In his recent
book An Analytical Guide to Battlestar Galactica, author John Kenneth Muir offers
10 suggestions for improving Battlestar Galactica should it be revived. Several of
these make a lot of good sense. A couple are more doubtful. And I believe there are
several others that Richard Hatch, or whoever in the end is responsible for a BG
revival, ought to take into account.
Muir’s first suggestion is to beef
up the female characters. He won’t get any arguments here. Some of his specific
recommendations are more problematical. Muir recommends bringing Maren Jensen back as
Athena and promoting her. Good enough, except the original reason the character of Athena
was dramatically scaled back and eventually eliminated was because of Jensen’s acting
ability, specifically her lack thereof. Bring Athena back by all means, but unless Maren
Jensen has in the interval developed new talents, find another actress. Sheba should have
new responsibilities as well. And I personally wouldn’t mind seeing Deitra from
“Lost Planet of the Gods” as a Galactica viper squadron commander.
Whoever writes the script must also remember to avoid the completely embarrassing atavisms
evident in the treatment of females in the original. Sheba, for example, went from
competent fighter pilot in “Living Legend” to love-struck idiot in “War of
the Gods.” Please, let’s not see any displays of that kind.
Secondly, Muir recommends making
prominent mention that the Galactica and fleet now have hyperdrive of some kind. Of
course my own recommendation along these lines is that the fleet be fitted with Alderson
drive, as used in Pournelle’s novels, as this would very conveniently explain a lot
of things in the original series (why the fleet always seemed to be near planets, why none
of the ships ever exceeded lightspeed in normal space, etc. See my article on this topic). There should be no need to
announce that the fleet has been retrofitted; the implication should be that the fleet had
hyperdrive all along. Anything else is ridiculous.
Third, Muir admonishes future BG
producers to not play with the “look” of the series, something I heartily
endorse. This includes the red and black uniforms, Richard. You can’t beat
Jean-Pierre Dorleac, so don’t even try.
Muir then recommends employing
realistic space battle tactics. This is problematic, the entire concept of “fighter
planes in space” being pretty ridiculous to begin with. However, a new BG
production could make some changes like increasing the ranges at which combat is fought,
adding missiles, showing the vipers manuevering more like spacecraft (there’s no
reason why a viper under attack shouldn’t be able to flip 360 degrees to bring its
guns to bear on whatever is behind it) and less like airplanes, and emphasizing the
difficulty of very high speeds and how they affect combat.
Fifth, Muir wants a CORA-style computer
in every viper. Not entirely a bad idea, as long as it’s obviously a serious device
and not an occasion for humor.
Muir’s sixth suggestion is to
concentrate on the plight of the people in the fleet. There are and always were a lot of
potential stories there, and many of the new warriors must have been brought up out in the
fleet. How would that affect them? Some attention given to the situation of the civilians
is a real must.
I’m not as entirely sure about
Muir’s seventh suggestion, that the fleet encounter planets that have obvious
connections to Earth myths. This was always one of the more dubious aspects of the series
and has the danger of becoming heavy-handed. If something mythological can be worked in,
fine, but don’t ram it down our throats in best Erich von Daniken style.
Eighth, Muir recommends making the
Cylons and Baltar real threats, which is an absolute must, in my view. Not only should the
Cylons, as machines, be absolutely deadly shots both in the cockpit of a raider and on the
ground with a hand weapon, they should also be difficult to kill. Cylon armor is mirrored
for a reason—mirrors reflect laser beams. Imagine having to hit one of the small
non-mirrored areas to kill a Cylon. Talk about tension! Consideration should also be given
to Andrew Probert’s original concept of the Cylons having built-in weapons. And
absolutely bring back Lucifer.
Muir recommends, and I think there will
be a universal chorus of praise, that there be no more space Westerns. Amen!
Lastly, he suggests completely ignoring
the events of Galactica 1980. No problems there, I think!
There are few more things I would add.
First of all, everyone keeps going on and on and on about how a new BG must take
place 20 yahrens after the original. Why? In fact, having it take place only 20 yahrens
later would be inaccurate. We know, from Adama’s comments in “War of the
Gods,” that Colonials live 200 yahrens. Logically, this also means they would age
more slowly than people on Earth do. It would make more sense from the appearance of the
actors and other factors for a new Battlestar Galactica production to take place no
fewer than 50 yahrens after the series. This gives a lot of time for things to have
happened in the meantime. The Colonials may have settled a planet, or more than one. The
fleet may have split apart. Apollo and his contemporaries might actually have
grandchildren who are warriors.
The second suggestion I would add to
those of Muir is to get a science advisor involved. Even if a lot of BG has to be
illogical, a science advisor can at least help avoid the really glaring, crass mistakes
that drive intelligent BG fans up the wall.
Third, get input from science fiction
writers. One of the worst problems with the original series is that no one, and I mean no
one, involved in the original had any feeling for science fiction whatsoever (they for
one thing definitely had no feel for just how big and empty space is!). If BG
is to take its place in the SF pantheon the way Star Trek has, there has to be
involvement from the SF community. My suggestions for writers who might be involved in
some way include Lois McMaster Bujold, who has a real feel for the military SF genre and a
wonderful touch with characterization, and Jerry Pournelle, who isn’t so great in the
characterization field but knows how to plot a good, solid story.
Fourth, don’t focus on any one
character to the exception of the others. This is one of my real fears about a possible
Richard Hatch production, that it’s going to turn into Battlestar Apollo.
There are several important characters. Starbuck and Apollo are equally important.
Tigh, preferably as Fleet Commander, needs to have a major role, as does Boomer.
Cassiopiea and Sheba are also important. And everyone expects to see at least some of the
minor characters—David Greenan as Omega, Sarah Rush as Rigel, Larry Manetti as Giles,
Tony Swartz as Jolly, even Jeff MacKay as Komma. It’s important that BG not
make the same mistake the Star Trek movies featuring the original cast did. The ST
movies focused on three characters to the absolute exclusion of everyone else, namely
Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. This resulted in such tragedies as the excision from Star Trek
II of a subplot featuring Scotty and his nephew and the loss of a scene in Star
Trek IV that featured Mr. Sulu meeting his great-great-grandfather in 20th Century San
Francisco, just to name two well-known occurrences (it is worth noting that the ST
films featuring the Next Generation cast have been somewhat more equitable in
screen time).
Fifth, get rid of the entire concept
that the Council of Twelve are blithering idiots. This was one of the more unbelievable
conceits of the original.
Sixth, how about some obvious rank
markings on the uniforms? How the heck do those guys know who to salute?!
Seventh, don’t fossilize the
relationships. Whether it’s 20 yahrens or 50, Apollo either has long since married
Sheba or he never will. Ditto Starbuck and Cassiopiea.
Lastly, and I believe this is most
important; if Battlestar Galactica cannot be done right, accept that it should not
be revived. A bad revival is a lot more fatal than no revival at all. We’re all of us
very impatient to see our favorite series come back, but we have to insist that whoever
does it, does justice to it.
�1999 by Susan J. Paxton