Editing User:Galactica1981/Galactica 1981 Reviews

This is a list of reviews by [[User:Galactica1981]] for various [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]] content. Given to the Battlestar Wiki's policy of [[NPOV|Neutral Point of View]], they are found here rather than their respective articles.

These episode reviews originally appears on the Sheba's Galaxy site. They have been slightly revised.

== TOS Episode Reviews ==

===[[Saga of a Star World]] ===

'''RATING: 4-1/2 stars out of 5'''

There's no question on the night of September 17, 1978 that Battlestar Galactica hit television screens with a bang. Saga Of A Star World is unquestionably the most elaborate televison movie ever made (and least up to that point!) When trying to rate something like this, it's important to examine it in the context of television during that time period. For sure, no sci-fi show of this magnitude had ever been done before in the history of television, and thus it deserves extra points for that alone. There are many great things that can be said about this episode (acting, special effects, music score), but I won't bother repeating what most people are already aware of. In the end, I had to decide against a full five-star rating, mostly because of the unforgivable "Star Wars" ending it was saddled with. The big explosion of the planet Carillon is a blatant ripoff of Star Wars, not to mention ridiculous as well. Setting fire to some tylium mines causes the entire planet to explode? This is ludicrous (although one could argue that destroying the massive Death Star by shooting a tiny exhaust port was equally ludicrous). Surely Glen Larson could have written a better ending than this. Ultimately, this had to reinforce many people's beliefs that Galactica was a second-rate Star Wars. Having a casino with all sorts of alien creatures also seems a little too close to Star Wars for comfort. Of course, there are also some HUMONGOUS plot holes in this story, enough for any critic to tear it to shreds. I'm not going bother writing 5 pages about the plot problems of Saga Of A Star World. Instead, I'll just mention a few points:

The premise of the Colonial fleet seeking Earth, while interesting, is unfortunately flawed because no one (not even Adama) has any idea where it is! Apparently, Adama was the only one who even knew about Earth's existence, although he doesn't seem to have any proof. Thus the Colonial fleet is left to wander aimlessly throughout the universe looking for it. Fortunately, this problem would be addressed in War of the Gods when the Colonials finally learn the coordinates to Earth.

The Colonials seemed unbelievably gullible and naive regarding the Cylons' offer of peace. You would think they would have been more careful, but they are foolish enough to leave their home planets undefended. President Adar is incredibly stupid when he sees a thousand Cylon raiders coming towards the fleet and assumes it is a peace envoy.

Apollo gets back to the fleet in time to warn them of the coming Cylon attack, yet he fails to do so. Why? Why does he take an hour to find the bridge?

=== [[Lost Planet of the Gods]]===

'''Rating: Four stars out of five'''

The second half of this two-part episode has the theatrical feel of a movie, while the first half has been blasted as being sexist. Of course, it is a bit strange that all the female cadets look like lingerie models. Still, I think the notion of sexism is a bit overstated. If you look at women in the U.S. military, they tend to act in supporting roles rather than be on the front lines. I don't know how many female jet pilots are in the U.S. military, but I suspect there aren't many. And I suspect this is less due to discrimination than to the fact that women tend to make different career choices than men. The reasons for there being no female viper pilots on the Galactica were probably along the same lines.

Regardless, the first half mostly serves as a set-up for the second half. Nothing wrong with that, but it makes the first half far less interesting.

Anyway, the two-part episodes fare better than most of the one-part episodes because Glen Larson would often blow the budget and vastly overspend. There are many fantastic scenes in the second half: Serina proposing to Apollo that they marry immediately; the Star of Kobol appearing in the port window during the wedding ceremony; the light shining off of Adama's medallion inside the tombs of Kobol; the Cylon raiders attacking the surface of Kobol; and, of course, Serina's death scene.

Serina's death is one of the most poignant moments of the entire series. But it came with a high price, as the show arguably suffered without her. And the writing would start to take a turn for the worse with the very next episode.

===[[The Lost Warrior]]===

'''Rating: Two stars out of five'''

After only two episodes, Battlestar Galactica's creative energy has fizzled out. This is the first of the so-called "bottled episodes." These episodes had few if any new special effects, enabling the producers to save money which would later be spent on the bigger, more extravagant "monster episodes." It's understandable that these "bottled" stories were necessary, but this is where rushing the show into production really hurt the series. The writers simply did not have time to create quality scripts. Of course, this would ultimately lead to the decline in ratings.

This kind of episode is tough to review because it's good but wrong. Based on the classic 1953 western film Shane, this actually makes a pretty decent western, but Battlestar Galactica is supposed to be a science fiction series. Sci-fi fans want science fiction, not half-hybrids of other shows (A mistake that Galactica 1980 would repeat). If I want to see a Western, I'd rather watch Bonanza. The only reason I gave this two stars is because we get such a strong characterization of Apollo. 

Unfortunately, this is not the only space western we would see on Galactica. Cowboys and saloons would return in The Magnificent Warriors. In fact, the very idea that an "old west" town would exist in Battlestar Galactica completely contradicts the premise of the show, that the Colonies and the ancient cultures of Earth (such as Atlantis and Egypt) have the same roots, the same beginnings. It is ludicrous that an Old West society could have any common connection with this. It raises all kinds of questions. The people of Equellis obviously had to arrive on that world by means of spacecraft, so why is the society so primitive? How could they not know of the Cylons since the war has raged for 1,000 years and the average human life-span is 200 years? 

Why would Apollo be dumb enough to fly so far away from the fleet that he wouldn't have enough fuel to make it back? This really makes no sense. And why does Apollo promise Bella and Puppis that he will return one day? Why would he ever believe that possible?

Despite the lackluster plot, there are some good moments. Boxey beating Starbuck at Pyramid is funny, and the western style "shoot-out" between Red-Eye and Apollo is very well done. The only weak point is when Red Eye spots Apollo's laser and says, "Uh-oh." This trivalizes a very serious moment for the sake of silly humor. It is difficult to believe that a Cylon would use such a phrase. Ironically, for years I couldn't make out exactly what he was saying. I assumed it was some kind of challenge to Apollo, and it actually added to the power of the moment. You can imagine my dismay when I learned the truth. Also, Puppis gets pretty annoying pretty fast.

