Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

Recently, Ron Moore and SyFy gave Battlestar Galactica junkies one last fix in the form of The Plan, a sorta-movie about the Cylon perspective of what basically amounts to the first two seasons of the series. Without a doubt, The Plan wouldn't make a lick of sense to anyone who hasn't seen pretty much the entire series, but I can't imagine why anyone who isn't a die-hard fan would watch the movie in the first place. The Plan is the very definition of supplemental material. It didn't really add anything to the already massive, intricate plot of the series and it spent a lot of time rehashing old material, sometimes to clarify "new" developments and sometimes to pad the movie out so it covered the 110 minute run time. All in all, nothing spectacular, but it's still an interesting exercise for the completists out there.

The Plan's title turns out to be rather ironic. It mostly consists of the various Cylon agents in the human fleet failing miserably in their attempts to complete the xenocide they started with the initial nuclear attack. Therein lies the main reason why the Cylons ultimately lost the war. They were really good at the removed mass destruction of the first attack, but they sucked at any up-close machinations.

In the movie's most descriptive scene, a Model 6 that never made an appearance in the series drunkenly runs down the long list of Cylon screw-ups in the so-called "plan" to mop up the remainder of the human race. Put in such sharp relief, it's almost comical how badly the Cylons performed once the major fireworks were over. When the series was running, the Cylons seemed like this unstoppable menace lurking in the cold of space. In The Plan they reveal themselves to be little more than a disorganized social circle slacking at a job none of them really want anymore.

The underlying message of The Plan is that the Cylons got caught up in the inherently human obsession with love. This would be an unbearably corny idea if it weren't for the total viciousness of love in the Battlestar Galactica universe. Nobody on that show was ever made happier or more successful by love, which is in keeping with the Greco-Roman influence of the overall storytelling.

What I found most striking about The Plan is how well it depicts just how unwieldy the series had become by even the halfway point. The setup is so incredibly complicated that it's a wonder the series didn't completely go off the deep end by Season 3. Admittedly, the series finale was a joke, but I blame that one on Ron Moore's decision to Disney-fy his characters at the last minute. BSG didn't have to end the way it did, but watching The Plan makes me wonder whether it was even possible to make a satisfying conclusion with such a tangled mess of loyalties and philosophical quandaries.

The Plan is worth watching, even if it's a bit tainted by the same iffy writing that plagued the series after the conclusion of the mutiny plot. The Cylon perspective is considerably smaller and tighter than the massive human drama that occupied the TV show. It was also pretty cool to get to know some of the "background" Cylon models. Fans of the series should give it a gander, but they shouldn't expect any major revelations. All that can be said for Battlestar Galactica has already been said, but if you're one of those diehards who stuck with the series until the end, you'll still be happy to visit that world one last time.