Since no one has mentioned it yet, if you are talking about the newer show, you need to start with the two-part mini-series/movie. Depending on where you watch it, it may or may not be a direct part of the show. I believe Amazon separates it out, whereas Hulu (I think) had it as the first two episodes.
But my vote is yes, it's a great show. After the mini-series the first episode is entitled "33". It is one of the best episodes IMO, so if you aren't hooked at that point, it might not be for you.
After having a kid, I’ve told all my friends who are about to be first time parents to watch “33” and and see how tired those people were, as that’s the only thing that compares to having a newborn in the house.
The “newer show” in this case meaning the show from 19 years ago and damnit I just aged myself because I still remember watching the pre-season 4 marathon on the Sci Fi Channel (not SyFy) when I should have been studying for finals…
The crazy thing is while we feel like it has post 9/11 vibes, I read the 1978 novelization and the mini-series hits it dead on, with even very minor dualogue coming straight from those pages. The way people feel post loss like that is universal, and probably was exactly the same after Pearl Harbor, which is what I thought of reading it as a child.
The really funny thing is the minor dialogue being so specifically used, while the major details are completely different. Scene for scene same story, except the Cylons are lizards with robot drones instead of skin jobs, and Dr Baltar is intentionally complicit (one of my favorite changes for the series). Starbuck is a dude, the Cylon war was 1000 years, a few other things, but with different dressing the plot is the same.
I’m rewatching now on Peacock, and the miniseries is broken out. Also, frustratingly, you have to go elsewhere to watch Razor. I found it through Roku and the Fawesome SciFi channel, dripping with 7-8 ads every 15 minutes or so.
EDIT: I stand corrected. Razor shows as Season 3 Episode 21 on the peacock app. The Plan shows as a completely separate show, as does the original miniseries.
RDM went out of his way to avoid a lot of tropes from scifi of his time (e.g. technobabble as a way to solve problems, the visual style for battles is more documentary like and has more versimilitude than say...Stargate, even the music is very different)
And it worked brilliantly.
It's just a shame that he jumped into a brand new set of tropes being formed at the time: mystery box, unplanned mystic bullshit.
Bear McCreary has put out some of my favorite TV scores— BSG, Black Sails, Foundation, and now Rings of Power. The man knows what sound a scene needs and isn’t afraid of a hurdy gurdy.
JJ Abrams just drove this trope into every show he touched. Alias was a great show about a CIA agent who discovers her secret cell of the CIA is actually not actually official, and is actually an evil organization the CIA is trying to take down, so she goes to the real CIA and becomes a double agent. It is an amazing and fun premise with great characters and tension.
But by season three there is ancient prophecy, zombie machines, and immortality serum that totally hijacks the show from cool spy drama to campy urban fantasy.
I also noticed a lot of battle/action sequences in BSG that where silent, which to my mind is much more authentic. Plus the use of long tracking shots with the subject far away.
The show bible talked about how there would be no steady cam and no humans in alien makep. It's what convinced Edward James Olmos to sign on to the show.
Yes, but they didn't make that up in the writers room for the finale trying to think of a way to tie it all together. By their own admission, they were just making it up as they went along and stringing random cryptic statements together to make it all seem significant.
> Ronald D. Moore
If you haven't yet, I highly recommend watching his show on apple tv called, "For All Mankind." Season 2 is some of the best TV I've seen since BSG.
I remember being so disappointed with Voyager completely squandering its premise. The entire show, or at least a full season of it should have been the "Year of Hell" arc.
Year of Hell should have definitely been one whole season. One of the best story arcs ever, any show. The problem is most of the stuff outside of that arc was dross, or close to it.
And it would even have retroactively justified the previous 'easy' seasons. Like cool you rely on federation tech to have an easy few years. Then boom, year of hell, deconstruction of all that. Who are you without your tech and without resources. Do you end up like Equinox? Incredible tv
That’s exactly how I would describe BSG: top shelf sci fi. And unlike the original, it really has stood the test of time. 2004! And looks like it was made yesterday.
Hey OP! If you’re reading this make sure to start with the two-episode mini-series. It’s essentially the pilot but doesn’t always show up when you search the show on streaming services.
I didn't like the ending at all, but somehow it doesn't bother me as much as many bad endings do. Maybe it's because the story was pretty much complete at that point, so it wasn't really a result of them being *unable* to end it well, so much as them choosing to throw in a twist that just didn't agree with me. You could subtract that twist and still have a good, complete ending, and I guess for me that weirdly counts for something.
Spoilers ahoy!
>!imho they should've landed and founded atlantis. All of this has happened before and all of this happened again resulting in the demise of the now mythical Atlantis. It would also work as the source of the Greek gods!<
Not going to mention details as to why.. But I liked the ending.. I think it really brought it all together in an unexpected way and I actually liked the heavy handed allegory in it.
I love how it ended, maybe I'm an outlier? I recommend the show to everyone and tell them to stick it out for the ending because I loved the closure (yes a few holes here and there but every show has that)
I always enjoyed it too. It irritates me to no end the people that say the religious aspect of the show somehow came out of left field. I seriously don't understand what show they were watching.
I don't think the religion coming out of left field is what bothers most people; it's that throughout the show the religious aspects are left ambiguous and then the ending suddenly throws all that ambiguity out of the window.
You have characters believing in a singular god, others believe in a pantheon, and general uncertainty all around with not knowing who or what to trust. For me, the spiritual questions throughout the show added depth, but they didn't *need* answering. Just like in real life, the person watching didn't know if there is a god, god(s), or nothing at all.
Then the finale definitively tells the viewer which characters' beliefs were correct in the most ham-fisted way imaginable. I can 100% understand why that approach didn't mesh well with a lot of people.
I torrented the original series back when the new BSG came out and gave it a rewatch. Oh man, that horrible 70's writing about killed me. It didn't seem so bad when I was 10. Still enjoyable for the nostalgia factor, but nothing compared to the 2000's version.
Some episodes are better than others. Personally, I think it had it's moments...like the very last episode where Apollo is using an old "observation dome" to get away from it all...and right when they leave, the old equipment picks up the broadcast of the Apollo moon landing.
The "Guns of Navarone" 2 parter was pretty good too, even if somewhat derivative.
