While it may sound like hyperbole, the truth is, we never really knew how good we had it when Battlestar Galactica was still airing new episodes. Launched as a reboot for the 1978 series of the same name, the Battlestar miniseries in 2003 proved that a new version of an old concept need not be too precious with its source material, and by the end of its second season in March 2006, Ronald D. Moore and David Eick's Battlestar Galactica had eclipsed the original series in both creativity and cultural relevance. Season 2 also delivered one of the show’s greatest cliffhangers, and perhaps one of the best cliffhangers in TV history: After finding a meh planet to settle on, humanity elects corrupt scientist Gaius Baltar (James Callis) as the new president, and the series about a fleet of spaceships suddenly became about a bunch of people living on a depressing planet, now occupied by the robotic Cylons.
And then, on October 6, 2006, with the launch of its third season, Battlestar Galactica had to pick up the pieces with a double-episode premiere “Occupation” and “Precipice.” And in those episodes, what the show did was somehow even bolder than that famous cliffhanger.
