"Battlestar Galactica: The Face of the Enemy" (2008) TV series

Seasons:

1

Plot:

The 10 webisodes, entitled "The Face of the Enemy," tell a story that takes place between seasons 4.0 and 4.5 of Battlestar and follow Lt...

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Alessandro Juliani	...	Lt. Felix Gaeta (10 episodes, 2008-2009)
Grace Park	...	Number Eight (10 episodes, 2008-2009)
Jessica Harmon	...	Esrin (10 episodes, 2008-2009)
William C. Vaughan	...	Finn (10 episodes, 2008-2009)
Brad Dryborough	...	Lt. Louis Hoshi (6 episodes, 2008-2009)

Movie Connections:

Spin off from "Battlestar Galactica" (2004)

Solid extras that only suffer a bit from the lack of enforced gap before the next "proper" episode (suggestive spoilers)

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Although I joined Battlestar Galatica after it had already been finished for some time, I tried to watch it the way that many other fans will have done – with some gaps and with the various webisodes viewed in the right locations. In the middle of season 4 there was a long gap between the first ten episodes and the final ten episodes and I tried to sort of replicate this (kinda) by watching the first half before I went on holiday for a few weeks and the second half a while after my return. Before recommencing the season though I watched this collection of webisodes that play out to be just a bit shorter than a normal episode of the proper show.

As with previous webisodes, these are not critical to following the show although the abrupt ending and the setting ahead of the timeline a bit means that it may fit better than I think – I won't know that I guess till afterwards. The episodes do also focus backwards to the time on New Caprica, in particular the actions of Gaeta and his relationship with one of the Caprica 8's (Athena). In this regard it is engaging enough as dramatic events unfold both in the present time and the past. Some of the episodes are very short and the ultimate ending is a bit blunt and open but they still work for what they are – which is filler. The lack of connection to the big cliffhanger of the proper episode before this is a bit annoying though and ultimately I watched this with a certain air of "having to" watch it before getting into the second half of the final season – the web episode is better than that but it is still hard to shake that feeling.

Worth seeing for completists and I suppose it is good enough as a dramatic collection of shorts to watch on its own anyway, but, without the enforced wait of the writers strike, it is harder to watch when the main season is sitting on the shelf behind you ready to go on DVD's.