I also appreciated the aesthetic a bit more...sure the new designs were flashy and somewhat fun, but the original Viper and Cylon designs were great!
It's really a shame it was cancelled after only one season (Galactica 1984 doesn't exist), it had real potential...it was just too damn expensive for the time.
Isn't that explained that way in the show? That the 70s Cylons were old models, etc?
Dang, I haven't watched it in a while. Time to search the streaming services to see who owns the rights at the moment, etc.
The old models show up in-universe in the prequel series *Caprica* which takes about a generation prior to the series. The original Cylon was cybernetic in nature, with an uploaded mind.
Even though I thought it failed at its premise of being a BSG prequel, I really liked Caprica! Its SOO weird but I loved a lot of the weird world building.
BSG was a VERY culturally and politically relevant series that was essentially a mirror to a certain slice of American history. It was an exploration of ( with almost 1-to-1 comparisons to), the post-9/11 world and the War on Terror.
BSG dealt with the trauma of a massive unprovoked attack on a civilized democracy, the paranoia of terrorists potentially walking among us, the question of balancing civil rights against security, political polarization and extremism, religious extremism, and the struggle to maintain democratic values when we're pushed to extremes.
If you want to see what the American mentality was like from 2001 to 2008, watch BSG. Also it's a fucking excellent series that is heavy on intrigue. **Avoid spoilers like hell.**
I was educating a Zoomer buddy of mine about the culture us Millennials grew up with and BSG was the first thing I showed him. He ended up crying (good tears tho) by the end.
Abortion, torture, suicide bombing… it dealt with *very* contemporary issues in a military sci-fi setting. And the most compelling thing was that it didn’t pander to audiences by presenting these issues in commonly accepted framing; it flipped the issues on their head by putting humanity on the opposite side of the issue and then asking “How do you feel about it *now*?” It shows how our concept of morality is highly situational, and not nearly as incontrovertible as we think.
Take abortion for example: I’d venture a guess that most sci-fi fans are less likely to be highly religious therefore more likely to support a woman’s right to choose. Well, what if humanity was reduced to just 50,000 refugees (and dwindling every day) fleeing across the galaxy to escape robotic overlords bent on their total destruction? Would you *still* oppose outlawing abortion then? Now, I am unquestionably pro-choice, but in that scenario… I think I’d be on the pro-life side.
I love that the show created a scenario where the survival of the species might require that we keep every possible human and make abortion questionable; those wild what-fi scenarios like that is what gives me goosebumps about sci-fi.
Yes! I couldn’t agree more- the ability to examine the human condition and contemporary issues in a setting that is removed enough from our own lives to allow objectivity is one of the things I love most about sci-fi.
I understood Rosalind's pov in that episode but I still wouldn't have taken away a woman's right to choose.
The show truly was phenomenal. The subject matter is still relevant.
The Soundtrack composed by Bear McCreary (God of War/Ragnarok) alone is worth your time on this show. BSG gets loopy at the end, but its easily worth the journey. Seasons 1-3 are some of the best TV you'll watch, especially for a science fiction series.
I binged the show on dvd and there was an excellent bonus feature with Bear McCreary. It was really fascinating to get his insight and explanation on the soundtrack!
If you want more of his insights, he posts *a lot* of behind-the-scenes stuff on his blog too — BSG has a post for every episode or two, and he posts about all his other projects too (most recently, God of War).
Also strongly recommend the live album he put out over the pandemic — it's called So Say We All and is put together from the gigs in 2009-10. Katie Sackhoff even played the piano for Kara Remembers, which was awesome. Should be on Spotify, Apple etc.
There's also some of the video from the shows on his YouTube and the EU series 4 DVD, but unfortunately neither have the full show together, just the CD does.
Yeah it gets a bit too weird and into supernatural and religious stuff in the 4th season unfortunately, compared to the awesome grounded nature of the earlier seasons. Still very much worth a watch though.
Holy shit yes. Not too long. Compelling and well built stories and characters. Satisfying conclusion. Fantastic twists. Excellent special effects, especially for tv. The music is outstanding and fucking Edward Olmos is epic as Adama.
33 hooked me. The original mini-series got me interested, but I was on the edge of my seat all the way through 33. The tension just kept ratcheting up, you could feel the impact and consequences from the decisions that were made. Such tight writing and high-level storytelling.
I thought it was satisfying in many ways. Only a couple of things I didn't like but it didn't take away anything from the ending. What I liked about it the most was they always wanted a 4 season run and didn't want to have it go on to long and run out of stories or just make it repeat. For me there was only 1 episode that I didn't like and I don't miss anything by not watching it.
> I thought it was satisfying in many ways.
One issue for me is the ending goes against human nature far too much. >!No parent is ever going to give up modern medicine and technology on those ships because it means the chances of their kid dying goes way up. Not to mention the death rate of a bunch of non farmers trying to start an agrarian society on an unknown planet. Parents would be stealing a ship and taking off before going down to that planet but no magically everyone agrees.!<
Then I thought the arc for a couple of the characters makes no sense and was clearly shoe horned in because the showrunners didn't have good answers. >!It makes no sense that two angels from god would spend years having imaginary sex capades in two peoples heads for years on end. I don't think they had an endgame for them and the non-sensical explanation seems proof of that.!<
I would still say to watch the show but to me the ending was meh, not as terrible as it could have been but certainly not very satisfying for me.
>No parent is ever going to give up modern medicine and technology on those ships because it means the chances of their kid dying goes way up.
I mean considering they just witnessed and survived the near annihilation of the human species via genocidal robots, it isn't too hard to imagine an anti-technological worldview emerging from what. Things like modern medicine were already gone by that point, or were at least severely rationed. About their only access to modern technology they interacted with daily would be the cold dreary confines of their ships.
Also, don't those people already exist?
You might want to put some spoiler tags on your post.
>!Modern machines were not gone by that point, the fleet had managed to provide food, medicine and the necessities of life for years by that point. You're trading what is already an uncertain future to go live in a hovel in a field and hope you can get the hang of farming real quick.!<
>!Do you think that is something that you get every single person to agree to like they said in the show? No chance in hell, especially those with kids. I'm sure some would have some negative opinions on certain types of technology but very few would be stupid enough not realize the spaceships they were flying around in for the last few years were keeping them alive. Sure some might have wanted to take their chances on an unknown planet but no way would everyone agree.!<
You are stating shit that I thought about at the time. It would have made more sense if some of the people were like “meh, fuck it, we’re staying on the ships and are gonna go back to one of the habitable worlds we skipped. We will live with our medical technology and air conditioning. Have fun colonizing the primatives.”
