Battlestar Galactica is a science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore and executive produced by Moore and David Eick as a “re-imagining” of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson.
Watching the Battlestar Galactica Reboot universe, sometimes referred to as the Galactica-Verse unfold can be really amazing; it can also be very confusing. Watching BSG on home media or streaming there are:
- special extended cuts
- 3 sets of webisodes placed out of order
- a movie released after Season 3 which should be watched during Season 2 (Razor)
- a movie set in Season 2 which should only be viewed after much of Season 4 (The Plan)
- a prequel series that was cancelled after one season (Caprica)
- another prequel series pilot (Blood & Chrome) released as a movie.
Here’s how I would recommend watching it all:
Caprica:
Caprica begins 58 years before Battlestar Galactica. The prequel, retroactively lays much of the groundwork for the series that spawned it, but the two stories are almost completely different in setting and tone. Caprica, a science fiction soap opera, spoils nothing from BSG in that the main focus of the original deals with a subject that is impossible to broach in this series. And Caprica also does a good job of expanding on some of BSG’s more outlandish elements which make them that more satisfying, having already accepted them here. To say more would risk spoiling things best left unsaid.
S01E01 Pilot*
S01E02 Rebirth
S01E03 The Reins of a Waterfall
S01E04 Grave Dancing
S01E05 There Is Another Sky
S01E06 Know Thy Enemy
S01E07 The Imperfections of Memory
S01E08 Ghosts in the Machine
S01E09 End of Line
S01E10 Unvanquished
S01E11 Retribution
S01E12 Things We Lock Away
S01E13 False Labor
S01E14 Blowback
S01E15 The Dirteaters
S01E16 The Heavens Will Rise
S01E17 Here Be Dragons
S01E18 Apotheosis (Series Finale)
* There are two versions of the pilot, both of which are worth seeing. The original release featured nudity, some lesbianism and graphic violence. This couldn’t be featured in the televised version so they entirely cut the sex / nudity, reduced the violence added 1 new scene and several effects shots that established different locations on Caprica. If there was a version with everything in it, I’d recommend that, but as much as it pains me to say so, the televised version is the better one; I dislike that it cut the girl on girl stuff though as I like my content as queer as possible.
Also, having been cancelled you might expect this series to have major cliffhangers that create all sorts of problems for the elements that follow but you’d be wrong. While there are a couple of unresolved elements here, the series has a surprisingly satisfying finish and actually sets up BSG quite well.
Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome
Set 16 years after Caprica, this was a pilot for an unsold BSG spin-off which actually serves as a brilliant bridge between Caprica and Battlestar Galactica, combining elements of both in ways that just weren’t possible before.
Battlestar Galactica: Razor Flashbacks
Episode 1: Day 4,571
Episode 2: The Hangar
Episode 7: Escape
Originally, all 7 of the Razor Flashbacks were cut from that film when it aired on TV and the Razor Flashbacks were released separately as bonus content. But the Extended Cut reintegrated Flashbacks 3-6 + the beginning of 7. You can watch all 7 of them now, but you’ll re-watch 4.5 of them in Razor so I’d recommend skipping the ones that are included in the extended film except for Flashback #7, which has a brilliant ending that sets up the miniseries nicely and was not included. Seeing the last one on its own might be confusing now but it will be placed in a larger context later.
Also, there are edits on YouTube which edit out everything that was put back into Razor, and you can see at least one of those here.
Battlestar Galactica: The 2003 Miniseries
The pilot for the series first aired as a three-hour miniseries in December 2003 on the Sci-Fi Channel, which was then followed by four regular seasons, ending its run on March 20, 2009. The story is set 58 years after Caprica, 42 years after Blood & Chrome and 40 years after the Razor Flashbacks.
Battlestar Galactica: 2004 TV Series
S01E01 33
S01E02 Water
S01E03 Bastille Day
S01E04 Act of Contrition
S01E05 You Can’t Go Home Again
S01E06 Litmus
S01E07 Six Degrees of Separation
S01E08 Flesh and Bone
S01E09 Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down
S01E10 The Hand of God
S01E11 Colonial Day
S01E12 Kobol’s Last Gleaming, Part 1
S01E13 Kobol’s Last Gleaming, Part 2
S02E01 Scattered
S02E02 Valley of Darkness
S02E03 Fragged
S02E04 Resistance
S02E05 The Farm
S02E06 Home, Part 1
S02E07 Home, Part 2
S02E08 Final Cut
S02E09 Flight of the Phoenix
S02E10 Pegasus: Extended Cut [59 minutes]
S02E11 Resurrection Ship, Part 1
S02E12 Resurrection Ship, Part 2
S02E13 Epiphanies
S02E14 Black Market
S02E15 Scar
S02E16 Sacrifice
S02E17 The Captain’s Hand
S02E18 Downloaded
Battlestar Galactica: Razor [Unrated Extended Edition – 101 minutes]
Between Seasons 3 & 4, the Battlestar Galactica movie “Razor” was aired. Some people will only watch this movie in the timeframe in which it was originally released but this makes no sense to me, because for the characters, this is where the story is set and all of the characters have this story in their heads moving forward. This is different from “The Plan”, which is set during the second season finale, but is filled to the brim with massive story spoilers that shouldn’t be viewed before the last 4 episodes of the series. Those that are willing to watch this movie where it actually takes place also seem to mistake where exactly the film is set, but the movie can only take place between the 2nd Season episodes “Downloaded” & “Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 1”.
