|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
Posted 04.13.08 Everything you were afraid to ask about "Battlestar Galactica" (Salon) A complete primer on the smartest sci-fi TV show ... maybe ever. By Thomas Rogers When the "Battlestar Galactica" miniseries premiered in 2003, viewers could be forgiven for having low expectations. At the time, the Sci Fi Channel, on which "Battlestar" aired, was a niche cable channel known mostly for "Stargate SG-1" and "Star Trek" reruns, and the show's source material, a cheesy '70s flop for ABC, wasn't exactly "The Sopranos." The series' premise, furthermore, involved enough cliched science fiction elements -- an evil race of robots, a hotshot fighter pilot and characters with names like "Apollo" -- to make the show's fans wince when explaining it to their friends. Three seasons later, "Battlestar Galactica" has become one of TV's smartest series. It has won a Peabody Award, made the Sci Fi Channel a semireputable cable outlet and revolutionized science fiction on television. It has proved that the genre, when liberated from the body-hugging Lycra jumpsuits and staid dialogue that have plagued most post-"Trek" science fiction series, can be a vehicle for both scathing political commentary and genuine pathos. The network recently greenlighted a prequel spinoff series called "Caprica," and on Friday, April 4, "Battlestar" returns to Sci Fi after a yearlong hiatus for its fourth and final season. If you haven't been watching, the show follows a fleet of human survivors from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol -- a group of planets decimated by a surprise attack from the Cylons. The Cylons are a race of partially humanoid robots that were created by humans, and then revolted. Protecting the tiny fleet of survivors is a large aircraft-carrier-like spaceship called the Battlestar Galactica, whose crew is the main focus of the show. In each episode, the humans must evade the Cylons as they slowly make their way to salvation on the mythical planet Earth. The premise may sound like derivative schlock, but by virtue of its strong writing and naturalistic style, the series manages to be engaging and politically relevant. Its creator, Ronald Moore, uses "Battlestar's" universe as a funhouse mirror for American post-9/11 cultural anxieties. Since the miniseries' initial Cylon attack -- with its parallels to the events of Sept. 11 -- "Battlestar" has broached topical debates about torture, military occupation, abortion, genocide and war crimes. It has managed to do so while avoiding the trap of strained allegory and partisan politics, and has maintained the escapist thrill that makes science fiction, well, science fiction. Over the past five years, however, the show's universe has also become awfully complicated. At this point, there are good Cylons and bad Cylons and morally ambiguous Cylons and, if the third-season finale is to be believed, Cylons with an inexplicable affinity for Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower." With that in mind, we've prepared a "Battlestar Galactica" explainer -- as we've done for "The Wire," "Mulholland Drive," "Donnie Darko and "Southland Tales" -- to prepare you for the upcoming season premiere (which Salon's Heather Havrilesky will review on Friday) and square away any confusion. We'll begin with a summary of the "Battlestar" story line, and briefly outline the characters, before answering some nagging questions. Let's begin with the summary: The Miniseries "Battlestar Galactica" begins 40 years after the end of the First Cylon War (when the Cylons first attacked their former masters). Cmdr. William Adama (Edward James Olmos) is preparing his Battlestar, the Galactica, for its retirement ceremony. It will be converted into a museum. The ship's crew includes Col. Saul Tigh (Michael Hogan), a crotchety alcoholic and the ship's executive officer; Lt. Felix Gaeta (Alessandro Juliani), the tactical officer; and Lt. Anastasia Dualla (Kandyse McClure), who serves in the Combat Information Center. The rest of the ship's notable crew consists of Lt. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace (Katee Sackhoff), a fighter pilot; Lt. Sharon "Boomer" Valerii (Grace Park), another pilot; and Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol (Aaron Douglas), who is in charge of the hangar deck. We quickly learn that Starbuck has a problem with authority -- when she promptly punches Col. Tigh in the face -- and that Boomer and Chief Tyrol are having an illicit affair. Meanwhile, on the planet Caprica, Gaius Baltar (James Callis), a famous scientist working in the defense sector, is sleeping with a beautiful and pious blond woman (Tricia Helfer), and has given her access to confidential defense materials. Elsewhere on the planet, Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), the Twelve Colonies' secretary of education, learns that she