Battlestar Galactica Seasons 4.0, 4.5, and The Plan Reviews (Spoilers)
Also reposting.
Battlestar Galactica Season 4.0
I've got to say that this season didn't live up to the hype. The movie Razor in particular was bad and I think the overhyoed mid-season finale was SUCH a disappointment that I'm miffed that they sold it as the most mind-blowing twist ever. I like Baltar's evolution in the first part of the season and seeing the Cylon Civil War was pretty sweet too. And it's about time Lucy Lawless came back as Deanna.
Last season had the major twist at the end of Tigh, Tyrell, Anders and Tory being revealed as Cylons and it's nicely followed up on by showing that they are for the most part (with the exception of Tory) the same characters and still loyal to the Fleet. Making Tigh a Cylon in particular was a questionable decision last year so it's nice (and rewarding) that doing so only made his character richer and gave the talented Micheal Hogan even more angst to play.
Best episodes of the season are Guess What's Coming To Dinner, The Hub, and Revelations. Worst episodes are Razor, The Ties That Bind and Escape Velocity. Half-Season Overall: ****.
Battlestar Galactica: Razor:
Broadcast version:
HUGE disappointment. Admiral Cain is my least favorite character EVER and it's quite galling that the producers of BSG liked her character so much they designed an entire movie around her. EXTREMELY unpleasant to watch as we see the indefensible actions she took on the Pegasus in play on-screen and they are just as horrific when you see them. You know, I MIGHT have been able to live with this movie had they not had Lee and Adama at the end saying that Cain made tough decisions but they may not have been the wrong ones. Bullpoop. Cain is a monster and nothing justifies the garbage she pulled. I notice that for all her calls for sacrifice from the crew that SHE never had to sacrifice anything. Murdering people for the greater good and expecting her crew to accept that is fine as long as she personally doesn't have to give up anything. She's a monster and a coward. The very definition of a chickenhawk. If you actually HAD to do the things she did to "survive" then maybe the Cylons are right and humanity isn't worth saving.
I also "loved" how they centered the movie around a character who was SO unimportant she wasn't even MENTIONED on the series even though she was Lee's first Ex-O. Retcon much? Were we supposed to be impressed that she sacrificed herself for the crew after she shot a young girl in the face?
The flashbacks were confusing too. I oftentimes couldn't get straight which time-period we were actually in. Lost handles flashbacks much better.
Any things I liked about the movie? Yes, the flashbacks to Adama's youth at the Cylon base at the end of the first war kicked butt. I loved every second of that mission and wish they had spent more time there. The two and a half stars I give the movie is soley for that brief part. The rest of the movie sucked. **1/2.
Razor: Unrated and Extended Version:
Oooh, more blood and guts and more reasons to hate Cain (she left her sister to die; are we supposed to think she is less of a monster for having guilt issues?). Color me unimpressed. On the plus side we got even more of Adama's mission. **1/2.
Razor Minisodes:
I loved this. We got to see Adama's WHOLE mission as a kid without having to actually see the rest of the movie. Normally I'd complain that most of these episodes are actually IN the extended version but honestly, being able to see the whole mission in a cool framing structure wthout being in a movie that sucks is gratifying. ****1/2.
Deleted Scenes: Razor: This were kind of interesting but since they didn't really tie into the main plot I could see why they were cut. ***.
Season 4 Trailer: Pretty neat. ****.
Razor DVD Menus: Pretty cool and easy to navigate. ***1/2.
Season 4.0 Episodes:
He That Believeth in Me: Decent premiere that doesn't quite match the promise of season three's finale. I feel that the series is spinning it's wheels somewhat until Revelations. Baltar's hippie commune subplot is quite enjoyable however. ***1/2.
Six of One: I am officially sick to death of Starbuck. This episode is boneheaded for taking the best twist of the fourth season (the Cylon Civil War) and relegating it to a B plot. We don't actually SEE all that much warring. What is this, The X-Files? ***.
The Ties That Bind: I hated this one just because Cally deserved a better fate and I find Tory completely insufferable. *.
Escape Velocity: Great Baltar stuff, REALLY poor Chief Tyrol and Adama stuff. It's like the series WANTS me to hate every single character I've previously liked. **.
The Road Less Traveled: Picking up a bit but that's probably because the creepy Leoben rocks so hard. And yeah, I would have mutinied too. Kara acts extra banana and pickle sandwiches crazy and pushes everyone away and is actually SUPRISED that people don't trust her. ***.
Faith: Deep Space Nine's Nana Visitor! And she's made up to look REALLY horribly sick! I could take or leave the Roslin stuff but the stuff on the Cylon Base ship kicked butt. ***1/2.
Guess What's Coming to Dinner: In which anything that CAN go wrong WILL go wrong. Sharon picks the EXACT wrong moment to go nuts (I KNOW it's Caprica Six and NOT Natalie who will eventually try to take Hera, who by the way, is an excellent, if exceedingly creepy artist of numbers and blondes). Felix was great this episode too and I loved the cliffhanger. ****.
Sine Qua Non: Romo Lampkin is EASILY my favorite character on the show (Mark Sheppard is just SO awesome in everything he does) and I completely understood why he wanted to shoot Lee. Lee was REALLY quite manipulative this episode and I love that Lampkin was the one who saw through his b.s. pretenses. ***1/2.
The Hub: Deanna's back! About frakkin' time! Loved her and Laura's talk at the end and the fake-out of Laura being one of the Final Five. Hilarious. And who didn't get the sniffles when Laura admitted she loved Adama and his Han Soloish reply? I REALLY hope they didn't kill off Cavil and Boomer for good though. ****1/2.