===[[The Long Patrol]]===

'''Rating: Three stars out of five'''

The Long Patrol is lot of a fun and a big improvement over the previous episode. Starbuck's computer companion C.O.R.A is a hoot. There are several funny scenes: Starbuck womanizing Cassiopea and Athena; Boomer's jab at him before he goes off on the mission; Starbuck finding a fortune in ambrosia only to have it destroyed by the Cylon attack. Adama deciding to change the Galactica's course to keep distance from the Cylons is very well done, revealing how burdensome command of the fleet is and how it forces him to sacrifice his loved ones to protect the rest of humanity. The Long Patrol is definitely one of the better one-hour episodes. 

Maren Jensen (Athena) gets more screen time here than in most of the episodes. The scene with Athena revealing Starbuck's apparent death to Cassiopeia is especially moving, one of Jensen's best scenes of the series. The Athen/Cassiopeia rivalry was compelling and could have been developed in future episodes, but sadly this never happens. This was likely due to Maren Jensen's limitations as an actress which caused the writers to reduce her role.

Could C.O.R.A. have been the inspiration for K.I.T.T., the computerized car on Glen Larson's Knight Rider? Considering the amazing similarities between the two, it would have to be a possibility. Also, Glen Larson has went on record saying that K.I.T.T.'s swerving red eye was inspired by the swerving red eyes of the Cylons. It was sort of his way of keeping the Cylons alive.

===[[The Gun on Ice Planet Zero]]===

'''Rating: Three and a half stars out of five'''

This two-part episode is based on the 1961 movie The Guns of Navarone and the 1967 movie The Dirty Dozen. The episode has a theatrical feel to it because, as mentioned before, the two-parters had bigger budgets. Although the story is by-the-numbers, it is very enjoyable because of the fantastic special effects. Still, as good as Gun is, it is easily one of the lesser of the two-parters. While better than Greetings From Earth, Gun falls far short of The Living Legend, Lost Planet Of The Gods, and especially War Of The Gods. 

This was actually the second episode filmed. This would explain why Serina and Cassiopea do not appear (Serina and Cassiopea died in the original version of the pilot before the decision was made to bring them back). Baltar and Lucifer's scenes were probably shot much later.

This episode raises a serious question. Considering the staggering number of people who had to be left behind due to lack of ships, why would the Colonials bother to take criminals with them? Perhaps they were already locked in the brig on the Galactica before the Holocaust or they somehow managed to sneak aboard the fleet to be captured later. Or perhaps most of them committed their crimes after joining the rag tag fleet. Considering how overcrowded, starved, and disorganized the fleet was when it was assembled, it is logical that many violent crimes would have occurred. An episode exploring this would have been nice. 

The idea that there would not be enough qualified Colonial warriors to go on the mission is hard to believe. And why do Apollo, Starbuck, and Boomer get chosen? They are pilots, and their emphasis is not on ground assault. Logically, the Galactica would have a ground assault team available for these kinds of situations. It is also difficult to believe that Boxey would have found a way to sneak onto the shuttle. At least he and Muffit have an impact on the success of the mission. 

In the book ''The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'' by J.W. Rinzler and Ridley Scott, it is revealed that part of George Lucas's anger towards Battlestar Galactica is because of this episode. Lucas planned to feature an ice planet in the sequel to Star Wars, and he felt that Galactica threatened to undercut him by featuring an ice planet on one of their own episodes. Did this fuel his lawsuit that Galactica was infringing on Star Wars? Is so, then Lucas comes off as disingenuous to say the least, for it would be absurd to claim that Galactica was infringing on a movie that hadn't yet been made!

*Baltar's legs were crushed in Lost Planet of the Gods, yet in this episode the only evidence of Baltar's injury is a slight limp. Did the Cylons do major reconstructive surgery on his legs? I guess so.

*At the end of part two, most of Baltar's dialogue is delivered without showing us his face. It appears that most of John Colicos' lines were redubbed.

*An early title for this episode was Ultimate Weapon. 

*At this point, the constant reusing of the same space battle scenes really starts getting redundant. Still, this remains one of the most popular episodes of Battlestar Galactica.

=== [[The Magnificent Warriors]] ===

'''Rating: 1-1/2 stars out of 5'''

Many fans consider this to be the worst episode of Battlestar Galactica. While I don't agree, I think it comes pretty close. The story is, quite frankly, terrible. We are again subjected to yet another old-western style shanty town? Once was enough! The Borays are disgusting and sound awful. The only redeeming moment is when Adama and company discover Starbuck at the gambling table. It's rather funny. 

Siress Bellaby is hands down the most annoying character to ever appear on Battlestar Galactica. Most viewers probably couldn't understand why the Colonial Warriors didn't simply let the Borays kill her. 

On a positive note, we are shown Lorne Greene's impressive range as an actor. It's interesting to see a comical Adama, a nice contrast to the serious commander that we usually see. Unfortunately, Greene is forced to play against Brett Somers (Siress Bellaby). Somers isn't funny; she's annoying, and it kills most of the comedy that is presented.

The premise of The Magnificent Warriors actually had a lot of potential. We are given a situation where the fleet has no food and everyone is aware of it (unlike in Saga Of A Star World when the Colonials were able to cover up the problem). This raises all kinds of fascinating issues. Would the fleet start a mutiny against Adama during such a crisis? How would Adama react to such a mutiny? How would he choose who to save? Would he allow each ship to make its own decision to leave? Or would he try to force them to stick together? And what decisions would Starbuck and Apollo be forced to make if such a mutiny occurred? So many interesting questions for the episode to pursue.