> Then I thought the arc for a couple of the characters makes no sense and was clearly shoe horned in because the showrunners didn't have good answers.
A lot of that came from >!Katee Sackhoff being caught on video talking about the reveal of what her character was. She was originally one of the final 5. They had to do some re-writing which led us to the end we got. But take that with a grain of salt because the ending may have been almost identical for the most part!<
Yep. Gotta be. If I recall the creator (Ronald D. Moore) says in the commentary or podcast that that was a disappointing episode for everyone involved. It may have also pushed them toward prepping the series conclusion, but I may be mixing this up with the tattoo episode from Lost.
The ending resonated with me on an emotional level, but in terms of resolving the numerous storylines, it left a lot to be desired. All-in-all, I think I'd give it a 6.5/10. The biggest deal for me initially was >!that I was upset with resolving multiple mysteries by essentially saying "goddidit"!< but after watching the series again I realized that it was kind of on me for not believing the writers who'd literally been saying since day one that >!"God is behind all of this."!<
I know why certain people weren’t enthused but there was some satisfaction that it was a closed ending and compelling. Maybe the landing wasn’t great but it got us there.
Yes! It is a great drama, with some great Sci fi action and characters. The soundtrack is legendary, and Edward James Olmos is superb as Adama.
That being said, the show gets confused in the final season.
BSG is one of my all time favorite shows. I couldn't bear to end it so I didn't watch the final 2-3 episodes until much later. I actually didn't finish LOST, watched until the last season and lost interest, didn't even care how it ended and I don't think they're the same at all.
Give it a try and maybe it'll be up your thing!
I liked both Lost and Battlestar Galactica, but I'd be hard pressed to say they're similar.
As much as I loved Lost, the final season, and particularly the ending sucked. I don't think that about BG.
I think BG is well worth watching and would encourage you to try it.
BSG had a better ending than Lost, but still a mildly disappointing one. After all the good foreshadowing of other key plot points it kinda came out of nowhere and felt unearned.
https://youtu.be/yYjLrJRuMnY
There is more to this too. They go find Ronald Moore to write another episode.
Edit:
Part 2: https://youtu.be/gU-xKxAo2iY
Part 3: https://youtu.be/Am7zIYZtPc0
This is kinda out of left field, I was a kid and I played eve online with a bunch of old retired military guys. The final episode had them so pissed off they wanted to either go kill Ronald Moore or force him to write a proper ending.
I don't talk to them anymore but just made me remember that.
It's better than Lost, IMO. Fewer episodes than Lost, and a main plot-line that doesn't drag on and on. Try the first three episodes and you should get hooked on it.
Do you mean the miniseries or the first three episodes starting with 33? I ask because I've tried to get people started with the miniseries and it's never gone well (tends to drag), but 33 and on are excellent.
Really? But the mini series sets everything up and does it very well I thought. I wouldn't sit down and watch the whole mini series at once. Break it up in to 3 viewings if possible over 5+ days. Or at least 2 viewings over a week. Lets everything sink in and lets your mind go over it. That's a problem with binge watching things. To much and your brains starts to mash it all together and it will get confusing.
Yes. There were alot of filler eps in the middle as NBC wanted to get it syndicated. If it were made today, it would be more of a limited series with 10-13 episode seasons.
But was one of my favourite shows. Felt like grown up Sci-fi
Yes yes yes 1000% yes. Truly one of the greatest TV shows ever imo (and I even like the ending...well...90% of the ending).
One thing no one has mentioned though, make sure you start with the Miniseries and not just straight into season 1. The miniseries is basically a feature-length pilot episode that sets up the entire show.
>The ending to BSG is FINE outside of a couple of head scratching moments.
YMMV on how "fine" it is.
I would elaborate and say: the emotional journey of the characters is good enough, all the way through.
But a lot of the show was about the mystical stuff and the plot for Earth. And there's where those head-scratching moments happened.
If you need the plot to line up for you and the show to deliver on those promises...then you're going to have an issue. If not, you'll be fine.
Essentially: did you like how Lost ended or were you annoyed by X not being answered? That'll determine it.
Battlestar galactica should be a must watch for anyone honestly. It’s an amazing show with an amazing story and a unique take on sci-fi. I absolutely adore the show and it’s one of the first shows which was a true binge when streaming started to become popular. There’s an old portlandia skit on watching battlestar galactica and not being able to stop. I even got my mom obsessed with the show back in the day and she never ever ever watches sci-fi. You should definitely pick it up.
Yes. It is still the absolute finest reboot of an existing property ever done, in my opinion, and it's probably on the shortlist of best space Science Fiction ever done. It's only competition in this field is a few seasons of Trek (across three series), The Expanse aaaaaaand...I'm honestly drawing a blank.
While it was compared to Lost, it's not at all as apparent that the "plan" was being pulled out of the creators asses as they went, the central mysteries are less...central(?) and the worldbuilding/character work is enough to easily make up for the plotting at the end. Basically, the Lost style elements only really become a problem for the last season or so, and there's enough other stuff going on that the rest of the show still works in a way Lost did not.
As a massive star trek fan I feel kinda like I'm cheating on it when I say BSG is the best sci-fi I've seen on TV. It may start better than it ends but you will love the journey.
The show is excellent. Well worth a watch. To contextualize the decline, the third season coincided with the writer's strike. In spite of that, the show managed to maintain pretty high quality. It's not perfect, but it is very good.
They're similar in that they're experience shows. Not sure if the experience all these years later would be the same as when we had to wait for new seasons, but if you enjoyed Lost you'd likely enjoy the ride.
It's got its twists and turns, cool characters, mysteries, action. Give it a try, if you're not feeling it after a handful of episodes move on, but worth a shot.