Revelations: I liked everything about this episode and the thing I could take or leave (the cliffhanger) was a disappointment simply because the media built it up as the most shocking twist ever when in reality it was simply one of MANY possible scenarios I and other fans of the show had theorized about and not a REAL surprise. I love Tigh's plan to have himself (and Tyrol and Anders) thrown out of an airlock to stop the stand-off because he is loyal to humanity and the Fleet one hundred percent over the Cylons. The fact that he is STILL a good man was a relief after what Tory put us through in episode three. But as we've gotten to know Tory this season she's seemed like an extreme sociopath while Anders, Tyrol, and Tigh have always had it pretty together. Pretty smart of the show to make us worry about the other three after we realized Tory was evil. ****.
Deleted Scenes: He That Believeth in Me: These were pretty good (I LOVED Kara's talk with Sharon) but they should have included the special effects shot featuring Anders and the Cylon Raider that Ronald D. Moore talked about in his Podcast for the episode. ****.
Deleted Scenes: Six of One: The Kara in jail stuff was tiresome but I was really intruiged by Boomer trying to smooth things over with the Six, Leoben, and an Eight. VERY interesting. ***1/2.
Deleted Scene: The Ties That Bind: VERY unsettling scene of the Chief contemplating killing Cally. ***.
Deleted Scene: Escape Velocity: This extended scene featuring Tigh, Tory and Tyrol in the Chief's quarters was very interesting since Tory is so loathsome and Tigh keeps looking at her and Galen in horror. ****1/2.
Deleted Scenes: The Road Less Travelled: Love the scene between Sharon and Helo but it's the cut scene of Head Six leaving Baltar that dropped my jaw. In Farscape Harvey leaving John Crichton was a mixed blessing but this could have completely screwed up a great dynamic on this show ESPECIALLY since Baltar and Caprica Six haven't had any scenes together this season. Weird and a REALLY good idea to delete this scene. ****.
Deleted Scenes: Faith: I didn't really find the scenes between Helo and Athena or Adama and Roslin all that interesting. **1/2.
Deleted Scenes: Guess What's Coming to Dinner: I didn't care for the extended scene between Baltar and Tory but I REALLY liked the scene between Kara, Helo, Athena and Adama and wish they hadn't cut it. ***1/2.
Deleted Scenes: Sine Qua Non: I REALLY loved the scenes of Lampkin trying to undermine Lee (who scoffs at an actor for President) and the extended scene between Adama and Tigh was great too. ****1/2.
Deleted Scenes: The Hub: Some REALLY great ones in here. I especially loved seeing Deanna play mind-games with Helo while catastrophe is raining down on all of them. *****.
Deleted Scenes: Revelations: Some keepers here including Dualla giving Tigh the idea to sacrifice himself and the revelation that it was TORY who first suggested the Cylons kill the hostages. ****1/2.
Battlestar Galactica Season 4.5 Trailer: NO idea what is going on in this trailer but now I REALLY wanna find out. ****.
Caprica Sneak Peek: I hate prequels but this looks sort of interesting. Still, we'll have to see how the original series ends before I commit to investing myself in another series. ***1/2.
Season 4.0 DVD Menus: I liked the still pictures of the cast on the screen. ****.
Battlestar Galactica Season 4.5
There's no getting around it. The last half of Battlestar Galactica's finale season is pretty much a disappointment. There's some nice stuff and the ending is good enough but I was hoping for more.
All that said the ending we got was pretty dang definitive which is a rarity in a science fiction franchise. Frankly is was SO definitive I don't really see the point in the prequel spin-off Caprica. Maybe The Plan will be cool (seeing stuff from the Cylons' point of view) but I find Caprica so uninteresting because I already know how things will shake out.
I admit I teared up during the final episode more than once. The endings for almost all of the characters were so sad. I didn't see the need for Adama and Tyrol to end up hermits and the idea that Lee will never see his father again will never sit right with me. About the only thing about the sad ending that I REALLY approved of was Laura Roslin's death. It was a long time coming and needed to bring us closure. It ripped my heart in half and was really well done.
Best episodes of this batch of episodes are the two-parter The Oath/ Blood On The Scales. There aren't really any outright bad episodes but I wish the last batch had been better. Half Season Overall: ***1/2.
Sometimes A Great Notion: This was WAAAAYYYY too depressing for my tastes. With Dee dead there are no black characters left on the show and that kind of stinks (well maybe Skulls but he too was killed off in the last episode). I liked the Kara and Leoben stuff but other than that the episode is a somewhat well put together misfire. Cool revelation of Ellen as the final Cylon though. ***.
A Disquiet Follows My Soul: I found this episode a bit shocking because Felix Gaeta has always been portrayed as virtuous but his descent into villainy for this and the next two episodes is completely believable. I also have to say if this mutiny HADN'T taken place I'm pretty sure everyone would have been better off in the final episode. A Quorom could have been set up on Earth and I doubt everyone would have been so averse to having SOME form of technology. ***1/2.
The Oath: This first part (and the second) were the last great episodes the series did. Tom Zarek was blood-chilling here. You always knew he was somewhat of a bad guy but you never realized just how evil he was. Whereas Gaeta led the mutiny because he believed it was the right thing to do I think Tom suckered him into it to consolidate his power. *****.
Blood On The Scales: Tom having the entire Quorom murdered was one of the darkest things this show ever did. The resolution was absolutely fantastic and Laura's "I'M COMING FOR YOOOOUUUUU!" will be remembered as one of the most iconic lines of the series. Also great to see Romo Lambkin (Mark Shepard) again and his character was utilized completely right. *****.
No Exit: LOTS of information here both told by Sam Anders and shown by Ellen Tigh being ressurrected on the Cylon Baseship. It was great to see the prologue ("The Cylons were created by Man") one last time especially since they lengthened and updated it. Cool episode. ****.
Deadlock: This episode was well-done but I hate it for what it did to Tigh and Caprica's baby. It also tore them apart. Ellen is contemptible this episode and is a big part of the reason I never warmed to the reformed Cylon version of her character. I love Tyrol outing Boomer though. ***.
