Battlestar Galactica

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Battlestar Galactica is a television show on the SciFi Channel, currently on hiatus between seasons 3 and 4.[1] It is a revival of a 1970's era cult classic of the same name. However, unlike the 1970's version, Battlestar Galactica is critically acclaimed, and won one of Time magazine's "Best of 2005: Television" awards.[2]

The 2004 Revival

Background

The show follows the conflict between the human race, as represented by the residents of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, and the Cylon race, a robotic race created by the humans fifty years prior to the events of the television show. Shortly after their creation, these Cylons, appearing as metallic robots, rebelled and fought a long war against the humans. At great loss, humanity was victorious.

Main Plot

In the main plot of the show, the Cylons return to fight the human race. However, the Cylons have evolved - or developed themselves - to appear human. Using various sleeper agents, they permeate the Twelve Colonies and bring about a massive surprise attack, leaving only around 40,000 humans alive.

The first season describes humanity's escape from the Twelve Colonies after the Cylon attack. The second follows humanity's attempt to forge a political system within the fleet, ending in a presidential election and the settlement of a new planet. The third season covers humanity's recuperation from the fall-out from both of these events, and the search for the elusive "Thirteenth Colony," Earth, a world shrouded in mythology, which the humans believe will be their safe haven from the Cylons. The third season also significantly develops the prophetic plotline, and reveals a great secret of the show - the identity of all twelve Cylons. The fourth season (which may be the last) will most likely focus on the search for Earth.[3]

Artistic Notes

Common themes involve the topics of prophetic religions in society, the tension between liberty and safety in a world riddled with terrorism, interfamily conflicts, and the meaning of "survival" after a catastrophic event.

The show can be noted for its use of muted sounds in space combat - an artistic flourish that, while strictly factual, has been absent from mainstream science fiction like Star Wars or the Star Trek series. It is thought that the producers of the show drew heavily from Joss Wheedon's short running television show, Firefly, which muted all noises in space scenes.


Other titles

The Original Series: It was similar to the 2004 revival. It related how humanity struggles to survive against the Cylon threat

1980 Version: It was a continuation of the Original Series. The Galacica and the fleet discover Earth; only it is in a primitive stage in the year 1980. The crew of the Galactica decides to try and advance Earth civilization subtlely to the point where they can help battle the Cylons.

Common Characters

Adama: Adama is the commander of the ship called Galactica. This also means he is the commander of the entire colonial military in all of the Battlestar Galactica series. In the Original Series and the 1980 version he was also a member the Quroum of Twelve that was the colonial government. In the 2004 series his name was changed from Adama to William Adama.

Starbuck: Starbuck was a male fighter pilot in the Original Series and a female fighter pilot in the 2004 version. In the 2004 series she also became a field officer. Her real name is Kara Thrace; "Starbuck" being a callsign.

Boomer: Boomer was a male fighter pilot in the Original Series and a female fighter pilot in the 2004 series. In the 1980 version he took on the role as the executive officer (second in command) of the Galactica. In the 2004 series she was once again a fighter pilot and mechanic. Her real name was Sharon Valeri and used the callsign Boomer. She was later found to be a Humanoid Cylon sleeper agent, although being a sleeper she did not realize this herself until an exact replica of her got on board the Galactica and shot Adama. Another copy of Boomer was found by Helo, a pilot trapped on Caprica. She helped him escape, falling in love with him in the process. Being a cylon she was imprisoned when the pair rejoined the fleet. She helped the fleet avoid Cylon attacks, and rescue other refugees from Caprica. She became pregnant through an unmarried relationship with Helom and gave birth to a cylon-human cross breed. Her cylon title was Number 8.

Apollo: Apollo is Adama's son (in all series). He was a fighter pilot, although in the 2004 series he advanced to command his own ship, the Pegasus. In the 2004 series he is named Lee Adama, with "Apollo" being his callsign.

Tigh: Tigh is the executive officer for the Galactica in the Original and the 2004 versions. In the 2004 series he is named Saul Tigh. In the third season finale, he discovers that he is a cylon humanoid, like Boomer.

Baltar: Baltar is a traitor to the colonials. In the original series he was a member of the Quroum of Twelve, who helped the cylons attack the colonies. This was used for his personal ambition to rule over cylons and humans. However he had to escape the fleet and join the cylons as the commander of a cylon basestar. In the 2004 version he was a timid scientist who was also the vice-president (later the president). He created a defence grid around the twelve colonies that the cylons were able to hack. He was seduced by a humanoid cylon (number 6) who appeared to him but not to anybody else. During his brief presidency the fleet built a city on New Caprica. This was captured by cylons and Baltar was forced to sign the surrender of the colonies. When the people from New Caprica were rescued Baltar was captured and forced to stand trial.

References

  1. http://www.scifi.com/battlestar
  2. http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1141640,00.html
  3. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407362/

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