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Battlestar Galactica: Season 2 [2005]

RRP: £49.99
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Fracking A
Review date: 2008-05-31 Rating: 10 out of 10

This is the best show on TV right now. Maybe the best Sci-Fi show ever. If you are a sci-fi fan, this is a must-see show. If not, you should still consider checking this out. Yes, it is in space and yes, it has killer robots, yet even with that, the depth of human drama is comparable to anything on TV today.

Last season, the 12 Colonies of Kobol were nearly blown away by the Cylons, machines that resemble humans and the old warrior mechanical types. The humans almost ran out of water and fuel, yet somehow manage to survive. This ragtag group of human refugees is in search of a 13th lost tribe of humans on a planet called Earth. Things this season start out badly, and they only get worse.

Both of the leaders of the fleet are incapacitated at the beginning of the season. President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) is in Galactica's brig for inciting Lt. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) to mutiny which caused the loss of the Cylon Raider that had been captured, which was a valuable military asset. Commander Adama (Edward James Olmos) was shot by "Boomer" (Grace Park), who is a Cylon,

The second season here picks up right where the first season left off. However, unlike most TV shows, the problems presented in the Season 1 finale are not resolved in the first episode. Some will take the whole first part of the second season to be resolved.

As we learned in season 1, there are 12 models of Cylons. The question is: is the Raider (ship) and Warrior, unit 2 of the twelve, or are there 12 models that resemble humans? We do have the introduction of 2 new human-form cylon models (bringing the total to 6/8, leaving 6/4 left to be uncovered), and the reappearance of political activist/terrorist Tom Zarek (Richard Hatch, of the original Battlestar Galactica).

A unique feature this season, and one that is a most interesting addition, is a textual representation of how many people are still alive. Each week in the credits, there is a sentence which lists the exact number of survivors, and it changes every week, depending on how many people died (or appeared) the episode before.

In comparison to Season 1 it is hard to say which is better. The 13 episodes of Season 1 were all great. In the first half of Season 2, there are also no bad episodes. Battlestar Galactica season 2 has such powerful episodes as " Pegasus" and "Scattered". Yet the best episode of the Season 2.0 DVD is " Valley of Darkness", which in my opinion is sheer brilliance, and possibly the best episode of the series.

This is one of the best shows on TV right now, according to many media outlets. "A Breakaway Hit!" -TV Guide and "The Best Show on Television." -Newsday are but two examples of the rave reviews it has received. If you are a sci-fi fan, this is a must-see show. If you aren't a sci-fi fan, you should still consider checking this out. Even though it's in space and has killer robots, it is more human than most other drama shows on TV today. So say we all.

Anyway, for those who haven't seen this show, but you like a good character drama, be sure to check out this show on DVD. I believe it's even better on DVD. Much like Babylon 5, there is a single story line, with multiple story arcs all tying into that one line. So there is continuity between each episode...and unlike Star Trek, they don't hit the reset button between each episode or movie. What's damaged on a ship in one episode stays damaged in following episodes, as the first season takes place just over a 3 month period.

I recognize that this is a compelling drama that just happens to take place in outer space. It deals with many weighty subjects such as genocide, human flaws, paranoia, depression, and religion. The creators of the original 1970's Battlestar Galactica included many Mormons. On the Internet there are hundreds of articles looking at the religious imagery, the Mormon end-time theology. The religion themes are just as powerful in this new series and this series has practicing religious (clergy - faithful believers), visions, a drug to induce religious visions, and the president believes she is to fulfill prophecy and save humanity.

This is possibly the best Sci-fi series ever!

So say we all.

Reviews

Could have been the best TV season ever....
Review date: 2008-01-29 Rating: 8 out of 10

....but totally misses the mark during the second half of the season.
Season 2 starts immediately after the shock conclusion of season 1 and just like before it gets better and better with each episode. The action sequences are brilliant, the characters continue to develop, the story becomes even more mythical, and some of the key performances are very strong indeed. I honestly think these episodes rate as some of the best TV drama ever shot.
Sadly the second half of the season takes a massive tumble. With the exception of `Scar' none of the last 8 episodes live up to the show's previous high standards. `Black Market' is just rubbish (listen to the podcast commentary to hear the producer lay into this feeble episode). The trouble with this half of the season is that the larger story arc of the show is mostly ignored in favour of one off stories that focus on the characters and expose a darker side to life in the space colony. But it just doesn't work.
The season 2 finale suffers from all of the flaws of the BSG mini series, it's flabby, over long, over sincere and pretty dull to watch.
If you enjoyed the first series then you really should see this. But be prepared for some big disappointments. If you are new to the show then this season is not the place to start.
I'm still giving it 4 stars because the first half of the season is second to none.