Someone To Watch Over Me: Admittedly the ending of this episode is fantastic (Tyrol freeing Boomer, Boomer tricking Helo into sleeping with her, Boomer kidnapping Hera and the revelation of All Along the Watchtower being revealed to the Final Four) but I wasn't thrilled with the framing structure of Starbuck with the piano player who was actually her father. Still, gotta admit the low-key setting just made the epic ending that much more unexpected and rewarding. ****.
Islanded In A Stream Of Stars: NOTHING happens this episode. A HUGE miscalculation to put this right before the finale. Maybe they were going for "The calm before the storm" but series finales should always be built up to, not hinted at. Buffy The Vampire Slayer did a similar thing in it's last season but it's last five episodes managed to acquit themselves. On this show, not so much. **1/2.
Daybreak: Part 1: Similarly the flashbacks on Caprica held zero interest for me and the first part of the finale seemed dominated with them. They were spaced out more evenly in the last two parts but here you kept wanting them to get back to the action in the present. ***1/2.
Daybreak: Parts 2 & 3: A huge, satisfying, draining, sad, and exciting series finale. It did a few things wrong (Cavil's suicide, no goodbye between Tigh and Adama) but overall I'm satisfied. They managed to give good answers to both All Along The Watchtower and The Opera House so it's fine by me. The special effects were off the hook in Part 2 so it makes the lengthy, talky part three seem less exciting than it should. Tyrol killing Tory was absolutely cathardic (and justified) and I love that it made the Cylon truce completely fall apart. Loved Romo Lambkin being made President of the colonies (however briefly) and the final shot of Head Baltar and Head Six on modern day Earth (along with a cameo from Ronald D. Moore) was pretty sweet too. ****.
A Disquiet Follows My Soul - Unaired Extended Episode: I like this version of the episode a lot. Most extended episodes of this show feel padded and overlong but this held my interest the entire way through. I especially liked the extended Baltar stuff and Baltar calmly smoking a cigarette while his followers delve into mayhem during the Chief and Hot Dog's brawl. ****.
Islanded In A Stream Of Star - Unaired Extended Episode: This expanded episode was pretty great and I think it added a lot to the actual episode (which I didn't think was so hot) including a better ending. I loved the scene between Tyrol and Athena too. ****.
Daybreak: Unaired Extended Episode: You know, for all of the finale's faults I REALLY like this version of it which plays like a movie rather than a TV episode. It was great to get a cameo from Nikki Clyne as Callie one last time and I liked all of the extended beats including closer looks at Boomer's first days on Galactica with both the Chief and Helo. And I appreciate that the end credits which had been ZOOMING by near the end of the series were given a proper length and speed in which to read them. A fine presentation of an episode I've always liked, if not loved. *****.
Deleted Scenes: Sometimes A Great Notion: I think the scene of Tigh pining over Ellen would have given the game away too early but I loved Baltar trying to get his flock to accept Caprica Six especially since Athena and Helo stood up for her. ****.
Deleted Scenes: The Oath: My favorite scene was Starbuck getting pumped to get back into battle. Sometimes I hate her, but sometimes she rocks! ****.
Deleted Scenes: Blood On The Scales: The confrontation between Laura and Baltar was great and the close-up of the execution of the Quorom was brutal. ****1/2.
Deleted Scenes: No Exit: A LOT of cool stuff here. The stuff between Cavil and Ellen was fascinating, as was Tory trying to connect with Galen (unsuccessfully) while musing about Ellen's ultimate fate. Unfortunately I can't give a perfect grade for all of the scenes for two simple reasons: 1. The scene between Lee and Laura didn't wow me. 2. I was REALLY hoping Ellen's monologue to Sharon about "breaking the fourth wall" as described by Ronald D. Moore in his podcast had been included. ****.
Deleted Scenes: Deadlock: Fantastic collection of deleted scenes for this episode. These detail Galactica literally falling apart on the outside AND the inside, Ellen confronting Saul about his poisoning of her and the Cylons asking Adama, Apollo and Roslin for some privacy for the reunion of the Final Five. *****.
Deleted Scenes: Someone To Watch Over Me: I liked the scene between Laura and Adama and the post-coital between Helo and Boomer was NASTY! ****.
Deleted Scenes: Daybreak: They saved the best scenes for the last episode. My favorites here are the first two. The first one involves Cavil dumping Tory off on a train for her new human life (which raises a few questions) and a non-descript woman telling Boomer that her entire family has been killed (which just raises even more). *****.
Evolution Of A Cue: Overlong, somewhat interesting, somewhat boring look at Bear McCreary and the scoring process. ***1/2.
What The Frak Is Going On With Battlestar Galactica?: This is similar to "Lost In 8:15" but considering the heavier nature of BSG the narrator's attempts at humor fell flat. ***.
...And They Have A Plan: A Behind the scenes featurette for the upcoming Syfy movie Battlestar Galactica: The Plan. This looks SO good and seems like it's gonna answer a lot of questions. I especially like the idea that after seeing it you will feel the need to watch the entire series again through new eyes. Awesome. *****.
The Journey Ends, The Arrival: A featurette detailing the VERY definitive ending of the show and the fact that the cast and crew each loved their roles on this show and considered it a once in a lifetime opportunity. ****.
David Eick's Video Blogs:
Not as great as years' past probably because there aren't really any outright planned funny ones. Still, pretty good. Overall: ***1/2.
No Retreat, No Surrender: This is about the annual writers retreat. ***.
The Hatch: A tribute to Richard Hatch and his legendary status in the franchise. ****.
The Fifth Is Among Us: Speculation of the Fifth Final Cylon is too cute by half. **1/2.
