Review – Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

After five seasons Battlestar Galactica completed its run earlier this year. Because an end date was known ahead of time everything was wrapped up really well and it had a very thought-provoking conclusion. That hasn’t stopped the Battlestar universe from continuing on however. The SyFy series Caprica will premiere in January and that show debuted with a movie a few months ago. It is essentially the origin story centered on humanity and the creation of the Cylons.

Out now on DVD and Blu-ray is Battlestar Galactica: The Plan which focuses on something completely different. The Plan goes through events from the series but from the perspective of the Cylons. Every episode opened with mention of “The Plan” that they had but it was never completely clear what that was and how it had to be modified until now.

The movie begins with the days leading up to and through the initial attack on the colonies and specifically Caprica. It then runs through developments that finish up near the end of the second season. The original “plan” is frakked when the attacks fail to eradicate humanity. What follows are the events that were meant to finish the job.

Though it seemed at times that the central focus was on the “Final Five” it didn’t end up being that way. While they were certainly a critical aspect with their integration into society there was quite a bit that dealt with the other models. The Ones (Cavil) specifically orchestrated the attacks and gave out the orders. All the other models played crucial parts with the exception of the Threes (D’Anna).

Early on the movie felt very disjointed because it was bouncing back and forth between the “Final Five” and their positions on Caprica as the attack took place. It settled in soon after that was finished as the majority of them ended up in the fleet. There was still some of that cutting away throughout though since one of them remained on Caprica for quite some time. Some scenes from the series are intertwined with the new footage which helped make it feel grounded and tie it back to those particular events.

The Plan is not for anyone who hasn’t watched Battlestar Galactica before. Even for me, having watched the complete series start to end and some episodes even twice, it got confusing at times. In many cases it was difficult to pinpoint where they were at in relation to the series. Because of the cutaways to new points in time or locations and their respective storylines it was somewhat overwhelming. The Plan does not work as a standalone movie and must be watched after completing the series in its entirety to understand it.

Much of the appeal of a series, as was especially the case with Battlestar, is the slow but meaningful development of the characters. That wasn’t going to be possible in a two hour movie but it was effective at getting across the conflicts that the Cylons felt as they grew relationships with humans. That was seen in the series but it wasn’t understood that they were experiencing those dilemmas so early on.

With the confusion and trying to figure out the timelines it left me conflicted. I did really like the ending despite it all which pulled everything together and was another example of how the Cylons questioned themselves and their actions but were met with resistance along the way. If anything the movie made me think back to the moments in the series and look at them somewhat differently which is great. Doing so brings back some good memories of watching the show for the first time.

The Plan may not be a necessary watch for Battlestar Galactica fans and I certainly can’t recommend it to anyone who isn’t completely familiar with the series. The movie is interesting and does provide some new perspective on the series however which is something that most fans will find valuable regardless.

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