Catch me up on Battlestar Galactica

Help! The Mrs. and I finally got Scifi back and we’ve missed all the episodes of BSG that have aired so far (in the US). Please fill me in on what we’ve missed, so we’ll be ready to watch on Friday night.

Although I don’t particularly like it, Mrs. Robdavsuss really enjoys Stargate Atlantis as well. So, for her sake, please fill me in on that as well, and I’ll pass the word.

Thanks!

I’ve just started watching BSG, so I won’t be any help there. SGA, on the other hand, is one of my favorite shows.

In SG1, they end up finding references to Atlantis, and it turns out that it exists, and is in another Galaxy (The Pegasus Galaxy). Now the only gate that can dial out to the Galaxy is on earth, and the only gate that it can dial in the other galaxy is the Atlantis gate. Also, it requires a vast amount of power to dial there, acheived by means of a Zero Point Module (ZPM for 'mericans, Zed-PM for all the rest). A multi-national expidition is arranged, and they are all sent on what very well may be a one-way journey (They only have the one ZPM, and I think all of its energy was depleated by the dialing).

They get there, and discover that the Ancients who inhabited the city were locked in a war with a vampiric race known as the Wraith who feed on people’s lifeforce (for lack of a better term). They were losing badly, so they decide to make it look like the city has been destroyed, and ‘sink’ it. They put up their sheilds to keep the water out, and then dial Earth, where they’d been previously (I don’t remember why they came back to the Pegasus galaxy in the first place, though).

After several thousand years of holding back water, the city’s ZPMs are almost depleated, and the team’s arrival has activated all the city’s vital functions, depleating them even further. It soon becomes clear that if they don’t do something soon, the sheilds will fail. Someone (Probably Rodney McKay, Atlantis’s Smartest Man Ever) discovers that it’s possible to raise the city above water again, thus eliminating the need for the sheilds. They do it at the last minute, and everyone’s saved. For now.

Turns out that the Wraith are still around, though. They keep small colonies of humans on planets in the gate system, and routinely ‘cull’ them for feeding. It turns out that most of the wraith are in hibernation, as their food source isn’t readily available. However, the SGA crew on one of its missions ends up having to attack one of the wraith’s main ships, and thus alerts the Wraith to their presence. Consequently, all the Wraith start waking up. Not a very good thing.

That’s pretty much it for season one: they run around trying to find ZPMs and avoid the wraith. At the end of season one, the wraith come and attack Atlantis. They end up having to detonate a nuclear missle (Courtesy of one of the only technologically advanced civilizations, and love/hate enemies/friends, the Jenai(sp?) above Atlantis, and simultaneously cloak the city to make it look like they self-destructed. Then, one of Earth’s hyperdrive-equipped ships shows up sometime, and the city now has a link to Earth. (It takes 3-weeks for a trip between galaxies, and the ship needs to be about halfway between galaxies to relay a message).

That’s about all the important plot I can think of off the top of my head. I’d reccomend renting Season 1 on DVD if you really want to be caught up. Also, www.gateworld.net is a good resource for all things SG1 and SGA related.

You can iron those “pleats” right back into those pesky ZPMs. SG and SG:Atlantis are now recycling plots from both the prime years of SG and assorted episodes of various Star Trek episodes.

As for BSG:

Pegasus showed up, with Admiral Cain.

Pegasus had its’ own pet Cyclon, a Model Six variant. Cain and friends had nice little rape/torture deal going on with her/it.

Cain had a civilian fleet, which was stripped for parts, and key civilians were conscripted into the ranks.

Cain’s people absconded with Galactica Boomer II, with plans to rape/torture. Tyro and Helo rescued her, killing a Pegasus officer in the process. This led to a confrontation.

Said confrontation deferred in favour of clobbering a Cyclon resurrection ship, which does/did exactly what the name implies.

Apollo nearly bites the Big Vacuum during the attack, while piloting the now-deceased stealth ship Laura.

The post-battle-coital Cain and Adama call a detente from their conflict, only to see a Baltar-abetted Pegasus Model Six kill Cain.

Next, a series of meandering, “character development” episodes ensue…

Oh yeah, Galactica Boomer II’s magical Cylon cord blood cures Roslin of cancer.

Recent developments have seen Little Adama rise to command of Pegasus, and Big Adama rise to Admiral.

…and Billy bought the farm over some misguided loyalty to the Fleet Skank Dualla…and Thrace showed that she is not certified as Fleet SWAT material.

Baltar is making a move for the Presidency of the Rag Tag Fleet.