Review of Battlestar Galactica: The Plan (2009) by Walter M — 09 Jan 2010

For those unfamiliar with the new and mostly improved "Battlestar Galactica," the feature "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan," written by Jane Espenson and directed by Edward James Olmos, is not a good place to start as its sole purpose is to fill continuity holes in the first two seasons while introducing a couple of minor characters and giving more time for individual Cylon models.(Seen in retrospect, this would be as good as it would get for these characters which is strange in the wake of the genocide.) Oddly enough, there are questions left unanswered. For example, who did leave that note for Adama(Edward James Olmos) and what is the deal with Starbuck's(Katee Sackhoff) so-called destiny? So, this is not exactly essential for avid fans, either. However, Dean Stockwell does make it worth watching all by himself and Tricia Helfer reminds us all how good while playing multiple characters.

"Battlestar Galactica: The Plan" is told not from the humans' point of view, but from that of Brother Cavil(Dean Stockwell), splitting his time between the human resistance on Caprica led by Sam Anders(Michael Trucco) and the Cylon terrorist cell on board Galactica. The central point of focus is the Cylon failure to completely wipe out humanity. While there are a couple of times when they come off as the artificial beings who cannot shoot straight, it actually follows from Cavil's sadism and the fact that it is much harder for a rational being to hate somebody after getting to know them. Welcome to the human race.