Galactica 9/11

Spoilers ho!

I wasn't sure what to expect of the Battlestar Galactica remake that's currently showing on Sky over here. I have vaguely fond recollections of the original series, but looking at it now it seems to have fallen into the trap that awaits most science fiction on film and television, in that it will forever be tied to the era in which in was birthed, in all it's brightly hued 70's glory. Admittedly It's a difficult snare to avoid when it comes to science fiction, and consequently much of the genre it dates quite badly. There are notable exceptions of course, the easiest and perhaps most notable example to cite being Star Wars. That film may not be completely immune to the ravages of age, but it nevertheless embodied a timelessness which I've always suspected is one reason behind it's enduring popularity. Galactica, on the other hand, never quite managed to escape the 70's. As I said, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect for this odd new series, but I'm fairly sure I wasn't expecting it to be good. I was wrong.

In the parlance of the times, Galactica isn't a remake of the original, so much as re-envisioning. It keeps the basic premise, and more surprisingly the characters, but the end result is something wholly different. Back to the premise for a moment:

The colonies of mankind, spread across twelve different worlds were once attacked by their robotic creations, the Cylons. The resulting war was long and bitter, but eventually ended in a truce, and the Cylons departed, their whereabouts unknown for over 40 years. In the intervening time humanity became complacent, and set about dismantling their weapons of war. The last of the great battlestars, Galactica, is an ancient relic heading home on it's final mission, there to be turned into a museum. Without warning the Cylons attack again, with vastly improved technology, and overwhelming numbers. The colonies are obliterated instantaneously and the handful of survivors, led by the Galactica, are left facing an enemy whose motives are unknown, and who they cannot hope to overcome. There are fewer than 50,000 humans left. And their numbers are falling.

This is Galactica for the post 9/11 generation. It's dark and bleak, and uncompromisingly earnest - traits which I'll admit could get old quite fast. Then again, this is familiar territory for Ronald D. Moore, the man primarily responsible for this new series. Moore was the showrunner on Deep Space 9, which to my mind is arguably the best the of all the Trek series, and both DS9 and the new Galactica share much in common - the latter half of DS9 dealt with a war, in which the Federation found itself under attack from a superior enemy. However, if this is familiar territory for Moore, he manages to cover the similar ground with even more intensity. The first episode picks up immediately after the mini-series which served as the pilot for the new Galactica. It begins with a clock being reset, and the swiftly flowing narrative quickly divulges that the remainder of the fleet has been on the run from the Cylons since the colonies were attacked. Each time the fleet makes a hyperspace jump to escape, the Cylons invariably follow exactly thirty three minutes later. They've made over 260 jumps in row, the crew are exhausted, and mistakes are starting to be made. It's a brilliant conceit which not only sets the tone for the series, but immediately creates a palpable sense of tension and urgency.

It's almost a shame they decided to retain the characters names, since, regardless of it's faults, the original Galactica did contain a roster of memorable characters, chief amongst them Lorne Greene's Adama, and Dirk Benedict's Starbuck. Although the characters remain, they are entirely different. Adama is grizzled veteran of war, all but alienated from his son and who conjures their destination of Earth from myth, to give people a reason to go despite not believing it's existence himself. Starbuck, whose personality ironically is perhaps closest to the original, is now a woman, although this isn't as gratuitous a change as you might believe. Regardless, they could easily have been interpreted as entirely new characters, and I don't believe much was gained by going down this route. Certainly I still can't help but envision Dirk Benedict's grin when I hear Starbuck's name mentioned. I also remain unconvinced by the new Apollo, who looks as though he should be part of boy-band somewhere rather than serving as one of humanity's last hopes. But it's early days yet, and amidst the tightly plotted story unfolding, few characters have had enough time to be fully sketched yet. Of those that have, perhaps the most interesting is Baltar, now deceived into becoming humanity's betrayer by a suspiciously human looking Cylon agent. He's a wonderfully duplicitous character, engaging despite his obvious flaws, and his relationship the Cylons is an intriguing unknown, even to himself. Hopefully the remaining characters will be fleshed out in time, although, however much I liked DS9, I'd have to admit that characterisation wasn't always it's strongest suite, especially compared to it's older siblings.

It's not a perfect show, and it could still all go pear shaped, but what's there is good, and I've been impressed with what I've seen so far. It's tightly plotted, intelligently written and the production values are uniformly excellent. It's enough to keep me tuning in week after week, which is as much recommendation as I can give about anything.