Just over a year after the miniseries aired, the first season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica launched on 14 January, 2005. It opened with an episode titled 33. It’s tense, it’s well-crafted and a helluva way to launch the main series.

Written by Ronald D. Moore who also served as the series showrunner, it finds the Galactica and the civilian fleet nearing the point of exhaustion. Every time they use FTL (faster than light) to jump away from the Cylons they are somehow rediscovered thirty-three minutes later. Every time.

No one has slept, tensions are high, and the surviving human race is a decreasing number on a whiteboard about Colonial One.

Everyone is tired and mistakes are going to be made.

Apollo (Jamie Bamber) is the new CAG, and he and Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) butt heads. Actually everyone is butting heads until the mistake that happens is the Olympic Carrier gets left behind.

It seems a scientist on the Carrier may have information on how the Cylons were able to circumvent colony defenses. Baltar (James Callis) and Six (Tricia Helfer) banter and posit ideas… what is going here? Six insists it all has to do with faith and god, who has a plan for everyone, humanity and the Cylons.

When the Olympic Carrier rejoins the fleet, the Cylons find them again… Is there someone or something aboard the Carrier? When Starbuck, Boomer (Grace Park) and Apollo go to investigate things seems suspicious, and a horrific decision has to be made.

Back on Caprica, Helo (Tamhoh Penikett) is trying to elude Cylons. And when he meets a version of Six, he doesn’t realize she’s a Cylon, but when a version of Boomer arrives, he thinks she’s come back to save him, setting another plan into action…

We also see the fallout of what has happened to humanity as people are putting up pictures of loved ones along the corridors, and trying to find out who from their colony survived. It’s not a happy-go-lucky tale, it’s grim, smart, and damned engaging.

Water first aired on 14 January, 2005. It was also written by Moore.

We see that the Boomer aboard Galactica is not aware of her Cylon side, and she’s been used to sabotage the Battlestar’s water supply. A series of explosions causes the loss of over 50% of the ship’s water, leading to rationing across the fleet and a search for the saboteur.

When she confides in Tyrol (Aaron Douglas) the panic is palatable. And will he keep the secret of Boomer’s actions?

Roslin comes aboard thee Galactica as Adama (Edward James Olmos) ordeers full ceremonaies for her to make her feel more presidential. Following the explosion, he orders a search for any water on nearby planets that can serve as a resource before the Cylons find them again.

When Boomer and Crashdown (Sam Witwer) are sent out in a Raptor to scout for water, Boomer is shocked to discover the last detonator on her Raptor, and she fights her Cylon instincts to report a water find!

Baltar also delivers some heavy numbers about what is needed on a weekly basis for food and water for the entire fleet, and it causes a reality-defining moment for the Adama, Roslin and the command crew.

We check in with Helo and Boomer on Caprica, as they work to elude Cylon patrols and find a way off planet.

We also see that life gos on in the fleet, Tigh (Michael Hogan) stares down his bottle, Roslin and Adama talk books, among other things, and Starbuck is back running card games. All of it a cover, a front against the trauma they are all dealing with.

The series is off to an incredibly smart, and well-written start. The characters and situations are strong, its not all black and white, and there are some serious moral dilemmas already occurring, and more to come.