A take on Battlestar Galactica as a whole

Some time ago, a reader asked me what me take on the complete series was, since I always cover small narrative pieces. Well, you asked, I serve. Battlestar Galactica had a run over four seasons before it ended in a conclusive ending that continues to split the fandom in two. Some love it, more hate it, but it did one thing - conclude the whole affair, without leaving any room for ill taken sequels, which is a feat in and of itself. Too many series more or less trail off or simply make a big clusterfuck of their ending (looking at you, Lost). 

The title referres to the screenplay.

Spoilers for all seasons of Battlestar Galactica ahead. 

Becoming monsters - the insurgency of New Caprica

This post contains spoilers for the first half of season three of Battlestar Galactica.

When the people of the rag-tag fleet of survivors were conquered by the Cylons and occupied, not everyone complied with Baltar's decision to give up (which I have discussed here). Most people reverted to a sullen acceptance, cooperating only to the minimum extent, but cooperating, some cooperate more willingly (especially the New Caprica Police, NCP), while some few chose the path to direct resistance. Led by the inevitable Colonel Saul Tigh, these guys formed "The Resistance", with the goal of "hurting the Cylons". It can't surprise anyone that the Resistance was heavily comprised of the old Caprica paramilitaries and military personell. When your enemy possesses not only superior numbers and equipment, but also the ability to respawn at any time, the damage you can actually do is rather limited. So, before we can assess what ramifications the insurgency of New Caprica had, we need to analyse its goals first. 

We're coming in peace.

The mess that is "Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome"

Spoilers for the pilot of "Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome". 

After the cancellation of "Caprica", which surely was flawed but still a decently entertaining series, fans didn't really get their hopes high in seeing a return to the colonies anytime soon. It came as a bit of a surprise that yet another new pilot for a series was to be shot: "Blood and Chrome", set in the time of the Cylon War and featuring young Bill Adama as the main character, serving aboard the Galactica as a viper jock. The cast looked decent enough, and there were many people working at it who had worked on the re-imagined series beforehand. However, bad news came coming in. Apparently, SciFy had decided not to make a series out of it after an initial two-hour pilot was shot. Talk was to do a movie, and that idea got scrambled, too, the final product being released as webisodes on Youtube. Now, all ten parts are available, and so we can look at the final product and decide on its merits. Let's just start with one assessment: it`s no wonder they pulled the plug. 

They got the look right, though.

A travesty of justice

Warning: Contains heavy spoilers for the third season of Battlestar Galactica.

When the second Exodus was over and the people rescued from Cylon occupation on New Caprica, then-president Tom Zarek performed the most idiotic of all moves by Executive Order: he legitimized the founding of a Circle of six men and women to try and judge the most notable collaborators of the occupation era. The Circle, as it was called proofing a sense of sincere sincerity, used evidence - witness reports and some looted documents, mostly - to judge the collaborators in question. They met in secrecy. The trial could have only two outcomes: death warrant or release. Guess which one was more likely. After the verdict was passed, the culprit was beaten up, taken into an airlock and got a chance to have his or her say before being flushed into space. No one was ever to hear of the culprits fate as to prevent civil war, and the Circle had only three days to conclude as many trials as they could. Gee, what could possibly go wrong? 

Around his neck: the Medal of Dumbassery, First Class

Playing for keeps

Warning: Contains spoilers for the second season of Battlestar Galactica. 

When the Battlestar Galactica encountered the Battlestar Pegasus in the vastness of space, the joy soon turns bitter for the crew of the Galactica, as they have to face that the Pegasus is something like a jagged, dark mirror image of their own. Pegasus is what would have become of Galactica if Adama would have had his way back in the pilot episode, where he wanted to go to war against the Cylons and was only persuaded by President Roslin that he needed to protect what was left of humanity. Pegasus went through this initial thought and forced everything under a very narrow interpretation of military needs, going so far as to putting people against the wall and shoot them to force valuable personell to leave their families to die in ships stripped for valuable parts. Admiral Cain, the commanding officer on Pegasus, sees herself as fighting a war, and in war, the needs of the few must submit to the needs of the many. Unfortunately, there are not that many left, but Cain acts under the illusion that there were and that humanity needs to, somehow, strike back and bring the fight to the Cylon. If you would ask her why, she would tell you something about war and how war works, but the truth would be that she doesn't know. The logic of war has swept away all other considerations. 

Just one Battlestar between salvation and oblivion.

A vision of an emancipated world

Warning: Contains mild spoilers about Battlestar Galactica. 

There are quite many Fantasy and Science-Ficion-settings that claim to show a world that has moved beyond the discrimination of the female gender. Especially role-playing games often do this; sometimes it's regarded as especially progressive to turn the table and simply mirror role models, which usually makes for a shortcut into the uncanny valley. I know only one show and setting that ever convinced me with its vision of an egalitarian world. This show is, you might have guessed, Battlestar Galactica. This may sound a bit strange because the show surely is no stranger to show boobs and slender female bodies in order to appeal to a certain audience, but there are several elements in it that contrast the show from other comparable settings. Or better, there are certain things lacking in BSG that can be found on other shows. 

May I present the kind of character they chose not to introduce.

The Baltar decision

Warning: Contains spoilers for the first three seasons of Battlestar Galactica. 

There was a moment in Gaius Baltar's life when all the ego-trips and selfishness hit the wall. After being elected president at the end of season 2 and giving the order to settle on a gastly heap of rocks dubbed "New Caprica", the people happily left their ships to breathe unfiltered air again and to feel some real ground beneath their feet. In the beginning it was all great, but the climate wasn't exactly a good one, and living in a tent becomes tedious after a time. Additionally, people got demanding, felt entitled and even founded a union. All that stuff made Baltar as unpopular in the span of just a year as George W. Bush after Katrina hit New Orleans. But then came the defining moment of his life, when his image of the weirdo scientist turned president went just out the window. Would "Battlestar Galactica" have been written by George R. R. Martin, everyone would refer to Baltar as "Gaius Turncloak", but bereft of such eloquence they had to settle to pronounce his name with real disdain. After that one year, the Cylons came back. 

Vote Baltar for benevoltent occupation.