Battlestar Galactica fans have been awaiting the release of the The Plan for months now. It was filmed and announced long before the famed sci-fi series rolled up the carpet last March and, after the last moments of BSG aired, my fellow fans and I consoled ourselves with the loss by looking forward to this straight-to-DVD movie. Still, as excited and anxious as I was to see The Plan, it was not without reservation.
Every episode of Battlestar Galactica began with the same “once upon a time”–style opening, explaining the humans’ history with the Cylon robots, and it would always conclude with the same four-word phrase regarding the Cylons: “They have a plan.” The premise of The Plan is to go back to where the series began, with the destruction of the human race, and show it to us from the view of the Cylons, showing us their “plan.” What quickly becomes obvious is that, after their failed attempt to destroy all humanity, the Cylons really didn’t have a plan.
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After the last frames of Battlestar Galactica flickered across our TV screens a few weeks back, fans of the show consoled themselves with the promise of two upcoming projects: the spin-off series Caprica and the made-for-TV movie, The Plan (set to air in June). Well, today we get access to our first taste of the former. While the Caprica series will not air until 2010, what is in essence the pilot episode of the show is being released on DVD and being made available for digital download now.
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Well, that’s it folks. There shall be no more new episodes of Battlestar Galactica. Overall, I was satisfied with the way the show ended, but there were pieces of the finale that left a bad taste in my mouth. I think the first hour was damn near fantastic and the first two thirds were pretty solid overall, but then it kind of dropped into a somewhat self-indulgent epilogue that ran on way longer than necessary and I think ended up being more satisfying for the creators than for the audience. Still, I can see past the flaws and, in the end, I really dug a lot of what Ron Moore was attempting to say here.
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Sports fans far and wide are making their NCAA bracket picks; heck, even the President is on this thing. But then there are people like me: self-proclaimed geeks, the kids perpetually picked last for kickball who have to look NCAA up on Google to be certain of what it stands for. My fellow nerds, are you feeling left out? Well I have a new game for you, one uniquely suited to your expertise. Start making your brackets: it’s the Battlestar Galactica death pool!
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Well, this is it, folks. Only one more episode to go. I feel like we’re in pretty capable hands with series creator Ronald D. Moore penning this two-part, three-hour finale. You see, Moore cowrote the series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which was probably the first non–Saturday morning cartoon show that I fell in love with (NERD ALERT!). I remember watching that finale episode over and over again and it actually hit on one of the main themes of Battlestar Galactica, regarding the repetition of actions and mistakes. Unfortunately, the first part of this BSG finale doesn’t stand on its own very well. You get the impression that everything you’re seeing will be important, but we’re going to have to wait until next week’s two-hour final act before all the pieces truly fall into place.
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Next week brings with it the first part of the series of finale of Battlestar Galactica and so, last night brought us an episode that felt very much like it was waiting for the end to begin. There wasn’t a great amount of cohesiveness between the various plot threads. Mostly, we were just seeing the pieces slowly move into place for the endgame as it so quickly draws nears.
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Only three episodes left after last night and you can feel everything starting to fall into place for the big finish. Last night’s episode began seeming like intricate look into issues that Starbuck and Tyrol were dealing, but by the end, the plot rippled through the rest of the fleet in a resounding fashion.
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After the exposition-heavy episode that was last week’s “No Exit,” we Battlestar fans were in need of a little comfort food, some familiarity mixed with a bit of humor, perhaps. Well, Friday’s episode certainly delivered that.
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Photo: Nicole Radja
Canadian-born actor Tahmoh Penikett is most recognized as Helo, father of the sole human/Cylon hybrid baby in Battlestar Galactica. But this past Friday, Penikett was introduced to a whole new world of geekdom in the series premiere of Joss Whedon’s new show Dollhouse. In the show, Penikett plays Paul Ballard, an FBI agent obsessed with uncovering the existence of the titular organization, which rents out programmable humans for any and all purposes. I sat down with Penikett on the eve of the show’s premiere to discuss Battlestar, Dollhouse and what it’s like to be the go-to guy for Friday sci-fi.
TOC: In the first few episodes Paul is separate from the main Dollhouse storyline. What’s that been like as an actor?
TP: Paul’s on this mission by himself. He’s very much a lone wolf. I think it helps as the actor at the beginning of the season, working by myself and separated from the rest of the cast.
TOC: Why do you think that he’s so intent on discovering the truth the about The Dollhouse?
TP: I think, ultimately, that will be one of the most compelling and interesting parts of Paul’s storyline. Why is he so affected by it personally? There’s obviously something that happened in his past that relates to what the Dollhouse represents and it drives and motivates him on a personal level.
TOC: Before the reshoot of the pilot happened, there were clips floating around the Internet of a scene between you and Echo, but now it seems like that meetup has been delayed a bit. When are we going to see that?
TP: You’re not going to have wait for very long to finally have an initial encounter. Speculation aside, the overall storyline and what the writers and Joss were aiming to do, is pretty much the same. Once we get about midseason, the fifth, sixth episode, it finds its feet again and the show really gets back on the path and the course that they wanted. I think it leaves the audience with something to look forward to. It’s a smarter choice.
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In keeping with the pace of recent episodes, “No Exit” is densely packed with information. In fact, it’s a pretty talky episode, which I’m sure probably turned off a lot of viewers. Still, we’ve been waiting for some payoff to that reveal of the final Cylon for a few weeks now, and I don’t know about you, but I was more than willing to sit through a history lesson on the 13th tribe to get some of that.
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