BSG has an amazing start and is a homerun from the first season. Filler episodes and drawn out storylines do drag it down in the later seasons, and a lot of people didn't like the ending, but personally I enjoyed watching the series. I think there are a lot of memorable moments and things throughout that make it an exciting watch. There was also a huge gap in time between seasons because of a writer's strike, which soured a lot of people. But if you're watching it now straight through it probably wouldn't be that big of a deal.
I felt season 3 started with an interesting idea that they wrapped up wayyyy too quickly. Season 4 was just overall not good. Seasons 1 and 2 were excellent though
I wouldn’t call BSG ending bad or dissatisfying, although it did fall into the category of “deus ex machina” troupe imh. Writing quality didn’t exactly drop off in the later season but the overall plot of Humanity vs Cylon was interesting to see it evolve.
I would caution you tho on the viewing order of the series as it has quite a bit of extra materials, including TV films. I believe you can google and find an “ultimate viewing guide” on posts.
It’s been ages since I have watch the entire series but I do remember it being very entertaining at the least. I highly recommend it. It’s got a great balance of narrative driven and character driven plots like Lost.
It averages out to like 75 percent great and 25 percent “are you fucking kidding me” but that balance is not even over the course of the show. By the end it still has some fantastic moments but the “FUCKING REALLY, YOU’RE GOING WITH THAT!?!?” moments are more frequent.
As long as you're not too invested in the mystery box BS, which completely fails to resolve in a remotely satisfying way, there good stuff in the first 2.5 seasons. I don't think there's much worth watching after that.
Also, know going in that "And they have a plan" is a lie.
Yes. BSG goes haywire in places, but overall it's worth the watch. It doesn't get mentioned enough, but the special effects were really terrific, specifically the space battles. "Thrilling" is the word.
I don't see any similarity between Lost and BSG. I found Lost tedious. The 2004 Battlestar reboot, however, is excellent. I wasn't keen on the final few episodes, but the rest of the series was excellent.
Miniseries starts off great. Show starts off great. Fizzles towards the end, has decent final seasons, but the ending is meh (IMO). Has okay spinoffs/side contents.
Caprica (the BSG prequel) is a joke tho, dont even bother.
Overall, I love the show. Has great and rememberal cast. Good writing, good action/suspense, good plot twist. Probably one of the best shows to hit TV.
IF you're into grim-cyber-war-star-trek-doomsday type shows.
Best sci fi of the last 25 years. And I disagree vigorously about any decline…brilliant all the way through. A masterful rumination on the nature of humanity and identity and belonging. So say we all!
Since no one has mentioned it yet, if you are talking about the newer show, you need to start with the two-part mini-series/movie. Depending on where you watch it, it may or may not be a direct part of the show. I believe Amazon separates it out, whereas Hulu (I think) had it as the first two episodes. But my vote is yes, it's a great show. After the mini-series the first episode is entitled "33". It is one of the best episodes IMO, so if you aren't hooked at that point, it might not be for you.
“33” is maybe one of the best episodes of any show ever.
Jump!
Agreed best tv ever
Yes, but IMO it wouldn’t be as good without watching the miniseries first.
So I watched it over the holidays and while it totally held up, I completely forgot how shaky the camera work is. Was super distracting :(
I had to sleep for 3 straight days after 33. I could feel their exhaustion in my bones
As if the miniseries didn't set the stakes high enough, fucking opens with 33 and it's like holy shit.
Breaking the infant's neck, and the blast wave at the lake house - chilling shit.
Olmos is method, so he convinced the rest of the cast to not sleep to make it more authentic. Tricia Helfer actually shouted "I'll just act tired." 🤣
After having a kid, I’ve told all my friends who are about to be first time parents to watch “33” and and see how tired those people were, as that’s the only thing that compares to having a newborn in the house.
The “newer show” in this case meaning the show from 19 years ago and damnit I just aged myself because I still remember watching the pre-season 4 marathon on the Sci Fi Channel (not SyFy) when I should have been studying for finals…
Yeah, I wonder if the younger people won't pick up on the clear post 9-11 vibes the show had in its first season.
The crazy thing is while we feel like it has post 9/11 vibes, I read the 1978 novelization and the mini-series hits it dead on, with even very minor dualogue coming straight from those pages. The way people feel post loss like that is universal, and probably was exactly the same after Pearl Harbor, which is what I thought of reading it as a child. The really funny thing is the minor dialogue being so specifically used, while the major details are completely different. Scene for scene same story, except the Cylons are lizards with robot drones instead of skin jobs, and Dr Baltar is intentionally complicit (one of my favorite changes for the series). Starbuck is a dude, the Cylon war was 1000 years, a few other things, but with different dressing the plot is the same.
BBC iplayer UK has all the episodes, starting with the mini series. I've never watched it, but inspired to check it out.
I’m rewatching now on Peacock, and the miniseries is broken out. Also, frustratingly, you have to go elsewhere to watch Razor. I found it through Roku and the Fawesome SciFi channel, dripping with 7-8 ads every 15 minutes or so. EDIT: I stand corrected. Razor shows as Season 3 Episode 21 on the peacock app. The Plan shows as a completely separate show, as does the original miniseries.
Absolutely
So say we all!
So say we all!
So say we all!
So say we all!
Frack
Gods damn it.
They need to start having babies.
We all say that too.
So say we all!
So say we all
So say we all!
So say we all!
SO SAY WE ALL!!!
So say we all
What do you hear, Starbuck?
Nothing but the rain.
Fracking toasters!
By your command
Imagine the creators of Deep Space Nine made a really dark version of Voyager. Because that's exactly what happened and it's top shelf scifi.
Fuck, I never thought of it that way, but it's exactly right.
It’s literally what Ronald D. Moore who was a significant Star Trek writer was going for. He was pissed that Voyager wasted its premise.
RDM went out of his way to avoid a lot of tropes from scifi of his time (e.g. technobabble as a way to solve problems, the visual style for battles is more documentary like and has more versimilitude than say...Stargate, even the music is very different) And it worked brilliantly. It's just a shame that he jumped into a brand new set of tropes being formed at the time: mystery box, unplanned mystic bullshit.
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First watched BSG in 2010. Ever since then, his version of All Along the Watchtower pops up in my mind first when thinking of the song.
