[Miniseries !Season 1 !Season 2 !Season 3 !Season 4 ]
Battlestar Galactica (2003)]
The Lowdown
Shown
This is a documentary to promote the new re-imagining of the classic 1970s TV show. Ron D Moore [ Star Trek ] is in charge, and the SPFX are mostly CGI. The cast includes a Female Starbuck and Boomer, and a mix of humanoid and CGI cylons.
As further promotion, NO6 does a Maxim shoot and the Producers do a comic con panel.
The documentary-makers interview Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict, the stars of the original show.
We get clips of the miniseries. The look of the new show seems to resemble SAAB/SG-1 and NYPD Blue/24. It uses handheld filming [more gritty and realistic].
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 0, Episode 1]
Mini Series (1)
Edward James Olmos works well as Adama. The female Starbuck looks like a teenage tomboy. Boomer's an oriental babe, Tigh's a caucasian male - there's no African-American in the main cast! Although there is the Black chick from Jeremiah lurking in the background. Space: Above And Beyond used mixed fighter squadrons - but the women looked like 20-somethings.
Mary McDonnell is the Minister for Education [a role literally written for her].
Baltar has an english accent. He is a smug boffin, with no sense of responsibility. He looks like Dr Bashir [ Star Trek: DS9 ], but he's the GBF from Bridget Jones.
Cylon No6 is Trish Helfer , a 6ft blonde. She's the infiltration stealth model that the T-X [ Terminator 3 ] should have been. The other cylons are CGI, and their ships use missiles so there are few dogfights.
The show's heavy on plotting [the theme is that people should take responsibility for mistakes] but it's part 1 of a 2-pt, 4 hour miniseries pilot! It's a 9-11 allegory, updated to feature nuked homeworlds [not World War 2-type strafing!].
There is lots of CGI. Except for the cast [newbies and B-listers] it's a movie-scale production. And unlike the original [a TV show shown in cinema] it's shown in LBX format.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 0, Episode 2]
Mini Series (2)
Boxy is aboard Boomer's shuttle. The Raptor Shuttle performs recon, AWACs, targetting [and FTL] for the whole squadron.
Galactica has a big line of corpses [like 9-11, Ground Zero]. It seems to be a religious conflict, too. The Cylons talk of God, while Humans say Lords of Kobol.
The Prez collects a ragtag fleet. There are 50k refugees. Do they have Conscription? They have 85 vacancies for techs!
Adama and a mysterious black-marketeer [Callum Keith Rennie - eXisTenZ ] get lost on the space station.
Now they look like us is 1950s paranoia meets 1980s cheap SPFX. Baltar has a cylon as his conscience [in a sexy red dress] and a chip in head [like in Farscape ].
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 1, Episode 1]
33
The Cylons attack every 33 mins. The humans have gone 130 hours without sleep! They have no shifts or down-time.
Doctor Emmerich [why do they use Earth names?] is on to Baltar's secret!
Boomer's sidekick is still alive [part of a Cylon plot].
The difference between this and the original is genre. This is a Drama, not action-adventure.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 1, Episode 2]
Water
Boomer wakes up - she has missing time, and there are bombs aboard the ship! She tells her BF.
The Prez boards BSG - they have enough water for 4 years, but only 3 sets of clothes! The short-haul ships are running low [riots, troops deployed!]. They don't recover the ice from space. Boomer must choose [subconsciously].
Baltar and Starbuck flirt [he's still deceitful, etc]. Apollo's guilty conscience about destroying a passenger ship.
On Caprica - Cylon foot-patrols are searching, but the evaders light a campfire!
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 1, Episode 3]
Bastille Day
Richard Hatch [a convict - a political prisoner, really - named Tom Zarek] and some low-pay workers take Apollo hostage. Brent Stait [ Andromeda ] is a Rapacious Convict.
Starbuck [a sniper] leads the rescue squad of marines. We don't respond to violence [we just use it against democracy].
Boxy attends a briefing.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 1, Episode 4]
Act of Contrition
An accident kills pilots. Starbuck has flashbacks to the death of Apollo's brother [her BF, who gave her sweaty sex]. She confesses to Adama. They're training rookies ...
Baltar plays poker.