Sadly, standard television plotting is what we get. The Colonials are traveling through the vast uncharted regions of space, and they run out of food at just the precise moment they happen to be near a farming colony. Okay. Whatever. The Colonials land on the planet and meet the Borays. From then on, it's just another battle of good vs. evil. Putting the Colonials in a moral dilemna would have been much more interesting that what we were given here.

===[[The Young Lords]]===

'''Rating: Three stars out of five''' 

This is the family episode of Battlestar Galactica. Starbuck is shot down and crashes on a planet. Yawn. This is essentially a remake of The Lost Warrior in which Apollo is stranded on the planet Equellus. Of course, Starbuck was also stranded in The Long Patrol and Cree was stranded in ''The Gun On Ice Planet Zero''. Later in ''Greetings From Earth'', Starbuck, Apollo, and Casseopia would be stranded on the planet Paradeen. At this point, the series was becoming so predictable that viewers each week must have been asking the question, "Who's going to have to be rescued this week?" (Mad Magazine did a spoof of Galactica and poked fun at this. See [[Humor in the Original Series]])

Considering the incredibly broad premise of the series, it's amazing that the writers had so much trouble coming up with a story that didn't involve someone being stranded on a planet. With this kind of plot, The Young Lords shouldn't even be watchable. And yet, despite all these drawbacks, this actually turns out to be a fun, enjoyable episode. Part of this praise goes to the tremendous production values. It is simply fascinating to see so many Cylons inside a medieval castle. The location is nothing short of spectacular. To top it off, Dirk Benedict delivers with a wonderful performance. There are many good scenes, especially Starbuck's rescue from the Cylons by Kyle and the children (plus his insulting remark to the Cylons moments before). Playing up kids in a series can be extremely fatal to ratings (Galactica 1980 became an infamous example of this), but fortunately Kyle and the gang never get to the point where they become grating; although they (and their song near the end) come dangerously close. (And are we to believe Starbuck and his Scooby Gang would actually take the time to think up lyrics for a song and memorize them? Please!) 

*The IL series Cylon Spectre is a delightfully conniving character. He is the perfect foil for Lucifer. His phony flattery of Baltar is hilarious, especially the way he manages to turn defeat to his own advantage. Unfortunately, the character does not appear again. Had the series continued into a second season, he probably would have. Spectre does appear in the later original Berkley novels [[The Nightmare Machine]], [[Die, Chameleon!]] and [[Surrender the Galactica!]] where he is put to good use. 

*Needless to say that by this point the Cylons have become a joke. When you stop and really think about it, it is ludicrous that an entire Cylon garrison is defeated by one colonial warrior and five children.

*Most of the scenes of Baltar and Lucifer communicating with Spectre were recycled with different dialogue into the Galactica telemovie [[Conquest of the Earth (VHS)|Conquest of the Earth]]. 

*From this point on, Baltar no longer sits on top of the grand pedestal. John Colicos has said that the scariest moments of his life were when he had to climb up a very rickety ladder to get onto that pedestal. He would read Marvel comics when he had nothing else to do. One time, the entire crew went out to lunch and left him stuck up there.

*This episode was scheduled to air a week earlier than it did, suggesting that it was shot before The Magnificent Warriors and held up because of some kind of production difficulty. 

* A unicorn appears for the second time in this series. The first time is actually in The Long Patrol. Starbuck sees the drawing of a unicorn inside his cell on the asteroid Proteus. 

* It is odd that the family stays behind, considering that there's no one else left on the entire planet. When Kyle grows into manhood and the two girls blossom into womanhood, who are they going to have to turn to? Each other? It's not a pretty thought. 

* There is a slightly earlier script of this episode called ''The Young Warriors''. This would have been a more fitting title for the episode, but it was probably not used due to the previous episodes titled ''The Lost Warrior'' and ''The Magnificent Warriors''. The planet Starbuck crashes on is called Trillion, not Attila. 

* The Berkley novelization of this episode is also called [[The Young Warriors]]. There are a number of differences and it is actually much better than the actual episode.


===[[The Living Legend]]===

Rating: Five stars out of five

This is one of the very best episodes of Battlestar Galactica. The two-part episodes consistently deliver, and The Living Legend is no exception. The idea of a second survivng battlestar is a good one, as is a scenario where the fleet runs out of fuel.

This episode introduces two compelling characters, Commander Cain and his daughter, Lt. Sheba. Sheba's character is said to have been a ground-breaking role for women. She is tough, independent, and short-tempered. Basically, she's the exact opposite of virtually every other female character to appear on the series. Fortunately, she, along with Bojay, becomes a regular after this episode.

Lloyd Bridges is tremendous as Commander Cain. It's hard to imagine any other actor filling the role. The only weak moment for Bridges is when Cain lies to Adama about the "accidental" failure of the tanker mission. Cain's cavalier attitude about it makes it obvious to everyone that he purposely sabotouged the mission. 

This story is different from any other Galactica story thus far because we see a clash of philosophies within the ranks of the military. Cain wants to wage an all-out war against Gamoray, and Adama simply wants to capture the much-needed fuel and escape. The earlier episodes were extremely simplistic in their portaryal of good versus evil. The Colonials are good. The Cylons are evil. Simple as that. Since the good guys are all in the military, the military is always portrayed as being right. Adama, Starbuck, and Apollo had very few moral dilemnas to deal with, which would have made the stories so much more interesting. 

Baltar personally leading the attack on the Galactica makes the battle much more intense and exciting, mostly because the battle has a storyline. Most of the Galactica space battles are nothing more than a confusing jumble of stock shots haphazardly thrown together with nothing in terms of a flow or climax. (One of the bigger flaws of Return Of The Jedi was that the Battle of Endor had nothing in terms of a storyline.) This time it is different. The Pegasus closing in on Baltar at the end of part one is the best cliff hanger of the series. It is rather fitting that Baltar's forces are taken by surprise, since it was Baltar who caused the colonial warfleet to be taken by surprise in the pilot. 

