“Pilot” (Part 1 0f 2)

I have to preface this with two comments:

#1. I was never a huge fan of the original. I remember watching it a bunch as a kid but it was always second tier for me — well below Star Wars, V, A-Team, etc. BUT I did enjoy it. However all I really remember about the original was Dirk Benedict, Lorne Greene, some cool action, and of course the red light…By Your Command…It was fun, swashbuckling, and definitely campy.

#2. I was not onboard when this was remade, in fact I didn’t care to start watching until midway through season two. So I had to go back to the beginning and catch up, after the hype. That being said, as I rewatch these for review purposes, I am in a more unique setting than most viewers.

As I saw my first episode midway through the second season, I was struck by the same feeling I would have had if I had started with the miniseries. The stark change of tone. Gone was the camp, in was the brooding, ultra military seriousness…reminding me briefly of the short-lived Space: Above and Beyond.

However, the beginning really knocks your socks off. With just a little exposition we are thrust into a fight for human survival. The tone of desperation and grim determination oozes throughout the first episode and drags the viewer screaming and kicking along with it.

The premise of this BSG is that in some far futuristic setting, where there are twelve colonies of humans, the Cylons were created to be computerized slaves for humanity. Stealing a bit from Terminator, the Cylons developed on their own and soon decided that they must destroy their “fathers”. After a bloody war there was an armistice and the Cylons went away. A neutral space station was set up for diplomatic relations between the Cylons and the humans. For forty years the Cylons have not come, and no one has seen nor heard anything about them in that amount of time.

Suddenly, without warning, they return with a human-looking model. Blonde and beautiful, she sets a start beginning by questioning the meaning of life while kissing the human diplomat as the space station is destroyed by Cylon vessels. They Cylons have come home to roost.

Back in the colonies, Commander William Adama is set to retire the Battlestar Galactica, an aging relic of a warship in a time of peace. Half turned into a museum already, the day and ceremony has come.

As have the Cylons. Adama unretires the Battlestar and humanity is thrust into as much confusion as the viewer. Fortunately for the viewer, it’s a good confusion. It’s the confusion that keeps you drawn to the screen as you want to know what exactly is going on. It is clearly a case of showing just enough to pique your interest and letting your imagination do the rest.

As we are introduced to characters with familiar names if not familiar faces, or in some cases even familiar sexes, it is quick to note, that despite the explosive opening, THIS Battlestar Galactica was going to hearken back to what Kenneth Johnson did in the original V. This is a large action scenario, with limited action (albeit more than V, due to the military nature of most of the characters). This BSG was going to concentrate more on the humanistic side of the story. The reactions, motivations, and true character exploration really set BSG aside from the pack.

Given how much has to be set up for new audiences and re-explained not to confuse older BSG fans, it could be expected that the story would drag along a bit, until everything kicked in. I have to say that this is really not the case. Handled quite deftly, exposition, action points, and character searching come and go like a artist with a paintbrush getting every last detail.

It’s hard for me to compare the characterizations with the original as I can’t really remember the original too well. I know that everyone is far more grim, but especially Commander Adama, who went from grandfatherly to dour and gruff.

By far the most intriguing characterizations in the first act go to Gaius Baltar and Laura Roslin. Eloquent, selfish, brilliant, egocentric, and yet completely compelling, Gaius Baltar is a fascinating study in humanity and certainly a new way to look at what had previously been a black and white styled evil character. We discover that the blonde cylon from the armistice station is one of many of that type and she further reveals that there are twelve models. She was made to infiltrate and get close to Baltar. Baltar unwittingly gave her the key to the defense systems. In a case of character, Baltar quickly reveals his selfish side, worrying more for how they would treat him if they knew what he had done. After the attack and Baltar escapes the city we are treated to the first sign that Batlar has more to him than we know. He begins to see the female Cylon where she shouldn’t be. It is not revealed what exactly it means.

Laura Roslin, a new character is seen as a great icon for grace under pressure. Not only does she have cancer, not only does she have to deal with the Cylon war, she learns that despite being forty-second in succession, she is the next in line for the Presidency of the Twelve Colonies. It’s a tall order and you can’t help but feel both empathy and respect for how she handles herself. You see her gird herself for a battle she is thoroughly unprepared for, but is completely needed for.

There are many memorable sequences from the first episode, but a few did stick into my head

1. The poetic beginning previously discussed.

2. The also aforementioned sequences between Baltar and “Number 6 “.

3. A sequence where Lts, Boomer and Helo have crash landed on Caprica, with nuclear explosions detonating all over the planet. They have fixes their vessel and are assaulted by a mob of people. As they can only take a few, they have to resort to a lottery to see who is going to go and who is going to stay. When Helo recognizes Baltar in the crowd he he selflessly gives up his seat because he puts the long term survival of the human race above his own survival. Baltar is known as one of the greatest minds of their time, so Helo knows that Baltar’s mind will be needed. It is a moment of true heroic altruism and a great dramatic turn.

4. Three small personal sequences detailing troubled relationships. In quick dramatic broad strokes tensions are revealed between Starbuck and Colonel Tigh, Starbuck and Captain Lee Adama, and Lee Adama and Commander Adama. Some could say these were little tidbits for the sake of drama and they might be right, but I think they were necessary plot devices and handled quickly and well enough that we could see the problems and move ahead with full knowledge of the situation.

There is very little to criticize in the first episode, save for the attempt at drama at the end. After the buildup between Lee Adama and Starbuck along with his father, as well as the slow deliberate buildup of Laura Roslin, it was inconceivable that their ship was destroyed, and it is clear even to the novice that they would be alive again in the near future. Overall though this set a very high bar and it is no wonder it has become the phenomenon it has.

A

Next – Mini-Series Part 2 of 2