Helfer tracks Halo and Boomer on Caprica.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 1, Episode 5]
You Can't Go Home Again
This is Part 2. Starbuck is alone on a planet, so she hotwires a cylon fighter.
Adama and Apollo extend the search, but Baltar and the Prez and Tigh are cautious.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 1, Episode 6]
Litmus
Boomer and her BF on BSG are interrogated [a witchhunt for Cylons]. The illicit actions [free love and moonshine] are misinterpreted.
Boomer and her other BF on the planet of Caprica - the plot develops.
Baltar's plot develops.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 1, Episode 7]
Six Degrees of Separation
NO6 accuses Baltar of Treason! Is it her or a copy? Does she want to destroy his research or convert him to God-worship? Helfer's a good actress.
Poor Baltar is the most sympathetic character, near a nervous breakdown. In contrast, Starbuck is self-pitying.
They are trying to repair and reverse-engineer the cylon fighter.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 1, Episode 8]
Flesh and Bone
Cylons steal nuke, due to go off in 9 hrs.
Starbuck tortures Cylon [Callum Keith Rennie, same clothes].
Baltar tests Boomer with Cylon detector.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 1, Episode 9]
Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down
Baltar starts testing suspects. BSG Boomer nowhere in sight. Pres suspects Adama's a cylon.
Tigh's wife is an alkie slut, like no6 - is she a cylon? It's meant to be tense - it comes across as a really contrived soap-opera.
On Caprica, Boomer double-crosses the Cylons. She helps Helo escape - he doesn't know yet. No6 is jealous.
There's a Spike/Xander scene. This could be the 2nd Last Ep of Season 1?
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 1, Episode 10]
The Hand of God
The Fleet is low on fuel. Boomer finds an asteroid, but there's a Cylon base on it. Starbuck and Baltar plan attack, Apollo carries it out.
Is Baltar lucky, or a tool of God?
The Pres's voodoo advisor and Baltar's No6 both know of Moses-type religion.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 1, Episode 11]
Colonial Day
First meeting of council. Baltar is the rep for Caprica. Starbuck is head of Security. She talkes this solemn duty so seriously she has a water-fight with Apollo. She even stirs up a fight with Zarek supporters.
Zarek proposes the creation of a VP; Pres subverts Democracy. Baltar has a good day.
There's a Secret assassin on the loose - Zarek or Cylon?
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 1, Episode 12]
Kobol's Last Gleaming (1)
Boomer on Caprica tries to reconcile with Helo.
Starfuck has a raunchy 1-niter, which leads to conflict with Apollo. Baltar is near breakdown, and even bonds with Boomer.
A patrol discovers Kobol, but the fleet is ambushed by Cylons [cliffhanger]. Adama and the Prez have a conflict over the plan - will they try to find Earth?
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 1, Episode 13]
Kobol's Last Gleaming (2)
Adama stages a Military Coup.
Starbuck is on Caprica [fighting No6]. Boomer and Helo go after the arrow.
Boomer 2 takes a Nuke to the Cylon base star [ ID4 -style].
This is the climax of several arcs and cliffhangers. Perhaps most important, Baltar learns No6's plans for him.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 3, Episode 2
]
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 1]
Scattered
Galactica and the Fleet are cornered by a Base Star. They jump out - but Galactica gets seperated. Can Tigh be an effective commander?
On Kobol, Baltar dicovers he is daddy. Apparently. Then he joins up with the other survivors. The NCO tech guy wants to take charge, though the Lieutenant does an OK job.
Starbuck, Helo and Boomer have a confrontation.
The Prez plots her return.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 2]
Valley of Darkness
Galactica is boarded by Cylons. Apollo leads a SWAT team to hunt them down. Meanwhile, they try to get the Prez to safety.
On Caprica, Starbuck takes Helo back to her place.
On Kobol, Baltar has a nightmare of Adama murdering the baby. Of course, we never get to see what the baby looks like! No6 tells Baltar that the locals indulged in human sacrifice. And the Chief and Kallie learn that some of the redshirts won't make it home.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 3]
Fragged
Tigh has saved the fleet from the Cylons. But now the Press and the Politicians [including Zarek] insist on seeing the Prez. She's dying of breast cancer, of course, and without her meds she thinks she's a prophet.