has inoperable breast cancer. Shortly thereafter, Roslin and Lee "Apollo" Adama (Jamie Bamber), the commander's son, arrive on the Galactica to participate in the ceremony, and we learn that Apollo blames the commander for his brother's flying-related death. Once the event concludes, Roslin heads back to Caprica with Apollo. Meanwhile, Baltar's mysterious lover turns out to be a Cylon agent planning an attack. She is one of 12 humanoid Cylon models, who look and sound like humans -- though only seven of the Cylon models are known to each other, and the remaining five are shrouded in mystery. Nuclear explosions begin detonating on the planet. War begins, and spreads into space. When the Galactica attacks Cylon raiders, many of its fighters -- called "Vipers" -- are disabled and destroyed. After the attack, Boomer and Lt. Karl "Helo" Agathon -- another pilot -- crash-land on Caprica, where their ship is swamped with refugees. In a moment of resignation, Helo gives up his seat for Baltar, whom he recognizes, and who happens to be near the ship. Reeling from a Cylon nuclear strike, the Galactica heads to Ragnar Anchorage, a weapons depot, to pick up supplies. Once there, they discover and kill a humanoid Cylon named Leoben (Callum Keith Rennie). On board her ship, Roslin is named president of the Twelve Colonies and begins assembling a fleet of civilian ships. Her ship also rescues Apollo -- whose Viper has been disabled -- Boomer and Baltar. In the wake of the attack, Baltar is tormented by feelings of guilt and begins having visions of his former Cylon lover, who we learn is named Number Six. After several close calls with the Cylons, Roslin's fleet meets up with the Galactica. Following an argument with Roslin, Adama decides that the Galactica's primary objective should be to protect Roslin's civilian fleet. After a tense battle with the Cylons, the humans jump away to safety, and Adama announces that their new objective is to find the legendary 13th colony, Earth, and settle there. As Cylon ships disembark on Ragnar, and the miniseries ends, we discover, rather surprisingly, that Boomer is a Cylon. Season One The first season picks up with the fleet "jumping" (i.e. teleporting) through space every 33 minutes to stay ahead of their Cylon pursuers. In the hangar deck, Boomer's ability to cope with the resulting sleep deprivation leads her friends to joke that she's a Cylon. (Unbeknown to her, she has been programmed to believe that she is a human being.) But when somebody sabotages the fleet's water reserves, and Boomer wakes up in possession of explosive detonators, she begins to suspect that they're right. She voices her doubts to Chief Tyrol (who is also unaware that she is a Cylon), but he keeps her behavior secret. Meanwhile, back on Caprica, Helo is taken prisoner by the Cylons. As part of a plot to seduce him and produce a human-Cylon hybrid child, a copy of Boomer liberates him from captivity and they hide in the woods. The two become romantically involved and make sweet, sweet love. On the Galactica, Baltar has been assigned to build a Cylon detector. He also continues to hallucinate about Number Six -- his former lover. The hallucination tells Baltar that she would like him to have a child and, more important, a nuclear weapon. As a result, Baltar requests and receives a nuke for his research. Roslin, meanwhile, reveals that she is dying from cancer. She uses an alternative drug named Chamalla to treat it, and begins having religious dreams and hallucinations. Before a Cylon attack, Starbuck admits to Adama that she was partly responsible for the death of his son. The two have a falling-out, but when Starbuck's Viper crashes on a moon, Adama places the fleet in danger to rescue her. Just before he gives up, Starbuck manages to climb inside a crashed Cylon raider and fly it back to the Galactica. Eventually, Tyrol begins to suspect that Boomer really is a Cylon. When Boomer asks to be tested by Baltar's Cylon detector, the test comes back positive, but Baltar, irrationally afraid that she will attack him, lies to her and tells her that she is human. Then, Ellen Tigh, Col. Tigh's sexually aggressive wife, suddenly appears in the fleet. Elsewhere in the fleet, Tom Zarek, a former leftish terrorist, calls for the election of a vice president, and puts himself in the running. In an effort to prevent Zarek from winning, Roslin encourages Baltar to run, and, after a tense race, Baltar wins. Then, in a surprise development, Boomer's spaceship discovers a planet that appears to be Kobol, the birthplace of the Twelve Colonies. When an exploratory team is sent to the planet, it is attacked by Cylons, and the ship carrying Baltar and Tyrol crash-lands in a forest. Before they can be rescued, Roslin -- suffering from hallucinations -- becomes convinced that somebody must return to Caprica and retrieve the "Arrow of Apollo," an ancient artifact, if the