A Plan Falls Apart

Battlestar Galactica may be over, but strangely, that doesn't mean that there's no more Galactica left. No, I'm not talking about Caprica, the spin-off prequel series that starts airing in January. No, I'm referring to another Galactica "initiative" that's appearing first on DVD before it airs on television, the movie called The Plan.

Directed by Adama himself, Edward James Olmos, this two hour movie is billed as the story of Battlestar Galactica "through the eyes of the Cylons." Most of the principle cast doesn't even appear in the movie (well.... let me come back to this issue); instead, the actors who play the show's Cylon characters take center stage (well.... let me come back to this issue too).

I think it relatively spoiler free (assuming you've seen the show through at least season two) to say that the film predominately focuses on incarnations of the Dean Stockwell Cylon, "John," "Cavil," or simply One, if you prefer. But if you're hoping for insight on exactly why he's the cold-hearted bastard he is, you're going to be disappointed. Hell, if you're looking for any more knowledge about just what the nature of "The Plan" is (as in... the Cylons "have a plan"), you're also going to be disappointed. This movie doesn't really give us anything that wasn't covered already by the show.

And that's the real problem here. Honestly, the thing doesn't even really play like a movie. It comes across like two hours' worth of deleted scenes that were plucked off the cutting room floor from a dozen or so different episodes (spanning seasons one and two), and stitched together. There really isn't a plot to speak of. Instead, it's sort of a Galactica scavenger hunt for fans to try to place each individual scene in its proper continuity. (Oh, this is during "33." And this is during "The Farm." And so on.)

In fact, more than a little of the footage really is lifted from other episodes. And this is where I can touch on that issue of missing cast members. Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis, and several others weren't actually brought in to film any new footage. But all of them appear -- you might even say rather extensively -- in The Plan, so much so that it got me wondering just how much of the 1:52 run time was actually new material. It seemed like at least 10 minutes' worth was lifted straight and uncut from actual episodes.

Seeing so many pieces stitched together this way, particularly under the umbrella "The Plan," actually makes the viewer more aware of the one real weakness of the series -- the fact that the writers didn't actually have a plan when they wrote the show. I'm all for leaving room for things to shift mid-stream, but watching Cylons hang out in secret in the fleet for over half a year and accomplishing nothing really makes you question their competence. Seeing Adama read that note again from the end of the mini-series: "There are only 12 Cylon models" makes you remember, "hey, we never did find out who actually wrote that, did we?" And who the hell would have that actually knew that??!

If The Plan was destined to be so short and fragmented on plot, then you'd at least hope that it makes up for it in character. It takes a few steps in this regard, but doesn't quite get the job done. There is a sub-plot that attempt to flesh out one version of Cavil (while demonizing another version of him), and another sub-plot that tries to round out the Simon Cylon. But Sharon and Six are little more than window-dressing, and D'Anna? Well, out of 12 Cylons, she's the ONE to not actually show up. Lucy Lawless was unavailable or too expensive, I guess. She's awkwardly present in a two second long bit of found footage, and otherwise is MIA.

I don't suppose I should have expected too much from The Plan, but I was hoping it would feel like more than the afterthought it most assuredly seems to have been. It's not a completely lost cause, because Dean Stockwell takes center stage and gives a fine performance. (Several performances, really.) But beyond that, only the ultimate Galactica completist should watch it. For the rest, this would probably only detract from the memory of the series proper.

I'm sorry to have to say that.