The Five Worst Episodes of Battlestar Galactica

Written by:  John Edward Betancourt 

Few television shows have ever managed to captivate me completely.  I’ve enjoyed plenty of programming in my day, but only a handful of shows have compelled me to not miss a single moment of the story.  Such was the case with the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, a show that had me on my sofa ready to watch week in and week out.  

Having recently met Aaron Douglas, who played Chief Galen Tyrol on the show at Denver Comic Con I have found myself revisiting the show once more, and after all these years I find that it still takes my breath away. 

But with it being off the air for so many years, doing a retrospective on the show seems silly, as since it has been dissected by so many.  Instead I thought the best way to remember this incredible piece of television was by looking at both sides of the spectrum, both its brilliance and for today, its failures.  Here are the first worst episodes of Battlestar Galactica.  Be warned, if there is the remote possibility you haven’t seen the new BSG, there are spoilers ahead. 

5.  “Hero”

The Plot:  A Cylon Raider appears to be threatening the Colonial Fleet when it is revealed to be under the control of a pilot who once served under Commander Adama years ago and was lost on a top-secret reconnaissance mission.  His return brings no joy to Adama, who believed the man dead and that the mission was the cause for the near extermination of man.  

The Lowdown:  This Season Three episode had amazing potential to teach us more about Admiral Adama but was instead wasted with the silly notion that the Cylons would take a prisoner when their ultimate goal is to destroy mankind.  To add further insult to injury is Adama’s belief that his mission was the reason that the Cylons finally decided to attack when his character has faced the Cylons before and knows of their utter disgust for the human race.

4. “Epiphanies”

The Plot:  With terminal cancer ravaging her system, President Laura Roslin is hospitalized and near death.  As the end of her life nears, memories of the past wash over her, including one that may reveal that the one man who can save her life is also the traitor who handed mankind’s defenses over the to Cylons. 

The Lowdown:  There are few devices in television more annoying than the “flashback episode.”  An hour or half hour dedicated to either events that occurred years ago on the show or in some cases, happened off camera. This Season Two episode combines both of those elements and uses the gravitas of death as a mere plot device.  Yes there is a sub plot regarding people crusading for peace with the Cylons but all of that is easily forgotten due to lazy writing and poor execution. 

3. “The Woman King”

The Plot: Plague has broken out among the survivors of New Caprica that now live deep within the bowels of the Galactica, and the body count is rising.  Karl “Helo” Agathon, is charged with helping to contain the epidemic and discovers that something far more sinister than disease is spreading. 

The Lowdown:  This was one of two episodes of BSG on this list that are in essence, crime dramas, and quite frankly crime drama doesn’t work on a show like this.  What makes it worse is that the doctor responsible for the many murders in this episode has been killing people since New Caprica, and no one noticed until now.  This was a thinking man’s show, so to have an oversight such as this is disappointing to see in Season Three. 

2. “Black Market”

The Plot:  Captain Lee “Apollo” Adama is charged with bringing down the fleet’s Black Market after its spreading illegal operations take the life of the Commander of the Battlestar Pegasus. 

The Lowdown:  This should have been a deep exploration on our mortality, since Lee Adama is still recovering from his own brush with death.  Instead we are treated to the first crime drama of the series and it feels completely out of place, worse than the aforementioned “Woman King”.  This Season Two turkey should have never been produced, and should have been number one.  Had it not been for one greater atrocity in the BSG universe. 

1. “The Plan”

The Plot:  The Cylons who have disappeared for forty years have returned home to eradicate their masters.  But as they hunt down the last remaining humans, those who are deep behind enemy lines now wonder if their master plan was worth it after all. 

The Lowdown:  One might consider this a “lost episode” of BSG as since it was released after the series went off the air.  But the story is still canon and does take us back to key moments in the series, yet the end result is ultimately a letdown.  Why?  Only because it was touted that this special episode would reveal at last the ominous “plan” referred to in the opening credits of the show.  So what was “The Plan”?  To wipe out humanity.  Yup.  Two hours to tell me what was already evident in the miniseries when the Cylons committed utter genocide and laid chase to the last surviving remnant of humanity.  What a waste.  

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