When you put the story under scrutiny, there are some serious flaws. Why are viper pilots sent on a ground mission? Wouldn't the Galactica have specialized teams for that sort of thing? It is also a bit difficult to believe that Sheba could have found a way to go on the mission to Gamoray without permission. It is even more difficult to believe that Cassiopea would have been allowed to just hop on the shuttle. Was she given a crash course on parachuting during the shuttle ride? How could the Colonial warriors have known exactly which building in Gamoray contained the main communications center? And are we to believe that destroying one small communications center would disable the entire city's defense system? If, like me, you can overlook these flaws, this is still a very good episode. 


----


*Glen Larson wrote the character of Sheba specifically for Anne Lockhart. She was offered to play a role in the pilot episode (rumored to be Athena, but not verified), but she refused because she didn't care for the character. When Larson sent her the first 25 pages of The Living Legend script, she immediately said yes to play Sheba. 

*This story is based on an earlier one-episode script called ''The Last Legend'' written by Jim Carlson and Terrence McDonnell. 

*According to Anne Lockhart, this episode was to end with the Pegasus destroyed but ABC objected, so the fate of the ship was left ambiguous. Had there been a second season, Cain and the Pegasus would likely have returned. 

*A different Cylon race is seen for the first time in part two.

*The original script contains action and dialogue left out of the final cut. To see them, click here. 

*The scene between Adama and Apollo right before the mission to capture the Cylon tankers is very powerful. It shows how, despite being father and son, each of their respective positions forces a distance between them personally. What is especially impressive is that this is done without words. Richard Hatch and Lorne Greene manage to convey more with a facial expression than most actors do with a page of dialogue.

*A funny incident occurred during the shooting of this episode. Universal came up with a unique plan to help deal with the burgeoning production costs of the show: The actors were suddenly forced to pay for coffee and donuts! The cast was in an outrage over it, and Lorne Greene and Lloyd Bridges (both in costume) sternly marched out of the studio and went up into the tall Universal building next to the lot. 15 minutes later, someone quietly removed the price sign from the coffee and donuts table, and that was the end of it. 

*Boxey really starts to get on the nerves at this point. Nothing against Noah Hathaway, but Boxey is a character all too typical of standard television. He is an ultra-cute TV kid doing ultra-cute things, yet usually has little or no bearing on the plot. These kinds of characters (most notably the Super Scouts from Galactica 1980) only serve to hurt a show's ratings. 

*To read my review of the Berkely novelization of this episode, click here. 

*When Starbuck goes to tell Cassiopea about Cain's return, why hasn't she already heard about it? Surely news of the arrival of a second battlestar would have swept like wildfire throughout the fleet. 

*In the pilots' barracks, shortly before the ground assault team heads for the shuttle, Starbuck comes on to Sheba, proposing they make a sexual bet as to whether the mission will succeed. She smilingly tells him it's a bad idea; she wouldn't want to risk having to blow the mission just to avoid living up to the terms of the bet. This is not a missing scene, but it has been cut from the version that occasionally airs on the Sci-Fi channel, so many fans may not be aware of it. It's funny, though a little awkward since Starbuck supposedly has such strong feelings for Cassiopea. 

*Many viewers are probably confused when Bojay asks Apollo, "You've shot down one Cylon patrol ship in a secton?" For the record, a secton is a week. When Sheba says the assault team will only have millicentons to get out of Gamoray, a millicenton is probably supposed to be a minute given the way she uses it. Of course, this contradicts the way units of time are used in other episodes. 

*Anne Lockhart has said she did not sign her contract until five years after the show ended. 

*Lloyd Bridges was Gene Roddenbury's first choice to play Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek series, but he turned it down due to having appeared in a poor science fiction movie called Rocketship X-M (1950). 

*Anne Lockhart is also well-known for a guest appearance as Buck Roger's long-lost love in the Buck Rogers episode A Dream Of Jennifer. 

*This episode and Fire In Space were later combined to form the horrid Galactica theatrical movie Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack.

=== [[Murder on the Rising Star]] ===

'''Rating: Two and a half stars out of five'''

Murder She Wrote in outer space??? This story had little point being part of a show like Battlestar Galactica. This is the kind of story that is done on almost every science fiction series when the writers are out of ideas. There is very little in the way of drama because the viewer knows the hero is innocent and will be cleared. This story tries to give the impression that Starbuck might be guilty (we don't get to see who shoots Ortega, Starbuck is shown running from the scene, plus Starbuck's anxiousness in the shuttle bay makes him appear guilty), but only the most gullible of viewers would fall for this. The story would be more forgivable if we learned some new insights about the characters or the fleet, but what do we learn? What is the point? Is it that the Colonial system of law is virtually identical to the U.S. system? (which is hardly believeable) Or that Adama has to spend time hearing court cases? (Not too believable either considering the incredibly burdensome task he has of commanding the fleet) Or is it that playing triad is more dangerous than anybody thought? What is the point of this episode except to fill an hour's worth of time???

This is the fourth episode that features Starbuck. While Dirk Benedict certainly plays a wonderful character, it would have been nice to have featured some of the lesser used cast members (Tigh, Boomer, Athena, Sheba).

One thing really stands out: It is absurd how little time Apollo is given to prepare a case for Starbuck's defense. He only has 10 centares, and the script for this episode has a key that states a centar is an hour. Only 10 hours to prepare for a murder trial??? Give me a break!

This story could have been done differently to make it more poignant. What if Apollo was unable to conclusively prove who killed Ortega, and Adama intervenes, using his power as commander to have Starbuck set free. It would raise the question of whether Adama was abusing his power. Even then, considering the fleet must be depleted when it comes to seasoned viper pilots, it could be argued that the fleet needed Starbuck as a warrior. It would have been an interesting moral issue, something Battlestar Galactica rarely had. I also think the story would have been more interesting if we were left with some doubt as to whether Starbuck killed Ortega (in self-defense, of course). 