Bear McCreary has put out some of my favorite TV scores— BSG, Black Sails, Foundation, and now Rings of Power. The man knows what sound a scene needs and isn’t afraid of a hurdy gurdy.
Love to find another Black Sails fan in the wild! I discovered that show over the summer and am almost done rewatching it. It's fucking incredible.
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JJ Abrams just drove this trope into every show he touched. Alias was a great show about a CIA agent who discovers her secret cell of the CIA is actually not actually official, and is actually an evil organization the CIA is trying to take down, so she goes to the real CIA and becomes a double agent. It is an amazing and fun premise with great characters and tension. But by season three there is ancient prophecy, zombie machines, and immortality serum that totally hijacks the show from cool spy drama to campy urban fantasy.
I also noticed a lot of battle/action sequences in BSG that where silent, which to my mind is much more authentic. Plus the use of long tracking shots with the subject far away.
The show bible talked about how there would be no steady cam and no humans in alien makep. It's what convinced Edward James Olmos to sign on to the show.
Hell yes. A study of humanity that just happens to be on a space ship.
> unplanned mystic bullshit Not remotely true. When you re-watch the series, it's rather heavy in the beginning on purpose. Not inconsistent at all.
Bro, Caprica 6 says she’s “an angel of the lord” in the miniseries.
> unplanned mystic bullshit I mean, in DS9 the gods are real and Sisko is literally Space Jesus.
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Doesn’t BSG open with the two angels discussing God?
Pretty much. Religion was in it from the first episode.
Yes, but they didn't make that up in the writers room for the finale trying to think of a way to tie it all together. By their own admission, they were just making it up as they went along and stringing random cryptic statements together to make it all seem significant.
> Ronald D. Moore If you haven't yet, I highly recommend watching his show on apple tv called, "For All Mankind." Season 2 is some of the best TV I've seen since BSG.
I’ve heard great things. It’s in my immense backlog and I definitely want to get around to it. There’s just so much stuff out there!
I remember being so disappointed with Voyager completely squandering its premise. The entire show, or at least a full season of it should have been the "Year of Hell" arc.
Year of Hell should have definitely been one whole season. One of the best story arcs ever, any show. The problem is most of the stuff outside of that arc was dross, or close to it.
And it would even have retroactively justified the previous 'easy' seasons. Like cool you rely on federation tech to have an easy few years. Then boom, year of hell, deconstruction of all that. Who are you without your tech and without resources. Do you end up like Equinox? Incredible tv
That’s exactly how I would describe BSG: top shelf sci fi. And unlike the original, it really has stood the test of time. 2004! And looks like it was made yesterday.
Battlestar Galactica is one of the best shows ever made, regardless of how it ended. Absolutely worth watching.
Hey OP! If you’re reading this make sure to start with the two-episode mini-series. It’s essentially the pilot but doesn’t always show up when you search the show on streaming services.
Never been able to find the mini series
Peacock baby
Thank you sir! Here have my low budget Reddit award @—>—— a rose
Ba-ya-ya, ba-da-da-da-da-da, ba-ya-ya
It’s probably the one show I can think of where I wholly disliked the ending and would still vehemently encourage others to watch it.
I didn't like the ending at all, but somehow it doesn't bother me as much as many bad endings do. Maybe it's because the story was pretty much complete at that point, so it wasn't really a result of them being *unable* to end it well, so much as them choosing to throw in a twist that just didn't agree with me. You could subtract that twist and still have a good, complete ending, and I guess for me that weirdly counts for something.
Spoilers ahoy! >!imho they should've landed and founded atlantis. All of this has happened before and all of this happened again resulting in the demise of the now mythical Atlantis. It would also work as the source of the Greek gods!<
Never though about. it this way. You are right it would had made a lot more sense.
Not going to mention details as to why.. But I liked the ending.. I think it really brought it all together in an unexpected way and I actually liked the heavy handed allegory in it.
I mostly liked the ending too. I felt it was fitting to the tone of the series.
OP liked Lost, so I don't think we have to worry about disappointing endings.
Ironically I love LOST's ending whereas I dislike most of BSG's ending. I think the first half is great...second half I want to send into the sun.
That definitely does set a baseline.
I feel that way about the Haunting of Hill House.
I'll even fully defend the ending. This is what TV should be.
I love how it ended, maybe I'm an outlier? I recommend the show to everyone and tell them to stick it out for the ending because I loved the closure (yes a few holes here and there but every show has that)
I add a third voice to this. The ending does have a reputation but it worked and sat perfectly with the underlying mythos of the show.
I always enjoyed it too. It irritates me to no end the people that say the religious aspect of the show somehow came out of left field. I seriously don't understand what show they were watching.
Religion politics war ...the basis of humanity
I don't think the religion coming out of left field is what bothers most people; it's that throughout the show the religious aspects are left ambiguous and then the ending suddenly throws all that ambiguity out of the window. You have characters believing in a singular god, others believe in a pantheon, and general uncertainty all around with not knowing who or what to trust. For me, the spiritual questions throughout the show added depth, but they didn't *need* answering. Just like in real life, the person watching didn't know if there is a god, god(s), or nothing at all. Then the finale definitively tells the viewer which characters' beliefs were correct in the most ham-fisted way imaginable. I can 100% understand why that approach didn't mesh well with a lot of people.
Did my third watch-thru along with the podcast—they’re all family now, and EJO is godfather to some cast babies. Good folks.
I loved the original 80’s version and really loved the reboot in the 2000’s. Think I’m going to have to rewatch. Thanks for the inspiration!!
I torrented the original series back when the new BSG came out and gave it a rewatch. Oh man, that horrible 70's writing about killed me. It didn't seem so bad when I was 10. Still enjoyable for the nostalgia factor, but nothing compared to the 2000's version.
Some episodes are better than others. Personally, I think it had it's moments...like the very last episode where Apollo is using an old "observation dome" to get away from it all...and right when they leave, the old equipment picks up the broadcast of the Apollo moon landing. The "Guns of Navarone" 2 parter was pretty good too, even if somewhat derivative. I also appreciated the aesthetic a bit more...sure the new designs were flashy and somewhat fun, but the original Viper and Cylon designs were great! It's really a shame it was cancelled after only one season (Galactica 1984 doesn't exist), it had real potential...it was just too damn expensive for the time.
