"Battlestar Galactica" Kobol's Last Gleaming: Part 2 (2005)

Director:

Michael Rymer

Writers:

Ronald D. Moore (developer)
Ronald D. Moore (teleplay)

TV Series:

"Battlestar Galactica" (2004)

Original Air Date:

24 January 2005 (Season 1, Episode 13)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Infuriated that Roslin usurped his command by ordering Starbuck to steal the captured Raider, Adama decides that his only option is to storm Colonial One with marines and terminate her presidency. Starbuck reaches Caprica and finds the Arrow of Apollo in a museum, but she has to go through a copy of Number Six to get it.

Plot Keywords:

Female Protagonist | Faster Than Light | Heroine | Space Western | Space Opera

Cast

Edward James Olmos	...	Commander William Adama
Mary McDonnell	...	President Laura Roslin
Katee Sackhoff	...	Lt. Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace
Jamie Bamber	...	Captain Lee 'Apollo' Adama
James Callis	...	Dr. Gaius Baltar
Tricia Helfer	...	Number Six
Grace Park	...	Lt. Sharon 'Boomer' Valerii
Michael Hogan	...	Colonel Saul Tigh
Aaron Douglas	...	Chief Galen Tyrol
Tahmoh Penikett	...	Lt. Karl 'Helo' Agathon
Kandyse McClure	...	Officer Anastasia Dualla
Paul Campbell	...	Billy Keikeya
Alessandro Juliani	...	Lt. Felix Gaeta
Sam Witwer	...	Crashdown
Lorena Gale	...	Elosha

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Convocation Mall, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB)

Trivia:

Went through a number of changes according to the Podcast commentary. Some of these early differences include: 1. Part One was to conclude with the Raptor crashing and Part Two would end with Starbuck stealing the Raider to finish the finale with a season-ending cliffhanger. This was changed when the original pacing wasn't working. 2. Originally, the ruins on Kobol were supposed to be a huge temple that was mirrored on Caprica. This was abandoned due to cost constraints. 3. What Baltar and Number Six experienced inside the ruins on Kobol went through a number of changes. Originally, Ron D. Moore proposed to the other writers that there was supposed to be a bright corridor of light. In a later version, there was to be complete darkness punctuated with music from a song recognizable by both the audience and the two explorers. Then, Dirk Benedict (Starbuck from the original "Battlestar Galactica" (1978)) was supposed appear and say something like, "Hi. I'm God." followed by TO BE CONTINUED... However, the other writers quickly disparaged the idea as implausible, and Ron D. Moore reluctantly agreed. 4. One concept that the writers liked, but were forced to abandon was the idea that the interior room of the ruins was to be located in "otherspace" or in a different spatial or dimensional location.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Starbuck uses her gun to shoot the glass from the display case in the museum a camera man can be clearly seen standing behind the display case. He is wearing a red t-shirt and a black vest.

Movie Connections:

References Independence Day (1996)

Season 1: Solid sci-fi made more interesting by the topical themes and internal battles

It was about three years ago that I watched the miniseries pilot for this show and, to be honest, it didn't really hook me enough to justify picking it up – although this was partly down to me already watching too much in the way of films and television. OK, so this situation hasn't changed too much but my recent discovery of how wrong I was to ignore 30 Rock made me wonder what else I had been too quick to dismiss, so I picked up a cheap copy of season 1 on DVD and decided to give it another try. It took me a minute for my brain to pick up the story again (really I should have watched the pilot again) but after an episode or so I was into it and it made sense in terms of its logic.

It does take a few episodes to really get into its stride but when it does it offers up plenty of interest in what it does. Like many viewers, I came to this expecting it to be quite action packed and quite grand in terms of what it does, loads of bigger picture stuff, lots of battles in space, cool robots everywhere and so on. This is not the case but, unlike some viewers. I have very little problem with this because to me what it actually tries to do is much more interesting and engaging to me. For a sci-fi, Battlestar Galactica caught me off guard by covering topics such as mistrust, humanity, torture, mercy, war and politics. All of these things are woven into the plots in ways that are relevant to both the narrative but also to the real world that we all live in. The slight downside of the writing is that it is not as smart nor as full of comment as I think the writers would have liked it to be. We're not in The Wire territory here and to a certain degree there is no point in denying this and trying to make out like BG is somehow akin to it in writing terms or that it really hits the mark in what it is saying. It does not.

However, while not hitting heights that I may have hoped for, season 1 still does achieve good things that I didn't see in the pilot and it deserves credit for this – as well as your attention. The cast are better than I thought they would be on the basis of the pilot. Olmos and McDonnell are both strong in the central roles as they carry the main political back and forwards. Park delivered on her potential I thought with several good characters and ideas that she is able to deliver. Bamber and Sackhoff are both good enough but I am still to be convinced by them as I felt during the pilot. I liked Callis because he prevented his character being daft while still allowing some comic relief from him – Helfer isn't that good as an actress but she does OK for what is asked of her. In the supporting cast there are quite a few actors who are of "tv standard" but not much is asked of them so they work and don't detract.

Overall season 1 was much better than I expected. The sci-fi base is provided for with some great effects (I still like the "search and focus" camera work in space) and action but the appeal is in the politics and the themes it deals with. The writing on these is good even if it is never as cutting or as insightful as some would say but it does make each episode interesting and engaging. Season 1 is not perfect but it is certainly strong enough as a piece of intelligent sci-fi and shows enough in the way of potential to justify me returning for season 2.