Before I say anything… if you haven’t seen the Ron Moore era Battlestar Galactica from start to finish, don’t click the ‘view full post’ option below. The Plan is the story from the Cylon’s perspective and spans from the first episode to near the end of the second. Despite that, it also contains some spoilers from both the third and final series. So… in the words of Father Dougal McGuire, careful now.

For those who have seen BSG and are put off by negative reviews, ignore them. I get the feeling that people thought this would answer all the open ended questions. It answers a few minor things, gives a new perspective on some other stuff… but it’s not a huge revelation, it’s merely a different angle.

I must thank Lynn of Pheonix Rising for sending this DVD out! It was a wonderful gift and as it’s not released in the UK yet, it was nice to be able to see it without a shaky download. And thanks to some DVD Player trickery, I can play American DVD’s… so Caprica shall be ours!

Now onto the spoilery stuff.

I was hesitant to watch the Plan due to some really bad reviews. A lot of people talked about it being a glorified clip show with excessive and vulgar nudity and no answers to all the open questions they wanted to have closed. Maybe it was a marketing campaign gone wrong, but that was not what the DVD was about.

This was, primarily, about Cavil, leader of the Cylons and how he led his troops into battle and pulled all the strings to create his fleet killing machine. It also shows how the others failed him due to their struggle with humanity such as Boomer who’s love for Adama interfered in her mission to kill him and how Caprica failed to take down Baltar as she felt too strongly about him.

Throughout we see the human side of the Cylons breaking through before we see it happen during the series, and different angles editing into original footage such as Caprica breaking down at Baltar being furious with her, Boomer talking to Cavil about her doubts and more.

The story of a Four model is probably the easiest example. In the series we first see him posing as a creepy Doctor to try and breed a hybrid with Starbuck. But here we see more with one of his models living out a human life in the fleet. He has a wife, step child and is reluctant to destroy that. He’s possibly the most human of the lot, which is a surprise, and refuses to carry out Cavil’s orders.

But this is, at it’s core, all about Cavil. We have greater insight into his plan to force his ‘parents’ to live a human life and his disappointment that they haven’t learned their lesson. We only really see his interactions with Ellen and Sam, but his plan to make them suffer as humans is emphasised in this story. He wants them to suffer and realise that humanity is wrong and sinful, and that we all mush perish. But even as humans they can’t see the wrong in being sinful.

The sad thing about Cavil is that he’s more human that he wants to admit. He boxed the Seven’s out of jealousy. He bombed humanity to prove a point to his mother and is desperate for her approval. He’s stubborn and refuses to admit he’s wrong. At his core, all he wants is unconditional love and he’s destroyed the world to try and get it… only for a more enlightened model of himself to point out his wrong doings.

Overall, it’s a wonderful insight into Cavil and Dean Stockwell is fantastic enough in the role to deserve his own DVD. But you also get more insight into the emotional lives of the Cylons, their motivations and their lives and experiences.

A lot of people watching this felt cheated. They thought this was all about the Cylons plan to destroy humanity throughout the series and feel this doesn’t deliver. T me, thats not the point of the DVD. It switched my focus. The plan wasn’t about the hunting and killing of humans, it was about Cavil. His plan to make his parents learn the truths of humanity as he saw them, to change their perspective and to gain Ellen’s love.

Watching this made me think the plan all along was that of a man just crying out for his parents to love him. Cavil’s failing wasn’t the humanity survived and won the war, but that by the end… he was a disappointment to his mother.

The bonus is that we also get deeper insight into other Cylons who, most likely for work reasons and scheduling, didn’t have a lot of back story. Four’s family angle was wonderfully done. Little clues into Leoben’s obsession with Starbuck was also a tad more revealing. And I finally got a solid answer on whether the Six that tried to incriminate Baltar was another Cylon model of part of the God Squad. Which I was happy with.

Yes, there is some previously filmed footage but it’s all seamlessly editing into the new stuff which makes it work. Besides, this is a retelling – you’d need some stock footage to work with and I didn’t think they went as overboard as some upset fans were claiming.

And yes, there was nudity. But it wasn’t as vulgar and in your face as some reviews had led me to believe. I was a little disappointed I didn’t get more as some reviews made me think I was getting some softcore porn which just happened to have some stuff about Battlestar in it. But aside from a pilot who wandered around the changing room naked with a body you’d demand to be walking across the screen naked… none of it took me out of the scene and was all in the right places.

Especially the strip club. I always fin it weird when a TV show has a strip club and they have to avoid tits at all costs. Seeing topless waitresses made more sense.

So yeah, overall it was a good movie. Though I can’t stress enough – this is not the answers all rolled into one. There are a few minor answers thrown in there, but you’re not going to walk away knowing all the stupid questions people keep asking.

This is just a different angle on the fall of Caprica and some insight that we hadn’t seen before. I really think reviews would have been better if this wasn’t seen as the holy grail.

So if you want to see it, or maybe want to re-watch it… just see it for what it is. Not for what you want it to be.

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Tags: bsg, geek, phoenix rising, sci fi