The overlapping themes of BSG and DS9

I didn't watch Battlestar Galactica (2003 - 2009) during its original run. It definitely looked like an interesting concept but I try to avoid getting myself invested in first run television shows. The main reason for this is that there is rarely anything on TV that is really worth watching and when it is worth my time it usually ends up getting canceled as soon as I am completely invested.

For that reason I decided to wait until Battlestar Galactica had made it through its entire television run and been given a proper finale before watching it. I am almost finished with Season One right now and I am really enjoying it so far. One of the things I have noticed is that a lot of the themes that the show explores are similar to themes that were explored on Deep Space Nine (1993 -1999) which is another of my favorite shows. The fact that these shows have the guts explore themes that would not normally be explored on television is part of what makes me enjoy them so much.

The fact that Ronald D. Moore created this new version of Battlestar Galactica and was a producer and writer on Deep Space Nine probably has a lot to do with why they have such overlapping themes. When I thought about this is made me wonder if perhaps the reason Ronald D. Moore went on to create Battlestar Galactica was because he wasn't able to explore these themes as much as he would have wished to with Deep Space Nine. When working with a show that has an already established canon there is only so far you can push certain things. That is a problem he wouldn't have if he created his own show. Even if it was a remake of another show he would still have as much creative freedom as he wished. Now this is complete speculation but it is definitely an interesting thought.

To start off with, both shows pretty heavily explore religious beliefs and how those beliefs can effect a society. In Deep Space Nine the Bajorans were a deeply religious people and this often caused problems in their alliance with The Federation, who many Bajorans saw as Godless. Sometimes it led to some heated debates and other times it led to some straight out violent behavior.

One of the most important things about the spirituality of the Bajorans was how it brought them together during the Cardassian Occupation. Their faith was what made it possible for them to survive this extremely terrible time in their history and also what enabled them to finally rise up and conquer the Cardassians. I have seen something similar to this in Battlestar Galactica since I have been watching it. The humans seem to have religious beliefs but those beliefs don't seem to be a major part of their lives. However since the Cylons have destroyed almost all of humanity the survivors seem to be embracing that religion more than they had before. The one thing that now keeps them going is the search for a mythical planet that their faith tells them exists. They have no proof but without that belief they have nothing else to live for.

Another interesting religious aspect of Battlestar Galactica is the religious beliefs of the Cylons. I find it quite interesting that a race of robots that were created by man have come to embrace a god. To make it even more interesting the Cylons have not turned to the religion of the humans but have their own religion that differs greatly from that of the humans. Where the humans seem to have a polytheistic religion the Cylons believe in only one God and also seem to be much more invested in that belief then the humans.

Another similarity these two shows have is that the main antagonists have the ability to disguise themselves as human beings. This adds a very interesting element to the show because it starts to really play up the natural distrust that humans already have for each other. If your enemy can disguise himself as anyone or anything how can you even trust your friends and allies?

In Deep Space Nine the Founders (or Changelings) would often use this ability to cause internal struggles and on at least one occasion used it to start a war between between two races that had been allies for almost an entire century. The Cylons use this same method to plant seeds of distrust in the characters of Battlestar Galactica. They know that it doesn't take much more then a hint of suspicion to really make someone begin to question the motives of another person.

However, the internal struggles that are caused by the enemies aren't the only forms of internal struggles that the characters face on these shows. As stated earlier, in Deep Space Nine the Humans and Bajorans had different enough values that they didn't need external forces to create some tense situations. Battlestar Galactica uses these same kinds of internal struggles to really bring the characters more to life. There are often disagreements between Adama and President Roslin about how exactly things should be run in the fleet. There are also many people who do not agree that Roslin should even be President and this lays the ground work for several episodes that occur during the first season.

I really enjoy the fact that the writers include these internal struggles on the show but I also love the fact that all this happens while our heroes try to hold on to the humanity while faced with certain extinction. Battlestar Galactica seems to often ask just how far we should go to protect ourselves in the face of certain death. How many of our own principles should we break in order to survive and protect those very principles?

Deep Space Nine also spent a lot of time walking this line of just how far you can go before you lose your humanity while trying to save it. On a few occasions this line was even crossed on the show. The Federation resorted to many illegal and immoral acts in order to avoid being completely destroyed and I am noticing some of these same themes on Battlestar Galactica. The show walks the line a lot but also seems a little more willing to cross the line then Deep Space Nine was. In the first season alone I have already witnessed people being left behind to die, people being imprisoned with no hard proof of wrong doing, people being tortured, and people being spied on with wire taps (I wonder if there is any social commentary in there?).

Now none of these themes would work at all if they weren't presented to the audience through interesting stories and most especially interesting characters. Both Battlestar Galactica and Deep Space Nine are extremely character driven shows. The characters act and talk in realistic ways and make decisions that have often have consequences. Sometimes they make the right choices and sometimes they make the wrong ones but the shows never gloss over any of the mistakes made by the characters. None of the characters on these shows are perfect; they are flawed characters and that is one of the major things that brings them to life.

As I continue my exploration of Battlestar Galactica I am sure these themes will continue to be explored and I may even find more similarities as I go. As of now I am enjoying this show just as much as I enjoyed Deep Space Nine during its original run. I can not wait to explore the show further and see where things go. I just hope I can continue to avoid spoilers until I have finished all four seasons.

** Author's Note: This post is part of the Filmic TV blog-a-thon at The LAMB, Click here to see more blog-a-thon posts.