posted
OK, in some other thread I likened the new Battlestar Galactica to one "Andromeda".
I was out of line. I hadn't seen BG at that time so I shouldn't have made the comment - and I was probably annoyed at Enterprise being cancelled. Anyway fast forward a few weeks. I have now seen the Pilot and the first two episodes.
I REALLY like this show. Ron D. Moore is doing a fine job. I never really watched the original - so all of this is fresh to me. Good stuff.
Just one question wasn't Baltar in the original in league with the Cylons (played by John Colicos)... was at one time he still with the Galactica and the humans and then later on went over to the Cylons - i.e. is this something we could expect from Gaius Baltar on the new BG? Or have they just altered his story? Also, was there a president in the original version?
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
Baltar was one of the council of 12 and had his own Battlestar.
The Cylons came to Baltar under the guise of wanting peace with Humans after 1000 yarhens of war. Baltar was the "instrument" or liason between Humanity and the Cylons.
Baltar had made a deal with the Cylons. He betrayed Humanity and arranged for the defense network to be deactivated before the Holocost. In exchange, his colony was to be spared and he was to be installed as ruler of that colony and therefore the last remnants of Humanity.
The Imperious Leader recended the deal with Baltar. "As long as one Human is left" there would be no peace. Baltar was ordered executed.
With the escape of the Galactica and the Rag-Tag fleet, and with the death of the Imperious Leader, Baltar's death sentence was commuted to life in servitude to the Cylons. The new Imperious Leader said Baltar would be serving himself by delivering Adama and the Humans to the Cylons.
All of this happened in the original pilot episode.
It was obvious Baltar was the betrayer of Humanity and was the most hated human alive.
Flash forward toward the end of the first season. Count Iblis, the devil and voice of the Imperious Leader, promised to deliver Baltar into the hands of Adama. Baltar, upon encountering the ships of light, decides to go to the Galactica and sue for peace.
Baltar is imprisioned and spends the rest of the series on the prison barge (with a minor excursion or two to the Galactica).
In the last episode "Hand of God," Adama promises Baltar his freedom. In exchange for information that would lead to the destruction of a Basestar, Baltar would be stranded on the next available planet with only a short-wave communications set.
So, Baltar was never with the Galactica and never played the role of a "secret" agent the way the new Baltar is. All of the original Baltar's double-dealings took place "off-screen" before the start of the first episode.
[ March 05, 2005, 07:16 AM: Message edited by: HerbShrump ]
Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Coincidentally, next week's BG episode is also titled "Hand of God", and is probably the best episode of the series to date, and the ending makes you want to get up and dance!
posted
There was a president in the original, but he was killed. Then Adama took charge of everything, but I think they formed a new council, not sure if it featured a new president though.
Registered: Feb 2004
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