Good entertainment, flimsy script
Review date: 2007-11-23 Rating: 8 out of 10

Following near five star performances in the mini series and series 1, this 2nd full scale onslaught still delivers the visuals but could do with a slicker script. Some of the dialogue just reeks of gap filling, as do some of the plot's dead ends and desperate handbrake turns.
A recent revisitation of Firefly laid bare what BSG 2 is missing. Just listen to Firefly's sleek and always engaging dialogue and you know what BSG has to live up to.
Still, very entertaining and worthy of four stars.

The greatest
Review date: 2007-10-17 Rating: 10 out of 10

Easily the best show on TV, standing head and shoulders above the competition, this is also probably the greatest sci-fi show ever. Dark yet witty, action-packed yet emotional and thought-provoking, great acting plus great writing combine with state-of-the-art effects to create a heady cocktail that thrills both viscerally and emotionally. I'm hooked and you will be too.

Incredible second season for one of the best sci-fi shows out there.
Review date: 2007-10-13 Rating: 10 out of 10

After the cliffhanger ending of BSG's surprisingly solid first season it's reasonable to say that season 2 has a lot to live up to. Not only does it have to continue the high number of well-developed character arcs and storylines, but it has to keep engaging it's audience and also maintain the level of intensely dramatic entertainment the last season delivered so strongly.
Does it manage? Yes it does, and a whole lot more besides. Not only does this season stay as good as the last one, but it's repeatedly even better.
Now, it's worth mentioning that if you haven't seen season one and the mini-series that preceded it, this season probably won't make a whole lot of sense since it's only real flaw is that it's not very forgiving on newcomers this far in.
Season two is all about choices and consequences. Again and again the increasingly worn down fleet is faced with difficult choices that make the Olympic Carrier crisis from season one look easy. You will not be able to come down on one side or the other, there's way to much moral ambiguity in place at every turn for clear right-and-wrong distinctions to be made. This adds even more realism to a series already steeped in it, and that makes it even better since BSG's realism is one of it's strongest traits. With every hard decision comes ripples of consequence throughout the series, with no-one left unaffected and no plot-line untouched. Often tiny decisions lead to larger problems but then come the really big questions, where one wrong move could spell extermination, and we as an audience realize that we haven't any more idea what the right choice is than the protagonists.
The population count the president kept in the previous installments is now placed (updated per episode) into the opening credits so we're given a constant reminder of how few people are left, with every loss (and very occasional gain) constantly pointed out to us this series never looses momentum and the perpetual sense of threat never lessens. This is one of the simplest and yet most ingenious devices ever deployed in a television series and deserves mention for it's sheer genius.
One of the things that stands out having watched this season is just how smart it is. It's clearly written by a very intelligent group of writer's who have no problem infusing moral unease or philosophical debate into their show, and yet they manage to pull it off without a whiff of pretentiousness or boredom. You're being challenged, but you're not being lectured.
The visual effects are as good as ever, with some very impressive battle sequences and dog-fights still kept firmly grounded in familiar science and technology. The musical score is as haunting, stirring and involving as before. From a standpoint of presentation values this series is unusually minimalist, but still manages to maintain incredibly high standards throughout.
The performances from the large cast are all still excellent, as are those from the occasional new comers, every character is still as well realized and honestly three-dimensional as before with long-standing personal tensions and motives driving the storytelling for most of the episodes rather than the individual problems faced in each.
The cylons are given a lot more screen time in season two, providing insight into life on the twelve colonies for everyday cylons as well as their true motives and feelings around the original attacks that started the story. The centurions (cylons that don't look human) appear much more as well, and continue to break sci-fi tradition by being not only intelligent and apparently self-aware but also incredibly dangerous, if you wanted a race of killing machines, you'd build them like this. The enemy getting this much fleshing out in any series like this is extremely unusual and BSG gains a lot from the way it treats it's villains - to the extent that on occasion, you might just come down on their side.
In conclusion, Battlestar Galactica maintains and exceeds it's already towering standards of entertainment throughout it's second season. It consistently challenges, thrills and entertains it's audience with well-written scripts, great production values and true-to-life performances. If you enjoyed the first season then sit back, relax, and prepare to be blown away. It's just plain genius.

Product Details/Specifications

Actor(s):
Mary McDonnell
Jamie Bamber
Grace Park
Katee Sackhoff
Tricia Helfer

Recording label: Universal Pictures UK
Manufacturer: Universal Pictures UK
EAN: 5050582427080
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 6
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2006-08-28
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 882 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2005
Language: English (Original Language)

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Battlestar Galactica: Season 2 [2005]

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