fleet is to find the path to Earth. She persuades Starbuck to pilot the stolen Cylon raider back to Caprica. Once there, Starbuck encounters Helo, who has since discovered that his copy of Boomer is a Cylon and that she is pregnant with their child -- a human-Cylon hybrid. When Adama learns of Roslin's plan, he demands her resignation. She refuses, which leads to a standoff, and both Roslin and Apollo -- who sides with her -- are placed in the brig. The season ends when -- during a mission to destroy a large Cylon ship called a Basestar -- Boomer sees multiple copies of herself and learns that she is a Cylon. As Adama congratulates her on the success of her mission, she shoots him twice in the chest. Season Two The season begins with Boomer in the brig and Adama unconscious in sickbay. With the Galactica reeling from a series of Cylon attacks, Roslin manages to convince other members of her government that she is a "Chosen One" who will lead the fleet to Earth. In response, Col. Tigh declares martial law. This prompts many of the fleet's ships to refuse sending supplies to the Galactica, and in the ensuing confrontation, several civilians are shot. Dismayed by the development, Apollo, Dualla and Dr. Cottle (the Galactica's medical officer) help Roslin escape from jail. But things only get worse. After Baltar and the survivors of the crashed ship are rescued from Kobol, Boomer is shot and killed by an embittered crew member -- and downloaded into a new body on a Cylon ship. Meanwhile, a third of the fleet's ships jump back to join Roslin near Kobol. Luckily, Adama regains consciousness. Back on Caprica, the pregnant copy of Boomer steals Starbuck's Cylon raider. Left to fend for themselves, Starbuck and Helo join up with a group of resistance fighters led by Anders (Michael Trucco). Starbuck and Anders become lovers. After Starbuck is kidnapped by the Cylons and escapes from a Cylon "fertility farm" (a facility for the harvesting of human ovaries), pregnant Boomer reappears with a ship. Helo, Starbuck and the copy of Boomer return to Kobol with the Arrow of Apollo, where they meet with President Roslin. Adama decides to reunite the fleet and jumps to Kobol. After he reconciles with Roslin, pregnant Boomer (henceforth known as Boomer) leads the humans to a tomb on the surface of Kobol that points them on the way to Earth. In an unconnected development, we learn that the fleet's resident documentary filmmaker, D'Anna Biers (Lucy Lawless), is a Cylon. Suddenly, the Battlestar Pegasus, commanded by Adm. Cain (Michelle Forbes), jumps near the Galactica. The ship, against all odds, has survived the initial Cylon attack, and has been raiding Cylon positions ever since. Cain takes over leadership of the fleet, but clashes with Adama and Roslin. Cain gets Baltar to interrogate the Pegasus' Cylon prisoner, Gina, who has been brutally tortured and raped by Pegasus crew members. She tells him about the "Resurrection Ship" -- a Cylon ship that allows humanoid Cylon models to be downloaded into new bodies. Baltar develops tender feelings for her, and she escapes. Tensions rise when Tyrol and Helo prevent a Pegasus crew member from sexually assaulting Boomer, and they accidentally kill the crew member. They are both sentenced to death by Cain. Adama refuses to accept the verdict. As a result, both Cain and Adama conspire to kill another, but after a mission to destroy the Resurrection Ship is completed successfully, they back down. Then, conveniently, Gina shoots Cain in the head. Apollo (eventually) takes her place as the commander of the Pegasus. Baltar cures Roslin's cancer by injecting her with the blood of Boomer's still-gestating hybrid baby. Irritated by Roslin's perceived ungratefulness, Baltar gives his nuclear weapon (from Season One) to Gina, and when Roslin tries to persuade Baltar to resign his vice presidency, he refuses. Back on Caprica, the original Boomer, Sharon Valerii, and Baltar's former lover, Number Six (now nicknamed Caprica Six), are having trouble reintegrating into Cylon society. The two decide that the Cylons' attack on the humans wasn't such a great idea after all. On the Galactica, Boomer gives birth to Hera, her human-Cylon hybrid child. The child is born healthy, but, in accordance with Roslin's wishes, it is given up for adoption. Roslin wants to hide it from the Cylons, who may view it as a miracle child. Boomer is told that Hera has died. Starbuck returns to Caprica and rescues Anders along with members of the human resistance. In a sudden twist, the fleet discovers a new habitable planet called New Caprica. Baltar, running in the fleet election, argues that the planet should be colonized, and wins. With the settlement of New Caprica under way, Gina the Cylon detonates the nuclear warhead and destroys a large portion of the fleet. Jumping forward one year, Adama and Apollo now command the Galactica and Pegasus with a skeleton