Despite the story problems, there are fine all-around performances from the cast to make this watchable. In a way, it makes the episode more disappointing to have such great talent squandered on such a by-the-numbers story. But everyone holds up their end well, especially Dirk Benedict and Laurette Spang in their scene inside the brig. It's nice the writers found a way to bring Baltar into the story, and John Colicos still makes a great villain. The flashback of the destruction of Caprica was also well-done. There were certainly many crimes committed during the evacuation, and it illustrates that Battlestar Galactica was brimming with potentially interesting stories to explore, which again only makes this episode more of a letdown.

An interesting note: Karibdis appears early on in the story, serving drinks to Adama and Tigh while they watch the Triad game. This is an often-used writing device. You have the murderer/villain appear early in the story, sometimes at the very beginning, in what appears to be a minor or trivial role. This often fools the audience, as they rarely expect such a character to be revealed so quickly. This was also done on the miniseries for the new Galactica, when one of the human Cylons is shown early leading a tour of the Galactica. If you want to get good at solving tv/movie mysteries, pay attention to the minor characters that appear early in the story.

=== [[Experiment in Terra]] ===

'''Rating: Three stars out of five'''

Experiment In Terra initially comes across as a superb episode, but under close inspection the story unfortunately comes apart. The Ship of Lights recruiting Apollo to help Terra is a cool idea, but their reasoning as to why they need to use a mortal human doesn't hold up. John says that the people of Terra can't see the "Guardians" (my own name for them) outside the confines of their ship. And yet on Terra, John makes himself visible to Starbuck by merely touching him. Even more problematic, Apollo's mission never makes sense. The Guardians know that the Eastern Alliance is going to launch a missile attack, so the master plan is to have Apollo tell the "west side" that the Eastern Alliance has been attacking them? Um, okay, but even if Apollo succeeds, how will this stop the Eastern Alliance from launching their missiles? Why not just have Apollo tell the Galactica to travel to Terra and destroy the missile attack? The answer, of course, is that there wouldn't be much of a story. 

Sadly, there are many other flaws. Apollo says he can't reach Terra because the distance is too great, so he is "teleported" right in front of the planet. So how is it that Starbuck is able to eventually reach the planet on his own? Logically, he wouldn't have had enough fuel. Adama's decision to pull the Galactica out of the fleet is more out of whack than it may first appear. He didn't do that in earlier episodes when Starbuck or Apollo were crashed/stranded. This time Adama doesn't even know who the two pilots are, and yet he pulls the Galactica out of the fleet. 

Even more ludicrous is the idea that the Galactica travels to Terra at light speed (and not just because it is scientifically implausible). If the Galactica was traveling to Terra at the speed of light, they should have reached Terra almost instantly (in fact, they probably could have found Earth during the pilot episode!) And how is it that the Galactica was able to travel to Terra unmolested? Surely there would be Eastern Alliance destroyers patrolling the area around the planet. And how does the Eastern Alliance not know that the Galactica was responsible for destroying their missiles? Surely the Galactica would have been picked up on their scanners. 

Also, the West President's reasoning for withholding knowledge of the Eastern Alliance's attacks is questionable. Why does he think he can make peace with the Eastern Alliance if they are constantly attacking him? And if the Eastern Alliance has wiped out all of the West's satellite planets, how could the President possibly prevent word of this from leaking out? It's not realistic at all. Plus, the idea that the Eastern Alliance would be willing to destroy the entire planet (at least half of which they own) is pretty ridiculous. Okay, they ARE Bad Guys, but what's the point of destroying most of their empire when they were already winning the war? 

With such a long list of problems, you would think that this is a terrible episode. Amazingly, this isn't the case. In fact, Experiment In Terra still ranks as one of the better one-hour episodes of Battlestar Galactica. Seeing the Ship of Lights again is a treat, and Edward Mulhare is delightful as John, Apollo's guide. This episode is another example where the great production values and strong performances from the actors are able to overcome the plot inconsistencies. What makes Experiment In Terra work so well is that its plot holes aren't immediately noticeable. I didn't realize how many there were until I sat down and really thought about it. Apollo's mission to save Terra, as pointless as it winds up being, is still extremely engrossing. Apollo's speech to the Precidium is very dramatic and moving, even though (as we've already said) everything Apollo does on Terra turns out to be a waste of time since nothing he does has any chance of preventing the Eastern Alliance from launching its missiles.

The ending scene is touching, as John tells Apollo that Terra is not Earth but "You must have faith." Many Galactica fans have interpreted this to mean that Apollo would successfully complete the journey to Earth.


Here are some humorous notes from British writer Matthew Wharmby:

* I'm sorry, but I thought the final scene was tremendously weak. All that buildup to a good scrap, heart-stopping music included, let down with a pathetic green shield spat out of the front of the Galactica. And from a terrible angle made necessary by two separately matted halves; one of Earth and one of the Galactica's underside. And you don't mean to tell me that the Galactica could extend such a shield over the whole planet? If so, why couldn't she have performed the same thing over Caprica in the pilot, and let the attacking Cylon fighters blow themselves up in it?
* Nobody seems too panicked about the impending nuclear annihilation! I don't know about you, but when us kids growing up in the late Cold War used to speculate nervously about the four-minute warning, the usual consensus was that we'd be doing, well, what it takes four minutes to do. 'You can do it twice,' the girls would quip.
* I'm not mad keen on Brenda's attitude. If every girl who had boyfriend trouble called the Old Bill on such a weak pretext, there wouldn't be a bloke alive out of prison!

