Review

Galactica 1980 is largely considered to be one of the worst shows in science fiction history. Partly because it was an inferior knock off to an already critically disliked TV show, but mostly because it was an extremely inferior knock off. Almost every character from the original series is written off as having died during the journey in Galactica 1980 because the original actors couldn't or wouldn't sign on for this version. This is a severe blow for the fans to take, for suddenly out of nowhere we're robbed of any emotional involvement we may have had with those characters.

Aside from sweeping changes in the cast and characters, sweeping changes are made to the premise. By and large, there's no reason not to consider Galactica 1980 canon with Galactica 1978. The two shows are meant to be the same and do not contradict each other. But many BSG 1978 fans take too much offense to BSG 1980, and arguably with good reason. Even moreso than BSG 1978, BSG 1980 is a kids' show. There are obvious attempts to sprinkle elementary educational value into various scenes, and children are featured as prominent influential characters, such as Dr. Zee and later the infamous Super Scouts.

But the biggest insult for fans to take is the deluge of cheesy late 70s / early 80s pop culture flowing through the plot. Nearly every detail in the plot of this show from beginning to end is at best unintentionally funny and at worst completely embarrassing. And no, I'm not just talking about flying disco motorcycles and Dr. Zee with his arrogant superior attitude and stereotypically British accent. (Why are all British-accented people on American TV portrayed as smart, but arrogant pricks? Do contemporary Americans retain some sort of centuries-old inferiority complex regarding England?)

Moving on to the plot itself, if we forgive the sentiments of the day and their extreme influence on the story, the basic idea behind this story is actually pretty cool; I must admit, Galactica 1980's first episode is among my favorite episodes of BSG 1980, and one of the better episodes of both series. No, really. Think about it. The colonials and the Earth humans have the same origins, Kobol. The Earth humans just don't know it. And they also haven't developed the level of technology the colonials have. So the colonials send undercover operatives into Earth to swiftly influence the development of their technology and culture so as to prepare them for eventual first contact. Galactica 1980 had a really cool idea for a TV series!

On that basis, my rating of this episode is very forgiving. Sadly, however, like BSG 1978, BSG 1980 is not true to it's pilot episode and the quality of the series will begin to drop.

Review

While Xavier arguing with Adama about the moral implications behind the use of time travel is pointed and interesting, the whole idea of introducing time travel to the show in the first place was pure rubbish. Especially the science behind it.

While still the same basic story of what happens when you artificially enhance a culture, bad science fiction does a good job of utterly ruining what value the first part had. And I believe I speak for everyone when I say television, even in 1980, has seen enough Nazis. American TV is sadly obsessed with Nazi Germany. Star Trek did it. ("Patterns of Force") And even BSG 1978 did it with the Eastern Alliance Nazi allegory. The damn horse is dead, stop beating it!

The story isn't completely shot to hell, however, and manages to retain at least some of the drama and intrigue of the first part. It also, fortunately, manages to tone down the late 1970s / early 1980s pop culture mannerisms that made part one of this story so annoying as well. So it's at least worth something.

Review

And BSG 1980 begins to run out of steam right here as plot devices introduced in the first two parts are exploited beyond capacity. There's nothing too fundamentally different in this episode from the previous two, except that it accomplished nothing short of wrapping up the cliffhangers of the previous two episodes. It even largely fails to do that, seeing as how Xavier has escaped. The episode then leaves us with yet another cliffhanger, of the pseudo sense, showing our brave new heroes ready to take on yet another time travel adventure, except this one takes place offscreen. I suppose even the writers were tired of time travel by this point.

What's most annoying about this episode, besides of course the all kids' show padding the network enforced, is the sheer pointlessness of it. It completely fails as a conclusion the grandiose things presented in the first part. Adama et al don't appear to have a clear, well defined plan by the end of the episode. They've only barely (and arguably not completely) recovered from an initial blunder. What way is this to start a series that's supposed to be about one culture artificially enhancing another? In place of philosophical exploration of that concept, we learn instead more varying gradeschool facts about Earth. How disappointing.

Review

Aside from the annoying plot itself, this show is becoming heavily formulaic. Every episode seems to have to have some scenes where Troy and Dillon stumble over Earth customs and some scenes where they bewilder Earth people with their technology. In many cases, those scenes are numerous and repetitive.

And so here begins what made Galactica 1980 so universally hated. This episode is all about children, and places kids in the center stage. Following in the tradition of Star Trek, children in science fiction shows are almost always universally lame. And this episode is no exception. We get to see a number of annoying misbehavior scenes and even an annoying singing scene. What's worse is this entire farce is based on a shoddy premise. The freighter Delphi, which for some reason is the "children ship," has unexplained engine trouble and comes to a full stop. Have the writers learned nothing from episodes like Take the Celestra?

The one redeeming quality of this episode is the reintroduction of the Cylons. It's nice to see they actually ARE following the fleet, and Dr. Zee isn't simply making things up. It's a shame much of the battle was recycled footage, but at least the destruction of the freighter Delphi was something of a spectacle to watch. A few minutes of genuine science fiction in what's quickly becoming a children's educational show. What happened to the grandiose exploration of the human condition that this show was supposed to be about?

