One last look at Battlestar Galactica (2003-2009)By Matthew Martin| July 9, 2020 TV Blogs Previous Page Speaking of, I view each of the show’s four seasons as having a strong theme that doubles down on one of its core components. What makes BSG tick? What are the big ideas being discussed here? I think there are four… Season 1 is about unity and family Both the military and civilian sides of humanity’s remnants have to come to grips with what happened, and they have to find a way to co-exist. Adama and Roslin spent the first season holding onto a tenuous alliance until it all came crashing down. The theme of season one really didn’t conclude until the scattered arc was over in the two-part “Home” episodes. Adama’s line “I’m putting the fleet back together. I’m putting our family back together” really hammers home the point. After things are mended, Adama and Roslin were rarely ever at odds again. Season 2 is about law and order and what kind of people the remnants of humanity are going to be For lack of a better term, the first season is very much the honeymoon period for the civilian/military alliance. Both sides put on happy faces and talk about co-existing, but when things go bad, they really go bad. Martial law is declared and the fleet looks like it will never come back together. Humanity is forced to ask itself if it wants to continue being the vassals of King Adama (or, really, Emperor Tigh while the old man is out of commission) or if the semblance of a normal life will be maintained. After “Home part two” the decision is made and normalcy is restored. But then, out of the blue comes “Pegasus,” threatening to upend things for good. After that arc in the middle of the season is over, several stand-alones occur, many of which illustrate the strong sense of a tug of war between following laws and making them up/breaking them as we go, reinforcing the theme of the season. Season 3 is about personal suffering By the end of the second season, humanity is ready to be done with roaming the galaxy looking for earth. They find a planet that’s good enough and are willing to elect Baltar to get down there. What follows is a nightmare. The New Caprica arc damaged every character in the show, in one way or another, and everyone spends the rest of the season picking up the pieces. It gets ugly, especially when Baltar is put on trial and escapes conviction. Many of the same ones who elected him to go to New Caprica wanted to string him up for putting them there. That’s humanity for you, and all our ugliness, hypocrisy, and easiness of hurting is laid to bare in this season. Season 4 is about “Divine Providence” vs “Free Will“ One of the common complaints against the show is that it “got away from” the “gritty, sci-fi/military” notions of the early seasons (say, season one through the Pegasus arc), in favor of mysticism, prophesy, angels, God’s providential hand, etc, that was common in the latter half of season three and all of season four. I understand that complaint but I don’t think it’s fair. For one, the “gritty, sci-fi/military” aspect never left. In season three we have the fabulous New Caprica storyline, which explores plots like suicide bombers and enemy collaboration. In season four we have a full-on mutiny/coup against the military and civilian leaders. In addition, the show was never “just” about the “gritty, sci-fi/military” stuff. God was talked about from the beginning. The episodes “The Hand of God” and “Kobol’s Last Gleaming” were right there in season one. And “Epiphanies” is there in season two. The fact is, the show has always been about various big ideas, it just focused more on one over the others depending on the season. Here, in the end, the focus is on “God” guiding humanity to their final planetary destination. In the macro, the characters really have no say in it, but in the micro we see them make a thousand little choices that may not have big picture consequences but which personally affect them and those around them. Providence vs. Free Will, God’s plan vs. our actions along the way; that’s the theme of the season.