Action Please: A look at Ronald D. Moores's directing debut. LOVED Edward James Olmos bragging about his pockets. ***1/2.
Hanging In The Background: Some background on the extras. ***1/2.
Some Guy Named Colin, Part 2: Boring. *1/2.
A Cylon 'Til The End: Interviews with various Cylons and actor speculation about their upcoming character acrs. Neat. ****.
Inserts, Action & FX: This deals with practical effects rather than CGI effects. ***.
Documenting Battlestar Galactica: This looks at the documentary style of the show. **.
Life On A Cylon Battleship: This looks at the Cylon Bible! I need to read this! Now! ****1/2.
Favorite Battlestar Galactica Moment: The cast and Ronald D. Moore all look back on their best scenes. ****.
A Look Back:
These are interviews with the cast and crew of Battlestar Galactica looking back on the themes and cool stuff the show explored. Overall: ****.
So Say We All: Interviews detailing how awesome Ronald D. Moore and David Eick are. ****.
Manifesto Destiny: Basically the pitch of the show to the networks accidentally got sent to the actors and that's why so many accomplished performers like Edward James Olmos signed up. ****.
Battle-Style Galactica: I found it interesting the collaborative nature of the show allowed a lot more improvisation from both the actors and directers than is common for television. ***1/2.
Martyr To A Cause: This details Richard Hatch's (and the Original Series' fans') objections to the idea of a remake and how Hatch finally changed his mind. You know, I personally don't think it's too late for Hatch's idea of a continuation of the old show to come to fruition. The franchise is more popular than ever now, a movie is coming, and the reboot (with the exception of Caprica and The Plan) is pretty much off the air. I think people would be MUCH more receptive to a continuation. ****1/2.
The Sins Of The Forgiven: This details the religious themes in the series. Ronald D. Moore is right that the idea of robots with religious beliefs is fascinating and I think the series completely pulled it off. ****.
Battlestar Revelations: This is about the hoops the producers made the oftentime leery actors jump through with their wacky plot twists. I particularly liked the story of the joker producer who shrunk the air-ducts Aaron Douglas would have to crawl through in "Blood On The Scales" as a practical joke. Not funny, dude, and yet it is! ****1/2.
Easter Egg (Disc 1): A composite of an Editor's Temporary Score, a Composer's Synth Sketch and the Completed Score during the scene of Laura running through the corridors on Galactica during A Disquiet Follows My Soul. Neat. ****1/2.
Caprica Trailer: Makes the Pilot sound better than it actually is. ***1/2.
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan Trailer: Awesome! This makes me psyched to see it this fall! *****.
Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series Trailer: Pretty spiffy and sums up the entire series pretty well. *****.
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
Color me unimpressed. For a movie that supposedly was going to make me want to rewatch the series with fresh eyes this was surprisingly weak with the revelations. Who DIDN'T guess that it was Cavil Caprica Six was talking to in the miniseries off-camera? Nobody that's who. And it was completely obvious Cavil was going to murder that kid. It was only a question of when.
The Cylon's ultimate "Plan" didn't actually make much sense. In fact, the extermination of the human race was ALWAYS "the plan" on the series so this wasn't anywhere NEAR as satisfying as I had hoped.
I like titilation as much as the next guy but parts of this miniseries bordered on soft-core porn. Not that there's anything wrong with that but that isn't why I watch this series.
Interesting to learn exactly how Boomer as a "sleeper" agent worked and to find out she had moments of lucidity where she got counseled by Cavil.
Where was Lucy Lawless as Deanna? For a movie based entirely on the Cylon point of view her absense was glaring. Outside of a 2 second stock footage moment she was completely absent from the procedings. Inexcusable.
This was supposed to tie up some loose ends and it really didn't. About the only revelation I was impressed with was the Caprica Cavil growing a conscience and actually supporting the cease-fire. We already knew that happened but it didn't make any sense given what we learned about Cavil in the fourth season. Other than that all of the stuff that was shown was pretty much stuff we could have guessed.
I think the movie used waaaaayyy too much footage from the actual series and a lot of it seemed like a clip show rather than an original movie.
Good things? I was shocked that Simon of all characters was actually given some sympathetic character development especially considering that his model was on the bad side of the Cylon Civil War in year four. That was pretty cool, if not a super important game changer.
I've got to say, I expected more and the movie delivered less. LOVED the remix of the theme song in the end credits though. Movie overall: **1/2.
Deleted Scenes: I wasn't really feeling these (did we REALLY need to see an entire game of pyramid or more nekkid ladies?) until we got to the end of Cavil trying to broker a "peace" with Boomer and Caprica Six and the Resistance with disastrous results. It wasn't really needed in the movie but including it would have made my jaw drop (the Centurions were never animated here). It could have been awesome. ***1/2.
From Admiral To Director: Edward James Olmos & The Plan: Nice little featurette on Olmos' directing job and the celebration of the end of the series. ***1/2.
The Cylons Of The Plan: This delves deeper into Cavil and Simon's story arcs but I think the idea that this movie answers most of our questions is bogus. I expect Caprica to pick up some of the slack here but this movie either answered stuff we could have guessed or stuff we didn't care about. ***1/2.
The Cylon Attack: Gotta admit this stunt was pretty elaborate and you barely notice it in the movie. That's the mark of a good stunt. ***1/2.
Visual Effects: The Magic Behind The Plan: Thorough. The part I found most interesting at the beginning was Jane Espensen's frank admission that she isn't a very good visual writer. For a sci-fi / fantasy person to admit that on camera is a VERY gutsy thing and the movie was better for her being able to recognize what was and wasn't her strong suit. ****.
Easter Egg: I'm not positve since I've never seen it but I believe this Edward James Olmos narrated sequence is straight outta the original series. Cool! ****1/2.
DVD Menu: Nice use of the theme remix on the main menu. ****.