Review

The second part of this veiled ecology story wrapped into a kids' show like its predecessors was largely a waste of time. Super Scouts could have easily been compressed into a single episode and been more effective for it, though in the end, I would contend that it was entirely a misguided effort to even bother making this episode in the first place. The colonials are wasting their time tipping off Earth authorities every episode to their existence. How many times can they possibly write off these "UFO sightings" as natural phenomena? It's already a cliche for viewers and it's beginning to push the limits of suspension of disbelief as well.

I've voiced my annoyance for a children-centric plot before, but one aspect of Galactica 1980 that's supremely annoying is the reliance of Dr. Zee as a plot device. Any TV series which regularly relies on a super genius is having creativity problems. Furthermore, add "offscreen missions" to the formulaic approach Galactica 1980 seems to favor. Once again at the very end of this episode, Troy and Dillon go on a mission not depicted onscreen. We have no idea what this mission is, but maybe it's better that way.

Review

Xavier is just too idiotic to take seriously anymore. First of all, there's no explanation as to how he escaped and returned after the events of the pilot episode. Second, his methods in this episode are just dumb. Xavier is supposed to be on Galactica's side. He wants to see the colonials survive just as much as Adama does. But when he and Adama have a disagreement as to how best to go about doing that, suddenly none of it matters and he reduces to being nothing more than criminal interested in his own greed? One so evil that he'll go so far as to threaten the lives of children? That's just not realistic. Finally, why does evil incognito Xavier have to have a German acccent? Hasn't this show done enough Germany bashing?

Review

So the Cylons have created human models. Now there's an interesting plot development, but true to Galactica 1980's style, it's exploited for comical value rather than its serious implications. Indeed, this episode makes for a pretty good showcase of why this series is so hated. It's filled top to bottom with cheesy late 70s / early 80s comedy; even viewing this episode back in 1980 would have been a bizarre experience. We do, however, get to see a new type of Cylon ship in this episode which looks pretty cool. And I concede an extra point for this episode's strangely effective, though perhaps unintentional humor.

Review

The farce ends with as much silliness as the first part. Again, strangely, the humor at the Halloween party among other places is strangely effective, making this episode like the previous one at least somewhat entertaining, in a "don't take it too seriously" kind of way. Beyond those merits, there is very little to redeem this episode. Yet another blundering incident on Earth is barely cleaned up by Troy and Dillon. Yet again the Earthlings remain barely oblivious to the actual events taking place. And what's the deal with that UFO disclaimer at the end of the episode? Do the writers really believe that after watching Galactica 1980 that people were really going to start fearing the prospect of UFO invasions?

Review

There's nothing worse than a "cowboys, farmers, and hicks" episode on a science fiction show. Similar to BSG 1978's "The Magnificent Warriors" the issue of a food shortage is turned into a silly farce. Indeed, most BSG fans consider this the worst episode of BSG ever done. I'd like to take a moment to point out that no episode of BSG 1978 or 1980 is deserving of a zero rating in my opinion. In my Star Trek reviews, you'll note that in the vast majority of cases, zero ratings are only dished out when an episode is so bad that should have to be dropped from canon to preserve continuity's integrity.

That said, this episode is no exception. "Space Croppers" may be annoying and bad, but there's no reason to drop it from canon just because it lacks taste. In fact, it's pretty pivotal to the aborted arc. Now that Galactica is incapable of producing its own food. Dependence on Earth is a certainty. The next logical step after this episode would have been a Cylon attack on Earth. Granted, Dr. Zee claimed that wouldn't happen until 1990 and it's been said that he's never wrong, but it's at least plausible that he was merely speculating. For it seems clear that the Cylons are bearing down on the colonials.

Besides the distinct lack of taste (and that dreadful leaping and singing scene), what really drops this episode's rating is its distinct lack of plot advancement. At the beginning of the series, the mandate was to slowly artificially advance Earth's culture. Instead, we've spent a bunch of time helping out the less fortunate people in the United States. A morally correct, but misguided story. And once again, the episode closes with another appearance of that UFO disclaimer...

Review

An episode depicting how Starbuck was lost. This is a welcome change of pace from Galactica 1980's usual repertoire. This flashback into BSG 1978 makes it clear just how much better the original series was compared to Galactica 1980. It's a shame we couldn't have just had BSG 1978 season 2 instead.

Listening to Starbuck narrate his own fate was a very nice storytelling technique and the story of the events which befell Starbuck, Cy, Angela and her baby was most touching. The idea that a Cylon Centurion could be turned and learn how to be friends with a human is fascinating; it tells us that they are something more than programmed killing machines. Or at least that they had the potential to become something more.

BSG 1978 and 1980 similarly had the potential to become something more and that potential was never tapped. But like BSG 1978's "The Hand of God," I couldn't think of a better way to close a series. "The Return of Starbuck" was Galactica 1980's best episode, and what better way to close a series than on its best episode.