So how did Lee ‘Apollo’ Adama (Jamie Bamber) and Colonial One survive the Cylon assault? The EMP generators that were offhandedly mentioned in part one, saved the day.

The second half of the miniseries was first broadcast on 9 December, 2003. It was written by Ronald D. Moore and Glen Larson (as Christopher Eric Johnson).

Commander Adama (Edward James Olmos) re-issues the order to prepare the fleet for FTL and a jump to Ragnar Anchorage for munitions. It’s in low orbit of a gas giant, and the irradiated gas seems to have an effect on the Cylons. Something that is discovered when they encounter Leoben (Callum Keith Rennie), who is aboard the station, and Adama is the first of the crew to realize that the Cylons look human now… because Baltar (James Callis) sure won’t share that.

Boomer (Grace Park) is still piloting her Raptor back to the fleet, with Baltar aboard, as well as a young boy, Boxey (Connor Widdows) – a character who won’t be around for long, despite his run in the original series. They are able to land on Colonial One, and Baltar is asked to join President Roslin’s (Mary McDonnell) staff.

Through it all, he keeps seeing and interacting with a version of Six (Tricia Helfer), who is manipulating him, using him, and working to execute the Cylons’ plan. Which leaves us wondering how many human-looking Cylons are aboard the Galactica.

Adama and Tigh (Michael Hogan) want Baltar to come up with a way to screen for Cylons.

We see that Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) had a relationship with Apollo’s brother, something that will no doubt come up again. She passed him, as his flight instructor, when she shouldn’t have, and he’s dead because of it. Something Lee has been blaming his father for.

Survival becomes a numbers game as not every ship in the fleet can make the FTL jump to join the Galactica at Ragnar Anchorage, and the Cylons brutally wipe out those who are left behind. It’s pretty intense.

In fact, the entire series is dark and brutal, and brilliantly written. There are a lot of things going on throughout the miniseries, setting up things for the ongoing series. It’s a tightly paced second half with lots going on, some fantastic VFX, and a gorgeous score by Bear McCreary.

The miniseries not only introduces us to reimagined characters, but also expands the cast to include other areas of the ship, most notably Chief Tyrol (Aaron Douglas) and his deck gang. It eschews the camp and sense of fun of the original series and leans into being a military drama with themes of terrorism, sacrifice, and how humanity will not only survive but thrive.

On top of that, there are still going to be massive action sequences and space battles. And a search for the lost thirteenth colony – Earth.

It took almost another year before the series launched. I remember buying the DVD of the miniseries and just watching it over and over again. This show is amazing. Let’s see if it stays that way on my rewatch.

So say we all!