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan Trailer. Short but sweet. Found on the Heroes Season 4 set. ****.
Battlestar Galactica Season 4.0
I've got to say that this season didn't live up to the hype. The movie Razor in particular was bad and I think the overhyoed mid-season finale was SUCH a disappointment that I'm miffed that they sold it as the most mind-blowing twist ever. I like Baltar's evolution in the first part of the season and seeing the Cylon Civil War was pretty sweet too. And it's about time Lucy Lawless came back as Deanna.
Last season had the major twist at the end of Tigh, Tyrell, Anders and Tory being revealed as Cylons and it's nicely followed up on by showing that they are for the most part (with the exception of Tory) the same characters and still loyal to the Fleet. Making Tigh a Cylon in particular was a questionable decision last year so it's nice (and rewarding) that doing so only made his character richer and gave the talented Micheal Hogan even more angst to play.
Best episodes of the season are Guess What's Coming To Dinner, The Hub, and Revelations. Worst episodes are Razor, The Ties That Bind and Escape Velocity. Half-Season Overall: ****.
Battlestar Galactica: Razor:
Broadcast version:
HUGE disappointment. Admiral Cain is my least favorite character EVER and it's quite galling that the producers of BSG liked her character so much they designed an entire movie around her. EXTREMELY unpleasant to watch as we see the indefensible actions she took on the Pegasus in play on-screen and they are just as horrific when you see them. You know, I MIGHT have been able to live with this movie had they not had Lee and Adama at the end saying that Cain made tough decisions but they may not have been the wrong ones. Bullpoop. Cain is a monster and nothing justifies the garbage she pulled. I notice that for all her calls for sacrifice from the crew that SHE never had to sacrifice anything. Murdering people for the greater good and expecting her crew to accept that is fine as long as she personally doesn't have to give up anything. She's a monster and a coward. The very definition of a chickenhawk. If you actually HAD to do the things she did to "survive" then maybe the Cylons are right and humanity isn't worth saving.
I also "loved" how they centered the movie around a character who was SO unimportant she wasn't even MENTIONED on the series even though she was Lee's first Ex-O. Retcon much? Were we supposed to be impressed that she sacrificed herself for the crew after she shot a young girl in the face?
The flashbacks were confusing too. I oftentimes couldn't get straight which time-period we were actually in. Lost handles flashbacks much better.
Any things I liked about the movie? Yes, the flashbacks to Adama's youth at the Cylon base at the end of the first war kicked butt. I loved every second of that mission and wish they had spent more time there. The two and a half stars I give the movie is soley for that brief part. The rest of the movie sucked. **1/2.
Razor: Unrated and Extended Version:
Oooh, more blood and guts and more reasons to hate Cain (she left her sister to die; are we supposed to think she is less of a monster for having guilt issues?). Color me unimpressed. On the plus side we got even more of Adama's mission. **1/2.
Razor Minisodes:
I loved this. We got to see Adama's WHOLE mission as a kid without having to actually see the rest of the movie. Normally I'd complain that most of these episodes are actually IN the extended version but honestly, being able to see the whole mission in a cool framing structure wthout being in a movie that sucks is gratifying. ****1/2.
Deleted Scenes: Razor: This were kind of interesting but since they didn't really tie into the main plot I could see why they were cut. ***.
Season 4 Trailer: Pretty neat. ****.
Razor DVD Menus: Pretty cool and easy to navigate. ***1/2.
Season 4.0 Episodes:
He That Believeth in Me: Decent premiere that doesn't quite match the promise of season three's finale. I feel that the series is spinning it's wheels somewhat until Revelations. Baltar's hippie commune subplot is quite enjoyable however. ***1/2.
Six of One: I am officially sick to death of Starbuck. This episode is boneheaded for taking the best twist of the fourth season (the Cylon Civil War) and relegating it to a B plot. We don't actually SEE all that much warring. What is this, The X-Files? ***.
The Ties That Bind: I hated this one just because Cally deserved a better fate and I find Tory completely insufferable. *.
Escape Velocity: Great Baltar stuff, REALLY poor Chief Tyrol and Adama stuff. It's like the series WANTS me to hate every single character I've previously liked. **.
The Road Less Traveled: Picking up a bit but that's probably because the creepy Leoben rocks so hard. And yeah, I would have mutinied too. Kara acts extra banana and pickle sandwiches crazy and pushes everyone away and is actually SUPRISED that people don't trust her. ***.
Faith: Deep Space Nine's Nana Visitor! And she's made up to look REALLY horribly sick! I could take or leave the Roslin stuff but the stuff on the Cylon Base ship kicked butt. ***1/2.
Guess What's Coming to Dinner: In which anything that CAN go wrong WILL go wrong. Sharon picks the EXACT wrong moment to go nuts (I KNOW it's Caprica Six and NOT Natalie who will eventually try to take Hera, who by the way, is an excellent, if exceedingly creepy artist of numbers and blondes). Felix was great this episode too and I loved the cliffhanger. ****.
Sine Qua Non: Romo Lampkin is EASILY my favorite character on the show (Mark Sheppard is just SO awesome in everything he does) and I completely understood why he wanted to shoot Lee. Lee was REALLY quite manipulative this episode and I love that Lampkin was the one who saw through his b.s. pretenses. ***1/2.
The Hub: Deanna's back! About frakkin' time! Loved her and Laura's talk at the end and the fake-out of Laura being one of the Final Five. Hilarious. And who didn't get the sniffles when Laura admitted she loved Adama and his Han Soloish reply? I REALLY hope they didn't kill off Cavil and Boomer for good though. ****1/2.