Apollo is planning a rescue for the team trappe on Kobol. However, the Cylons down there are constructing a SAM missile battery. Only Baltar's group can stop them. The Lieutenant wants his team of REMFs to launch a commando raid in broad daylight. Baltar whines and bitches, but offers no alternate plan. Indeed, the group are going to die by starvation or Cylon attack anyway, so they have nothing to lose.
No sign of Starbuck or Helo this ep. We'll probably get a lot more of her next time.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 4]
Resistance
The Chief is thrown in the Brig with Boomer. Callie turns out to be an evil wee bitch. She was spineless on Kobol, but she's not past blackmailing Baltar into helping save her beloved Chief.
On Caprica, Starbuck and Helo meet some survivors. A pro ball-team, actually.
Kate Vernon manipulates weak-willed hubby Colonel Tigh. Like Lady MacBeth ... or No6!
Apollo helps the Prez bust out of Chokey..
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 5]
The Farm
Adama is back in charge. The Prez realises her only chance to regain power is by playing the Religion card.
On Caprica, Starbuck gets shot. She wakes up in a hospital bed. Is this a Beware of the Dog ploy by the Cylons?
Boomer makes a reappearance.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 6]
Home (1)
Adama is trying to hold what's left of the fleet together. He continues the fiction of leading them to Earth, threatening to imprison any reporters who say otherwise.
The Prez and her followers at Kobol meet Starbuck, Helo and Boomer. Poor old Boomer tries to talk her way out of a spacing, and offers to guide them to the religious site they want to visit. The preacher-woman thinks Boomer is a lesser demon mentioned in the holy scrolls ...
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 7]
Home (2)
The Prez leads her team down to Kobol. Zarek and James Remar [ Jericho ] are along for the ride.
Adama and the Chief are on maneuvres again.
Poor Boomer. Everyone's against her. The humans are ultra-prejudiced.
Back on the ship, Baltar finally considers getting a brainscan. No6 gives him the idea, then disrupts it for him!
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 8]
Final Cut
TV journalist Lucy Lawless wants to do a documentary about the fatal incident Colonel Tigh created when he sent fully-armed marines against rioters. So the Prez and Adama give her full access.
Tigh is victim of anonymous death-threats.
Boomer is in solitary. But will she lose the baby?
No6 wants Baltar to assert himself to get into the running as next Prez.
The music on the final documentary clip is the orchestral theme from the original 1970s TV show!
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 9]
Flight of the Phoenix
There aren't enough functioning starfighters left. The Chief decides to build a new ship.
The Battlestar's internal functions are problematic. It seems there's a Cylon virus in the system. Baltar has a plan, but Adama will have to trust Boomer ...
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 10]
Pegasus
Galactica encounters another Battlestar - The Pegasus, run by Admiral Kane [ Michelle Phillips ]. She outranks Adama, and gives orders to him and the Prez.
Baltar gets to examine a Cylon POW aboard the Pegasus. Kane's torture squad are allowed to interrogate Boomer ...
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 11]
Resurrection Ship, Part 1
Starbuck singlehandedly does the recon of the Cylon ship, then prevents civil war starting among the Colonials. Kane promotes her to the new Pegasus CAG.
Baltar gets the POW, Gina, to talk. The Cylon ship is a Resurrection Ship, which allows destroyed Cylons to transmit their consciousness home to be rebuilt.
Adama find out more about what Kane's been doing to her own people. He orders Starbuck to take drastic steps. Meanwhile, Kane plots a similar move against Adama. And neither suspects what the other is up to!
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 12]
Resurrection Ship, Part 2
The space battle takes place, but it is the ep's backdrop. This show isn't action-adventure, about the war with the Cylons. It's drama - about the conflict between humans themselves.
Adama has to ask himself - do the humans deserve to survive? Baltar asks himself the same question, and his inhuman actions make him the most human character of all.
The climax is unexpected, but in many ways a cop-out. None of the characters really has to take responsibility for their actions.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 13]
Epiphanies
The Prez is dying. She orders that the cylon-human hybrid foetus be aborted. Baltar opposes this, as does Helo, but there's nothing they can do.
There's a Peace Party that seeks to undermine the military. They use propaganda and sabotage. Baltar discovers their leader is an old buddy of his. She pretends to be nice, but her goals are eeeevil.
Everything's upside down this ep. Adama, normally opposed to everything the Prez does, now supports her completely. Baltar's the humanitarian!
