Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries - 2003

contains spoilers to the thing I’m writing about

I have begun a journey here. In a cultural trade with Jesse, in exchange for him watching Andor, I am to watch Battlestar Galactica, a show that I somehow completely missed when it aired. Now that he understands that the only way to defeat the United Sta-uhhhh I mean the Galactic Empire is through armed resistance, it is my turn to live up to my end of the bargain. I was helpfully guided to the miniseries, an extended pilot for the show that sets the whole shebang in motion. Let us now dispense with the bears and beets and get to it.

BSG is a Syence Fyction show about a bunch of guys on a spaceship. Unlike that other show with a similar premise, this is not a show about discovery and diplomacy and forming a more just Galactic Society. Galactica is a naval vessel, the last surviving military unit of a human colonial society that was just wiped off the map. The dastardly Cylons, a race of machines built by the humans who rebelled decades before, annihilated all 12 Zodiac-themed colony worlds in an attempt to eradicate the species. Conveniently for the special effects team (they do a great job within their budgetary constraints, giving the whole production a charming Doctor Who feel), the Cylons often take the form of humans, and their disguises are so convincing that it’s possible (and indeed is the case) that there are Cylon spies aboard our eponymous vessel.

The Cylon attack feels a lot like “Space 9/11”, with the familiar beats of shock, anger, and grief. The show does a lot to make the stakes of the casualty toll real, including more than one instance of violence against children, which I didn’t care for. Our two leaders, military commander Adama (played by “picture you see when you look up ‘Grizzled’ in the dictionary”’s Edward James Olmos) and designated survivor’d civilian President Roslin, start their uneasy relationship by getting the whole “military coup” thing out of the way. Adama defers to Roslin’s authority, for now, and radiates President Bartlett energy in between bouts of dealing with his surviving Large Adult Son.

Outside of Gaius, a Sam Altmanish tech guru who got honeypotted into betraying the human race and is still haunted by the specter of his robot girlfriend, the ensemble cast are mostly crew members of the Galactica, making this a workplace drama. Before the show goes full disaster mode, we get to know our character by watching them work, fight, meet cute, and secretly make out. It’s been observed that more recently media has basically forgotten that people get horny, and it was refreshing to see, in a show that is at least partially a meditation on what it means to be human, a full spectrum of human emotions, reactions, and behavior.

Speaking of days gone by, the series opens on a spectacular continuous camera shot that zips and twirls through a series of hallways and rooms, including the Galactica’s command deck, flexing their cinematography and their big, beautiful set. Just like the crew of the Battlestar, the crew of this show are young, scrappy, and fanatical about doing good work. In the much stupider AI apocalypse we are actually living through, experiencing human handiwork that oozes with love and care is always welcome.