It has been forty years since the Cylons rebelled against humanity in one of the most destructive wars the human species has ever faced. Now however, the two sides have agreed to an uneasy peace. The Twelve Colonies of Kobol have thrived, and some have even forgotten the lessons of the Cylon War and are interested in bringing increased advances in computing to humanity to make their lives better, one notable advocate is Gaius Balter. One man who hasn't forgotten the lessons of the last war is Commander William Adama of the elderly Battlestar Galactic which is one of the last vessels of the First Cylon War. On its way to a decommissioning ceremony to become a museum he is looking forward to a retirement from the Colonial Fleet and seeing the transfer of the men and women under his command to new duty stations.
From the ever outrageous ace pilot Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, his alcoholic Executive Officer Colonel Saul Tigh, and his estranged son Lee "Apollo" Adama, his people are important to him and he wants to see them turn out well. Onboard is the Secretary of Education Laura Roslin and her staff, looking for a smooth transition from the ship's final assignment.
Little do they know, the Cylons are coming back.
Spoilers for Season 1 of Battlestar Galactica and the Miniseries follow.
The first season is preceded by a two part miniseries which shows the Fall of the Twelve Colonies and the beginnings of the ragtag fleet which flees from the Cylon attack. In the next 13 episodes we watch as the ships pull together and begin to try and form a functional government out of the mess that is the near extinction of the entire human race. The Cylons then give chase, hoping to wipe out humanity once and for all.
Premiering in 2004 (after the 2003 mini-series) the show is a reimagining of the 1978-79 original series which told a similar story. It contains many nods to the original, from characters and designs of the Cylons in the first war, to even a role by Richard Hatch from the original series who now plays Tom Zarek, a political radical that represents another side of the Twelve Colonies. It is however, a re-imagining with many different ideas and themes. The biggest change of course is the incorporation of humanoid Cylons and more motivations from the Cylon perspective. It provides a fresh and more in depth take on a classic series, but with many new twists.
The topics in the first season run the gamit from post-apocalyptic fiction (the scenes on Cylon occupied Caprica and many discussions about refugees) to resource problems (Water, The Hand of God) issues related to security and potential infiltrators (Litmus, Flesh and Bone, Six Degrees of Separation) to issues of inequality and political legitimacy (Bastille Day, Colonial Day) which all tie into the unique aspects of life on the run and the rigors of a society essentially having to be remake from scratch in the aftermath of an apocalyptic attack. This is driven home by the presence of a survivor count (staring at 50,000) present at the beginning of each episode that counts down when anyone dies in an episode.
It is hard to miss as well that this was written and filmed during the War on Terror and see the unmistakable influence it had on the plot. Whether it was fears if Cylon infiltrators and spies, using torture to extract information, or the general paranoia and desire to keep information secret one can't help but feel shadow of the Two Towers and Afghanistan looming large over the plot.
It's also possible to pick up on Cold War era fears as well, with nuclear war, an uneasy armistice with the Cylons and the fears if infiltrators who "look just like us" around the fleet alongside the military tension even before the series. The idea of sleeper agents (to a Manchurian Candidate level) is also heavily explored, being a key part of the sason finale. McCarthyist fearmongering and the idea of surviving a nuclear war are front and center, and the destructive power of nuclear weapons is on full display. The eventual swearing in of Laura Roslin on Colonial One leans heavily on imagery from the swearing in of Lyndon B. Johnson after the Kennedy assassination.
There is also a very deep and interesting religious element that is explored in the first season, and contrary to a lot of media that has come afterwards, it is not exclusively negative. The people of the Twelve Colonies are polytheists who worship the Lords of Kobol and the prophecies of some of those adherents become very important later. The Cylons for their part appear to be adherents to a monotheistic religion (whose ideas are explored more in later seasons and whose background is explored in the spinoff series Caprica) and this informs much of their own ideology.
Battlestar Galactica of course also a piece of military science fiction with the eponymous battlestar being the centerpiece of the show. We see her in action more than once, and from there she gets some good knocks against the Cylons. The episode which explores many of the themes of the first season in full is Episode 10, The Hand of God.
In this episode the fleet is running low on the tylium fuel which keeps their FTL travel going. They find a source, only to discover that the Cylons are already there mining it. This leaves the fleet with a conundrum as if they run out of fuel the Cylons will catch and annihilate them. It means they must fight. A clever strategy is crafted and must rely on careful coordination and military planning, but also some guesswork of the unknown abilities of the Cylons. In that they must get help from a pure guess of Gaius Baltar who may or may not have a divine presence breathing secrets in his ear.
The episode provides excellent action, tension, and explorations of military and civilian bonds, with the end being a great triumph for the Colonials and a desperately needed morale boost to the flagging spirits of humanity. In my opinion one of the best episodes of science fiction television out there.
Season 1 ends with a great cliffhanger, and does a lot of the legwork for the opening of Season 2. It is great television which imagines a new image of an old science fiction classic turning it on its head. It stands the test of years whether in acting, themes, visuals or score. Definitely get yourself acquainted with this series if you haven't before.
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