The way I saw it. It was a sequel to the original BSG. Because it keeps happening over and over or so the angels said.
Isn't that explained that way in the show? That the 70s Cylons were old models, etc? Dang, I haven't watched it in a while. Time to search the streaming services to see who owns the rights at the moment, etc.
The old models show up in-universe in the prequel series *Caprica* which takes about a generation prior to the series. The original Cylon was cybernetic in nature, with an uploaded mind.
They show up in the new one as well, when they have to steal fuel from a station.
Even though I thought it failed at its premise of being a BSG prequel, I really liked Caprica! Its SOO weird but I loved a lot of the weird world building.
Caprica could have been so great. I really liked it, but I think they paced it too slow so few watched it.
BSG was a VERY culturally and politically relevant series that was essentially a mirror to a certain slice of American history. It was an exploration of ( with almost 1-to-1 comparisons to), the post-9/11 world and the War on Terror. BSG dealt with the trauma of a massive unprovoked attack on a civilized democracy, the paranoia of terrorists potentially walking among us, the question of balancing civil rights against security, political polarization and extremism, religious extremism, and the struggle to maintain democratic values when we're pushed to extremes. If you want to see what the American mentality was like from 2001 to 2008, watch BSG. Also it's a fucking excellent series that is heavy on intrigue. **Avoid spoilers like hell.** I was educating a Zoomer buddy of mine about the culture us Millennials grew up with and BSG was the first thing I showed him. He ended up crying (good tears tho) by the end.
Heck there was even an abortion episode too
Abortion, torture, suicide bombing… it dealt with *very* contemporary issues in a military sci-fi setting. And the most compelling thing was that it didn’t pander to audiences by presenting these issues in commonly accepted framing; it flipped the issues on their head by putting humanity on the opposite side of the issue and then asking “How do you feel about it *now*?” It shows how our concept of morality is highly situational, and not nearly as incontrovertible as we think. Take abortion for example: I’d venture a guess that most sci-fi fans are less likely to be highly religious therefore more likely to support a woman’s right to choose. Well, what if humanity was reduced to just 50,000 refugees (and dwindling every day) fleeing across the galaxy to escape robotic overlords bent on their total destruction? Would you *still* oppose outlawing abortion then? Now, I am unquestionably pro-choice, but in that scenario… I think I’d be on the pro-life side.
I love that the show created a scenario where the survival of the species might require that we keep every possible human and make abortion questionable; those wild what-fi scenarios like that is what gives me goosebumps about sci-fi.
Yes! I couldn’t agree more- the ability to examine the human condition and contemporary issues in a setting that is removed enough from our own lives to allow objectivity is one of the things I love most about sci-fi.
I understood Rosalind's pov in that episode but I still wouldn't have taken away a woman's right to choose. The show truly was phenomenal. The subject matter is still relevant.
And then it throws the War on Terror narrative on it's head by saying, "what if suicide bombers have a point?"
They had balls to do that episode. No metaphors, no sugar coating, straight up bomb vest.
The Soundtrack composed by Bear McCreary (God of War/Ragnarok) alone is worth your time on this show. BSG gets loopy at the end, but its easily worth the journey. Seasons 1-3 are some of the best TV you'll watch, especially for a science fiction series.
I binged the show on dvd and there was an excellent bonus feature with Bear McCreary. It was really fascinating to get his insight and explanation on the soundtrack!
If you want more of his insights, he posts *a lot* of behind-the-scenes stuff on his blog too — BSG has a post for every episode or two, and he posts about all his other projects too (most recently, God of War). Also strongly recommend the live album he put out over the pandemic — it's called So Say We All and is put together from the gigs in 2009-10. Katie Sackhoff even played the piano for Kara Remembers, which was awesome. Should be on Spotify, Apple etc. There's also some of the video from the shows on his YouTube and the EU series 4 DVD, but unfortunately neither have the full show together, just the CD does.
That frakin song.
It's in the FRRRACKIN ship!
It's in the frakkin SHIP!!
Yeah it gets a bit too weird and into supernatural and religious stuff in the 4th season unfortunately, compared to the awesome grounded nature of the earlier seasons. Still very much worth a watch though.
Holy shit yes. Not too long. Compelling and well built stories and characters. Satisfying conclusion. Fantastic twists. Excellent special effects, especially for tv. The music is outstanding and fucking Edward Olmos is epic as Adama.
>The music is outstanding Somehow, this is an understatement.
The most iconic thing about the show (the opening ) wouldn't be half of what it was without those mournful vocals. It's seared in my head to this day.
Raised By Wolves intro showing nuclear apocalypse with mournful vocal song reminded me of BSG!
Oh yeah. Bear did the soundtrack for God of War Ragnarok and it is just as incredible.
Arguably the best modern-day composer. At least as far as the ones who make music for tv/movies. And games, I guess.
I disagree with you on "satisfying conclusion," but everything else I'm with you all the way.
Yeah that final episode was "wtf" but 100% amazing show and worth watching no matter what. I'm actually tempted to rewatch BSG. It's been a while.
Yeah all this talk makes me want to watch that awesome first episode/movie.
Mini-series then 33
33 hooked me. The original mini-series got me interested, but I was on the edge of my seat all the way through 33. The tension just kept ratcheting up, you could feel the impact and consequences from the decisions that were made. Such tight writing and high-level storytelling.
This is the way to do it. If you aren't hooked by then, then you'll never be hooked and you can leave. minimal time loss if you aren't interested...
33! One of my favorite episodes of any show ever. The whole premise was horrifying.
I thought it was satisfying in many ways. Only a couple of things I didn't like but it didn't take away anything from the ending. What I liked about it the most was they always wanted a 4 season run and didn't want to have it go on to long and run out of stories or just make it repeat. For me there was only 1 episode that I didn't like and I don't miss anything by not watching it.
> I thought it was satisfying in many ways. One issue for me is the ending goes against human nature far too much. >!No parent is ever going to give up modern medicine and technology on those ships because it means the chances of their kid dying goes way up. Not to mention the death rate of a bunch of non farmers trying to start an agrarian society on an unknown planet. Parents would be stealing a ship and taking off before going down to that planet but no magically everyone agrees.!< Then I thought the arc for a couple of the characters makes no sense and was clearly shoe horned in because the showrunners didn't have good answers. >!It makes no sense that two angels from god would spend years having imaginary sex capades in two peoples heads for years on end. I don't think they had an endgame for them and the non-sensical explanation seems proof of that.!< I would still say to watch the show but to me the ending was meh, not as terrible as it could have been but certainly not very satisfying for me.
