One of the best storylines of the new Galactica was the three-episode arc that consisted of Pegasus and Resurrection Ship Pts 1-2 and dealt with Admiral Cain as played by Michelle Forbes. Cain and the Battlestar Pegasus had been introduced in the original Battlestar Galactica two-part episode The Living Legend, which was also repackaged as the cinematic feature Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack (1979). There Cain, played by Lloyd Bridges, was the commander of one other surviving battlestar who ended up endangering the stability of a combined mission with his reckless desire to go out in a blaze of glory. The Admiral/Commander Cain story received a radical reworking on the new Galactica. Aside from Cain now being a woman, she was depicted as a commander who had engaged in ruthless actions in order to continue her fight against the Cylons, including shooting dissenters and pillaging and then abandoning civilian craft for their supplies. The situation ended with the two battlestars at war and both commanding officers preparing to assassinate the other.

The Admiral Cain story arc was such a popular one with fans that she was revived for this special. Battlestar Galactica: Razor emerged between the third and fourth seasons of the series and was designed by series creator Ronald W. Moore as a standalone story that could be sold as a dvd-release rather than part of the on-air package. Razor was even given a cinematic release in some parts of the US, although was also seen as a two-parter on the syndicated series.

By the point that Razor was made, the modern Battlestar Galactica had built up such a head of creative steam that it was the best genre tv series on air bar none. The exceptional quality of writing extends here. The story works on multiple levels – the flashbacks to the Pegasus during the Cylon attack, another story in the present about the discovery of the old-model Cylons featuring the series ongoing characters, as well as a few lesser flashbacks to a young Adama during the first Cylon War. One of the cutest pieces of fan-service that Razor gives us is a revival of the Cylons from the original series – the ones in the clunky accordion suits with the roving red eyes, the round crab-shaped ships, even the gold centurion saying “by your command” – with a plot about primitive Cylons attempting to evolve to a more advanced form. Razor also becomes an opportunity to shake up the familiar somewhat – during the flashbacks to the Cylon attack on the Colonies, the story follows Stephanie Jacobsen as she comes aboard the Pegasus where we are startled to see a familiar No 6 (Tricia Helfer) as a maintenance officer. The film jolts us up even further a few minutes later when we see that the No 6 and Commander Cain are lesbian lovers. By the point we see Stephanie Jacobsen trusting the No 6 with her command codes, we are cringing in our seats.

There is a certain disappointment in the way that Razor brings Admiral Cain back. The Admiral Cain story was most effectively told in the second season, where we learned about her willingness to sacrifice civilian ships and shoot subordinates as part of her single-handed war against the Cylons, where such ruthlessness held a shock impact. But Razor does little more than flashback to depict what happened ie. rather than giving us fresh new things to be shocked about, it only portrays the things that we already know. The brutal shock of such a character is weakened and as a result Cain is not such a strong figure here as she was during the series. Recognizing audience familiarity with the story, Razor compensates by creating the new character of Kendra Shaw who also becomes a bridge between the flashback story and the B-story in the present.

One of the finest aspects of Razor is the central performance from Stephanie Jacobsen, a Hong Kong-born Australian actress who subsequently went onto become a regular on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008-9). In the part, Jacobsen gives a tough-as-nails performance that quite takes one back. She has some remarkable scenes, chewing out a trainee for not rebuilding his gun properly by challenging him to shoot her, or giving her frank opinion of Jamie Bamber. One of the more interesting things about Stephanie Jacobsen’s performance is that she must surely be the only lead character in a film – excepting perhaps Kurt Russell in Soldier (1998) – whose reactions are only denoted by how impassive she is. All the sympathy the character has comes from her detachment as opposed to her engagement. Eventually, Razor offers new perspective on the Cain story by showing how Kendra was a part of it and how she gains redemption over the actions that she was party to.

The series always had a stunning level of effects. Battlestar Galactica reimagined the Star Wars-patented dogfights between small ships in space by shooting these with seemingly affected handheld camerawork that put an audience into the middle of the action. We have some visually stunning effects shots here panning along the Battlestar Pegasus as it sits in the Scorpion Shipyards with one of its nacelles open to the void as tiny figures work on the repairs and then a dazzling sequence a few minutes later with the whole shipyard aflame during the Cylon attack.

There was a further film spinoff from the series with Battlestar Galactica: The Plan (2009), as well as a prequel series Caprica (2009– ). The original Battlestar Galactica films, all episodes of the original series re-edited for theatrical release, are:- Battlestar Galactica (1978), Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack (1979) and Conquest of the Earth (1981).

(Nominee for Best Supporting Actress (Stephanie Jacobsen) at this site’s Best of 2007 Awards).