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This new incarnation of Battlestar Galactica is not as good as the original in that it is not as much fun and takes itself extremely seriously. There is none of the repartee that was present in the old series. Some aspects of political correctness seep through (without really harming the story). There is none of the joy that seemed to infuse the original. The music cannot hold a candle to the old theme.
This incarnation is also better that the previous one. The bad guys are not as cartoonish. The characters have much more involved motivations and drives. The Cylons are very pleasant to look at and they are also much more insidious, devious and dangerous. There is an element of psychological drama that was lacking in the old show. The Cylon machines having a religion also lend some complications.
The names of the characters have been retained from the previous version but they are different. Baltar is a young guy, thoroughly self centered and bad but not bad for the sake being a "bad guy". He is a genius but also a dupe of the Cylons and is the reason humanity finds itself in trouble. The Cylons too are different. Instead of being mechanical men, they are human in form; they have migrated from mechanical machines to biological ones and can pass for human. They politicians are not as generally venal but they can come across as clueless...until one has a particularly brilliant insight or observation. Apollo is estranged from his father, Adama, instead of being a buddy and Starbuck is a girl. She likes her cigars like the original but she is a harder and grittier character. The basic forms are retained but the substance is not.
Objectively, this series is neither better nor worse than the original. It is just different. Some things remain the same, however. Humanity is in trouble and the writers have a minimal grasp of Newtonian physics. The science is not quite as hokey and the effects are great. Take it for what it is, an entertaining series that will appeal to some but not to others.
Synopses of the episodes appear below.
1. Pilot - This episode is the mini-series/pilot which sets up all which follows. The mainline cast of characters is introduced as well as their motivations. The basic situation is that humanity is had several decades of peace after a long war with the Cylons. No Cylon has been seen for decades. The peace is about to end. The Cylons attack in a bid to eradicate humanity and most of plan succeeds. The political leadership is destroyed except for a minor cabinet official and so is most of the fleet. Only the aging ship GALACTICA survives as a military force and its systems are way out of date. That is an advantage when dealing with the Cylons. The survivors manage to get together, scrape together some supplies and set out in a bid for the survival of humanity. It is not going to be easy.
2. 33- For some strange reason, the Cylons keep attacking the fleeing human fleet every 33 minutes. This quick cycle of constant combat operation is exhausting everyone and the crews are starting to fall apart. Nerves are starting to wear thin. The humans are at a loss understanding this strange cycle. Seemingly, they Cylons could close in and destroy them at any time. They almost seem to be drawing out the hunt, as a cat plays with a mouse. There does turn out to be a method to the madness. One of the Cylon's biological clock is ticking and she will keep the stress up until she gets what she wants.
3. Water - A Cylon agent manages to steal some munitions and blow up one of the ships carrying a major portion of the fleet's water. Rationing has to be put into effect with consequences for morale and discipline. The fleet must find water. They must also figure out the source of the sabotage but its hard when you are never sure who with whom you're dealing. Personal relationships and love affairs complicate things even further.
4. Bastille Day - A water crisis loomed in the previous episode but water was found just as the show ended. In this episode, we learn how difficult it will be to get that water. Labor is needed. A natural source is a convict ship. They are not to be used as slaves but their participation will earn them points towards early release. The problem is that the prisoners revolt and take hostages. They are led by a notorious terrorist. This episode is actually the most interesting thus far but it is troubling in that it seems to condone terrorism in some cases.
5. Act of Contrition - The Galactica's fleet is still taking on water and trying to repair damage. An accident in a landing bay kills a handful of pilots and they are already short from casualties. As a result, Starbuck is assigned to train new pilots. The material she has to work with is not very auspicious but she is even harder on them that anyone expects. She still feels guilt over the death of Apollo's younger brother whom she was assigned to train years ago. He was not qualified but she passed him anyway because they were lovers. Naturally, this leads to uncomfortable situation with his brother and their father. She finally buckles down and starts whipping the new guys in shape when they are attacked and we are set up with a cliffhanger.
6. You Can't Go Home Again - Starbuck gets shot down in the previous episode and this one is dedicated to the rescue mission to look for her. She has actually bailed out on a moon and the search includes the entire system. There are some matters of scale which don't make sense here. The commander takes some excessive risks in looking for her and everyone seems to think he is letting personal matters take over for practical ones. This episode exemplifies a weakness found in many science fiction series. The coincidences just seem to build on each other way past the point of believability. Starbuck manages to find a crash landed alien with an air supply and fix its ship which happens to be of Cylon manufacture.
