaving the colonists behind and dropping that load on his son's shoulders. One thing is for certain; not seeing the next episode is not an option. TopExodus - Part 2It's time. The Galactica launches its audacious plan and the cylons are caught unawares. Fake battlestars, ships plunging through lower atmospheres and faster-than-light jumping into space from only a few hundred feet up, vipers streaking over the colony wreaking havoc, the rebels storming every complex in sight and the colony ships taking off to jump for a rendezvous they might never make. And then the other cylon baseships arrive. Exodus - Part 2 lives up to the promise of its set up with a stunning action-packed episode that roars through its running time on all battlefronts. Despite the destruction on view, the shaky cam battlefield filming and the very real sense of chaos and confusion that war brings, the story is never lost in the action. We always know what's going on, who has the upper hand and wehre it all just went wrong. It's always darkest before the dawn, the outcome of the battle is never in doubt and the manner by which it is acheived is also predictable, but it's all done with so much skill and brio that none of that matters. In the heat of the battle its only the heat of the battle that matters. And what a battle. The special effects are flawless as giant spaceships go toe to toe in space, vipers and cylon fighters streak through the skies above the ground battle and we defy anyone not to be excited by all this. Yet, despite all the action and pyrotechnics, there is still the character stuff to impress. As the survivors celebrate, there are the losses to be mourned, losses that may be about who's dead, how they died or simply hopes that never really were. This is one of the finest episodes that the show has produced to date and that is saying something. TopCollaboratorsThe fleet is back together and the Cylon occupation is over. The inevitable begins to happen as people working with the cylons go missing. A circle of six is judging them and executing them without the benefit of representation or a trial. Roslin and Adama are appalled, but what is to be done when the alternative is months of public trials tearing the fleet apart? After the stunning action of Exodus - Part 2, the series goes for a complete change of pace, the only thing that could be done without being seen as a complete anticlimax. This is an intense episode in an entirely different manner and it's one of those complex moral grey areas that the show likes to explore and does so very well. In this case it's the act of collaboration. Nobody works with the enemy lightly and the level of involvement varies, but at which point does someone cross the line between self-preservation and betrayal? And then again there's Gaeta. He worked with the Baltar administration, the lawful government, but also smuggled information to the resistance, information that saved lives and that was pivotal in the rescue of the colonists. He ought to be a hero, but so secret did he keep his identity in order not to get caught that he is a prime candidate for execution. The plot's not anything that we haven't seen before, but the writing is excellent, allowing the actors, all the actors, to make the most of their characters. TopTornWith those who suffered on the surface of Caprica and those who were stuck aboard the Galactica and Pegasus maintaining watch and risking their lives in the rescue thrown back together again in cramped conditions, feelings run high. Two of the main malcontents are Colonel Tigh and Starbuck, both ridden with their own emotional issues. Meanwhile, Baltar, a prisoner on a cylon baseship gives up the roadmap to earth in order to stay alive, but the cylons find something that they didn't expect. The New Caprica was a bad situation and nobody got off lightly, but the tensions that run through this episode are brilliantly portrayed and perfectly believable. Once again, the writers focus in on the characters rather than the action or the story. Starbuck's emotional problems stem from the mental torture of her imprisonment and the belief that she had a daughter who was rudely taken from her. Tigh executed his own wife. They have always been personalities clashing with each other, but it was never so clear as it is here that the clash is the result of two people being so similar and hating their own flaws mirrored in the other. The story of Baltar on the baseship is less satisfying, as his story has always been. The cylon environment is alien enough to be believable, but why do the humanoid cylons continue to wear human clothes when back amongst their own kind? Baltar has always been a weak character and here again he comes off as simply loathesome and annoying, something that makes it hard to believe that he could inspire the love of Caprica Six to the point that she would change the destiny of her race for him. When he goes aboard the second cylon baseship, however, and finds why it does not respond to their contacts, it is a creepy, atmospheric sequence. TopA Measure of SalvationThe colonial fleet follows the clues from the scriptures to find the way to Earth. What they find