=== [[Take the Celestra]] ===

'''Rating: One star out of five'''

This is probably the worst episode of Battlestar Galactica. A lot of people will probably disagree, but I have to go with this choice simply because I found this episode to be incredibly boring. The Magnificent Warriors and The Lost Warrior were also really bad (and they were certainly more simplistic), but they were never really boring. A story focusing on the hardships of voyaging on the rag tag fleet is a great idea, but this episode takes one self-destructive turn after another and may be the best example of a wasted opportunity for the series. Many of BG's bad episodes were somewhat saved by wonderful performances from the actors, but there is nothing here that stands out (although the Starbuck/Cassiopea reconciliation at the end is a nice moment). Starbuck and Apollo actually look stale. This is one of the few times that neither Richard Hatch nor Dirk Benedict are able to rise above the mediocre writing. Commander Kronus is incredibly boring - a static, stale character with little depth. Because it's hard to care about the character, it's hard to feel anything during the "dramatic" finish when Kronus dies. Given the moronic decisions he makes, I felt like saying "Good riddance." On the other hand, Ana Alicia suceeds in making Aurora interesting, but she is mostly wasted in this episode. Unfortunately, her boyfriend is more boring than Kronus, and I just wanted him to shut up. Despite these issues, the main problem with Take The Celestra lies in the script itself. 

One of the biggest (yet least noted) flaws of Battlestar Galactica was the way it portrayed life in the rag-tag fleet. Day-to-day existence on a fleet of mostly derelict ships would no doubt be a grueling struggle for survival. Yet the series rarely ever indicated this. Most scenes with civilians consisted of parties, gambling, and triad games aboard the Rising Star! (hardly the most accurate look we could have been given) Take The Celestra was the perfect vehicle to change this, but unfortunately the writers took the easy way out. Aurora and the other mutineers were "illegally forced" to work so many double shifts. This makes the issue of right and wrong very easy to determine, but consider another direction the writers could have taken. 

What if the harsh working conditions existed throughout the entire fleet? (and, logically, they should have) What if Aurora and the others were not working harder than anyone else and simply decided they had had enough? Would they be morally right in trying to escape the fleet (considering that the loss of manpower would likely hurt the remaining Colonials)? Apollo, Starbuck and the rest of the military are always talking about the importance of freedom. Apollo talks about it strongly in his speech to the Precedium in Experiment In Terra. When Starbuck tries to convince the prisoners to rebel in The Long Patrol, he says "You have rights. You're human beings!" When they finally escape, he says, "That's freedom." An interesting idea to explore is how free the Colonials actually were. Surely many of them wanted to settle on some of the planets the fleet passed by. If Adama refused their wishes, he would technically be restricting their freedom. Unfortunately, this kind of story is problematic because the extent of Adama's power is never clear; in fact, it varies from episode to episode (depending whatever works best for the story that week). But this kind of story would have made it a tough call as to whether Aurora and her friends were right and whether Starbuck and Apollo were totally justified in stopping them. 

Anyway, that's the episode I would have liked to see, or anything other than what we did see, the most boring Galactica episode to date. The story is riddled with holes, outdone perhaps only by Experiment In Terra. Whereas that story's flaws are not immediately noticeable, most of this story's flaws are. Commander Kronus' decision to immediately shuttle the prisoners back to the fleet despite being so far away doesn't make much sense. His accompanying the shuttle makes even less sense. Colonial law states that a commander has to personally take the mutineers in for charges? Huh? Even when his ship is out in the middle of nowhere? Okay. Whatever. Kronus should have waited until the Celestra rejoined the fleet. His decision makes him look like an idiot. 

How is it that Chakka is able to get almost the entire crew to mutiny with him on a whim? He couldn't have been planning mutiny beforehand because he had expected to become commander of the Celestra. And if the entire crew wasn't with him in the mutiny, then how could he have expected to get away with powering down the ship? And could Starbuck and Apollo both be so clueless that they wouldn't be able to remember which heading the fleet was on? And how does the shuttle run out of fuel so fast? And how is it that Kronus could not have known or heard about any of the harsh working conditions? The Celestra isn't that big of a ship. Are we to believe that he never left the bridge? To top it off, why is there such an urgent need in the final battle scene to "level out" the Celestra? It's not as though there were any ships or planets around that it could crash into. Almost nothing in this episode makes any sense. 

The minor plot of Cassiopea agonizing over Starbuck's evasiveness in their relationship is far more compelling than the main plot of the Celestra mutiny. But even the Starbuck/Aurora plot has problems. For one thing, the writers have Starbuck act like a total jerk by skipping his date with Cassie so he can see Aurora. Why would Cassie put up with that? And how is it that Starbuck had a serious relationship with Aurora going during the time of the Destruction? Didn't he clearly have something going with Athena back then? If so, this only makes Starbuck out to be a bigger womanizer than anyone thought (not exactly the best way to endear him to viewers). Aurora makes a valid point in her anger towards him. If Starbuck really did care about her, why didn't he check to see if her name was in the fleet computer? Just because her house was destroyed doesn't mean for certain that she was killed. It's also highly questionable that Starbuck ever made it back to Caprica after the Cylons attacked. We've never been given any indication that anyone besides Adama and Apollo ever went back. Considering how dangerous it would have been (not to mention how strong a chance that someone might have led the Cylons back to the Galactica), it's absolutely ludicrous to suggest Adama would have allowed anyone to return to the planet.

== Galactica 1980 Episode Reviews ==

=== Galactica Discovers Earth ===

Galactica Discovers Earth turns out to be a watchable pilot, but watchable is about all. From the very first episode, the series looks like a cheap attempt by ABC to cash in on the Galactica name by simply reusing the expensive special effects stock footage from the original series. The other episodes would only confirm this. Kent McCord (Troy) and Barry Van Dyke (Dillon) are likable, but they still come off as inferior clones of Starbuck and Apollo. Indeed, the script for the pilot was originally written for Starbuck and Apollo. When those plans changed, the names were simply switched to Troy and Dillon.
Jamie Hamilton comes off as a carbon copy of Lois Lane. Unfortunately, we are never given any backstory to any of these characters. 

