Battlestar Galactica: original series — 1x05 — Lost Planet of the Gods, Part 2

Aired 1978-10-01

SpaceOpera.com rating:4

Average reader rating:4.04

Synopsis

In search of a clue to the location of Earth, the fleet follows a mysterious pulsating star to Kobol, the lost planet of the gods. There Count Baltar, leader of the Cylons, launches his attack thwarting Adama and killing Serina, Apollo's fiancee.

Remarkable scenes

Galactica discovering Kobol.
Adama lunging at Baltar.
The dogfight.
Serena's death.

Review

Kobol was interesting, but I'm not sure what we got out of this. Baltar's scheming was the most alluring aspect to the episode; spending all this time on Kobol and getting nothing out of it seemed somewhat frustrating. Adama discovers something he thinks is profound only to have the Cylons destroy it before he can make any sense of it.

I'm not sure whether I'm glad to see Serena go or not. She was one of the better characters, but with the show's blatant sexism, I'm not sure I'd have enjoyed seeing her stick around further just so we could see her character abused further.

In the end, the episode seemed like another excuse to have a dogfight, but if they wanted to fill time doing dogfights, at the very least they could stop recycling material. That, and Baltar's motives and decisions never seemed quite "logical" as Lucifer would put it. All this cheesy innuendo gets in the way of the Cylons + Baltar accomplishing anything. And while it's nice to see the bad guy lose, it's frustrating to see them depicted as totally incompetent.

2 reader comments

I've watched the series up to this point now, and several things strike me.
In many ways, BSG is the anti-Trek. The feel of the remaining humans taking on the Cylon Empire is more like the feel of mid-century WWII movies or the coming Reagan 80s than the utopioan ideals of Trek, which is philosophicaly rooted in the more progressive 60s.
Star Trek has always been ambivalent toward religion, favoring science and reason. BSG, on the other hand, is steeped in religious symbolism and idealogy. This is especially evident in this episode, with the de facto star of Bethlehem guiding our little band of pilgrims across the galaxy.
I'm curious to know whether the rebooted current series is in a similar, though undoubtedly more serious, vein, and I realize now that I'm going to have to watch it.
by JRPoole | 09/10/2008 at 1:46 am

You are forgetting, this series was created in the 1970s. What you call sexism was, mostly, just the way things were done at that time and are entirely reflective of the era. Feminism was still relatively new. You see its beginnings in the fact that the women demanded to become shuttle pilots, then were given vipers to fly when most of the men became ill. They are starting to come into their own. As for the Cylons being completely incompetent, it does make you wonder how they managed to form an empire and defeat the Colonies, doesn't it?
by Zoltan | 11/11/2014 at 1:24 am