is an abandoned cylon baseship with five half dead survivors. The humans prove to be immune to the plague and the cylons can be kept alive, but another possibility presents itself that if the prisoners are executed within range of a resurrection ship then the whole cylon race might be wiped out by the virus. Is genocide, however, the human thing to do? Biological warfare is a nasty thing. Genocide is worse. Is either ever justified? Beaten and driven to the very edge of extinction, is the death of every living cylon too high a price to pay for the last shreds of humankind to keep their humanity? Another moral dilemma and another compelling piece of drama. It is borrowed from the TNG episode I Borg and very little is made to disguise it, but it fits the show like a glove. Unfortunately, for an event of such epic consequences, the resolution is somewhat facile and everything is accepted with a little too much ease. TopHeroA colonial pilot lost on the edge of cylon space years before the attacks on the colonies suddenly returns in a stolen cylon raider. He carries with him a story long buried that makes a mockery of the medal that Adama is about to be honoured with. Innocence may be the first casualty of war, but honour can't be far behind it and this is a story about how the most honourable man can be forced into actions that challenge his self-worth by the circumstances imposed in war and especially secret missions. Unfortunately, watching a man wrestle with his own sense of values isn't the easiest of ways to spend an hour and this is the least impressive episode of the show this season. It's still impeccably acted, especially by Edward James Olmos who is the focus of the tale, but the plot feels contrived in order to give him some meaty emotional scenes to get his acting chops around, which is a shame. Even so, an average episode of this show is way ahead of most and there is interest in Lucy Lawless' Number Two not only sharing Baltar's bed with Number Six, but having visions that are clearly leading her to some kind of destiny. And be warned, the generally thoughtful tone of the piece means that the couple of moments of violence that take place are all the more shocking for having no context. TopUnfinished BusinessKara Thrace is late for the Dance, but this is no ballroom event. On Galactica, the Dance is a boxing match where anyone who enters can challenge anyone who enters. There is no rank and no privilege here. It's a way of working out tension, avoiding festering grudges and dealing with unfinished business. And there is a lot of unfinished business following the cylon occupation of New Caprica. The reboot of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA has been particularly adept at balancing its action and tension with the strong characters and their relationships to one another. This season, the action seems to have been dealt with early on and we're now concentrating on the character stuff separately. If this was told straight up, chronologically or in order, then there's probably about twenty minutes of narrative here, but the explanatory flashbacks are scattered throughout the boxing, repeated and replayed from different angles. Some of it brings new information (what exactly estranged Apollo and Starbuck), casts new light on the character (Adama's bout is really with himself) and just covers old ground (Tigh loved and killed his wife). All of this could easily be accused of being navel-gazing filler were it not so damned compelling. The drip feed of the Apollo/Starbuck story especially is effective. Adama's fight with the chief seems specious until he gives a speech that explains it and effectively ends the burgeoning relationship with President Roslin that emerged in the flashbacks. As for the boxing - that's brutal, ugly, up-close and personal. These aren't professional fighters, just highly trained hardnuts slugging it out with each other. If you don't like the ROCKY school of boxing then you might want to give this episode a miss. TopThe PassageThe food supplies aboard the fleet have been almost utterly destroyed and everyone is starving. There is a planet that has oceans of algae that isn't too tasty, but is almost pure protein. Unfortunately, to get to it the fighter pilots are going to have to take the civilian ships through eight by eight, into a hell of blinding light, intense heat and radiation and fried navigation circuits. If they get through at all, they won't get through unscathed. Another intense mission for the crew of the Galactica, but this time one that seems a little bit contrived in its set up. A sudden disaster in food storage, the planet's availability, but it's intensely dangerous path? Even so, the intensity of the special effects of the firestorm in the heart of the star cluster (very similar to the solar effects of SUNSHINE and just as effective in giving of the impression of heat and light and a living hell) divert attention away from the weakness of the soapy plot set around troubled fighter pilot Kat. She's not who she said or what she appears. She has a secret, but isn't a cylon, so does anyone really care? Not really, which also undermines the final