I just watched the first episode of SciFi’s Battlestar Galactica online, uncut and commercial free. The idea of watching a TV show online like that is new and funky, and I like it. You have to watch it streaming in a Real Player, but with my broadband connection it came through just fine. I recommend opening it up in Real Player so you can stretch the window–it loses some image quality, but still looks pretty good.
For a first episode they really throw you into the middle of the action. There’s even a ‘last time on Battlestar Galactica’ to catch you up on what you’ve missed. I don’t know if that means there was an earlier episode, or if that’s just intended to bring you up to speed so they can start in the middle, so to speak.
The basic idea is pretty cool. This creepy alien race (the Cylons) have destroyed earth (I’m assuming from the ‘last time’ clip that’s what happened) and are chasing down the remaining humans on board a starship fleet. It seems the Cylons can also infect people, much like a computer virus, to infiltrate the fleet.
Pretty funky stuff. I’d love to keep watching, but alas, no SciFi channel for me. I’ll have to wait for DVD. (link via Nick Ciske)
No, Earth wasn’t destroyed. The citizens of the Galactica (the few remaining survivors from an alliance of 12 planets which was destroyed by the Cylons) fleet think of Earth as a lost colony, sort of like Atlantis, and not all of them believe it even exists. At the end of last year’s miniseries, Commander Adama (the Edward James Olmos character) claimed to have knowledge of Earth’s location and promised to lead the fleet there; in truth, he does not believe Earth exists and was merely trying to give the people something to live for after their near-genocide.
The season-ending cliffhanger, which aired a few weeks ago, related to the possibility that Earth does exist.
The Cylons don’t “infect” people per se. There are some advanced Cylons, designed to look like humans, scattered throughout the fleet. (There are only a limited number of “models,” so if you see someone turn up in two different places it’s a dead giveaway that they’re two Cylons.) Some of the Cylon sleepers have apparently been programmed to think they are human.
The one exception to all this is Baltar, who (during the miniseries) unwittingly betrayed the colonies and gave the Cylons access to their defense information. The Cylons have implanted some sort of chip in his head, which is why he sees the visions of the beautiful lady Cylon who is invisible to everyone else.
I feel like such a geek.
I’ve been mildly curious about the new show since I vaguely remember Saturday morning reruns of the old show when I was a kid. Thanks for the link, Kevin. I’ll have to check it out. And thanks to John for filling in the backstory I’m sure I would have been scouring the web to find.
Battlestar Galactica Podcast
Battlestar Galactica continues to take advantage of technology to find success outside of a major network. First they offered the entire first episode online, and though it’s no longer available, you can watch the entire season one finale. But as…
Nowhere in the series is there ever mention of a chip in Baltar’s head so what’s really going on is up to interpretation. My two theories: 1) Baltar is a Cylon and so would share some sort of cybernetic link with Caprica 6 that was perhaps triggered by a mutual sexual-emotional bond between the two of them. 2) Baltar’s inner conflict has manifested visions of Caprica 6. The same goes for Caprica 6 who is seeing visions of Baltar.