Revelations: I liked everything about this episode and the thing I could take or leave (the cliffhanger) was a disappointment simply because the media built it up as the most shocking twist ever when in reality it was simply one of MANY possible scenarios I and other fans of the show had theorized about and not a REAL surprise. I love Tigh's plan to have himself (and Tyrol and Anders) thrown out of an airlock to stop the stand-off because he is loyal to humanity and the Fleet one hundred percent over the Cylons. The fact that he is STILL a good man was a relief after what Tory put us through in episode three. But as we've gotten to know Tory this season she's seemed like an extreme sociopath while Anders, Tyrol, and Tigh have always had it pretty together. Pretty smart of the show to make us worry about the other three after we realized Tory was evil. ****.
Deleted Scenes: He That Believeth in Me: These were pretty good (I LOVED Kara's talk with Sharon) but they should have included the special effects shot featuring Anders and the Cylon Raider that Ronald D. Moore talked about in his Podcast for the episode. ****.
Deleted Scenes: Six of One: The Kara in jail stuff was tiresome but I was really intruiged by Boomer trying to smooth things over with the Six, Leoben, and an Eight. VERY interesting. ***1/2.
Deleted Scene: The Ties That Bind: VERY unsettling scene of the Chief contemplating killing Cally. ***.
Deleted Scene: Escape Velocity: This extended scene featuring Tigh, Tory and Tyrol in the Chief's quarters was very interesting since Tory is so loathsome and Tigh keeps looking at her and Galen in horror. ****1/2.
Deleted Scenes: The Road Less Travelled: Love the scene between Sharon and Helo but it's the cut scene of Head Six leaving Baltar that dropped my jaw. In Farscape Harvey leaving John Crichton was a mixed blessing but this could have completely screwed up a great dynamic on this show ESPECIALLY since Baltar and Caprica Six haven't had any scenes together this season. Weird and a REALLY good idea to delete this scene. ****.
Deleted Scenes: Faith: I didn't really find the scenes between Helo and Athena or Adama and Roslin all that interesting. **1/2.
Deleted Scenes: Guess What's Coming to Dinner: I didn't care for the extended scene between Baltar and Tory but I REALLY liked the scene between Kara, Helo, Athena and Adama and wish they hadn't cut it. ***1/2.
Deleted Scenes: Sine Qua Non: I REALLY loved the scenes of Lampkin trying to undermine Lee (who scoffs at an actor for President) and the extended scene between Adama and Tigh was great too. ****1/2.
Deleted Scenes: The Hub: Some REALLY great ones in here. I especially loved seeing Deanna play mind-games with Helo while catastrophe is raining down on all of them. *****.
Deleted Scenes: Revelations: Some keepers here including Dualla giving Tigh the idea to sacrifice himself and the revelation that it was TORY who first suggested the Cylons kill the hostages. ****1/2.
Battlestar Galactica Season 4.5 Trailer: NO idea what is going on in this trailer but now I REALLY wanna find out. ****.
Caprica Sneak Peek: I hate prequels but this looks sort of interesting. Still, we'll have to see how the original series ends before I commit to investing myself in another series. ***1/2.
Season 4.0 DVD Menus: I liked the still pictures of the cast on the screen. ****.
Battlestar Galactica Season 4.5
There's no getting around it. The last half of Battlestar Galactica's finale season is pretty much a disappointment. There's some nice stuff and the ending is good enough but I was hoping for more.
All that said the ending we got was pretty dang definitive which is a rarity in a science fiction franchise. Frankly is was SO definitive I don't really see the point in the prequel spin-off Caprica. Maybe The Plan will be cool (seeing stuff from the Cylons' point of view) but I find Caprica so uninteresting because I already know how things will shake out.
I admit I teared up during the final episode more than once. The endings for almost all of the characters were so sad. I didn't see the need for Adama and Tyrol to end up hermits and the idea that Lee will never see his father again will never sit right with me. About the only thing about the sad ending that I REALLY approved of was Laura Roslin's death. It was a long time coming and needed to bring us closure. It ripped my heart in half and was really well done.
Best episodes of this batch of episodes are the two-parter The Oath/ Blood On The Scales. There aren't really any outright bad episodes but I wish the last batch had been better. Half Season Overall: ***1/2.
Sometimes A Great Notion: This was WAAAAYYYY too depressing for my tastes. With Dee dead there are no black characters left on the show and that kind of stinks (well maybe Skulls but he too was killed off in the last episode). I liked the Kara and Leoben stuff but other than that the episode is a somewhat well put together misfire. Cool revelation of Ellen as the final Cylon though. ***.
A Disquiet Follows My Soul: I found this episode a bit shocking because Felix Gaeta has always been portrayed as virtuous but his descent into villainy for this and the next two episodes is completely believable. I also have to say if this mutiny HADN'T taken place I'm pretty sure everyone would have been better off in the final episode. A Quorom could have been set up on Earth and I doubt everyone would have been so averse to having SOME form of technology. ***1/2.
The Oath: This first part (and the second) were the last great episodes the series did. Tom Zarek was blood-chilling here. You always knew he was somewhat of a bad guy but you never realized just how evil he was. Whereas Gaeta led the mutiny because he believed it was the right thing to do I think Tom suckered him into it to consolidate his power. *****.
Blood On The Scales: Tom having the entire Quorom murdered was one of the darkest things this show ever did. The resolution was absolutely fantastic and Laura's "I'M COMING FOR YOOOOUUUUU!" will be remembered as one of the most iconic lines of the series. Also great to see Romo Lambkin (Mark Shepard) again and his character was utilized completely right. *****.
No Exit: LOTS of information here both told by Sam Anders and shown by Ellen Tigh being ressurrected on the Cylon Baseship. It was great to see the prologue ("The Cylons were created by Man") one last time especially since they lengthened and updated it. Cool episode. ****.
Deadlock: This episode was well-done but I hate it for what it did to Tigh and Caprica's baby. It also tore them apart. Ellen is contemptible this episode and is a big part of the reason I never warmed to the reformed Cylon version of her character. I love Tyrol outing Boomer though. ***.
