Wednesday, January 10, 2001

Battlestar Galatica tv series review

Preamble:

Today, we're offering a spoiler heavy retrospective of the most recent Battlestar Galactica series, which concluded in March 2009. Again, this is spoiler heavy, and intended as a review of the entire series and the last episode in combination.

Plot Points:

Thousands of years ago, mankind built sentient machines. At some point the machines became advanced enough to develop the will to rebel against their masters, and a war broke out as a result. After 40 years, a truce was declared and the two went their separate ways in the universe. For the last several years, no contact has been made by the machines (called Cylons), at their agreed upon meeting place, and they are presumed to be gone for good. One day, however, the Cylons finally return, and bring with them coordinated nuclear strikes against the 12 existing colonies of humans. These 12 colonies of Kobol (12 tribes of Israel) have become entirely too dependent on the technology they use in everyday life and the military. Just before the nuclear strike, the Cylons access the computers controlling humanity's defense systems and disable them. The attempted genocide nearly succeeds, leaving less than 60,000 humans still alive to fight for the right to exist. Their military force is made up of the crew of the Battlestar Galactica, a war-torn, "designated for retirement" battleship commanded by William Adama. Adama's ship is spared from nuclear destruction by his refusal to upgrade its technology, with the newer technology having been vulnerable to Cylon infiltration.

With most of the government decimated, Secretary of Education Laura Roslin is sworn in as President of the new fleet. It is soon discovered by those in power among the fleet that Cylons are capable of disguising themselves as humans. This leads to a two-front war with the openly identifiable Cylons, and the ones hidden among the human population ("skin jobs" as they are called). In the midst of all this, humans look for permanent settlement on an ancient planet called Earth, from which they are believed to have originated. The basis for this search is a series of religious texts which predicted Laura Roslin would see her people to the new land.

With this ongoing war as the basis for its plot, Battlestar Galactica delves into some of the best character development in a TV show in recent memory. Questions of humanity, love, identity, and spirituality are constantly probed and expounded until a well defined but not necessarily dogmatic view of our race develops. Creators are judged by the quality of their creations, creations are judged by the quality of their actions, and actions are judged by the reality they create. Dogma is questioned constantly when "the rubber hits the road", a parallel to the Biblical perspective that faith must be measured by its works. With this test applied to both Cylons and humans, both come up failingly in many areas and exceptionally well in others.

As their shared history is revealed however, we learn that they have destroyed one another before, constantly repeating the same cycle of war and hatred on the basis of certain innate human failings. The Cylons naturally inherit these failings, as children tend to do. In many ways the two most advanced examples of life in the universe are its most pathetic. The question then becomes something that is asked constantly throughout the series: Do humans and Cylons even deserve to survive? It's an interesting question of course, one often explored in sci-fi films such as The Abyss, 5th Element, and others. Inevitably in those films, the answer is given that we do deserve to live because of love and the capacity for us to improve. In BSG there's a twist, as the answer is that we live because of God's love and his will. Even as humanity is stripped down to this new, limited population, their quest becomes an effort to find god within and outside of themselves.

For the Cylons, the evil Cylon Number 1 (John) has no interest in this spiritual journey. His is a secular pursuit, the goal of refinement in efficiency and function. He is BSG's manifestation of a world obsessed with winning and quantitative processes, ruthless desire and pride. Devil from the machine, so to speak. In this of course, while physically a machine, he represents the worst of the humanity he despises as much as anyone in the series. His lies and manipulation of not only the original five Cylon humanoid models (revealed in the final 21 episodes) but his siblings are all towards the pursuit of vengeance and eternal life for his own race.

For the humans, their spiritual journey is marred by the same limitations: hatred, vengeance, fear of the unknown. As the two groups mix with shared interests, the lines separating them become blurred, and the lines are then redrawn with new alliances and armies. Humans have their own civil war break out in the form of an attempted coup, led by high ranking members of the army and government. The reality left for both is that alll the qualities they despise in their opponents are present in themselves. When this hatred is clearly identified, they are asked to break the cycle of hatred - not simply by refusing to continue killing their opponents, but by no longer despising themselves. It's done under the "one god" banner of Judeo Christian beliefs, and as such offers a futuristic re-enactment of what actually took place when the world transitioned to monotheistic beliefs. Then, just as in the series, the actual beliefs of religion were distorted and abused or outright ignored for power and greed, and bloodshed resulted.

It's arguable whether or not the series finale is conclusive in a linear sense. The reaction some will have is to point out that the particular plot elements - such as Starbuck's nature after being resurrected - are not resolved clearly. This perspective slightly misses the point that plot points were simply a springboard for the questions being asked about humanity's destiny. In addition, no one knows the answers to all of life's questions, and BSG takes the perspective that the viewer is no exception. Explaining everything wouldn't be very realistic, would it? In the end, questions about our seemingly hopeless cycle of rebirth, hatred, love, failure, death and destruction acceptably resolve themselves.

As Helo and Athena show, the love of family can overwhelm anything in its way. This, not cities, or fleets, or tribes, is the essential social unit for humanity's survival. As Cylon Number 1 shows, the quest to replace god (whether it be with their own resurrection ships or with their force-fed religion) is always futile. God's angels are the representations of his love - with the capacity to forgive and love even the most flawed among humanity. They demonstrate repeatedly the only exit from the cycle. Without a singular messiah, the power of spirituality is restored to each individual. Reality and fate are what Gaius, Adama, and the others choose to do with any given moment. These steps, as shown in the distant future, very well could repeat the same old cycle on this new, fertile world they finally find. It could all be destroyed again in an all-consuming war. But as Gaius and Cylon Number Six remind us, the mere existence to even pursue perfection, to break free of that endless cycle, or to seek whatever we may call God (or Earth/Nirvana/enlightenment/redemption), is a miraculous victory in and of itself. It's not a matter of proving one is worth it, because the nature of miracles is that they are not deserved. Life is a matter of proving that one appreciates it.

Pros: Great character development top to bottom. characters have believable flaws and limits to their will. Complex motives. Characters on the losing sides present valid, believable arguments. Characters on the winning side make large mistakes (the revolt is directly the fault of the President and Admiral Adama). Plot points are not often repeated (other than people getting upset and knocking things off of desks), and the story moves clearly in a linear direction. Well developed, and naturally created humor. Maybe the best ensemble cast on TV during its run.

Cons: Some plot issues are not resolved in detail, up to and including the final episode. A few of the battle scenes are overly simplistic. Cylon fighter pilots are not especially talented, and the centurions seem to walk in a straight line and get shot far too often. Inconsistent effects. Once in a while the CG is poorly done and rushed, while other scenes look great.

Score - 9/10. Overall one of the best shows of the last two decades (not qualified with the 'genre' label), with meaningful deaths and exciting plot twists. It's all held together wiith excellent acting, led by Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell.

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