Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome is a spinoff of
Battlestar Galactica (Reimagined), serving as a prequel to BSG and a sequel to
Caprica. Set ten years into the Cylon War, it focuses on then-Ensign William Adama, who has been assigned to then-new
Galactica fresh out of the academy. The irascible newbie is more than a little irritated to be assigned to be a Raptor "bus driver" rather than a Viper jock. However, things become much more interesting fast when the routine "milk run" he and his more experienced but surly co-pilot Lt. Coker Fasjovik are assigned to turns out to be a cover for a top-secret mission involving the mysterious Dr. Beka Kelly.
It was in
Development Hell for a long time, but finally made it out the door in online mini-episodes in November 2012 and a longer version aired as a two-hour pilot movie on February 10, 2013. The uncut, unrated DVD and Blu-Ray of the pilot was released on February 19, 2013.
This series provides examples of:
- Ace Pilot: Bill.
- Anachronism Stew: Like Caprica, it's bound to contain shades of this, with fashions and hair styles so far reminiscent of the Vietnam War.
- Continuity Snarl: The Galactica has a different CIC, sickbay and hangar design and Adama flies a newer Mark III Viper with his name on it at the end (despite flying the older Mark II, which is a major plot device in the Re-Imagined series).
- Crazy Survivalist: Toth.
- Establishing Character Moment: In the very first scene, Bill's in a (simulated) dogfight with two Raiders. When he gets his Viper's windscreen damaged destroying one, he jettisons it despite the radiation hazard and uses his handgun to destroy the other. It also foreshadows/Calls Forward to his mature self's tolerance of Starbuck's antics.
- Fatal Family Photo: Near the end of the final episode Coker hands Bill a photograph of a loved one. That this was his final mission before his service was up sealed his fate. He lives.
- Similar in concept, but Kirby (supposedly) dies the mission after Coker tells him about his wife and child.
- Improbable Piloting Skills: Bill.
- Mildly Military: The Colonials. The entire plot is basically driven by an Ensign who thinks he can order around a Lieutenant. Although to be fair, given that they're 10 years into a brutal war standards might have slipped a little.
- Position outweighs rank. Coker outranked Adama, but as pilot, Adama was in charge of the Raptor. Also, Coker was acting chicken, while Adama was focused on completing their assigned mission.
- May-December Romance: Bill is 16-20 (if one goes by the official wiki, he is 15) and Dr. Kelly, being a widow and a former Graystone tech, is probably in her early thirties.
- The Other Darrin: Bill is portrayed by Luke Pasqualino, instead of Nico Cortez as in the Razor flashbacks. However, he is a few years younger here than in Razor Flashbacks.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: The Cython.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Dr. Kelly.
- Ret Irony: Coker was hoping for a nice, quiet posting for the final few weeks of his service. Then he gets sent on this mission. Then he survives despite being seriously injured and showing the Fatal Family Photo mentioned above.
- Sound Effect Bleep: "Frak" still gets a free pass, but any "normal" oaths get concealed by convenient locker slams, spanner drops, something that is not mandated by Youtube whatsoever. Meanwhile, the Blu-rays are explicitly advertised as unrated.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Coker's buddy Kirby escorts Adama's team to the ice planet, then abandons them after his Viper is damaged, saying he's going home. We never hear from him again, or find out how he planned to get anywhere in a damaged short-range fighter whose carrier was just destroyed.
- Xanatos Gambit: The Colonial leadership knows Dr. Kelly is a Cylon sympathiser, and is planning to betray them. That's precisely what they want.
- You Look Familiar: Several actors who played supporting roles in Battlestar Galactica and/or Caprica play new characters here, including Ben Cotton, Brian Markinson, Carmen Moore, Ty Olsson, Jill Teed, Sebastian Spence, John Pyper-Ferguson and Leo Li Chiang.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Dr. Kelly wants to end the war by forcing the Colonial government to negotiate with the Cylons. Unfortunately, her plan involves giving the Cylons information about a hidden Colonial fleet, which would lead to thousands of human deaths.
- But then again, she herself is being played by the Colonial leadership.
0 reviews