It also marks the beginning of the 7-8 month wait we all have in store for us until we get to see the final 10 (or 10 + one additional hour) episodes.

Well, Galactica Sitrep is reporting that some relief is definitely in sight. Those rumored BSG TV movies that we talked about appear to have at least been given the go-ahead for at least one of them.

Galactica Sitrep says:

Sitrep’s sources are telling us that the BSG writer/producers just got contracts from the studio for these three TV movies today. This is a “step deal” which means the studio can greenlight one, two or three of the proposed films as they like. The BSG team has made a “pay or play” deal for the first film — that means it is very likely the first film is a go, people!

So that’s great news. Obviously getting a movie together means we still have a bit of time before we’d see it, but it’s certainly good news.

The rumored plot of these potential movies isn’t supposed to have any bearing on the future episodes. Instead, they will focus on prequel-type stuff, sort of how Razor was.

[Galactica Sitrep]

First off, let’s just be thankful to SciFi for making sure this was shown in high-definition and 5.1 surround sound. There were some great visuals and cinematography in this movie/episode, plus some nice sound effects.

I’m going to talk about the movie itself first in this review, but towards the end, I plan on delving into how it relates to season 4 that is coming in March. This basically means if you haven’t seen season 3 all the way through yet, you probably will want to stop reading.

I like to discuss things that happen in TV shows, instead of just writing a review without revealing spoilers. So you read at your own risk. Movies I treat differently, writing standard reviews without giving stuff away. But Razor wasn’t a movie in my opinion, more like a side-episode in the series.

So here we go.

Razor spoilers continue from here. Don’t read ahead if you haven’t seen the movie

The movie. Where to begin.

My initial reaction was that it was everything Battlestar Galactica has ever been about. There were the topics that it deals with on a regular basis: Politics, warfare, moral decisions and love. The only ideal really missing from this episode was the religious aspect that dominates the series.

Kendra Shaw is the star of this movie and it’s a damn shame we’ll never see her again. Granted, it would have been strange for her to pop up in season 4, but with the way Razor was ending, I thought perhaps she wasn’t going to pull that trigger to detonate the nuke. But alas, she did and she’s lost forever.

A strong force and militant XO, Shaw was just awesome. Strong, just like Admiral Cain, whom she followed to the letter, even executing civilians in the heat of war.

I liked how Bill and Lee Adama talked about those choices made by Cain before they met up with Galactica and how they themselves could have made the same ones had circumstances been different. If the President hadn’t been a part of the civilians rescued, Adama may have chosen more of a military path, instead of the one they ended up on.

The episode also showed what a great leader Lee is, in knowing how to choose Shaw as his XO. Knowing enough to help appease the Cain crew by putting her as his number two was a genius move.

Maybe it was a shocker, and maybe I just forgot, but one of the big “surprises” in this episode was Cain being lovers with Gina, or Number 6, the blonde Cylon. It showed how easily and deeply the Cylons penetrated the humans defenses and lives, to get close to their sensitive areas. We saw how it was discovered that she was a Cylon and then how the interrogation began. Shaw even trusted her enough to give up the password to their network, thus compromising the mission later on.

Razor was perfect in how it gave us a back story that made all the actions of Cain during season 2 that much more believable and explainable. We truly can understand more of the how and why when it came to her actions.

The story involving the Pegasus, Cain, Gina and Shaw was exactly what it should have been and was highly enjoyable I thought. It’s worth seeing again and I likely will be buying the DVD when it’s released in a week or so.

But I tend to look for those little tidbits in these things, hoping to discover secrets for upcoming episodes. Well, it wasn’t too hard to discover that this movie was going to reveal something big for the final season. Or at least, make us think about it.

Season 3 and 4 spoilers and thoughts. Do NOT read ahead if you haven’t seen season 3 yet or want to know any tidbits for season 4

The one thing that I always struggle with from season to season in a lot of shows, Lost, BSG, Heroes, etc., is remembering all the dang little plot points along the way. I tend to forget things if I haven’t watched the show for awhile.

That being said, the big “surprise” here, which came at the very end of Razor, was the revelation to Kendra Shaw and to the viewing audience, that Starbuck, Kara Thrace, is the “harbinger of death” and will “lead the human race to its end.”

The Hybrid they discover tells them this, and that they must not follow her.

At the end of season 3, we find out who 4 out of 5 of the Cylons are and we see Kara return from the dead, flying a Viper and telling Lee that she’s seen Earth and knows the way there.

And that she’s taking them to it.

Okay, so much to swallow here and so much of it is confusing to me.

First off, why is the Hybrid warning the humans? Why help? What is the frakking Hybrid anyways?

His words “As my own existence comes to a close, only to begin anew in ways uncertain.”

“All this has happened before, and will happen again.”

