Season 3, Episode 1 - 09 January 2007 - Sky One, 9.00 pm.
WRITER: Ronald D. Moore DIRECTOR: Sergio Mimica-GezzanCAST: Edward James Olmos (Adama), Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck), Michael Hogan (Tigh), James Callis (Baltar), Aaron Douglas (Tyrol), Tricia Helfer (Number 6), Dean Stockwell (Brother Cavil), Michael Trucco (Anders), Jamie Bamber (Lee), Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben Conoy), Mary McDonnell (Roslin), Nicki Clyne (Cally Tyrol), Grace Park (Sharon) & Lucy Lawless (Number 3)
Four months into the Cylon's occupation of New Caprica, those left behind by the Colonial fleet struggle under the new regime, while others have become insurgents...The genius of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica has been its ability to mix futuristic sci-fi with contemporary issues of war. Occupation continues the brave new direction created at the close of season 2, with the fleet setting up home on a new world after Gaius Baltar assumed Presidency, only to be invaded by the Cylons after a year of peace...
For BSG to shake up its format so radically took courage from producer Ronald D. Moore, an ex-Star Trek writer who worked most prolifically on Deep Space Nine, another series that used themes of war, religion and politics very strongly. With BSG, Moore has not only breathed life into a fondly-remember, but ultimately inconsequential bit of 70s kitsche, he's arguably created one of the most dramatic and astute sci-fi shows in decades.
Occupation brings us up to speed with the main characters four months later: Adama is struggling with a skeleton crew, Apollo has become an ineffective slob, Starbuck is a house prisoner of a love-struck Cylon, an imprisoned Tigh has lost an eye, Chief Tyrol and Enders have mounted a resistance movement, while President Baltar remains subservient to the Cylons...
Starbuck's subplot is the most intriguing, as she's constantly facing persuasion to love her Cylon captor Leoben (an emotion Cylons hold dear), to no avail. The fact she routinely kills her softly-spoken admirer, only for him to "download" into another body and reappear to resume his wooing, doesn't seem to put him off...
Beyond that, the thrust of the story is with the resistance movement, who aim to detonate a bomb at a meeting of the New Caprica Police (turncoat humans who work for the Cylons) because President Baltar will be in attendance.
The fun of the episode is undoubtedly playing catch-up with all the characters, and writer Moore ensures the new set-up for season 3 is involving and surprising. Parallels can be drawn throughout the episode to the French Resistance of WWII and the insurgency bombings in Baghdad post 9/11. With these links to our own political landsape so noticeable, the final scene of Occupation is alarming in its audacity, and cements BSG's reputation as a series that enjoys highlighting moral shades of grey.