crew. On New Caprica, Roslin has become a teacher, Tyrol a union leader, Gaeta an assistant to President Baltar, and Starbuck has grown out her hair and married Anders. Suddenly, several Cylon Basestars arrive near the planet. In a panic, the Battlestars jump to safety, and the Cylons take control of New Caprica. Season Three The third season begins four months into the Cylon occupation of New Caprica. Things are looking pretty grim: Tigh has lost an eye in Cylon prison; Starbuck is being held prisoner in an apartment-like cell; Baltar is a puppet leader for the Cylons; Tyrol and Anders have become members of an insurgent group, planning suicide-bombing operations. Back on the Battlestars, the crews are training for a rescue mission: Adama has grown a mustache; Apollo has married Dualla and gained a lot of weight. When Tyrol manages to communicate with a ship from the fleet, the rescue plans are set in motion. Before that happens, Tigh learns that his wife has betrayed plans to the Cylons, and poisons her. Suddenly, the Galactica and Pegasus jump into orbit and execute their evacuation plan, allowing the human inhabitants of New Caprica to jump to safety. In the process, the Pegasus is destroyed and the Galactica is heavily damaged. As a reward for her assistance during the operation, Galactica's copy of Boomer, Sharon Agathon, is renamed Athena. As they leave New Caprica behind, the Cylons take Baltar and Hera (the hybrid child) with them. The Cylons allow Baltar to live with them on the Cylon Basestar as long as he helps them find Earth. He agrees, and is sent to investigate a Cylon Basestar that has become infected with a deadly virus. Once there, he discovers an Earth satellite -- the apparent source of the plague -- but doesn't tell the Cylons what he found. They torture him. The Galactica also discovers the infected Basestar and takes several of its sick passengers as prisoners. They develop a plan to exterminate the Cylons by executing the prisoners near a Resurrection ship -- a ship on which dead Cylons' consciousnesses are downloaded into new bodies -- but the prisoners are killed by Helo before the plan can be carried out. In an unconnected story line on board the Basestar, one of the Cylon models (Number Three, played by Lucy Lawless) begins purposely killing herself. Every time she dies and downloads into a new body, she has visions of the "Final Five" Cylons. She becomes obsessed with discovering their identities. The humans land on an Algae planet to replenish food supplies. While exploring the planet, Tyrol discovers the Temple of Five -- a lost tomb that holds the "Eye of Jupiter," an item of religious significance that has something to do with finding Earth. Suddenly Cylon Basestars jump into orbit and request a meeting. The Cylons also want the Eye of Jupiter, as it turns out, and promise to leave the humans alone if they can have it. Adama refuses. Meanwhile, Athena and Helo learn that their baby is alive on the Cylon Basestar. Helo kills Athena so that she can download into a new body on the Basestar and bring back their baby. The plan works. Athena and Caprica Six escape from the Basestar and return to Galactica with Hera. The nearby star suddenly goes supernova -- allowing Tyrol to see the Eye of Jupiter. At the same time, Baltar and Three arrive at the temple. Three begins to have visions, but after she sees the face of the final Cylon, she dies, and Baltar is taken prisoner by Tyrol. All return to the Galactica and jump to safety. Back on the Basestar, the Number Three Cylon model is permanently disabled. Later, when the fleet is replenishing its fuel near a giant planet, Starbuck begins to have flashbacks and behave strangely. She catches glimpses of a Cylon raider during a routine mission, follows it and is crushed by the atmospheric pressure. Goodbye, Starbuck. On board the Galactica, Baltar is tried for his collusion with the Cylons, and Adama is selected to be one of the trial's five judges. For reasons that are somewhat confusing, Apollo becomes part of Baltar's defense team and resigns from his post. As the trial progresses, Lampkin gets Roslin to admit that her cancer has returned, and, following testimony from Apollo, Baltar is found not guilty and released. As the season ends, Tory Foster (Roslin's aide), Tigh, Anders and Tyrol begin hearing strange music around the ship. They begin quoting Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" and meet up in a ventilation chamber. They realize that they're all Cylons. Suddenly, the fleet is under attack and everybody rushes to battle stations. Apollo flies into combat. Starbuck -- back from the dead -- appears next to him in her Viper. She says she has been to Earth. The camera zooms out, and back in, showing the planet Earth. Razor Flashbacks (short vignettes shown in the weeks preceding "Razor") During the final day of the Cylon War, the young William Adama flies