With the unwitting help of a human scientist named Gaius Baltar (Callis), the Cylons launch a sudden sneak attack on the Colonies, laying waste to the planets and devastating their populations.
A further spin-off, Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, was released in November 2012 as a web series of ten 10-minute episodes and aired on February 10, 2013, on Syfy as a televised movie.
Pursued by Cylons intent on wiping out the remnants of the human race, the survivors travel across the galaxy looking for the fabled and long-lost "thirteenth" colony: Earth.
Stories also portray the concept of perpetuated cycles of hate and violence driving the human-Cylon conflict, and religion, with the implication of a "God" whose possibly angelic agents appear to certain main characters (most notably Gaius Baltar).
Other plotlines involve the mysterious destiny of Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, who is the subject of a prophecy claiming that she is the "Harbinger of Death" who will "lead them all [humanity] to its end", as well as the redemption of Gaius Baltar through the Cylons' monotheistic religion, after he becomes a pariah within the fleet.
In the final episodes, an inexplicably resurrected Kara Thrace leads the surviving humans and their Cylon allies to a new planet, which Adama names "Earth".
Ironically, these humanoid Cylons had created their own Centurion robotic slaves, who waged a nuclear attack against their masters, devastating the planet and making it uninhabitable.
Time described Battlestar Galactica as "a gripping sci-fi allegory of the war on terror, complete with monotheistic religious fundamentalists (here genocidal cyborgs called Cylons), sleeper cells, civil-liberties crackdowns and even a prisoner-torture scandal".
"[14] After 9/11, the original series' "broad premise – the human military's struggles in the wake of a massive terrorist attack – suddenly gained resonance"[13] and let the show tackle issues like suicide bombings, torture ("evoking the darker side of the war on terror"[14]) and "civil liberties crackdowns".
In contrast, with the New Caprica storyline the show's humans have been discussed as an allegory not for an America under attack but for an occupied people mounting an insurgency and turning to suicide bombings as a tactic.
Six Battlestar Galactica soundtrack albums have been released to great critical acclaim - one for the miniseries, one for each of the four seasons, and one combining music from the inter-season Razor and post-finale prequel The Plan.
The Sci-Fi Channel confirmed on May 31, 2007, that Battlestar Galactica had been renewed for a fourth season of 22 episodes, which producers David Eick and Ronald D. Moore later announced to be the series' last.
[30][31] Preceding this was the airing of the Razor TV movie (comprising two of the ordered broadcast hours), while the remaining season of 20 episodes was split into two halves, due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.
[45] On July 24, 2009, Edward James Olmos suggested that The Plan would not be the last BSG movie, saying that he had written a script involving Galactica characters in which a crisis occurs at some point after their arrival on Earth.
On August 14, 2007, Universal Studios Home Entertainment announced that the miniseries and season 1 would be released on December 4, 2007, in region 1, on the now discontinued high definition disc format HD DVD.
[53] Diane Werts of Newsday wrote: "You can look at this saga any way you want—as political drama, religious debate, psychological suspenser, sci-fi adventure, deep metaphor or just plain fun—and it's scintillating from every angle.
For that, much credit is due to the immensely compelling cast of characters... Battlestar Galactica burns with a combustive mixture of political turmoil and human drama that is as achingly real and relevant as anything on television.
[56] Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the show "has distinguished itself as one of television's very best dramas — on a par with 24, The Wire, and Lost — because it so utterly transcends both its genre and its source material.
"[58] Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times praised the show's ability to "anchor fantasy with vivid and recognizable human psychology" and declares that the series is "not just a cult hit but a significant piece of television.
Ryan comments: "There's nothing like a good Battlestar plot twist to make your head spin, but the 'holy cow' moments aren't the main point (though they're one heck of a tasty side dish).
"[64] Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle opines, "Battlestar Galactica transcends the sci-fi genre; it competes, creatively, on the same level as any other top-tier drama.
"[68] Joshua Alston of Newsweek declares that the show "captures better than any other TV drama of the past eight years the fear, uncertainty and moral ambiguity of the post-9/11 world" and "always finds ways to challenge the audience's beliefs.
[79][80][81] The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Melanie McFarland notes, "[Starbuck], played with a tomboyish swagger by Katee Sackhoff, is fast becoming the latest in a long line of feminist television icons.
[90] Benedict devoted the greatest part of the article to criticizing the producers' decision to turn Starbuck into a female character, tying it in to what he perceived as a general anti-masculinity agenda.
[91]Anders later included the series on her list of "10 Once-Great TV Shows (And The Exact Moments They Started to Suck)", saying: There was a time, not long ago, when BSG was considered the gold standard for science fiction television.
[92]In a Commentary article on the prevalence of Bush Derangement Syndrome in popular culture, Jonah Goldberg analyzed the show's "radically bizarre and nonsensical turn of events ... that led inexorably to its self-destruction": Originally, the series was very difficult to pigeonhole ideologically.
When it came time to make the third season ... a show marked by gritty realism about how a decent but flawed civilization modeled on our own tries to cling to its decency while fighting an existential war against an implacable enemy veered wildly off course.
[95] Josh Tyler of Television Blend concluded that the series finale made no real attempt to resolve any of the plotlines or mysteries set up during the earlier run of the show.
[96] On March 17, 2009, the United Nations hosted a Battlestar Galactica retrospective including a discussion with Mary McDonnell, Edward James Olmos, Ronald D. Moore and David Eick on human rights, terrorism, children and armed conflict, and reconciliation between civilians and faiths.
The Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle organised a special exhibition on the series with props of three spacecraft models and guest speakers starting October 23, 2010.