sacrifice. Even so, it's hot stuff and throws in a prophecy leading the cylons on the next step to earth, a step that sounds a lot like the place that the fleet is filling up on algae. TopThe Eye of JupiterIn orbit around the algae planet, the Galactica is suddenly faced with four cylon baseships, but they don't immediately blow it out of the sky. Instead they want to deal for the Eye of Jupiter, an artefact that shows the way to earth and which resides in a temple discovered on the algae planet. Adama says no and threatens to nuke the planet so nobody can get the Eye. The cylons set off anyway and the nukes are lined up. A small group of humans on the planet facing off against marauding cylons whilst Galactica sits above looking for ways to outsmart the larger resources of the cylon fleet? Didn't we already do this? The set up is very familiar from the story that bridged Season 1 and Season 2, but it worked well then and is only a little less successful this time around because we've seen it before. Also, the love square between Apollo, Starbuck, Anders and Dee gets a bit in the way. The show gets by on its merit with action and character and really doesn't need this kind of artificial plotline to help it through. The scene where Gaius Baltar once again meets his own kind on his brief return to Galactica is painfully real, however. TopRaptureThe Cylons attack the temple fortifications whilst Dee attempts to find and save Starbuck. The sun goes nova and the Eye of Jupiter is revealed. Number Two sees the faces of the remaining five cylons, but the others take a decision before she is able to share her rapture. The final five cylons are clearly something of a mystical force for the cylon race, but exactly why remains a mystery, unless we missed something along the way. The whole mystical storyline behind this is somewhat stilted and rather unlikely as well. Is it really likely that the 13th tribe would leave a signpost to Earth that could only be read at the one moment that the sun goes nova? The action on the planet is surprisingly flat, especially the situation between Dee and Starbuck, rivals for Apollo's affections and yet forced to co-operate in order to survive. It's a bit rushed and probably could have benefitted from an extra episode to allow for more fighting and an expansion of that side of the story. The decision taken by the cylons in the face of one of their member's actions is somewhat chilling and utterly inhuman (underlining once again what they are) and the upshot of all this leaves a lot of characters in interesting situations. TopTake A Break From All Your WorriesEx-President Baltar is back on Galactica again and now-President Roslin wants him to confess to his crimes. when normal techniques fail, she allows Adama to use an experimental type of drug on him to get at the truth, but truth has always been in the eye of the beholder. Meanwhile, Starbuck and Apollo try to save their marriages. Despite the Jesus-style facial hair, Gaius Baltar is no messiah to his people. The battle to get the truth about him is a fascinating one and allows for some interesting character insights into both him and Roslin. The scene in which she faces him in his prison cell echoes the one where he did the same on New Caprica. The concentration on character is what has made this show such a success. Less successful is the plot strand focussing on Apollo and Starbuck. Whilst their romance has been unconventional, gritty and messy and therefore more interesting and believable, this coverage of their marriage problems is none of those things and just gets in the way of a much more interesting story being told. TopThe Woman KingIt had to happen. With all the survivors now packed into even fewer ships after the exodus from New Caprica a disease has broken out, a disease that is most rife in a sect of hardline religious believers. They don't trust modern medicine and so won't take modern medicine and so they are dying, but is it the natural course of events or is something more sinister at work? The spectre of disease rears its ugly head and it is only a surprise that it has taken this long to do so. Into the mix has been stirred the religious beliefs of the Sagittarans, the lack of belief in Helo (he is a cylon lover after all) and the work of a serial killer. After all, where better to find victims than amongst people who actively resist being saved? This is another fine episode that works on all kinds of levels from the personal story of Helo and the attitudes towards him through to the rights of religion against practical need and the powers of the government over its populace in the face of crisis. TopA Day In The LifeIt's Admiral Adama's wedding anniversary and he gets through the day by allowing his memories of the time with his wife to break through. Those memories have to take a back seat as Chief Tyrol and his wife get locked in an airlock that is venting oxygen. It seems that everyone is starting to see people that aren't there. Baltar's been seeing Caprica Six in his mind since the start and now she's seeing him in her mind, but this episode is all about Adama seeing his wife. OK, they're memories rather than whatever's