a combat mission in his Viper. He crash-lands on a snowy planet, and discovers that the Cylons are conducting experiments on human prisoners -- building humanoid Cylon models. Suddenly, a giant Basestar takes off nearby, and he learns, via radio, that the war has ended. Battlestar Galactica: Razor This special "Battlestar Galactica" extended episode takes place during Apollo's tenure as commander of the Pegasus. It centers on Kendra Shaw (Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen), a Pegasus crew member who is chosen by Apollo to be his new executive officer. In a flashback, we learn that she arrived on the Pegasus just minutes before the Cylon attack. We also learn that Adm. Cain and Gina, an undercover Cylon agent, were lesbian lovers. After the initial battle, Cain orders a revenge attack against the Cylons, during which Shaw learns that Gina is a Cylon. Cain places Gina in the brig, where she is brutally tortured and raped. We also learn that Shaw was responsible for the murder of civilians on board the Scylla, a civilian ship. Back in the present(-ish) day, a mission is launched to rescue several members of a missing science team. They've been kidnapped by a splinter group of Cylons conducting experiments on humans. Starbuck and Shaw lead the team, which is given a nuclear warhead and told to destroy the Cylons' Basestar. When the warhead malfunctions, Shaw stays behind to detonate it. Before dying, she walks up to the ship's hybrid -- a kind of Cylon that is installed in a vat and controls the ship's navigation. It tells her, "Kara Thrace will lead the human race to its end." Shaw tries to warn the Pegasus, but her transmission is garbled. The nuke detonates, and the Basestar is destroyed. Characters Humans Cmdr. William Adama (Edward James Olmos): The stoic and thoughtful commander of the Galactica, Adama is the closest thing to a central character on the show. He is often more dovish than President Roslin, despite his lengthy military background. During the First Cylon War, Adama was a Viper pilot on the Galactica and, afterward, worked in the merchant fleet, where he met Saul Tigh. With the help of his wife's family he was reinstated, and worked his way up the ranks. His character hasn't changed much over the course of the series, despite being shot, and he remains quiet, bearish and strangely lovable. President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell): Adama's elected counterpart on the show, Roslin is a former schoolteacher and secretary of education who became, by default, president of the Twelve Colonies. She operates from her spaceship, the Colonial One, and her political stances vary wildly between the left and the right. Over the course of the series, she has developed strong religious convictions. We learn during the second season that she once had an affair with the late President Adar, and although her breast cancer was cured by Baltar, it has since returned. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace (Katee Sackhoff): A strong-willed Viper pilot, Starbuck is loud, brash and often childish. She grew up in an abusive household and, before the Cylon attack, was engaged to Zak, Adama's late son. As a result, she and Adama have a close bond that allows her considerable leniency -- despite the fact that she admitted culpability in Zak's death. During the third season, she and Apollo finally consummate their close relationship, though both remain with their respective partners (Anders and Dualla). She also discovers that she has been unconsciously painting religiously significant imagery since her childhood, and may have a "special destiny." Late in the season, she undergoes a downward spiral, with depression and hallucinations, culminating in her death in a flying accident. In the season finale, she miraculously reappears from the dead. Lee "Apollo" Adama (Jamie Bamber): Cmdr. Adama's son, Apollo, began the series as the fly-by-the-rules foil for Starbuck. He's a talented pilot with an often tenuous relationship with his father. As the series has progressed, Apollo has undergone some surprising character changes -- becoming depressed, getting fat, getting thin, having an affair. At the end of the third season, following his involvement in the trial of Gaius Baltar, he resigns his military post. Gaius Baltar (James Callis): The most villainous character on the show, Baltar is an arrogant, narcissistic and sexually promiscuous scientist whose affair with a Cylon agent allowed the Cylons to disable the Colonies' defenses. He is prone to hallucinatory visitations by Number Six, his former Cylon lover. Over the course of the series he is promoted from science advisor to vice president and, finally, president of the Colonies, and during the Cylon occupation of New Caprica, he becomes a Vichy-like collaborator. After a sojourn on a Basestar, he is captured, returned to the fleet and put on trial