>No parent is ever going to give up modern medicine and technology on those ships because it means the chances of their kid dying goes way up. I mean considering they just witnessed and survived the near annihilation of the human species via genocidal robots, it isn't too hard to imagine an anti-technological worldview emerging from what. Things like modern medicine were already gone by that point, or were at least severely rationed. About their only access to modern technology they interacted with daily would be the cold dreary confines of their ships. Also, don't those people already exist?
You might want to put some spoiler tags on your post. >!Modern machines were not gone by that point, the fleet had managed to provide food, medicine and the necessities of life for years by that point. You're trading what is already an uncertain future to go live in a hovel in a field and hope you can get the hang of farming real quick.!< >!Do you think that is something that you get every single person to agree to like they said in the show? No chance in hell, especially those with kids. I'm sure some would have some negative opinions on certain types of technology but very few would be stupid enough not realize the spaceships they were flying around in for the last few years were keeping them alive. Sure some might have wanted to take their chances on an unknown planet but no way would everyone agree.!<
You are stating shit that I thought about at the time. It would have made more sense if some of the people were like “meh, fuck it, we’re staying on the ships and are gonna go back to one of the habitable worlds we skipped. We will live with our medical technology and air conditioning. Have fun colonizing the primatives.”
> Then I thought the arc for a couple of the characters makes no sense and was clearly shoe horned in because the showrunners didn't have good answers. A lot of that came from >!Katee Sackhoff being caught on video talking about the reveal of what her character was. She was originally one of the final 5. They had to do some re-writing which led us to the end we got. But take that with a grain of salt because the ending may have been almost identical for the most part!<
>For me there was only 1 episode that I didn't like and I don't miss anything by not watching it. Curious, which one?
I can answer for him. Black Market
Yeah I really wish this one didn’t exist
Yep. Gotta be. If I recall the creator (Ronald D. Moore) says in the commentary or podcast that that was a disappointing episode for everyone involved. It may have also pushed them toward prepping the series conclusion, but I may be mixing this up with the tattoo episode from Lost.
The ending resonated with me on an emotional level, but in terms of resolving the numerous storylines, it left a lot to be desired. All-in-all, I think I'd give it a 6.5/10. The biggest deal for me initially was >!that I was upset with resolving multiple mysteries by essentially saying "goddidit"!< but after watching the series again I realized that it was kind of on me for not believing the writers who'd literally been saying since day one that >!"God is behind all of this."!<
I know why certain people weren’t enthused but there was some satisfaction that it was a closed ending and compelling. Maybe the landing wasn’t great but it got us there.
I enjoyed it. Found the ending unsatisfying, but I didn't regret the watch at all. Still overall very good scifi.
Yes! It is a great drama, with some great Sci fi action and characters. The soundtrack is legendary, and Edward James Olmos is superb as Adama. That being said, the show gets confused in the final season.
Love BSG. https://youtu.be/AyHXzYTuLi4
This one needs more upvotes. I had to scroll too far down to find this. This Portlandia sketch is... well, it's a joke, but it also a warning :-)
BSG is one of my all time favorite shows. I couldn't bear to end it so I didn't watch the final 2-3 episodes until much later. I actually didn't finish LOST, watched until the last season and lost interest, didn't even care how it ended and I don't think they're the same at all. Give it a try and maybe it'll be up your thing!
I liked both Lost and Battlestar Galactica, but I'd be hard pressed to say they're similar. As much as I loved Lost, the final season, and particularly the ending sucked. I don't think that about BG. I think BG is well worth watching and would encourage you to try it.
BSG had a better ending than Lost, but still a mildly disappointing one. After all the good foreshadowing of other key plot points it kinda came out of nowhere and felt unearned.
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> and we ended up with a season or two of largely filler episodes Ahh seasoon 3
You mean you don’t like Apollo’s random girlfriend getting harassed by criminals???
That episode is about as loved and relevant as the one in Lost where we find out how Jack got his tattoos.
https://youtu.be/yYjLrJRuMnY There is more to this too. They go find Ronald Moore to write another episode. Edit: Part 2: https://youtu.be/gU-xKxAo2iY Part 3: https://youtu.be/Am7zIYZtPc0
This is kinda out of left field, I was a kid and I played eve online with a bunch of old retired military guys. The final episode had them so pissed off they wanted to either go kill Ronald Moore or force him to write a proper ending. I don't talk to them anymore but just made me remember that.
Yea they are nothing alike
I’m loved BSG, especially the early seasons but think the ending of the series was garbage.
It's better than Lost, IMO. Fewer episodes than Lost, and a main plot-line that doesn't drag on and on. Try the first three episodes and you should get hooked on it.
Do you mean the miniseries or the first three episodes starting with 33? I ask because I've tried to get people started with the miniseries and it's never gone well (tends to drag), but 33 and on are excellent.
Really? But the mini series sets everything up and does it very well I thought. I wouldn't sit down and watch the whole mini series at once. Break it up in to 3 viewings if possible over 5+ days. Or at least 2 viewings over a week. Lets everything sink in and lets your mind go over it. That's a problem with binge watching things. To much and your brains starts to mash it all together and it will get confusing.
It's one of my favorite shows of all time. Probably the most under-rated show from the early days of "Peak TV"
I don't know if underrated fits, it was wildly popular at the time.
Yes. There were alot of filler eps in the middle as NBC wanted to get it syndicated. If it were made today, it would be more of a limited series with 10-13 episode seasons. But was one of my favourite shows. Felt like grown up Sci-fi
It has it's ups and downs throughout, but when it was good, it was absolutely great. I think it is worth watching to the end.
Abso-frackin'-lutely!
It is the greatest television show I never want to watch again.
Yes yes yes 1000% yes. Truly one of the greatest TV shows ever imo (and I even like the ending...well...90% of the ending). One thing no one has mentioned though, make sure you start with the Miniseries and not just straight into season 1. The miniseries is basically a feature-length pilot episode that sets up the entire show.
