TV is the New Reading

‘Battlestar Galactica’

jumps into fourth season

The fourth and final season of “Battlestar Galatica” starts April 4 and to get viewers up to speed with the intricately written sci-fi masterpiece, the producers have compiled a half-hour “show so far” called “Battlestar Galactica: Revisited” and a half-hour companion episode titled “Battlestar Galactica: Phenomenon.”

Let’s get “Phenomenon” out of the way first. Essentially what that involves is the producers of “Battlestar Galactica” – or “BSG,” as it’s called by the fandom – talking to the camera amid comments from other high-profile writers, actors and artists. As one example, Joss Whedon of the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”/”Angel” series is clearly a significant “get” for them because he’s quoted as saying BSG is “the best show I’ve ever seen” in all of their promos.

There’ve been lots of incarnations leading up to the current “Battlestar Galactica,” including the cheeseball 1970s space adventure, the poorly rated 1980s remake, the movies and the made-for-TV movies – the most recent of which appeared on the Sci Fi channel and launched the re-imagined series in 2003.

The producers talked about how they wanted the new series to focus on characters and relationships and while there would be futuristic space-faring technology and unavoidable science fiction elements, viewers would be able to focus on the humanity of deeply written characters in extreme situations.

One main story element is that the metallic android Centurion versions of humanity’s main deep-space adversaries, the Cylons, have revised their appearance so they look like humans. Some of them have revised their programming to think that they are human.

The social instability of who might be a Cylon spy mirrors a lot of the chilling political commentary of who is and is not a terrorist in today’s society. The discussion becomes even more complicated when humans commit suicide bombing attacks in order to destabilize the Cylon occupation. Listening to “the good guys” make the necessary rationale for such an unequivocally terrorist tactic provides significant insights that don’t otherwise get a lot of play in the public conversation.

“BSG: Revisited” brings viewers up to speed with the complicated storylines. As of the end of the third season, former New Caprican president Gaius Baltar stood trial for treason and four high-ranking crew-members suspect that they themselves might be Cylons, and the path seems suddenly clear to their final destination – a distant planet called Earth.

It’s confusing, not least of which because the show’s storyline slips so fluidly among dream sequences and flashbacks without really making a huge distinction between one or the other. With grand space battles, romantic entanglements and deeply involved personal histories, even long-time viewers can appreciate a recap in anticipation of the fourth and final season.

Features Editor Terry J. Aman compiles the Best Bets for The Minot Daily News.

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