for his actions on New Caprica. During his time in jail, he publishes a widely read "Mein Kampf"-like treatise called "My Triumphs, My Mistakes." The third season culminates with his trial verdict, when he is found not guilty and released into the fleet. Cylons There are 12 humanoid Cylon models that fit into two categories: conventional Cylons and the "Final Five." Conventional Cylons exist in multiple copies and, when they are killed, are downloaded into new bodies. Over the course of the series, some of these Cylons have taken on distinct personalities. The Final Five, meanwhile, are a mysterious group whose identity has been kept secret from the other Cylons -- and may or may not exist in multiples. At the moment, only four of them have been revealed. Conventional Cylons Number Three (Lucy Lawless): Originally introduced as D'Anna Biers, a documentary filmmaker, this Cylon is narcissistic and obsessive. Over the course of the third season, she comes to play an increasingly prominent role, becoming obsessed with the identity of the Final Five Cylons. She has visions of the Final Five during the downloading process, which leads her to repeatedly commit suicide and download into new bodies. At the end of the third season she has been "boxed," or disabled. Number Five (Matthew Bennett): This model first appears as Aaron Doral, a P.R. man, in the "Galactica" miniseries. He makes some sporadic appearances in the ensuing seasons but remains a marginal Cylon character. Baltar's Hallucination (Tricia Helfer): A hallucination of Caprica Six that exists only in Baltar's mind, she appears sporadically to give him advice. This version of Number Six is pious and sexually aggressive. She is fond of telling Baltar that he is the "Chosen One." Caprica Six (Tricia Helfer): This Cylon seduces Gaius Baltar and plays a key role in the Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies. Following the attacks, she becomes a Cylon hero and has hallucinatory visions of Baltar. She comes to question the decision to attack the humans, and advocates a more cooperative approach, eventually helping Sharon Agathon return Hera to the Galactica. As the fourth season begins, she is in the brig on the Galactica. Sharon "Boomer" Valerii (Number Eight) (Grace Park): A sleeper Cylon who was part of the Galactica's crew before the Cylon attack, Valerii gradually realizes that she is a Cylon in the first season. At the end of that season, she shoots Cmdr. Adama, and is eventually killed in revenge. Like Caprica Six, she has trouble coming to terms with the Cylon destruction of the Colonies, and becomes an outspoken advocate for coexistence with humans. Sharon "Athena" Agathon (Number Eight) (Grace Park): This Cylon falls in love with Karl "Helo" Agathon during a mission on the planet Caprica. She helps him and Starbuck return to the Galactica. Once there, she is imprisoned and distrusted, but eventually becomes a valuable part of the ship's crew. She gives birth to Hera, a human-Cylon hybrid child, but is told that it died. At the end of the third season, she discovers that her child is alive and rescues it from the Cylons. Brother Cavil (Dean Stockwell): A cynical, snarky and atheistic Cylon model, Cavil first appears as a priest on board the Galactica. Leoben Conoy (Callum Keith Rennie): A wily and dishonest Cylon model, Leoben has an obsessive relationship with Starbuck. During the occupation on New Caprica, he imprisons her in an apartment-like cell, and tries to persuade her to love him. It doesn't really work. Simon (Rick Worthy): Simon is a bald Cylon model who makes rare appearances on the show. He first shows up in the Cylon fertility farm on Caprica, posing as a doctor. The Final Five Chief Nicholas Tyrol (Aaron Douglas): The deck chief on the Galactica, Tyrol is in charge of the ship's hangar deck and ship maintenance. At the beginning of the series, he is engaged in a secret affair with Sharon Valerii, and is rather perturbed when she turns out to be a Cylon. On New Caprica, he marries Cally -- the crew member who shot and killed Valerii -- has a son named Nicholas, and becomes a key member of the insurgency. His discovery, in the third-season finale, that he is a Cylon is presaged by his somewhat random discovery of the Temple of Five on the Algae planet. It is worth nothing that both of Tyrol's parents were clergy -- suggesting that the Final Five Cylon models may have religious significance. Col. Saul Tigh (Michael Hogan): Tigh is the Galactica's embittered and alcoholic executive officer. He is a bumbling figure with a strong hatred of the Cylons. Before arriving on the ship, he fought in the First Cylon War and met Adama while working in the commercial fleet. With Adama's help, he was reinstated in the military. During the settlement of New Caprica, he was a leading member in the insurgency, losing his eye during a period of incarceration. In the third season, he