DVD Review: Battlestar Galactica Season 4.0
The Quest for Earth and the Final Five Cylons Continues on DVD
Jan 22, 2009
Overview of Battlestar Galactica Season 4.0
(Writer's Note: Possible Spoilers Below, if you haven't yet seen the show, rent or buy the first three seasons! For the sake of not angering readers just getting into the season, the names of the Four will be omitted from this article. -- D.M.)
Filled with issues of faith, and inner conflict amongst the Cylons, Season Four wastes no time in getting back into the fray, with multi-arc storylines.
By the Season Three Finale, some members of the Galactica crew came to realize they are Cylons, meaning they are four of the Final Five, prophesided by the Cylon "skinjobs", the main antagonists of the show. Having trouble coming to terms with this, the Four gather secretly to decide how best to avoid detection, in that they still retain their own wills, however want to avoid being executed or thrown out the nearest airlock. And so, the Four go about their daily duties, while living in fear of being discovered, their final true purpose unknown to even themselves.
Meanwhile on the Cylon Basestars, differring factions are arguing over how much power to give over their lowly raiders and centurions. The Sixes (Tricia Helfer), the Eights (Grace Park) and the Twos (Callum Keith Rennie) oppose the other models in how they are lobotomizing the raiders, and attempting to gain more power against their peers. Led by the Ones (Dean Stockwell), the other Cylon humanoids seek to prevent their rebel counterparts, from learning the identity of the remaining Five, something considered forbidden among their kind. This quest for knowledge previously resulted in the deactivation (or "boxing") of the Threes (Lucy Lawless), late in Season Three.
Back on Galactica, the crew is stunned to witness the return of Kara "Starbuck" Thrace (Katee Sackoff), believed dead after her Viper exploded near a nebula two months prior. Having returned, claiming to have found Earth, Starbuck has a hard time convincing both Admiral Adama (James Edward Olmos) and President Roslin (Mary McDonnell). Only after taking extreme measures to be given a chance, Starbuck is granted an older derelict ship with a skeleton crew, which is tasked with retracing her steps, so to confirm her visions.
Lee "Apollo" Adama (Jamie Bamber), having had a taste of civilian politics while he defended Gaius Baltar (James Callis) in Season Three, is slowly turning towards a civilian life within the government. Opting to resign his commission as a Fleet pilot, Lee discovers that the political life can be just as dangerous and difficult as being in the cockpit.
As for Gaius Baltar (Callis), his role is somewhat reduced to a subplot in the first half of Season Four, as he slowly learns to embrace the trust and adoration of devout followers from several ships, who consider him to be a Messiah-like prophet with a message of monotheism, embracing the One True God. Seeing how this goes against the polytheistic beliefs of the Twelve Colonies, Baltar continues to be a thorn in the President and Admiral's sides, as he continues his crusade.
The above events take interesting turns all the way through to the tenth episode, where all matters converge, leading to many long awaited discoveries and secrets revealed (but not here -- let us wait until Season 4.5).
Overall Analysis of Battlestar Galactica Season 4.0 DVD
The appeal of the series -- at least thus far -- is in its interestingly colorful characters, and their chemistry onscreen. Working from a very elaborate mythology, updated courtesy of gifted series creator Ronald D. Moore (who also wrote for Star Trek The Next Generation, Star Trek DS9 and Star Trek Voyager), Battlestar Galactica continues to benefit from intelligent writing, well established storylines, which don't necessarily fall into the dangerous pit of soap-operatic schlock.
By improving on the original series created by Glen Larson in the late 1970's, Moore and his production team manage to keep the show fresh and well paced, by giving their characters enough to do, while at the same time giving everyone ample screen time to flourish. Though the producers have confirmed that the second half of Season Four (aka Season 4.5) will be the show's last, there is enough sustainable story content, to ensure that the show generate its own prequels and spin-offs.
Though there are too many cast members to mention in one review, it must be said that rarely in recent times has a show had such a consistent caliber of actors, with no one single performer necessarily overshadowing another. Very much like its Trek sci-fi cousins, Battlestar is a winner thanks to its production team and cast, and one can only hope there are more stories in their future, for our sake.
8.75 out of 10 for consistent excellence, and a sustainable storyline. Well done.
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