Deleted scenes
- This entry talks about deleted scenes in general. If you are looking for comprehensive lists of deleted scenes in Battlestar Galactica, see List of Deleted Scenes .
Deleted scenes are scenes that were already filmed, but removed after post-processing of an episode.
Primarily, scenes are removed as:
- the scene may be unnecessary, as it does not
- add anything to the story,
- add anything to character development;
- the scene makes an episode too long;
- an alternate version was filmed, thus rendering the scene unusable.
There are other reasons, such as contractural disputes, studio orders, or the like that can cause a scene to be deleted from the final cut.
The "official" status of these scenes is debatable. Many were removed from the final version simply because the episode ran long, and as Ron Moore has explained in the podcasts, the shooting scripts are almost always too long, because the BSG writers try to cram as much storyline into an episode as possible. These scenes might be thought of as completely valid, and the writers usually consider them to have actually happened, but then again, a future episode might feel free to contradict information in them, which would invalidate them. Other scenes contain subplots that were abandoned (i.e. most of Boxey's appearances) and the writers wouldn't have included even if they did have the time, and the veracity of these scenes is dubious, though it provides insight into the writing process on the show. Some scenes (like Tyrol freeing Socinus from the brig in "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II") are even necessary to fully understand the aired version. Scenes which are completely alternate versions contradicted by the aired version are definately not canonical at all.
A special case in regard to deleted scenes is the "Pegasus: Director's Cut": most episodes have 4 Acts, while the season 2 finale "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II" was a 6 Act, 90 minute special. However, "Pegasus" ran so long there was enough material for 5 Acts, but this was too short to make a 6 Act special. As a result, an extended edition of this episode was created and released in the Season 2.5 DVD (RC1) and Season 2 (RC 2,4) sets, which actually has these deleted scenes re-edited into the course of the episode. Because of this, although the deleted scenes for every other episode in Season 2.0 were released in the DVD set, none of the deleted scenes from "Pegasus" have been released. These additional scenes on the extended cut of "Pegasus" are as canonical as if they actually aired.