The idea of the Cylons closing in on Earth and the Colonials trying to advance Earth's technology is a very compelling premise, but the problem is that Dr. Zee's plan to slowly increase Earth's technology is flawed. At the rate in which the Colonials were going, it probably would have taken at least decades to get Earth's technology increased enough to be able to fight the Cylons. Long before then, the Cylons would probably tire of waiting and decide to just destroy the Colonial fleet. Even if the Cylons didn't attack, how far could the Galactica lead the Cylons away from Earth before they (the Colonials) were too far away from the planet to ever go back there? It probably would have been smarter to temporarily abandon Earth and lead the Cylons away until Dr. Zee could invent some technology that would allow the Colonials to destroy the Cylon armada. (Actually, since Colonial Vipers can now turn invisible, it should have been fairly easy for the Colonials to launch a surprise attack on the Cylons and defeat them once and for all!)

The problem with the original premise of Galactica 1980 is that it would have eventually become tiresome: Troy and Dillon each week would find a way to introduce some new technology (clean nuclear power, etc.) which would make some small improvement, but do little to bring Earth up to the level it would need be to fight the Cylons. As a result, the series could never evolve to the next level (i.e. Earth is ready to fight the Cylons), because the series' budget was too small for any kind of "final battle". As a result, Galactica 1980 was stuck in a rut from the get-go. It tried to distract viewers from the main plot (the Cylon threat) with time travel and cub scout outings because there was little that could be done with the original premise. It might have worked well as a single movie or perhaps a series of movies, but it's unlikely that Galactica 1980 could have ever jelled as a weekly series.

=== The Super Scouts ===

The Super Scouts arrive, and Galactica 1980 plummets into an abyss it would not survive. In the beginning, we're forced to endure a series of boring classroom educational lessons. Things get even worse when the intergalactic 'Our Gang' reaches Earth. We get ultra-cute campfire songs and even more educational lessons shoved down are throats. The original series had flaws, but at least it never insulted its viewers by getting into preachy moral issues. Galactica 1980 gives us an ultra-simplistic environmental message of "Don't pollute the water," and does so with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

One could make the case that Galactica 1980 is a great tool for writers to learn how NOT to write drama. One key is to create powerful villains and put the heroes in situations that are difficult to deal with. But all of the villains in Galactica 1980 are weak. The Colonials have so many  advantages over the people of Earth - spaceships, super powers, invisibility fields - that they are essentially invincible, thus robbing the series of any possible drama. In Galactica 1980, there are no worthy villains. The bumbling cops and incompetent military personnel never have a prayer of apprehending Troy and Dillon, so there's no suspense. And it's certainly not funny to watch Earthlings constantly being confounded by extra-terrestrials. Yet that is what we're forced to endure again and again throughout the entire series.

=== Spaceball ===

This is crap. Spaceball is the worst, most hated episode of Galactica 1980. It's silly, stupid, and just plain dumb. Little kids playing baseball??? This is Battlestar Galactica??? Spaceball may be the most inconsequential hour of science fiction ever made. It's certainly an insult to the original series that this bionic version of ''The Bad News Bears'' was shot under the Galactica name.

=== The Night The Cylons Landed ===

The Night The Cylons Landed is the best episode since the pilot (which, let's face it, isn't saying much). The Super Scouts are finally relegated to the background. This expands on the storyline involving the evolution of the Cylons over the 30 years since the destruction of the Colonies. A new, bigger, and more powerful Cylon raider carrying a newly advanced Cylon lifeform crashlands on Earth. Two surviving Cylons attempt to communicate with the Cylon armada to tell them of Earth's location. This is a cool idea, but the execution is terrible. We are treated to so much silliness, culminating with Troy and Dillon dancing on stage with cartoon characters like Yogi Bear! There are other problems. The more powerful, heavily armored Cylon raider is crippled after the punier viper rams into it??? The viper certainly doesn't hit it very hard. If the Cylons were a joke in the original series, then in Galactica 1980 they are a laughing stock. Andromus, the evolved Cylon clone of a human, certainly doesn't look or act very advanced. Centuri, his Centurion buddy, comes across as being even sillier with his constant banter of "I will protect you. That is my mission." This is the monstrous, all-powerful race which threatens the Earth's destruction and that the Colonials are so concerned about??? The two Cylons provide some funny moments, but it can't make up for the letdown of a plot that had so much potential.

This episode provides yet another example of how NOT to write drama. Conventional storytelling says that when you have a character trying to solve a mystery, you want the audience to move along at the same pace as the character. If the audience knows more than the character does, they find themselves simply waiting for the character to catch up, which is boring. Unfortunately, Galactica 1980 violates this basic rule of storytelling as we're forced to endure Colonel Briggs's investigation of the aliens. We know everything, he knows nothing, and thus there is nothing even remotely interesting about the subplot.

=== Space Croppers ===

The Space Croppers starts out interesting, but quickly takes an abrupt nosedive into looney land. The plot parallels that of [[The Magnificent Warriors]]. Due to the destruction of the fleet's agroships by a Cylon attack, another source of food supply must be found. The Magnificent Warriors was a terrible episode, so it must be considered quite a feat that Space Croppers turns out to be even worse.

If Dr. Zee is such a genius, why doesn't it ever occur to him to use Galactican technology to create money so the Colonials can simply buy the food that they need? I guess such a simple solution would have made this story pointless.

Furthermore, the Imperious Leader's plan to force the Galactica to lead the Cylons to Earth makes no sense. How could Imperious Leader know that Earth was nearby? And if he did know, why not just destroy the Colonial fleet and conduct a search of the nearby planets? Did anything on this series make sense? Was anything supposed to? 

Last, and certainly least, the Super Scouts bouncing high in the air and throwing seeds while singing their song is hands down the most ludicrous thing ever shown on Galactica 1980, and that's saying something.<ref name="Sheba">Sheba's Galaxy: The Ultimate Battlestar Galactica Information Site</ref>

=== The Return of Starbuck ===

This is undeniably the best and most popular episode of Galactica 1980. It is even better than most of the episodes of Battlestar Galactica. What is there not to love about this episode? There are so many outstanding scenes: Adama's chilling reaction to Dr. Zee's mention of Starbuck; Boomer's heartwrenching goodbye to Starbuck, Adama explaining to Boomer that they can't go back to find him; Adama saying his farewell to Starbuck; Starbuck's rationalizations about how the planet belongs to him; Angela's words, "Starbuck, would you die for me?"; Starbuck sacrificing his chance to return to the fleet to give Angela and her baby a better chance; Starbuck's goodbye to Cy. The list goes on. Best of all, we see growth in Starbuck's character! A true classic to be treasured for all time by Galactica fans. 