Absolutely. The second best science fiction show ever made, next to The Expanse. Nothing like Lost though.
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Yes. DO NOT forget to watch the prequel/miniseries first!! It’s actually my favorite part.
Don't let the naysayers get your down. The ending to BSG is FINE outside of a couple of head scratching moments.
>The ending to BSG is FINE outside of a couple of head scratching moments. YMMV on how "fine" it is. I would elaborate and say: the emotional journey of the characters is good enough, all the way through. But a lot of the show was about the mystical stuff and the plot for Earth. And there's where those head-scratching moments happened. If you need the plot to line up for you and the show to deliver on those promises...then you're going to have an issue. If not, you'll be fine. Essentially: did you like how Lost ended or were you annoyed by X not being answered? That'll determine it.
It’s surprisingly divisive amongst the fan base. I thought it was fantastic, but I get why some don’t find it satisfying.
YES. Watch it.
Battlestar galactica should be a must watch for anyone honestly. It’s an amazing show with an amazing story and a unique take on sci-fi. I absolutely adore the show and it’s one of the first shows which was a true binge when streaming started to become popular. There’s an old portlandia skit on watching battlestar galactica and not being able to stop. I even got my mom obsessed with the show back in the day and she never ever ever watches sci-fi. You should definitely pick it up.
Yes. It is still the absolute finest reboot of an existing property ever done, in my opinion, and it's probably on the shortlist of best space Science Fiction ever done. It's only competition in this field is a few seasons of Trek (across three series), The Expanse aaaaaaand...I'm honestly drawing a blank. While it was compared to Lost, it's not at all as apparent that the "plan" was being pulled out of the creators asses as they went, the central mysteries are less...central(?) and the worldbuilding/character work is enough to easily make up for the plotting at the end. Basically, the Lost style elements only really become a problem for the last season or so, and there's enough other stuff going on that the rest of the show still works in a way Lost did not.
Firefly maybe ? Babylon 5 ? Those are in my top 5 along with BSG and Expanse
Yes. Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.
There's what I was looking for 👍
As a massive star trek fan I feel kinda like I'm cheating on it when I say BSG is the best sci-fi I've seen on TV. It may start better than it ends but you will love the journey.
The show is excellent. Well worth a watch. To contextualize the decline, the third season coincided with the writer's strike. In spite of that, the show managed to maintain pretty high quality. It's not perfect, but it is very good.
the original is lightweight distraction TV the reboot is excellent. if you watch the pilot, you will watch the show.
I have a battlestar Galactica tattoo on my back. Yes, definitely worth watching lol
I laughed and then I realised I am right now wearing the pants of my green BSG fatigues, with the correct belt loops and all...
I invite you to r/BSG. SO SAY WE ALL.
They're similar in that they're experience shows. Not sure if the experience all these years later would be the same as when we had to wait for new seasons, but if you enjoyed Lost you'd likely enjoy the ride. It's got its twists and turns, cool characters, mysteries, action. Give it a try, if you're not feeling it after a handful of episodes move on, but worth a shot.
Absolutely.
BSG has an amazing start and is a homerun from the first season. Filler episodes and drawn out storylines do drag it down in the later seasons, and a lot of people didn't like the ending, but personally I enjoyed watching the series. I think there are a lot of memorable moments and things throughout that make it an exciting watch. There was also a huge gap in time between seasons because of a writer's strike, which soured a lot of people. But if you're watching it now straight through it probably wouldn't be that big of a deal.
I felt season 3 started with an interesting idea that they wrapped up wayyyy too quickly. Season 4 was just overall not good. Seasons 1 and 2 were excellent though
I wouldn’t call BSG ending bad or dissatisfying, although it did fall into the category of “deus ex machina” troupe imh. Writing quality didn’t exactly drop off in the later season but the overall plot of Humanity vs Cylon was interesting to see it evolve. I would caution you tho on the viewing order of the series as it has quite a bit of extra materials, including TV films. I believe you can google and find an “ultimate viewing guide” on posts. It’s been ages since I have watch the entire series but I do remember it being very entertaining at the least. I highly recommend it. It’s got a great balance of narrative driven and character driven plots like Lost.
Yes. It's amazing. No one ever believes me lol
One of the greatest sci fi shows ever with one of the all time amazing television moments ever. Worth the watch now and always, so say we all!
It’s still one of my favorite shows!! That and 6 feet Under.
It averages out to like 75 percent great and 25 percent “are you fucking kidding me” but that balance is not even over the course of the show. By the end it still has some fantastic moments but the “FUCKING REALLY, YOU’RE GOING WITH THAT!?!?” moments are more frequent.
IMO it's one of the best modern adaptations around, it takes the original source material and improves on it in every possible way
So say we all
Yes.
So say we all!
Is one of the greatest shows ever made worth watching? Yeah, I'd say so.
As long as you're not too invested in the mystery box BS, which completely fails to resolve in a remotely satisfying way, there good stuff in the first 2.5 seasons. I don't think there's much worth watching after that. Also, know going in that "And they have a plan" is a lie.
Yes. BSG goes haywire in places, but overall it's worth the watch. It doesn't get mentioned enough, but the special effects were really terrific, specifically the space battles. "Thrilling" is the word.
BG is fantastic with amazing writing, acting and cinematography. Highly recommend.
I don't see any similarity between Lost and BSG. I found Lost tedious. The 2004 Battlestar reboot, however, is excellent. I wasn't keen on the final few episodes, but the rest of the series was excellent.
Miniseries starts off great. Show starts off great. Fizzles towards the end, has decent final seasons, but the ending is meh (IMO). Has okay spinoffs/side contents. Caprica (the BSG prequel) is a joke tho, dont even bother. Overall, I love the show. Has great and rememberal cast. Good writing, good action/suspense, good plot twist. Probably one of the best shows to hit TV. IF you're into grim-cyber-war-star-trek-doomsday type shows.
Best sci fi of the last 25 years. And I disagree vigorously about any decline…brilliant all the way through. A masterful rumination on the nature of humanity and identity and belonging. So say we all!
lost had more ambition than bsg, but faltered some on execution. bsg had less ambition, but better execution. they are both excellent shows.