Written by Michael Taylor, David Eick, Bradley Thompson, and David Weddle
Directed by Jonas Pate
It’s been quite some time since we’ve had new material related to the “Battlestar Galactica” franchise. Setting aside “Caprica” for the moment, a more direct production was “The Plan”, a completely unnecessary addition to the story that did little to convince anyone that there was, in fact, a plan behind the Cylons’ activities. If there is one major flaw to the franchise as a whole, it’s the inability of the writers and producers to accept that they wrote themselves into a corner, and struggled to get themselves out.
“Blood and Chrome” has an odd history. Originally conceived as a webseries, perhaps as a test case to determine if there was sufficient support for another spinoff after the disappointing reception for “Caprica”, “Blood and Chrome” was considered strong enough to justify going right to series. Syfy toyed with the idea (and the fandom) for well over a year, but then retreated back to the stand-alone webseries decision. While it will be airing as a TV-movie in February 2013, there’s little expectation that more will be coming in the future.
Now that “Blood and Chrome” is fully available, it’s not hard to see why Syfy would have been tempted to give the greenlight to a full series. Set comfortably in the middle of the First Cylon War, well after the events of “Caprica” and long before the series proper, “Blood and Chrome” is the story of William Adama’s first mission as a pilot in the Colonial ranks, assigned to Galactica. While it does strip things down to the bare essentials, there is still plenty to enjoy.
One thing that I particularly liked was the attempt, throughout the story, to tie the information and events of “Caprica” into the overall universe to a greater degree. “Caprica” was clearly part of the same universe, but there were details that never quite fit comfortably into the mythology that dominated the actual series. This bridges the gap, largely in terms of Adama’s struggle to overcome the reputation of his family and establish his own identity. Those who disliked “Caprica” will see this as extraneous, but completists will appreciate the effort.
Somewhat less successful was the characterization of Adama as a cocky young pilot. It’s part and parcel of “Galactica”, given the damaged yet skilled Kara Thrace, but it’s become a cliché. Perhaps the writers didn’t think they had time to play things with more subtlety, but it’s hard to think that this naïve idiot version of Adama would evolve into the stubborn yet authoritative Old Man. For that matter, it’s hard to see how this Adama transforms into the man he is by the end of the war, as seen in “Razor”.
Part of the problem is that Luke Pasqualino’s portrayal of a young, brash Adama is vaguely reminiscent of Ralph Macchio’s Daniel from “The Karate Kid”. Whenever there’s an opportunity for Adama to misinterpret something, overlook the obvious, or simply fail to ask the most relevant question at the right time, that’s what happens. There’s nothing more infuriating than a character that doesn’t think more than a step ahead, simply because that’s what the plot requires of him. Lack of experience should not be written as lack of competence!
Overall, the point of the story is that Adama (and his wingman Coker) are assigned to escort a hot scientist (Dr. Kelly), only to discover that things are a bit more complicated than that. The mission itself is nothing new for anyone with a hint of education in military intelligence and war espionage, which makes Adama’s eventual umbrage over being used a bit disingenuous. I won’t spoil the details, but needless to say, someone wasn’t paying attention to the lessons in real politik at the academy.
Equally important to the story elements is the production value, which is pretty damn impressive for a webseries. Almost everything is digitally rendered, right down to the CIC on Galactica, and I would be shocked if too many people recognized that fact. Sure, there are the usual moments that are clearly CGI, not unlike similar scenes from the series proper, but I doubt many viewers were aware of how much was actually shot with a green screen.
The producers used some artistic license to cover the seams in the digital recreations. For example, right from the start, it looks like someone stole the lens flare app from JJ Abrams and added it to everything. It’s certainly one way to force the audience to center their attention on the cast rather than the “set”. The least successful moment, however, had to be the dogfight over Djerba. Once the Vipers and Raiders, and their movements, are set against the stark white of the icy ground, it’s hard not to see every little mistake in the physics. But that’s also because the human drama in those moments is so basic that there’s nothing else to hold one’s attention.
All told, it’s definitely a step up from “The Plan”, even if it doesn’t quite seem to justify the need for four writers. The idea of stripping “Battlestar Galactica” down to a modern version of “Space: Above and Beyond” is hardly a terrible one, especially if they could continue to lace the story with plenty of references to the rest of the existing mythology. At the same time, while it’s great to see new, solid material for the “Galactica” universe, I’d be content if this was the extent of what came out of “Blood and Chrome”.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Score: 7/10
