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...