Someone To Watch Over Me: Admittedly the ending of this episode is fantastic (Tyrol freeing Boomer, Boomer tricking Helo into sleeping with her, Boomer kidnapping Hera and the revelation of All Along the Watchtower being revealed to the Final Four) but I wasn't thrilled with the framing structure of Starbuck with the piano player who was actually her father. Still, gotta admit the low-key setting just made the epic ending that much more unexpected and rewarding. ****.
Islanded In A Stream Of Stars: NOTHING happens this episode. A HUGE miscalculation to put this right before the finale. Maybe they were going for "The calm before the storm" but series finales should always be built up to, not hinted at. Buffy The Vampire Slayer did a similar thing in it's last season but it's last five episodes managed to acquit themselves. On this show, not so much. **1/2.
Daybreak: Part 1: Similarly the flashbacks on Caprica held zero interest for me and the first part of the finale seemed dominated with them. They were spaced out more evenly in the last two parts but here you kept wanting them to get back to the action in the present. ***1/2.
Daybreak: Parts 2 & 3: A huge, satisfying, draining, sad, and exciting series finale. It did a few things wrong (Cavil's suicide, no goodbye between Tigh and Adama) but overall I'm satisfied. They managed to give good answers to both All Along The Watchtower and The Opera House so it's fine by me. The special effects were off the hook in Part 2 so it makes the lengthy, talky part three seem less exciting than it should. Tyrol killing Tory was absolutely cathardic (and justified) and I love that it made the Cylon truce completely fall apart. Loved Romo Lambkin being made President of the colonies (however briefly) and the final shot of Head Baltar and Head Six on modern day Earth (along with a cameo from Ronald D. Moore) was pretty sweet too. ****.
A Disquiet Follows My Soul - Unaired Extended Episode: I like this version of the episode a lot. Most extended episodes of this show feel padded and overlong but this held my interest the entire way through. I especially liked the extended Baltar stuff and Baltar calmly smoking a cigarette while his followers delve into mayhem during the Chief and Hot Dog's brawl. ****.
Islanded In A Stream Of Star - Unaired Extended Episode: This expanded episode was pretty great and I think it added a lot to the actual episode (which I didn't think was so hot) including a better ending. I loved the scene between Tyrol and Athena too. ****.
Daybreak: Unaired Extended Episode: You know, for all of the finale's faults I REALLY like this version of it which plays like a movie rather than a TV episode. It was great to get a cameo from Nikki Clyne as Callie one last time and I liked all of the extended beats including closer looks at Boomer's first days on Galactica with both the Chief and Helo. And I appreciate that the end credits which had been ZOOMING by near the end of the series were given a proper length and speed in which to read them. A fine presentation of an episode I've always liked, if not loved. *****.
Deleted Scenes: Sometimes A Great Notion: I think the scene of Tigh pining over Ellen would have given the game away too early but I loved Baltar trying to get his flock to accept Caprica Six especially since Athena and Helo stood up for her. ****.
Deleted Scenes: The Oath: My favorite scene was Starbuck getting pumped to get back into battle. Sometimes I hate her, but sometimes she rocks! ****.
Deleted Scenes: Blood On The Scales: The confrontation between Laura and Baltar was great and the close-up of the execution of the Quorom was brutal. ****1/2.
Deleted Scenes: No Exit: A LOT of cool stuff here. The stuff between Cavil and Ellen was fascinating, as was Tory trying to connect with Galen (unsuccessfully) while musing about Ellen's ultimate fate. Unfortunately I can't give a perfect grade for all of the scenes for two simple reasons: 1. The scene between Lee and Laura didn't wow me. 2. I was REALLY hoping Ellen's monologue to Sharon about "breaking the fourth wall" as described by Ronald D. Moore in his podcast had been included. ****.
Deleted Scenes: Deadlock: Fantastic collection of deleted scenes for this episode. These detail Galactica literally falling apart on the outside AND the inside, Ellen confronting Saul about his poisoning of her and the Cylons asking Adama, Apollo and Roslin for some privacy for the reunion of the Final Five. *****.
Deleted Scenes: Someone To Watch Over Me: I liked the scene between Laura and Adama and the post-coital between Helo and Boomer was NASTY! ****.
Deleted Scenes: Daybreak: They saved the best scenes for the last episode. My favorites here are the first two. The first one involves Cavil dumping Tory off on a train for her new human life (which raises a few questions) and a non-descript woman telling Boomer that her entire family has been killed (which just raises even more). *****.
Evolution Of A Cue: Overlong, somewhat interesting, somewhat boring look at Bear McCreary and the scoring process. ***1/2.
What The Frak Is Going On With Battlestar Galactica?: This is similar to "Lost In 8:15" but considering the heavier nature of BSG the narrator's attempts at humor fell flat. ***.
...And They Have A Plan: A Behind the scenes featurette for the upcoming Syfy movie Battlestar Galactica: The Plan. This looks SO good and seems like it's gonna answer a lot of questions. I especially like the idea that after seeing it you will feel the need to watch the entire series again through new eyes. Awesome. *****.
The Journey Ends, The Arrival: A featurette detailing the VERY definitive ending of the show and the fact that the cast and crew each loved their roles on this show and considered it a once in a lifetime opportunity. ****.
David Eick's Video Blogs:
Not as great as years' past probably because there aren't really any outright planned funny ones. Still, pretty good. Overall: ***1/2.
No Retreat, No Surrender: This is about the annual writers retreat. ***.
The Hatch: A tribute to Richard Hatch and his legendary status in the franchise. ****.
The Fifth Is Among Us: Speculation of the Fifth Final Cylon is too cute by half. **1/2.
Action Please: A look at Ronald D. Moores's directing debut. LOVED Edward James Olmos bragging about his pockets. ***1/2.
