AWSUM SERIALS: Battlestar Galactica

AWSUM SERIALS: 

A whole lotta Fracking going on:
THE

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA 
REMAKE

Ok, ok. Remakes come and go. We’re up to our asses in Batman, Superman and Spiderman remakes and interstellar operas. Nevertheless, the remake of BSG  was more than just another sci-fi remake series – it was an event. It was many things to many people: space drama, space soap even, coupled with action and lashings of space battles.

Perhaps the secret of its success lay in the balance between nostalgia for the original series and offering something new. To some, these new aspects were perhaps a little too jarring. I myself, initially found it difficult to adjust to the new look Cylons and heavily CGI’d special effects. Coupled with hot Cylon chicks. But it won me over eventually. Mainly because the hot Cylon chicks could actually act and well, lets face it, there was plenty of sex. In fact every member of  Battle Star Galactica got laid. And perhaps that was the whole point. As the Cylons became more human so their desires became also. This aspect became a fascinating keystone plot point that held the series together and made it so compelling. After all, without it, we would be left with a rather dreary version of the ‘The West Wing’ in space with the odd Cylon Centurion here and there, blandly saying ‘By your Command’.

So introducing sex into the series in a very realistic way, was actually a very smart move. If only they had done that with Space 1999 or Blakes 7. Both of which severely needed something to bring them to life. Ironically Star Trek probably had more sex in it than all these series combined. We never saw it but they were certainly doing it. Spock, Kirk and McCoy basically shagged their way through the universe at warp speed. Leaving Dr Who fumbling with a sonic screwdriver oblivious to the affections of various sexy assistants. Babylon 5 and Deep Space 9 were just as guilty and don’t get me started with Star Gate.

In a way, BSG showed us what could be done with a good solid script and somehow actually carried us from beginning to end without the show being cancelled. Which is much more than I can say about its predecessor. The original series, as great as it was, was also heavily flawed in the script and fracking department. Their were some great stories but it was clearly aimed at children and its content reflects this in the way it approached the common themes of sex and violence and relationships.

Baltar in the original series was, by comparison – terrible. A one dimensional character bent on being well, just evil and nothing else. Like some panto-villain, he was obviously unlikable and had no story arc whatsoever. He was just bad from the get go. His only function was to give the monotone Cylons a clearer voice. Gaius Baltar on the other hand, was a totally different kettle of fish altogether. 

Acting genius James Callis played the character as a victim, a complicated mess of a man with many hidden depths and we the audience sympathised with him. It wasn’t his fault that mankind was obliterated! He was just in love with Caprica 6. In fact, Gaius has more sex in the series than all the colonials and Cylons combined. His multi-layered character changes more times than hot dinners, from traitor, to Doctor of Galactica, to President of the Colonies, to prisoner and criminal, to Messiah and soldier and finally (ironically) a farmer. He is also the devil incarnate. Of all the characters in the series, his alone goes through a myriad of changes, as he struggles to find his one true path. For us, the audience, we root for him all the way: hoping that he will (eventually) do the right thing.  

And that is BSG’s one true strength, its actors are superb. Edward James Olmos is no Lorne Green and we don’t want him to be. Again he could never fill the shoes of his predecessor. He has instead forged his own path. Making a far more complex character than Lorne Greens could ever be. If anything, he is the bi-polar opposite. A raving drunk, covered in vomit, model ship parts and white paint. A ticking bomb, with a love hate relationship with his CO, often brawling together when all else fails. But he is also a rock solid commander. A father figure and natural leader, who gets to sleep with his subordinates and eventually pairs up with the president of the colonies.   

Michael Hogan as said CO, is just as complex. His portrayal of Saul Tigh is as different to his predecessor as you can possibly get. We’re in a whole other universe. A stubborn drunk, married to a nightmare of a wife. Bain of the fleet. A washed up commander waiting for retirement, who’s only friend in the world is Adama. A Cylon hating racist who ironically turns out to be a Cylon. Which is hilarious. He then goes on to frack Caprica 6 and has an abortion. A particular plot point that is essential towards the end of series four. Sex is a fundamental part of the series. It teaches the Cylons about procreation. Particularly when their Resurrection  Hubs are all blown to bits. They must learn to have baby’s the old fashioned way. Which takes some practice.

Second to Baltar in the Sex Olympics, is Katee Sackhoff as Star Buck. She is perhaps the only actress who emulates her predecessor in any way. You can see echoes of Dirk Benedict in her performance, the way she smiles, holds a cigar etc. But she also makes the character her own. By making Starbuck a woman, she is by proxy supposed to behave like one but Sackhoff does anything but. She drinks Apollo under the table, kicks everybody’s ass at the card table and regularly fracks her way through the crew. Even the word Frack is heavily used in the series, even more so than in the original and it actually makes most scenes where it is used quite intense.

There are so many levels to the new series that the original could never have but on the other hand, we couldn’t have one without the other. Perhaps what made the original so popular was its amazing special effects, model work and iconic Cylon design, coupled with a great music score by Stu Philips, famous for many Glen A Larson serials including Buck Rogers and Knight Rider. Where it fell flat is in the scripting and story-arching, leading to some terrible dumbed down kiddie episodes (time traveling Nazis?) in its final season and by the time they finally reached Earth nobody really gave a frack.  

The new series may not have had a grand explosion for its opening credits

or Partick McNee narrating it but what it did have was good old fashioned solid scripts and awsum acting, coupled with a frack load of sex and a healthy respect for its origins. BSG has cemented itself now in the hearts and minds as the ultimate soap opera in space and we the people applaud it for its innovative approach. So say we all.