poisons his wife after learning that she has given secret plans to the Cylons. Then, just when things seem to be getting better, he finds out that he is a Cylon. Tory Foster (Rekha Sharma): Foster is President Roslin's aide -- a supporting character that first appeared after Roslin's previous aide, Billy, was killed in a bar shootout. During the third-season finale, we discover that she is having a sexual relationship with Anders, and that she's a Cylon. Samuel Anders (Michael Trucco): Anders is Starbuck's loving but alienated husband. Before the Cylon attack, Anders was a member of a sports team doing high-altitude training. Afterward, he becomes a member of the human resistance and, eventually, Starbuck's lover. She returns to Caprica to rescue him and bring him on board the Galactica. After the two are married, they grow apart, and he has trouble coming to terms with her death. As the third season ends, he has begun a sexual relationship with Tory Foster, and learns that he is a Cylon. Some Nagging Questions What's the deal with the superlong hiatus between seasons? It certainly wasn't Ronald Moore's idea. When asked about the hiatus at the recent Season Four press conference, he said, sarcastically: "Like we wanted that." According to the Sci Fi channel's executive vice president of original programming, Mark Stern, the lengthy delay between seasons was due to "economics and scheduling." But get ready for another potentially long wait. Although the show has completed filming on the first half of the fourth season, the second half is likely to be delayed -- probably by several months -- because of the fallout from the writers' strike. So, are Anders, Tigh, Tory and Tyrol really Cylons? Apparently, yes. As Moore explains in the season finale podcast, it was his idea to out four "Battlestar" characters as Cylons in the finale. Once that decision was made, he and the writers narrowed down contenders. Ultimately, the four were chosen for their plausible back stories and dramatic impact: Anders survived for an extended period of time on Caprica under Cylon occupation; Tyrol had a long-standing love affair with a Cylon; and nobody knows anything about Tory -- besides her fondness for pantsuits -- making her history easy to fabricate. As for Tigh, Moore admits that his will be the hardest back story to explain. Tigh has known Adama for decades, and fought in the original Cylon war. He's a drunk, hates the Cylons more than anything else and was a principal figure in the anti-Cylon insurgency. But why didn't the other Cylons recognize any of the "Final Five"? For reasons that are not entirely clear, the seven other humanoid Cylon models don't know the identity of the "Final Five." In fact, during the third season, the Number Three model of Cylon (Lucy Lawless) is permanently "boxed" because of her persistent desire to discover their identity. Moore has made it clear that these four Cylons will be unlike those previously shown on the show. As he points out in his commentary, "They're a different kind of Cylon and ... these rules that we've painstakingly established for the other Cylons need not necessarily apply to [them]." According to Moore and the cast's comments at the recent press conference, Anders, Tyrol, Tory and Tigh won't have an immediate agenda. They'll be faced with the knowledge of their Cylon-ness, but no real understanding of what that means. Why, in God's name, were they singing Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" in the season finale? Because Ron Moore really likes that song. In his podcast, he says that he has wanted to use that song in a television show since his days working on "Roswell." It seems like a pretty arbitrary choice, since, parsing the lyrics ("There must be some way out of here/ Said the Joker to the Thief/ There's too much confusion/ I can't get no relief"), there isn't much overlap with the show's content. The song, however, is meant to remind viewers that "Battlestar Galactica" takes place in a world that parallels our own. The song played on the show isn't the Jimi Hendrix or the Bob Dylan version, but an original "Battlestar-ized" cover -- performed by, among others, the guitarist from Oingo Boingo. As the show's composer Bear McCreary put it on his blog, it's not that Bob Dylan exists in the world of "Battlestar," but that the idea of Bob Dylan does. In fact, the show seems to be building on its earthly parallels as the fourth season approaches. The first line from the 1953 animated version of "Peter Pan" -- "All of this has happened before and it will all happen again" -- for example, has frequently been quoted during the last season. Is Starbuck really alive? Yes. And if the trailer for the upcoming season is anything to go by, she'll be acting sassy. What gives? Based on Sackhoff's comments at the press conference, the reasons for Starbuck's resurrection won't be revealed until well into the