Obviously the Hybrid isn’t going to resurrect like the 12 Cylons there are now, so in what way will it begin anew? And all this has happened before…is this a repeating history, sort of like The Matrix?

I hope not…but the words and phrase are cryptic to say the least.

My opinion on the Hybrid is this: He was human once and the successful link between the old Cylons and the new ones. His human side is warning Shaw about Kara, to save them all.

So do we actually know the 5th and final Cylon? Is it indeed Kara Thrace?

The sad thing is, we got a big preview of things to come in season 4, and in one of the scenes, you see Kara’s husband talking to her saying she was a Cylon from the very beginning.

It would make sense, since the final one has to be someone huge, someone important. Kara would be the right choice in my book, but who knows at this point.

It’s really too bad the season is so far off and the WGA strike could influence it starting. The final episodes will likely be awesome and provide an amazing conclusion to an amazing series.

What did you think of it? Good, bad? And what of the upcoming season? Do you know more than I do about the Hybrid and what it means?

Can’t wait! Just hoping it’s actually shown in High-Def, or else I may have to wait for the DVD to come out.

The reviews have been pretty good and Entertainment Weekly has made it their “must watch” show of the week.

Whatever the case, I know it will be a fun little episode of Battlestar Galactica, probably with some great stuff for the upcoming season four and hopefully tide us over if this strike continues on.

They raise some interesting questions about the Final Five and what actually turned the switch on to make the four we know about realize who they were. What will they do now and how will they act?

The Aaron Douglas, who plays the Chief, also eludes to the fact that he knows what happens to Sharon and Helo’s baby and what it means to us all. I just can’t frakking wait for the final season and this dang movie.

Also, if you are as impatient as I am and want an exclusive clip from the Razor movie, visit Monsters and Critics.

From what I’ve read, the production and quality of the movie is superb and up to par with any big-budget film. One thing that I’ve always found amazing about BSG is the marvelous special effects and cinematography. You just don’t feel like you are in a cheap science fiction show. The only other sci-fi series that even compares to that particular quality would have been Firefly in my opinion.

The movie focuses on Kendra Shaw, played by Stephanie Jacobson (and pictured above with Lee Adama), and we see what happens on the Pegasus though her eyes, a ship which is being run by Admiral Cain. Cain was a key figure in season two of the series, as the Pegasus was the only other battlestar to survive the genocide on the seven colonies.

She and Admiral Adama faced off and even ordered each others deaths in one seriously awesome midseason cliffhanger.

The movie’s plot sounds absolutely exhilarating. The story begins right after Lee Adama takes the command of the Pegasus after the episode “The Captain’s Hand.” Shaw ends up serving as Adama’s XO after Lee sees some strength in her.

Part of the movie is done in flashbacks to Shaw’s time on the Pegasus before meeting up with Galactica and what happened to them. But in the meantime, Admiral Adama sends them on a mission to find a lost science Raptor.

Apparently that mission ties very closely with the Razor Flashbacks that are being shown on SciFi.com right now. I’ve seen them all and they are great. A young Admiral Adama discovers experiments on humans by Cylons at the end the first Cylon war. Chilling stuff.

There is supposedly an awesome twist with this plot that sends us careening into season four, whenever that ends up being.

I can’t fraking wait.

The movie is only 87 minutes long says Wired.com, but the extended DVD that will be coming out should have even more juicy stuff that you wont see on SciFi.

I actually can’t decide if I should watch it then or wait for the DVD, or just watch both for frak’s sake.

I am leaning to the latter.

By the way, for folks who aren’t into this show…I suggest you give it a try. Wired has a fantastic article from a few years ago about how BSG is the best science fiction TV ever, and I would completely agree.

I only wish I lived in either New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, and Seattle.

If you do live there, you are in for a treat. Microsoft and the Sci-Fi channel are going to be screening Razor in those markets at a local movie theater on November 12th.

The best part is: tickets are free. There is also going to be a DVD release as well of the movie, which will be the unrated version of the episode/movie.

Read the Variety story to find out more info. It looks like you’ll have to be at least 17 because of the rating of the series itself (TV14) and also the role-playing game sponsoring the event (Mass Effect – by Microsoft) is rating MA.

It’s hard to get it all straight. Some call this the Battlestar Galactica “movie”, but some are calling it the Season 4 premiere episode. Whatever the case, it’s not part of season four to ME, since rumors are we’ll have to wait until April for that.

So this is how it’s looking:

• November 12th – the Razor movie is in selected theaters
• November 26th 24th – the Razor movie premieres on Sci-Fi
• December 5th – the unrated Razor DVD hits stores

Now I can’t decide on whether to watch the Sci-Fi episode or just wait for the DVD. Unrated is usually better than rated, in my opinion.