Battlestar Galactica: Season 2 [2005] (DVD)

Incredible second season for one of the best sci-fi shows out there. After the cliffhanger ending of BSG's surprisingly solid first season it's reasonable to say that season 2 has a lot to live up to. Not only does it have to continue the high number of well-developed character arcs and storylines, but it has to keep engaging it's audience and also maintain the level of intensely dramatic entertainment the last season delivered so strongly. Does it manage? Yes it does, and a whole lot more besides. Not only does this season stay as good as the last one, but it's repeatedly even better. Now, it's worth mentioning that if you haven't seen season one and the mini-series that preceded it, this season probably won't make a whole lot of sense since it's only real flaw is that it's not very forgiving on newcomers this far in. Season two is all about choices and consequences. Again and again the increasingly worn down fleet is faced with difficult choices that make the Olympic Carrier crisis from season one look easy. You will not be able to come down on one side or the other, there's way to much moral ambiguity in place at every turn for clear right-and-wrong distinctions to be made. This adds even more realism to a series already steeped in it, and that makes it even better since BSG's realism is one of it's strongest traits. With every hard decision comes ripples of consequence throughout the series, with no-one left unaffected and no plot-line untouched. Often tiny decisions lead to larger problems but then come the really big questions, where one wrong move could spell extermination, and we as an audience realize that we haven't any more idea what the right choice is than the protagonists. The population count the president kept in the previous installments is now placed (updated per episode) into the opening credits so we're given a constant reminder of how few people are left, with every loss (and very occasional gain) constantly pointed out to us this series never looses momentum and the perpetual sense of threat never lessens. This is one of the simplest and yet most ingenious devices ever deployed in a television series and deserves mention for it's sheer genius. One of the things that stands out having watched this season is just how smart it is. It's clearly written by a very intelligent group of writer's who have no problem infusing moral unease or philosophical debate into their show, and yet they manage to pull it off without a whiff of pretentiousness or boredom. You're being challenged, but you're not being lectured. The visual effects are as good as ever, with some very impressive battle sequences and dog-fights still kept firmly grounded in familiar science and technology. The musical score is as haunting, stirring and involving as before. From a standpoint of presentation values this series is unusually minimalist, but still manages to maintain incredibly high standards throughout. The performances from the large cast are all still excellent, as are those from the occasional new comers, every character is still as well realized and honestly three-dimensional as before with long-standing personal tensions and motives driving the storytelling for most of the episodes rather than the individual problems faced in each. The cylons are given a lot more screen time in season two, providing insight into life on the twelve colonies for everyday cylons as well as their true motives and feelings around the original attacks that started the story. The centurions (cylons that don't look human) appear much more as well, and continue to break sci-fi tradition by being not only intelligent and apparently self-aware but also incredibly dangerous, if you wanted a race of killing machines, you'd build them like this. The enemy getting this much fleshing out in any series like this is extremely unusual and BSG gains a lot from the way it treats it's villains - to the extent that on occasion, you might just come down on their side. In conclusion, Battlestar Galactica maintains and exceeds it's already towering standards of entertainment throughout it's second season. It consistently challenges, thrills and entertains it's audience with well-written scripts, great production values and true-to-life performances. If you enjoyed the first season then sit back, relax, and prepare to be blown away. It's just plain genius.

The Best Season 2 carried on where Season 1 and the first DVD the pilot espiode lefted off. It's not airy fairy, but shows reality situations warts and all. How people react to a war situation it's a fight for your races survivial. Stories where not tied up or neatly packaged in just one espiode but carried on. Like the story of Helo and Boomer, Six and Baltar the twists and the turns. The Cylons started off with the same agenda but now maybe not all singing from the same hymn sheet. I can't wait for Season 3 or Season 4 DVD

Renting? Don't bother with disc 6... hi, i'm a rental customer and rented all of the season 2 discs. While I am a huge fan, I was a bit ticked off as disc 6 contains nothing but deleted/re-edited clips from all the season's episodes. There is some stuff that was never shown before, primarily a scene in a bar where Adama and Tye meet for the first time, but other then that I found it just a waste of a disc rental slot. That being said, the first 5 discs are excellent - I really do enjoy this show!

Excellent sci fi, excellent drama. Far better than the original show. Picked this up a couple of days ago. And I have just finished the whole 20 episodes. The acting is generally excellent with a few minor exceptions. Special effects are so good they seem real and not special. complete illusion. The series keeps the feeling of tension going right through and touches onto a number of moral and social issues. The drama raises this far above other sci fi shows which are usually clunky. There are only two 'filler' episodes in the series and they are not weak as is often the case, they just show a different side to the story.

The reinvention of sci-fi TV continues... Is Battlestar Galactica the best sci-fi show ever made? Frak yeah! If there was any doubt about the quality of Ron Moore's BSG, season two ended it by building on the sophisticated storylines and complex characterisation of season one and taking the show to a level that shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation and Babylon 5 could only ever dream of. Season highpoints include the brilliant Pegasus three-parter (somebody give Michelle Forbes her own show quick!), the season finale (with that stunning jump) and the Tyrol-focused Flight of the Phoenix. Pity the extras are lame then - all you get are some (not even all!) of the Sci Fi Channel podcasts.