BATTLESTAR GALACTICA'S RONALD D. MOORE ADMITS: CYLONS DID NOT HAVE A PLAN
I don't think this is really surprising for most people-but I think what's telling is that there are people that expect every TV show to have it's story mapped out in advance when it first airs. That's just not how TV production and writing work. They're all making it up as they go along. The number of TV shows that get a pilot from a pitch/script are a really small - and then from those the number that actually get picked up for a series are even smaller-and then from there the number that even stay on the air for more than a season are even smaller. The chances of anyone having an entire 7 season storyline mapped out for a show is just unreasonable.
If you watched Battlestar Galactica, Ronald D. Moore's groundbreaking reboot of the 1970s science fiction series, you are intimately familiar with those words. From the very first episode that sprung from the Syfy (formerly SCI FI Channel) miniseries, the credits opened with the basic premise of the show. Decades after the giant robots rebelled against their makers in a devastating war, the Cylons returned from deep space disguised as humans, integrated themselves into society and destroyed it from within. With the last remaining vestiges of the human race on the run, the men and women on Battlestar Galactica had no idea there were Cylon spies within their midst. And they had a plan...
Or so we thought.
Last weekend at the ATX Television Festival, the gang got back together to look back on the series and its legacy on genre television. There, Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama), Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin), Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck), James Callis (Gaius Baltar), Tricia Helfer (Number Six), Grace Park (Boomer/Number Eight), Michael Trucco (Sam Anders) were joined by executive producer Ronald D. Moore, who revealed that the Cylons never had a plan at all! Nope, according to The L.A. Times‘ account of the panel, those iconic words were dreamed up by co-executive producer David Eick, who thought they ”sounded cool." Moore added that he thought they would figure it out by the end of the series, but, as we know, they didn't.
Look: No matter where you stand on Battlestar Galactica and its controversial ending, it ultimately doesn't matter that the Cylons didn't have ”the perfect plan." As we learned in the series, the Cylons are imperfect beings — just like humans. What really matters is that the show was a brilliantly written, impeccably acted story that wove together political and social commentary together as all great science fiction should. Were there some slip-ups along the way? Sure. Do we wish we'd learned more about how angels potentially tie into all this robot stuff? ABSOLUTELY. Do we still inexplicably loathe Gaeta with every fiber of our being? YOU BETCHA. But that doesn't mean we're not going to keep loving Battlestar Galactica, flaws and all. It's just that good.
I don't think this is really surprising for most people-but I think what's telling is that there are people that expect every TV show to have it's story mapped out in advance when it first airs. That's just not how TV production and writing work. They're all making it up as they go along. The number of TV shows that get a pilot from a pitch/script are a really small - and then from those the number that actually get picked up for a series are even smaller-and then from there the number that even stay on the air for more than a season are even smaller. The chances of anyone having an entire 7 season storyline mapped out for a show is just unreasonable.