Let me explain. The movie features flashbacks that clearly demonstrate that “Razor” takes place shortly after “The Captain’s Hand” – which is where most people seem to place the movie. But people that place “Razor” directly after “The Captain’s Hand” are missing an important clue. During the episode “Downloaded” there are flashbacks to the original events of the miniseries which are dated as taking place 9 months ago. But in “Razor” there are also flashbacks to different events that took place during the miniseries which are dated as 10 months ago, meaning that “Razor” definitely takes place after “Downloaded”. The survivor count at the start of the episodes also supports this order:
Sacrifice (49,590 Survivors)
The Captain’s Hand (49,584 Survivors)
Downloaded (49,579 Survivors)
Razor (49,579 Survivors)
Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I (49,579 Survivors)
Some characters die during Razor, but it can be argued that some babies were also born during this time. Given all the clues, it seems clear that the writers intended “Razor” to be viewed (or at least take place) between “Downloaded” & “Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 1”. And that’s where I recommend that new viewers see the film. End of story.
S02E19 Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 1
S02E20 Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2 [Extended Episode: 70 minutes]
Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance [Webisodes 1-10]
S03E01 Occupation
S03E02 Precipice
S03E03 Exodus, Part 1
S03E04 Exodus, Part 2
S03E05 Collaborators
S03E06 Torn
S03E07 A Measure of Salvation
S03E08 Hero
S03E09 Unfinished Business [Extended Cut: 70 minutes]
S03E10 The Passage
S03E11 The Eye of Jupiter
S03E12 Rapture
S03E13 Taking a Break from All Your Worries
S03E14 The Woman King
S03E15 A Day in the Life
S03E16 Dirty Hands
S03E17 Maelstrom
S03E18 The Son Also Rises
S03E19 Crossroads, Part 1
S03E10 Crossroads, Part 2
S04E01 He That Believeth In Me
S04E02 Six of One
S04E03 The Ties That Bind
S04E04 Escape Velocity
S04E05 The Road Less Traveled
S04E06 Faith
S04E07 Guess What’s Coming to Dinner
S04E08 Sine Qua Non
S04E09 The Hub
S04E10 Revelations
S04E11 Sometimes a Great Notion
S04E12 A Disquiet Follows My Soul [Extended Cut: 53 minutes]
Battlestar Galactica: The Face of the Enemy [Webisodes 1-10]
Set mainly between “Sometimes a Great Notion” and “A Disquiet Follows My Soul”, these webisodes reveal vital information explaining some of the events of the previous stories and lay the groundwork for some of the revelations in the latter episode with scenes set during that installment – which makes viewing it before that story confusing at best, but much more satisfying here. These award winning webisodes are also much more inventive and enjoyable than the previous “Resistance” installments.
S04E13 The Oath
S04E14 Blood on the Scales
S04E15 No Exit
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan [Unrated Extended Cut: 111 minutes]
The film was released after the end of the series but it does not serve as a great post-series story because it doesn’t have anything to do with the end of the show and it doesn’t resolve anything left dangling in the series finale. It does work wonders here, because although the story is set during the second season finale story, “Lay Down Your Burdens”, with flashbacks set before and throughout the first 2 seasons, solving several series mysteries in the process, the film is packed to the gills with spoilers which were revealed to the audience in “No Exit”, meaning it can finally be viewed here without spoiling anything. Instead of a post-series movie, the film now feels like an exception bonus episode, serving as a one-two punch with “No Exit” to cover the entire 4 season run via backstory, lore and flashbacks that give us new insight into all that has come before we continue on. It’s similar to watching “Downloaded” and “Razor” in chronological order as both of those stories fill in blanks we had up until then. Trust me. This is the place to watch “The Plan”.
S04E16 Deadlock
S04E17 Someone to Watch Over Me
S04E18 Islanded in a Stream of Stars [Extended Cut: 63 minutes]
S04E19 Daybreak (Series Finale) [Extended Cut: 153 minutes]
All of this has happened before, and will happen again.