This episode is based on an earlier script written for the second season of Battlestar Galactica that never happened. The main differences are that a regular woman appears (not Angela), and Starbuck is eventually rescued by Boomer. The only thing believed to have been taken intact from the early script is Starbuck's dialogue with Cy. While that would no doubt have been a tremendous episode, it still would not have come close to being as great as this one is. The reason why is very simple. One of the problems with creating dramatic and suspenseful stories in any weekly series is that the viewer knows the hero will ultimately prevail. For example, when Starbuck is accused of murder in [[Murder on the Rising Star]], there is little in terms of suspense because it is a foregone conclusion that Starbuck will be vindicated, just as it is a forgone conclusion that Starbuck isn't going to die in [[The Young Lords]] when he is hunted by the Cylons on the planet Attila. In the beginning of The Return Of Starbuck, it is quickly established that Adama doesn't know what happened to Starbuck and that Starbuck never returned from the mission where he was shot down. As a result, in what is most unusual for any action/adventure television story, the viewer sits through the entire episode knowing that Starbuck isn't going to make it! 

This makes the story much more gripping and intense than virtually any other episode of either series. The grim reality of Starbuck's eventual fate is all reinforced by Angela's question "Starbuck, will you die for me?" and her warnings of disaster, telling him that he must prepare to make "the final judgement." Of course, we do not actually see Starbuck die at the end of the story. Larson leaves Starbuck's fate ambiguous, especially since an intact Cylon raider is left nearby. Having Starbuck die would have been a gutsy and innovative move, but the ending shown is really for the best. The beauty of the ending is that it lets the viewers make their own interpretation of Starbuck's fate. If one goes with the idea that a single person alone cannot fly a Cylon raider, then Starbuck could have easily died on the planet. Many fans don't consider Galactica 1980 to be canon for the original series, except for this episode. With the interpretation that Galactica 1980 didn't happen, Starbuck could possibly have flown the Cylon raider back to the fleet, returning to Apollo, Adama, Sheba, and the other original characters. Much Galactica fan fiction over the years has interpreted the episode in this manner.<ref>Sheba's Galaxy: The Ultimate Battlestar Galactica Information Site</ref>

== Telemovies ==

=== [[Conquest of the Earth (VHS)|Conquest of the Earth]] ===
The opening sequence is really well-done, although it mostly uses footage from the original series. It has a truly epic feel, and it gives the impression that we will see an epic conclusion to the Battlestar Galactica saga. Unfortunately, that does not happen. Still, Adama's opening declaration that Earth has been found is also magnificent, much better done than it was in the original episode. By removing the time-travel subplot as well as much of the silliness including Troy and Dillon dancing on stage, the whole is better than the original episodes. Yet this hardly makes ''Conquest of the Earth'' a great movie.

=== [[Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack (VHS)|Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack]] ===
This movie is less entertaining than the individual episodes it is composed of. The separate episodes don't mesh together seamlessly, resulting in several plot holes and odd hairstyle changes between scenes. The movie especially suffers because many great scenes from The Living Legend episode are missing. As a result, this movie is only recommended for curiosity's sake.

== Berkley Books ==
=== [[Saga of a Star World (Book)|Saga of a Star World]] ===
'''Flagship of the 12 Worlds fleet, she was as large as a planet, yet as swift as the Starhound fighters she launched from her bays. For generations the vast ship led the thousand-year war against the Cylons for control of the known Galaxy. Now that war was in its final phase, and Galactica had one final mission, win or lose: blast through the deadly grid of the Cylon Starfleet and dash for deep space in a desperate attempt to find the legendary "Stonehenge" of the universe - the lost planet the ancient microfilms call "Earth."''' 

This is the opening paragraph to the Berkley novelization of the Battlestar Galactica pilot "Saga Of A Star World". This is easily one of the most fascinating Galactica books ever written, and there are a number of things that make it so interesting. First, the book is based on an early script of the pilot and, although changes were made before it came to print to make it more like the version that aired, there are a number of alternate scenes in the book. The Galactica universe is also different in several aspects, such as the Cylons are living aliens underneath their armor instead of total machines. Also, there are missing scenes left out of the final cut of the movie that survived intact in the book (Starbuck's confrontation with Tigh on the bridge after the Colonies are destroyed; Starbuck's extended conversation with Cassie on the shuttle; Adama's resigning from the Council). 

Perhaps best of all, certain events are more fleshed out in the novelization than in the movie such as the surprise Cylon attack. The novelization helps to fill a number of gaping plot holes and unanswered questions that the movie was saddled with. Many chapters begin with an entry from the Adama journals, and the reader is able to learn a lot of information and insight from the Galactica's commander. 

Many fans are unhappy with the Berkley books, feeling that they don't remain true to the series. I respectfully disagree. First of all, as already mentioned, the novelizations often have extra detail and explanations that help cover up plot holes that existed in the episodes. Second, the fact that the novels portray the BG universe in a slightly different way and that they are not exact retellings of the episodes is good because the books would be pretty boring otherwise. Third, some of the characters such as Athena are fleshed out better in the novels. Make no mistake, this is the best of all the Berkley novelizations and is a must-read for any fan of the original series.

== External Links ==

[http://galactica1981.tripod.com/BGEPISODES.htm Battlestar Galactica Episode Guide at Sheba's Galaxy]

[http://galactica1981.tripod.com/Wharmby.htm Matthew Wharmby's Hilarious Galactica 1980 Episode Guide at Sheba's Galaxy]

== References ==

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