Baltar saves the day - kinda. But he discovers that the Prez never respected him, so he has to take sides. The Prez, in her fever dreams, thinks she remembers seeing Baltar and a six-foot blonde together on Caprica. Yes, the lines are really being drawn.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 14]
Black Market
The Prez is informed that her socialist utopia, like in Star Trek , just isn't feasible. People are trading in goods and services. Any commerce at all is labelled Black Market. Unfortunately, gangsters led by Bill Duke [ Predator ] are in charge.
Baltar tries to get the Pegasus Captain on his side. The Prez asks for Baltar's resignation ...
Apollo is put in charge of the racketeering investigation. Perhaps not the best choice - he is involved im some immoral flirting with the black chick [she's a subordinate, engaged to Billy the Prez's aide!] and having sex with a woman who's basically a Socialator!
Zarek [Richard Hatch] pops up. He's not in the brig, and is still an important politician.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 15]
Scar
The fleet has entered a new star system, and has begun asteroid mining. However, the cylons have deployed their new fighter ace, nicknamed Scar, who takes out the BSG pilots one by one.
This might superficially resemble the Chiggy Von Richthofen eps of Space: Above & Beyond , but it's a lot more hard-edged. Starbuck is the central character, and while the ep starts with her in a dogfight with Scar the majority of the story is a flashback over the preceding 4 days.
While the story is superficially about the Cylon threat - even the title sequence concentrates on the Viper pilots - Starbuck faces two dramatic challenges. One is from Beebee, the reformed stim-junkie who wants Starbuck's job. The other is Starbuck's personal obsession with the lover she left on Caprica.
The ending is relatively downbeat, in tone with the rest of the series. The music used is from The Deer Hunter, which should illustrate what it aspires to be.
Of note, Baltar and No6/Gina do not appear this ep.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 16]
Sacrifice
Billy, the Prez's sidekick, gets dumped by the black chick. She prefers Apollo, who is also man-of-choice for Mrs Tigh.
A crazy woman [ Dana Delany ] and a pair of heavily-armed thugs take over the singles bar. The woman wants Adama to swop the hostages for Boomer. Yes, there are die-hards in the fleet who want to usurp military rule in order to kill the Cylon PoW. Why haven't these thugs been conscripted into the Marines?
Apollo, the black chick, Billy and Colonel Tigh's wife are among the hostages. Starbuck is put in charge of organising a rescue bid.
The crazy woman's newsletters include a reference to the cylons that seems a quote from Kyle Reese in Terminator - quite apt, really. Can Boomer be trusted?
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 17]
The Captain's Hand
Everyone's shaping up well after the events of last ep. Apollo is having a merry old time with the black chick, until he is transferred to the Pegasus to help Starbuck train the newbies.
The Pegasus' new CO is Garner [John Heard], an engine-room officer. He's a paranoid moron who shuts Starbuck out of the loop. And when a couple of Raptors go missing on a training run, he holds her responsible.
A teenage girl sneaks aboard Galactica to have an abortion. So much for security! The Prez is conflicted. She prides herself on womens' reproductive rights - a very American obsession. However, the population is slowly dying ... and she needs the vote of the Geninon Religious leaders. The Geminons are a bit like the US's Religious Right [an oxymoron in itself]. They oppose the Cylon terrorists, and the Prez is their Prophet. However, they also oppose abortion, and treat teenagers as property.
Baltar puts himself to good use. The Prez needs his scientific expertise ... and Tom Zarek supports him politically!
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 18]
Downloaded
Baltar's No6 is downloaded into a new body. She was apparently killed at the house, during the original nuke attack - though Baltar didn't know she was dead. And while he thinks he has a Cylon chip in his brain, she somehow has a ghost image of him following her about ... a conscience!
Months later on Caprica, Lucy Lawless recruits No6 to bond with No8, who was shot aboard BSG and still insists on calling herself Sharon. Yes, these 2 war heroes have a lot in common. Neither of them is adjusting well.
Starbuck's BF is still around. His new tactic is bombing Cylon cafes - like Palestinian terrorists in Israel. The show gains new depth, as further metaphors are layered on.
Can 2 Cylons change their world in 36 hours?