7. Litmus - The Cylon ability to appear as humans has finally become public knowledge, after a Cylon agent manages to set off a suicide bomb on the Galactica. This causes major problems as everyone becomes a suspect of either being a Cylon or a Cylon agent. Things are made worse when a crew chief does some illegal fraternizing with one of his pilots. Some of his crew try to cover for their illicit tryst get caught in the lies and make everyone look like an agent. A minor substory involving some humans which were left behind on Caprica over the past few episodes begins to develop some more. Its suspicion all around.
8. Six Degrees of Separation - The Cylons want something of Baltar. With him on their side, they have a highly placed agent in the fleet. There are two problems from their point of view, however. He is a reluctant ally at best and he is not completely trusted by the others. They solve these problems in a vicious manner. They frame Baltar as a collaborator. The evidence is pretty damning even though it is faked. He is a collaborator but as a dupe, not an active participant. Baltar comes close to being executed for treason in this one. When he is finally saved, remorse over his false accusation makes him a truly trusted member of the team and his begging for help from the Cylons makes him realize that he is their tool. He will serve them to save himself and because he has the hots for the Cylon known as number 5.
9. Flesh and Bone - A Cylon agent is found alive in the fleet. Starbuck is assigned to interrogate the prisoner and find out any information which might be of use to the fleet. She is always a tough character but in this case she is truly vicious. She resorts to torture. The rationale for this is that, whatever their appearance, Cylons are machines. It is not morally wrong to abuse your toaster neither is it wrong to abuse a Cylon, especially if that Cylon has information about a nuclear bomb hidden in the fleet. As usual, the major goals of the Cylons seem to be to cause dissention within the fleet and promote their "religion".
10. Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down - The cycle of destructive suspicion grows deeper as Commander Adama'a behavior grows strange. He makes secret calls and disappears from the ship for short intervals. When this behavior is combined with the warning from the Cylon agent from the previous episode that Adama is in fact a Cylon, suspicions mount. Baltar has finally come up with his long awaited Cylon detector and the commander comes under more suspicion as he finds ways to avoid having himself tested. Then the reason is revealed. He shows up with Col. TIgh's long lost and estranged wife. She is pretty and a philanderer who causes no end of trouble. Maybe she is a Cylon. She certainly causes enough trouble for one.
11. The Hand of God - The fleet is running dangerously low on fuel and scouts are sent out looking for a supply. They finally find one but it is guarded by a Cylon force. The fleet stakes it all on a desperate surprise battle except that it is not that simple. Cylon mysticism plays a part and they finally convince Baltar that he is an instrument of god working for them...I think.
12. Colonial Day - The fleet is starting to get its political act together and re-institute former offices. When a congress is called, one order of business is to elect a vice president in case something happens to the current president. The terrorist from several episodes back stands for election and looks to have a good chance of winning. That frightens everyone because they believe he is looking for just such an opportunity to assassinate the president and assume power himself. Baltar, on the other hand, runs as the Cylon candidate. Everyone else thinks he is running with the president's party but the viewers know differently.
13. Kobol's Last Gleaming Part 1 - The fleet finally finds a habitable planet that has some eerie facets to it. So much seems familiar. It turns out to be Kobol, legendary planet from which their civilization derived. According to legend, an artifact left back on Caprica, when used in a particular way on Kobol, will show the way to the even more legendary planet of Earth...the goal of the fleet. There are several problems with this plan, however. Caprica is under Cylon control and there is a Cylon base star orbiting Kobol. The president has a plan, though, which makes her seem insane. Her goals set her against Adama and the question is who will be obeyed.
14. Kobol's Last Geaming Part 2 - The president manages to convince Starbuck to undertake a high risk mission back to Caprica to secure the artifact which will show the way to Earth. While there, she runs into the crewman who had been left behind. Meanwhile back on Kobol, things are getting more and more weird. Crew members are stranded on the planet. The strange Cylon religion is almost, but not really, made clear. Baltar gets a chance to make a choice for all humanity and there is a coup attempt which may or may not be legal. The season ends with a bloody cliffhanger and little or nothing resolved.
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UPDATE: Filling out a support request at universalhidef dot com (URL's apparently get deleted) for scratched disks seems to open up an RMA-replacement opportunity. I received an email saying they would exchange the scratched discs with new ones. Hopefully this works and hopefully they come in standard packaging. I'll let you guys know.UPDATE2: I just returned the discs for a refund. I dislike the RMA process anyway, and the problems go beyond scratched discs.I am not criticizing the show, but I am very disappointed with the packaging of the set. Placing the discs flat on paperboard does not jive with those who want scratch-free discs. Discs four and five have show-stopping scratches that the Toshiba HD-A2 can't read through, resulting in skippy playback.I recommend you buy the set - many of the discs show no scratches. Move the discs immediately to standard DVD cases and COMPLAIN to Universal about the scratched discs. They should recall these and ship out new discs in adequate packaging.
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