"... And they have a plan."
The above refrain, I'm sure, is familiar to any fan of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica tv series. It's haunted the series since day one and has been a constant source of speculation, conversation and consternation amongst fans since 2003. What exactly was this ethereal Cylon plan? During the airing of the series finale, many were afraid we'd never quite get a sense of what the plan actually was before the show ended. And then a commercial came on announcing a forthcoming direct-to-DVD movie called The Plan that promised to reveal what exactly the plan was. This piqued the curiosity of many, self included, and so I was quite happy to finally have the DVD in my hands last Tuesday.

I came to Battlestar a little late in the game. I had apparently missed any mention of the miniseries and first season, and so I idly stumbled upon the opening episodes of Season 2. I was quite impressed with the show, and talked about it with a few friends to see why I had missed it. Both were loyal fans of the original series and didn't quite enjoy the miniseries, so they never brought it up. (Since then, one of them has become a big fan of the show and the other has been convinced into giving it another shot!). Once I had enough money, I picked up the first season on DVD and never looked back. It was quite a ride. And my enjoyment of the series' final episodes was enhanced by live blogging and chatting with the guys over on iFanboy. All that said, I was looking at The Plan a little apprehensively. I hadn't been big a fan of the previous direct-to-DVD BSG film Razor. For me it felt a little flat and unnecessary, the highlight being some Adama flashback scenes and any scene with Michelle Forbes. As well, what little we had seen of The Plan looked to be nothing more than explanations for things in the series that didn't need explaining. However, I finally had a chance to sit down and dedicate two hours to the film (it's about 25 minutes longer than Razor, which I felt stopped abruptly) this afternoon. 

The Plan begins by placing us in an unseen scene from the Season 2 finale. The two Cavils (Dean Stockwell) from that episode are being lead to the airlock for their execution and as they walk, they barb back and forth, which slowly devolves into the two of them discussing how they got to this point in their lives. The story then cuts back 10 months, to two weeks before the bombing of Caprica in the miniseries. Here we see the two Cavils talking about their "parents", and walking amongst the lifeless bodies of the final five. One Cavil decides he wants to be with one of the Five as they bring about the destruction of Caprica, to see the look on its face; the other wonders if they're doing the right thing. As the story moves along, we catch glimpses of Ellen Tigh, Tory and Anders living their lives on Caprica and Picon on the day of the bombing. Roughly the first 30 minutes of the special centers around the time frame of the miniseries, giving us little moments that help add to the mythos of the show. We do find out the identity of the person Number Six gives the box with the defense codes to, in a mystery that's stuck with the series since 2003. As we move on from the miniseries timeframe, we get shorter vignettes that fill in the Cylon-backstory of first and second seasons. There's a lot going on here, and a lot of characters being shuffled around that it's a bit hard to put a finger on what the overarching plot is. Essentially, it's the journey of the two Cavils, one of whom becomes the "villain" over the course of Season 3 and 4 and the other whose thinking has been totally changed by his experiences with humanity trapped on bombed out Caprica. Perhaps my favorite part of the film was the character arc for a particular Simon/Number 4 in the Colonial Fleet. It really helped to flesh out one of the Cylons with the least screen time. 

This film was an interesting experience as it wasn't quite a full film. That is to say, there is a story we follow, but it's a jarring story, made up, essentially, of deleted scenes. I realized, as I was watching, that this was essentially packing in two seasons worth of backstory for characters that didn't exist and weren't cast until Season 2. It's a very curious thing. There are some really powerful scenes in here, and Dean Stockwell delivers an amazing performance as the two Cavils over the episode. I was quite happy to see the Simon Cylon get more backstory and I thought his scenes were well acted. We also see the addition of a new character to the crew in Simon's wife, Giana. She's given some early prominence in the episode, and then disappears. Her story also becomes wrapped in Chief Tyrol's, which seems an odd choice, but not completely out of place. There are also some great character moments buried in this episode for Anders and Doral, but they seem almost lost in the shuffle. Anders doesn't quite rise to the occasion as I expected him to, and his part seems to disappear for a much of the second half of the story. Doral/Number 5 was probably the least developed character on the show with the most screen time, so it was nice to see him get something above just being a face for a cylon. His unblinking "But my jacket is teal. His was burgundy" line made me crack a smile.

I was quite surprised by this package. It wasn't quite what I expected, and it felt a little disjointed in parts, but in the end, I'm glad to have this chapter of Battlestar. And this is thanks, in part, to Edward James Olmos wonderful direction. There's some real art in this installment that is very hard to discount. A good portion of this was made up of archival footage, and it feels really seamless. In places its very hard to discern what's new and what's old, which is quite fun as it makes everything feel a little more special. Olmos gets a lot of the actors and caters to the strengths in a way you don't normally see and it's clear to see why when you watch some of the bonus material on the disc. His rousing speech to the extras, was evidence of how much respect the man has for everyone on his set. As well, it's clear how much Olmos loved working on this show. He even indicates that he'd want to come back and direct more episodes of the series. 

One of the biggest draws of BSG has been the excellent underscoring work of Bear McCreary, one of the finest composers working in Hollywood. I'm even listening to his soundtracks for the show as I write this review. I'd heard there would be new music for this special and that it would be combined with the music from Razor for a new soundtrack. However, from what I can tell, there was one completely new piece of music written for the film, and McCreary toyed with different arrangements to be more evocative of being "set in the past." But attentive viewers will catch familiar tunes more often than not. Despite not be being as "new" as promised, the soundtrack still delivers and remains one of the best underscoring-to-action pairings I've heard in recent television. It's subtle, nuanced and graceful but at times it's brutal, heavy and gut-wrenching.

While watching this, I was struck with the idea that this would have been better were it titled The Cylons. I think The Plan is slightly misleading, in that one goes in expecting to have the mythologized plan explained, perhaps not laid out in full, but at least talked about. In essence, the entitled plan is summarized and thrown out the window 45 minutes into the film. This corresponds with telling the viewer that the aforementioned Cylons' having a plan stopped being true immediately after the miniseries. The movie has more to do with Cavil and his machinations for trying to controll everything in a spiral of crisis instead of Cavil executing coldly calculated plans.

In the end, I quite enjoyed the film. It presented new material couched in old material and it fits amazingly well. One wonders how long it will be before we see "re-edited" versions of the Miniseries and First and Second Seasons including these new scenes. I do wish this had come out after the Final Five had been revealed, but before the series finale, as I think you have a better understanding of events going into the series finale with these scenes. It feels a bit more put together and Cavil comes off as more methodical villain instead of a "bwhaha" evil guy. I do wish to note that there is some rather distracting, unnecessary nudity littered throughout the film. There's a scene with Cavil and a 6 walking through a packed shower room that really isn't necessary. (Though in a unique bit of equality that never seems to occur in mainstream film, there is some slightly obscured male nudity.) As well, there's a random topless bartender at one point. It's not that I minded it or felt scandalized by its presence, it just felt like a cheap play to appeal to the male demographic - much like the random sex club and topless women in the Caprica pilot that I can imagine will be edited out when it airs on TV.

Overall, I was quite impressed with the movie. I was left a little wanting, as you should be by good entertainment, but it did exceed my expectations. I was expecting nothing more than a hastily slapped together deleted scene-athon like a few reviews made it seem. There's enough new content here to keep most BSG fans happy. However, many fans will be using their long term memory overtime in order to connect dots and remember when certain events are supposed to happen. It's a very "cool medium" concept show, but I think that fits the style of the show. And after everything was said and done, I still found myself missing BSG. Battlestar Galactica: The Plan is available on DVD and Blu-Ray Disc now.

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