Battlestar Galactica

I’ve watched BSG about 2.5 times, I think. I’d like to watch it again. It is my favorite TV show ever, ahead of Mad Men, Dexter, and Star Trek, among other competitors.

Why? It’s the characters. Sure, the main plot was fun. To quote Wikipedia:

Battlestar Galactica is set in a distant part of the galaxy, where a civilization of humans live on a series of planets known as the Twelve Colonies. In the past, the Colonies had been at war with a cybernetic race known as the Cylons. With the unwitting help of a human named Gaius Baltar, the Cylons launch a sudden sneak attack on the Colonies, laying waste to the planets and devastating their populations. The approximately 50,000 human survivors flee into space aboard any spacecraft they can reach. Of all the Colonial Fleet, the eponymous Battlestar Galactica appears to be the only military capital ship that survived the attack. Under the leadership of Colonial Fleet officer Commander William "Bill" Adama (Olmos) and President Laura Roslin (McDonnell), the Galactica and its crew take up the task of leading the small fugitive fleet of survivors into space in search of a fabled refuge known as Earth.

It’s a sturdy plot. There are plenty of fun subplots, and subsubplots. There are many twists, turns, and unexpected events. But, no, ultimately, it isn’t these elements that make me adore BSG.

Rather, it’s the characters and their evolution. They act in realistic ways. They evolve. They are sometimes noble. Often they disappoint. But always, they engage. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you become involved with them.

SPOILER ALERT: I’m going to talk about the characters in ways that could totally spoil things up for you if you don’t know BSG and intend to watch it someday.

Did I mention this is a SPOILER ALERT? Okay. Good.

Nominally, the series is about four main characters: Bill Adama, Laura Roslyn, Lee Adama, and Kara Thrace. These characters, along with characters called Gaius Baltar, Number Six, and Number Eight, are played by the top-billed actors, whose names appear in the opening credits.

But there is a long list of other characters who started small and ended up being hugely important: Saul Tigh, Karl Agathon, Galen Tyrol, Felix Gaeta, Anastasia Dualla, Cally Tyrol, Samuel Anders, Number Three (D’Anna), Ellen Tigh, Tory Foster, Dr. Cottle, and Number Two (Leobin), to name a dozen.


None of the actors playing those characters ever moved up into the land of ‘series regulars’ who were named in the opening credits – not even Helo, who went on to become the Grandfather of Humanity. It was a seven-star show from beginning to end. But I could name another dozen characters which were important and riveting: the vile Number One (Cavil), the endearingly fiery pilot Kat, and the president’s sweet assistant Billy, for instance, were all compelling characters who we loved or hated.

When Billy died saving Dualla (the episode was called ‘Sacrifice’), I felt kinda sad. He was so young. He hardly knew anything about girls. I realized, of course, Billy was a character in a TV show. I understood that about ‘Billy.’ But somehow, the way his character grew, my Inner Viewer forgot about that. My Inner Viewer was connected to Billy because he fell in love with Dualla – and who didn’t love Dualla?

(Let’s leave aside the fact that Paul Campbell, the actor who played Billy, was offered a five-year contract for the series, and when he didn’t display appropriate enthusiasm for the opportunity, they wrote him out of the show. That’s a subject for another blog – the way things happen behind the scenes, and how it affects the scenes.)

That was season two. By season four, when Dualla unexpectedly commits suicide, I had gotten used to the fact that these people – er, these characters – were human. I knew them well, and yet they surprised me, just like regular people I know in regular life.



Starbuck was probably the most human character of all. What a piece of work. When she revealed that her single biggest fear was “being forgotten,” it felt Shakespearean. When she disappeared in the final moments of the final episode... I have never been more moved by a piece of fiction.

I’m going to stop now and return later to BSG. Meanwhile, isn’t it nice to think there will be another movie in the future? Or perhaps another series? That’s what the fan press is reporting, anyway.
Hope springs eternal.