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 19]
Lay Down Your Burdens (1)
Starbuck and Boomer lead a rescue mission to Caprica. Their aim is to retrieve Starbuck's luurve interest. Did he survive the previous ep?
One ship gets lost in a stellar cloud, and discovers a planet. A habitable one!
Baltar is losing to the Prez in the election run-up. However, this new planet provides him with an issue he can win on: colonisation of the new homeworld!
The Chief needs counselling. Priest Dean Stockwell [ Quantum Leap ] helps out.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 2, Episode 20]
Lay Down Your Burdens (2)
This is a feature-length end to the season. It ties up a lot of loose ends from the previous eps.
Election results come in, and the choice between Baltar and the Prez is made. When irregularities are discovered, we see how desperate the Prez and her pals were!
The Cylon arc is over. Gina and the Nuke are dealt with. All too easy ...
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 3, Episode 1]
Occupation
The Cylon occupation has been going on for 4 months, and things have deteriorated pretty badly. The settlement is like a concentration camp. Mrs Tigh has sex with Dean Stockwell in exchange for releasing the Colonel. Tigh then gets the Chief to organise suicide-bombings!
Starbuck is in an isolation prison. Her Jailor, Callum Keith Rennie, is trying to civilise her.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 3, Episode 2]
Precipice
This is the second part of a 2-parter. You can barely see the joins.
Callum introduces Starbuck to a child he claims is her daughter. He wants them to bond ...
The Cylons decide to execute all suspects - all 200 prisoners. This includes Cally, the ex-Prez and Tom Zarek. They force Baltar to sign the death warrant.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 3, Episode 3]
Exodus, Part 1
The cliffhanger is resolved in a very Perils of Pauline way.
Lucy Lawless has dreams that The Child of 2 Peoples is still alive. She assumes this means Boomer's baby - which reveals quite a lot ...
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 3, Episode 3]
Exodus, Part 2
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 3, Episode 4]
Collaborators
They're all back on their ships, and everything is back to normal. Or is it?
Tigh commands a secret vigilante squad that is spacing any suspected Toaster-Lovers. They all forget that one of Baltar's people was actually a spy, helping the Resistance. And now Gaeta, former sidekick to Baltar, is in their sights ...
Baltar himself is on trial by the Cylons. 3 want to let him stay, 3 want rid of him. The Sixes hold the final vote ...
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 3, Episode 5]
Torn (1)
The Cylons have decided they want to locate and colonise Earth. Baltar gave them the directions, so they sent a Base Ship to explore - but it has run into difficulties. Baltar volunteers to investigate.
Gaeta and Athena [she used to be called Boomer!] also explore.
Tigh is back on the booze. He's all chummy with Starbuck, and they're stirring up hatred against the Fleet and the collaborators.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 3, Episode 6]
A Measure of Salvation (2)
The Colonials plan to use the Cylon-killing virus as a bio-weapon. But is bio-warfare morally right?
Lucy Lawless suspects that Baltar knows more than he is telling. She tortures him, in the hope of making him talk.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 3, Episode 7]
Hero
Bulldog [Carl Lumley - Alias ] arrives at the fleet, having escaped from the Cylons. He's been their prisoner for 5 years ... since they captured him breaking the Peace Treaty, on a secret mission for Adama!
Baltar has forgiven Lucy Lawless for torturing him. She has now joined him and No6 in a menage a Trois!
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 3, Episode 8]
Unfinished Business
Adama organises a boxing match to raise morale. Apollo and Starbuck get to vent their frustrations in the ring.
48. 3-10 309 8 Dec 06 The Passage 49. 3-11 310 15 Dec 06 The Eye of Jupiter (1) 50. 3-12 311 21 Jan 07 Rapture (2) 51. 3-13 312 28 Jan 07 Taking a Break from All Your Worries 52. 3-14 313 4 Feb 07 The Woman King 53. 3-15 314 11 Feb 07 A Day in the Life 54. 3-16 315 18 Feb 07 Dirty Hands 55. 3-17 316 25 Feb 07 Maelstrom 56. 3-18 317 4 Mar 07 The Son Also Rises 57. 3-19 318 11 Mar 07 Crossroads, Part 1 58. 3-20 319 18 Mar 07 Crossroads, Part 2
Battlestar Galactica (2003) [Season 3, Episode 2
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