Why Battlestar Galactica's Final Season Led To A Prequel Instead Of A Direct Spin-Off
by Devin Meenan · /FilmIt's hard to get a more definitive TV ending than the reimagined "Battlestar Galactica." In the series finale "Daybreak," humanity's conflict with the Cylons comes to an end as our heroes discover their new home: prehistoric Earth. The finale jumps ahead 50,000 years to modern day; the only memory of the civilization that Galactica came from lives on in the angels appearing as Number Six (Tricia Helfer) and Gaius Baltar (future "Star Trek" actor James Callis).
After "Galactica" completed its voyage in 2009, a prequel series — "Caprica" — premiered on Syfy the following year. Set 58 years before "Battlestar," "Caprica" took place on one of the 12 colonies of man destroyed by the Cylons at the beginning of "Battlestar."
In a 2009 interview with TV critic Alan Sepinwall, "Battlestar" and "Caprica" co-creator Ronald D. Moore explained why:
"Because of the way we're ending 'Battlestar,' I didn't see other stories beyond it that I felt were interesting or had any real relevance to what the show is about. But we had a very rich backstory to deal with."
Moore credited "Caprica" co-creator Remi Aubuchon, who had pitched a series to Syfy about the creation of artificial intelligence. That idea evolved into exploring the origins of the Cylons.
"I got interested in the idea of doing a sci-fi show that was set on a planet, did not have an action adventure component to it, is even more of a character piece than 'Battlestar,' where it really has to live and die on its characters and its story without the Cylons attacking every week," Moore continued. "Could you sustain a science fiction show in that kind of context? That's what got me excited."
Conversely, doing a prequel about a Battlestar crew fighting in the first Cylon War would've been more of the same.
Caprica was a different flavor of science-fiction from Battlestar Galactica
"Battlestar Galactica" was about the survivors of a destroyed civilization on the run. By nature, it had limited options to explore what that culture had been like. "Caprica" offered that chance and even dug up some backstory first written in Ronald Moore's series bible for "Battlestar Galactica."
For instance, that bible states that Commander William Adama's (Edward James Olmos) parents were named Evelyn and Joseph. Joseph Adama was a defense lawyer; as Moore wrote, this is what taught Bill to value civil liberties much more than most military men (part of the character depth that makes him the greatest "Battlestar Galactica" character). "Caprica" ran with that.
Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) was part of the "Caprica" main cast and indeed a lawyer... a mob lawyer. His brother Sam (Sasha Roiz) is in the Ha'la'tha, the crime syndicate of their native colony, Tauron. Through the Adama family, "Caprica" also explored the immigrant experience, tying into a suggestion in Moore's "Galactica" series bible that the 12 colonies had been independent cultures before uniting against the Cylons.
Regardless, "Caprica" was canceled after one season. Syfy gave the franchise another shot with a different prequel, "Blood and Chrome," which was the Cylon War story Moore had said he didn't want to do. The "Blood and Chrome" pilot, though, was not picked up. "Battlestar Galactica" co-creator David Eick had thoughts on why these spin-offs didn't work when I once spoke with him, and some of it was just bad luck. The "Battlestar Galactica" team were brave to do something different with "Caprica," but it may have been too different for their fans.