going on with the others, but it does seem to be a theme that is getting bit overused here. It gives Edward James Olmos a chance to widen out his range for a change, but that's about all. It is, however, better than the storyline that is cobbled together about the airlock just to get the Chief and Cally to sort out their marriage issues. That is as subtle as a blow to the head with a ten tonne meteorite. TopDirty HandsGaius Baltar has written a book about his life and his mistakes and smuggled it out of his cell, trying to get a base of support amongst the workers. When the refining ship fails to meet its quotas Chief Tyrol is drafted in to sort out the problems, but when the Admiral and President refuse to listen to his recommendations, he shuts it down and organises a general strike. OK, employee relations and science fiction shows have never had a happy relationship, but this might just be the episode that bucks the trend. On a personal level it's the story of the Chief finding a place for himself that is higher than simply fixing vipers and on the highest level it's about the whole nature of society and how it can limit options through expectation. It's thoughtful stuff. For once, though, it focusses on the story instead of the theme and that's why it works where so other similar attempts in other shows have failed. The moment where Adama orders the execution of the Chief's wife is chilling in the extreme. TopMaelstromStarbuck sees a cylon raider in the clouds of the system they are using for cover as they refuel the fleet, but her gun camera records nothing. She starts to see visions of a little girl that turns out to be her and also of the cylon who imprisoned her, but for once is not torturing her. This is getting beyond a joke. After Baltar, Caprica Six and Admiral Adama now we have Kara Thrace seeing things. Once again it's a bit about memories mixed in with the possibility of psychic connection with the cylons, but enough is enough people. Find a new trick. That said, this gives Katee Sackhoff a chance to shine and she makes the most of it, showing how she has grown since the very early days of the show. Because of her, we are willing to take this journey into her past and learn something about the origins of the demons that have dogged her life. You can also add to that a climax that is stunning. TopThe Son Also RisesBaltar's trial approaches, but it is dogged by the death of those attempting to defend him. Apollo is put in charge of the security of the new lawyer for the defence and finds his style and viewpoint somewhat unconventional. This is pure character piece. The cylons have disappeared for a while and it's time to concentrate once again on the fallout from the disastrous time on New Caprica and the abrupt loss of Starbuck in Maelstrom. This has left Lee adrift and unsure of what his life is and should be. He is in conflict with his emotions and therfore in conflict with everyone and everything else. Aside from that, there's no real plot to speak of and the episode is actually quite dull. The lawyer is so obviously a smooth liar and cheat that it's impossible to believe in anything that he says and the whole point of the episode is thus somewhat undermined. TopCrossroads - Part 2Baltar's trial begins with Lee Adama on the defence team having resigned his commission. The first witness, Colonel Tigh, proves to be less than impressive, being drunk and hearing music that isn't there at the same time. Conflict is what this is all about, the kind of conflict between father and son, between a man and his morals and his emotions, between political rivals, between a man who is clearly deserving of punishment and a system that wants the punishment to be absolute. It's a compelling tale of character and morals that will hopefully be heading to some sort of impressive conclusion because the episode itself is nothing special. TopCrossroads - Part 2Baltar's trial continues to twist and turn as witnesses reveal their secrets, perjure themselves and betray trusts. Lee has managed to betray everyone that he believed in for everything that he believes in and finds himself in a moral minefield from which there is no escape. It's at that point that the faces of four out of the famous last five cylons are revealed and a huge cylon fleet appears ahead. Oh, and an unidentified target arrives in the middle of all this with surprising news. The last two episodes leading up to this finale have been disappointing, but the final episode of Season 3 manages to pull it out of the fire, just. It does it with a series of big twists - the verdict, the reveal of four of the final five cylons, the arrival of the cylon fleet and that unidentified ship popping up. All of that sets up a cliffhanger that makes Season 4 unmissable in a way that much of Season 3 hasn't been able to achieve. Lee Adama's character has been put through the wringer, the President's cancer is back, everyone seems to be having visions of everyone and nothing has been resolved. The hunt for Earth continues and we want to be there, but first there's the small matter of a cylon fleet to sort out. Top |
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