BATTLESTAR BONANZA – SPOILERS INCLUDED: Battlestar Galactica
returns tonight at 10pm on Space, and since I’ve had a peek at the first two
episodes in advance, I can honestly tell all you BG fans out there that the
only cast member that isn’t a Cylon is Richard Hatch. And that they’ve found a
way to bring back Muffit, the annoying dog/bear thing from the original series
that’s known now as the Jar-Jar Binks of the disco era.
Of course I’m kidding – or am I? Actually, there aren’t a
whole lot of spoilers to reveal in the first episode, titled He That Believeth
In Me by creators Ronald Moore and David Eick with customary heavy-handedness.
The title refers mostly to Gaius Baltar, who was this close to a visit to the
air lock at the end of the last series, and after his surprise acquittal is
smuggled into the bulkhead bowels of the ship to become the king of some cult
of sexy, the designated prophet for a group of young lovelies. Who are all
Cylons.
It looks like James Callis as Baltar is going to be given a
lot of room to develop his character this season, as Baltar has developed a
death with along with the power to heal. Baltar has developed whole new depths
over the last three seasons, without losing the callow egomania and generally
shameless pick-up artist qualities that made him so endearing in the first
place – the most resolutely, refreshingly ignoble character in the show. Even
if he is a Cylon.
The premiere episode picks up right from where season three
ended, and we’re thrown into a battle with a Cylon fleet while everyone reels
with the shock of Starbuck’s reappearance. Back on the ship, everyone thinks
she’s a Cylon – even the four characters revealed to be Cylons at the climax of
the last season, who keep getting together for Cylons Anonymous meetings in
broom cupboards all over the ship.
Starbuck, it seems, has pulled a Jodie Foster in Contact
stunt – shooting herself down a wormhole and finding Earth, a trip she thought
took six hours but kept her away for over two months, which puts everyone in
that “toss her out the airlock” kind of mood. Katee Sackhoff gets to chew a lot
of scenery about this, howling and crying and wincing with pain every time the
fleet jumps. President Roslyn thinks she’s a Cylon, Apollo doesn’t, and Adama
isn’t so sure. We’re given plenty of time to ponder each one of them as a
Cylon, but you can’t help but hope that none of them are, mostly because those
broom closet meetings look like such a drag.
There are a few glimpses at life at Cylon HQ, where it looks
like Dean Stockwell is having a great time, even if no one else is.