Hanging In The Background: Some background on the extras. ***1/2.
Some Guy Named Colin, Part 2: Boring. *1/2.
A Cylon 'Til The End: Interviews with various Cylons and actor speculation about their upcoming character acrs. Neat. ****.
Inserts, Action & FX: This deals with practical effects rather than CGI effects. ***.
Documenting Battlestar Galactica: This looks at the documentary style of the show. **.
Life On A Cylon Battleship: This looks at the Cylon Bible! I need to read this! Now! ****1/2.
Favorite Battlestar Galactica Moment: The cast and Ronald D. Moore all look back on their best scenes. ****.
A Look Back:
These are interviews with the cast and crew of Battlestar Galactica looking back on the themes and cool stuff the show explored. Overall: ****.
So Say We All: Interviews detailing how awesome Ronald D. Moore and David Eick are. ****.
Manifesto Destiny: Basically the pitch of the show to the networks accidentally got sent to the actors and that's why so many accomplished performers like Edward James Olmos signed up. ****.
Battle-Style Galactica: I found it interesting the collaborative nature of the show allowed a lot more improvisation from both the actors and directers than is common for television. ***1/2.
Martyr To A Cause: This details Richard Hatch's (and the Original Series' fans') objections to the idea of a remake and how Hatch finally changed his mind. You know, I personally don't think it's too late for Hatch's idea of a continuation of the old show to come to fruition. The franchise is more popular than ever now, a movie is coming, and the reboot (with the exception of Caprica and The Plan) is pretty much off the air. I think people would be MUCH more receptive to a continuation. ****1/2.
The Sins Of The Forgiven: This details the religious themes in the series. Ronald D. Moore is right that the idea of robots with religious beliefs is fascinating and I think the series completely pulled it off. ****.
Battlestar Revelations: This is about the hoops the producers made the oftentime leery actors jump through with their wacky plot twists. I particularly liked the story of the joker producer who shrunk the air-ducts Aaron Douglas would have to crawl through in "Blood On The Scales" as a practical joke. Not funny, dude, and yet it is! ****1/2.
Easter Egg (Disc 1): A composite of an Editor's Temporary Score, a Composer's Synth Sketch and the Completed Score during the scene of Laura running through the corridors on Galactica during A Disquiet Follows My Soul. Neat. ****1/2.
Caprica Trailer: Makes the Pilot sound better than it actually is. ***1/2.
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan Trailer: Awesome! This makes me psyched to see it this fall! *****.
Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series Trailer: Pretty spiffy and sums up the entire series pretty well. *****.
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
Color me unimpressed. For a movie that supposedly was going to make me want to rewatch the series with fresh eyes this was surprisingly weak with the revelations. Who DIDN'T guess that it was Cavil Caprica Six was talking to in the miniseries off-camera? Nobody that's who. And it was completely obvious Cavil was going to murder that kid. It was only a question of when.
The Cylon's ultimate "Plan" didn't actually make much sense. In fact, the extermination of the human race was ALWAYS "the plan" on the series so this wasn't anywhere NEAR as satisfying as I had hoped.
I like titilation as much as the next guy but parts of this miniseries bordered on soft-core porn. Not that there's anything wrong with that but that isn't why I watch this series.
Interesting to learn exactly how Boomer as a "sleeper" agent worked and to find out she had moments of lucidity where she got counseled by Cavil.
Where was Lucy Lawless as Deanna? For a movie based entirely on the Cylon point of view her absense was glaring. Outside of a 2 second stock footage moment she was completely absent from the procedings. Inexcusable.
This was supposed to tie up some loose ends and it really didn't. About the only revelation I was impressed with was the Caprica Cavil growing a conscience and actually supporting the cease-fire. We already knew that happened but it didn't make any sense given what we learned about Cavil in the fourth season. Other than that all of the stuff that was shown was pretty much stuff we could have guessed.
I think the movie used waaaaayyy too much footage from the actual series and a lot of it seemed like a clip show rather than an original movie.
Good things? I was shocked that Simon of all characters was actually given some sympathetic character development especially considering that his model was on the bad side of the Cylon Civil War in year four. That was pretty cool, if not a super important game changer.
I've got to say, I expected more and the movie delivered less. LOVED the remix of the theme song in the end credits though. Movie overall: **1/2.
Deleted Scenes: I wasn't really feeling these (did we REALLY need to see an entire game of pyramid or more nekkid ladies?) until we got to the end of Cavil trying to broker a "peace" with Boomer and Caprica Six and the Resistance with disastrous results. It wasn't really needed in the movie but including it would have made my jaw drop (the Centurions were never animated here). It could have been awesome. ***1/2.
From Admiral To Director: Edward James Olmos & The Plan: Nice little featurette on Olmos' directing job and the celebration of the end of the series. ***1/2.
The Cylons Of The Plan: This delves deeper into Cavil and Simon's story arcs but I think the idea that this movie answers most of our questions is bogus. I expect Caprica to pick up some of the slack here but this movie either answered stuff we could have guessed or stuff we didn't care about. ***1/2.
The Cylon Attack: Gotta admit this stunt was pretty elaborate and you barely notice it in the movie. That's the mark of a good stunt. ***1/2.
Visual Effects: The Magic Behind The Plan: Thorough. The part I found most interesting at the beginning was Jane Espensen's frank admission that she isn't a very good visual writer. For a sci-fi / fantasy person to admit that on camera is a VERY gutsy thing and the movie was better for her being able to recognize what was and wasn't her strong suit. ****.
Easter Egg: I'm not positve since I've never seen it but I believe this Edward James Olmos narrated sequence is straight outta the original series. Cool! ****1/2.
DVD Menu: Nice use of the theme remix on the main menu. ****.
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan Trailer. Short but sweet. Found on the Heroes Season 4 set. ****.