Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.5

Play the Battlestar Galactica Game

When the Sci-Fi channel announced they where going to‘re-imagine’ the campy cult classic ‘Battlestar Galactica’ I had my doubts. When I discovered that several of the male characters are now female I had to wonder how is this going to work. Now, after a mini series and two full seasons of the new Battlestar Galactica I can’t imagine going back to the original. The new version is dark, much darker. The characters are realistic and the themes of the multi-episode story arcs are relevant to today’s world. Add to the mix incredible actors, great directors and fantastic writers and you have one of the best series on television. This is the kind of show that I would watch each week and then call my best friend and we would discuss every conceivable detail for hours. It is rare that a show can be both entertaining and though provoking but this series succeeds on both levels better than we as the audience could ever hope. Universal has now released the second half of the second season. This seems to be a new trend, breaking a television season into two parts. While many studios do this for various financial reasons here the Sci-Fi channel actually did a service to us the loyal audience. Instead of having the whole season in on swoop they break it apart and run new episodes while most channels are running endless reruns of the same old crime dramas. This way we get something new and they can increase their viewer share. It also allows for two great cliff hangers per season.

Unless you have been living in a spider hole for the last couple of decades you know the background. A race of artificially intelligent robots, the Cylons, became sentient and revolted against their human masters. After the initial war the Cylons disappeared. When they returned they nuked the twelve human colonies almost out of existence. The remaining survivors took to space for safety protected by the only Battlestar left, the decommissioned Battlestar Galactica. As the season 2.5 opens the repercussions form the first half of the season still drive the action. Back then Commander William Adama (Edward James Olmos) has taken over command of a second Battlestar the Pegasus. Adama has just been shot by a humanoid Cylon disguised as a fighter pilot Lt. Sharon "Boomer" Valerii (Grace Park). As Adama lies unconscious in sick bay command goes to the broken down first officer Colonel Saul Tigh (Michael Hogan). As he struggles to fend off attacking Cyclons there is a mission back on the old home world of Caprica lead by Lt. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace (Katee Sackhoff). She has been sent by President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) to retrieve an ancient artifact, the arrow of Apollo, something that legends state will lead the fleet to the lost colony of Earth. The Starbuck meets up with yet another Cylon copy of Boomer and the two must form an uneasy alliance. With this the stage was set for a roller coaster ride in this half. These events echo in the episodes presented here. Since this is a continuation of the same season it is difficult to separate the events from the first half. The all flow to the cumulating events shown here.

At the start of the second half of the season they forces of the Galactica and the Pegasus must destroy the Cylon resurrection ship. When a Cylon humanoid or fighter ship is killed their consciousness is immediately downloaded into a new body. This makes death for the Cylons a learning experience instead of an end. As long as they have a fresh supply of bodies they are practically immortal. It is hoped that destroying the ship that contains those bodies the Cylons will have to drastically change their tactics and be more cautious.

There are many situations that result if great drama here. On the military side we have two lone Battlestars against an almost endless enemy. The fleet has to scrounge around for spare parts to replace the constantly battle damaged vipers. They also have to train up young men and women to replace those pilots lost in combat. These are people that signed up for military service to help pay for school and now find themselves in a fight for the survival of the human race. There is no date for the end of service. Everybody is in it for the duration or their deaths, which ever come first. They are tired beyond belief and now are burdened by the fact that the once only mechanical Cylons can look and act like regular human beings. They trusted Boomer as their comrade in arms only to find out she is one of them. Political drama comes into play with the interaction of President Roslin and her political adversary Dr. Gaius Baltar (James Callis). He is elected to the ruling Council and seeks to replace Roslin as president of the colonies. He is also the unwitting author of the destruction of the home worlds by allowing a humanoid Cylon access to the worlds’ computer defense system. This Cylon, known as Number Six (Tricia Helfer) is beautiful, seductive and dangerous. She appears in extremely vivid visions to Baltar pushing him to continue to help the enemy. The topic of the use of torture comes up when humanoid Cylons are captured and subjected to brutal treatment including gang rape. This theme which began in the last half of the season continues here raising the question are such actions justified under the circumstances of survival. Also shown is the conflict between politics and religion. Roslin is a believer in the Gods of Kobal and lets her beliefs guide many of her decisions as president. When it is discovered that the Galatica Boomer is pregnant the controversy arises over whether to terminate the pregnancy. This is complicated further when Baltar finds out cells from the fetus can cure Rolin’s terminal cancer. It is also revealed back in the first half of the season that back on Caprica the Cylons are using unwilling human women as surrogates for their own breeding program. These issues may sound very familiar. They have all been in the news recently and in the tradition of such science fiction series as the Outer Limits and the Twilight Zone they are tackled in the thin guise of entertainment. Still the impact is real and hits the audience on a visceral level. This half of the season also takes on the all too real issue of the black market. With supplies so low the people of the fleet have to turn to the underworld for the basics. Captain Lee Adama is charged with ending the criminal activity only to find out that even though it is illegal it serves a real need and must be regulated. Like must themes expressed here there are not right or wrong answers, only people doing what has to be done to survive.

You don’t often see a cast of this illustrious caliber on television. Every actor is given enough screen time to allow them to fully expand their characters and the have the talent to put their all into it. Edward James Olmos is able to play Bill Adama with a power that few actors could muster. He is stern as the commander of the last hope for humanity yet in his scenes with Roslin he demonstrates a more human, fatherly manner. Olmos allows his character to be both hard in battle yet a good friend to the president even though he doesn’t always see eye to eye with her. As Roslin Mary McDonnell does an excellent job. She portrays her character as a woman who was happy as a school teacher and Secretary of Education never imagining that she would be a war time president. She has to rise to the occasion because there is just on alternative. Katee Sackhoff is a real gem as Starbuck. She has made this role uniquely here own. While many series have their heroes bigger and better than life Sackhoff gives us a Starbuck that is truly human, warts and all. She is on the verge of becoming a full blown alcoholic and it is affecting her job as the chief of the battle group. As she rises in the ranks due to her talent in tactical planning she also has to cope with not being the best pilot anymore. She prided herself at being the best but now younger pilots are forcing her to accept a new role and responsibility in the fleet.

With a series as great as this it deserves the best treatment in its release to DVD. Once again Universal steps up to the plate and give the consumers their best. The anamorphic 1.78:1 video is flawless. The colors are brilliant and realistic. The contrast is reference disc quality. The Dolby 5.1 audio will put you in the seat of a Viper as it flies into battle. The ambience is true to life. For extras this set relies on the pod casts made after the network broadcast of the episodes. The producers and crew give a blow by blow description of the details of the episodes. There are also producers’ video diaries to give even more behind the scenes understanding. Add to this some deleted scenes to fill out the complete experience. This is a series that should not be missed and deserves to have a place in your collection.

Posted 9/14/06