fourth season and, according to Moore's "Crossroads, Part II" podcast, although her "death didn't have meaning ... the resurrection of Kara does." The show has singled out Starbuck as a character of particular significance for the coming episodes. "Maelstrom," the episode in which her Viper explodes, suggests that she has a "special destiny" that distinguishes her from the other characters on the show. In that episode, a figure in a dream sequence that looks like Leoben, but apparently isn't, claims that she will "discover what hovers in the space between life and death," and in "Razor," the hybrid warns Kendra Shaw that Starbuck will lead the human race to its end. So who's the final Cylon? Ronald Moore has promised he'll reveal the identity of the final Cylon before the end of the series. But here's what we know so far: -- The final Cylon is familiar to Number Three. She recognizes it during her vision in the Temple of Jupiter. She says "You ... forgive me ... I had no idea ..." and tells Baltar that he was "right," before collapsing. -- In the extended cut of "Razor," the hybrid claims that the "fifth [Cylon], still in shadow, will claw toward the light, hungering for redemption that will only come in the howl of terrible suffering." -- In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Moore claims that the final Cylon is not on display in the promotional poster for the fourth season. Since the poster contains almost every major character in the "Galactica" universe, including Starbuck, Adama, Apollo and Roslin, this leaves us with either an as-yet-unknown Cylon character or a supporting character Cylon -- or Moore was leading us on. What's this all this confusing religious stuff? The religious themes on the show have become increasingly prominent over the past three seasons. Oddly enough, the creator of the original "Battlestar Galactica," Glen Larson, was a devout Mormon, and both the original and the reimagined series are a thinly veiled retelling of the Book of Mormon. In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Lehi manages to escape the destruction of Jerusalem and guide a small group of survivors to America. It's also worth nothing that the name Kobol is a slight derivation from Kolob, the dwelling place of God in Mormonism, and the Quorum of Twelve, one of "Battlestar's" governing bodies, shares a name with a governing council of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The reimagined version of the show also incorporates a diversity of religious themes. The Cylons and humans have a different set of rather complicated religious beliefs. Like the Judeo-Christian faiths, their religions overlap at key junctures, and the series is filled with references to human religions ranging from the Norse ("Ragnar") to the Roman ("Athena"), Greek ("Pegasus") and Christian ("Cain"). The Cylons, unlike the humans, are monotheistic and believe in "one true God." Humanity, in their view, has forsaken God and, thus, sinned. So God directed humanity to create the Cylons. In order to please their God, the Cylons then murdered their creators. The humans are polytheistic (with a number of gods seemingly derived from, or connected to, Greek and Roman mythology). In the universe of the series, the Lords of Kobol existed on the planet Kobol, together with human subjects. When a "jealous God" wanted to be promoted above the others, this led to the dispersal of humans across space and the founding of the Twelve Colonies. Why are the Cylons so intent on finding Earth? According to Moore's podcast for "Torn," the Cylons see Earth as "an objective for themselves and a way for their own redemption." They are looking for the path toward spiritual maturity -- something that their attack on humans hasn't provided them with -- and Earth is part of that search. As Moore points out, the Cylons are a very young culture, and over the course of the series, we've witnessed their evolution from a unified front to one in which individual models have taken on their own differing agendas. Caprica Six, for example, has become an outspoken advocate for cooperation with the humans, Leoben has his own romantic aspirations for Starbuck, and Number Three became suicidal and mildly unhinged. Why are the Cylons so intent on creating a human-Cylon hybrid child? The Cylon religion compels them to "be fruitful" and have children. But since sexual reproduction between Cylons is impossible, the human-Cylon hybrid child is their one hope to fulfill God's will. That's why Hera (Helo and Athena's child) plays such an important role in the show. The child is, according to Number Six, part of a "new generation of God's children." But if Tyrol is a Cylon and his wife is human, isn't their child also a hybrid? Yep. That seems to be the case, and Moore has indicated that the child will play a role in the fourth season. |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||