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Cylon sex and lies in Battlestar's The Plan
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan tells story that couldn't have been portrayed in the first few seasons. For one thing, it stars Dean Stockwell, who only joined the series midway through the second season. It turns out his character, Cavil, had a major role to play in the Cylons' plan. So, in the two hour feature, Stockwell performs scenes set before and during the first two seasons of the show. (Spoilers ahead!)
The first major reveal is that Cavil was actually the Cylon who orchestrated the attack on the 12 Colonies. There have been multiple Cavils, but the one aboard the Galactica, referred to as Cavil 1, was the Cylon in charge.
"I didn't know that Cavil 1 was the one that killed them all off in the first place," Stockwell said in an exclusive phone interview last week. "Until The Plan comes along, nobody knows that. Cavil No. 1 decides in the conversation with another Cavil, Cavil 2, he says that he has a yen to experience a nuclear holocaust. Then he does it. This is before the first episode of Battlestar. Cavil 1, because he hates humanity, nukes it all. All 12 planets. Billions and billions and billions of people he kills. The only ones that survived were the ones out on the ship, Battlestar, and on the one planet, Caprica. So he spends the rest of the whole series trying to kill them."
A brand new subplot shows a relationship Cavil had with a little boy onboard the Galactica. New scenes show a complete arc, with a shocking ending that demonstrates Cavil's lack of compassion. "I knew it would be [shocking]," Stockwell said. "I felt it befit the character, if you want to call Cavil 1 a character, who's a machine. Just tipped it off in, I hate to say it, but a delightfully dramatic way."
The Plan also shows more of Cavil's relationships with the other Cylons. Since viewers didn't meet him for a year and a half, they finally get to see what Cavil was up to before the series introduced him. For example, before the attack, Cavil meets Ellen Tigh (Kate Vernon) in a bar. They share banter of a sexually suggestive nature. The scene is also presented as a DVD extra in an extended format emphasizing even more of the Cylons' carnal side.
"I think it's pretty interesting, because they're machines," Stockwell said. "But, the way the humans built them, they built them in their own image. In those scenes, you see where the sexuality can be involved."
It turns out, Cavil was kind of a horndog. Throughout The Plan, Cavil has love scenes with other Cylon characters, like Boomer (Grace Park) and Six (Tricia Helfer). Stockwell called those scenes "wonderful," but only in a professional sense.
"They're both lovely actresses and a pleasure to be with," Stockwell said. "We both read the same script, so we both know what's coming up, what's going on and how it should be played. That's part of our craft."
The scene that should have most BSG fans excited is the airlocking of both Cavils from the Galactica. The series never showed what Cavil 1 and Cavil 2 talked about as they waited for the airlock to open. In The Plan, Stockwell got to have the conversation with himself.
"I'm on the screen doubled, and that's a technical achievement," Stockwell said. "When you're doing it on the night, and you're standing there in the set and delivering lines, you're looking at a cross of white tape on a black thing. Then after you do the one Cavil's line, everything stops, they realign the camera and I do the other Cavil's lines. The achievement was to make sure that I kept these two guys, these two machines, really, kept them different, because Cavil 2 has some sympathy for humanity, and Cavil 1 has zero, none, zilch."
Stockwell feels he truly made a movie just for Battlestar Galactica fans. Directed by Edward James Olmos, The Plan incorporates footage from the series to spring off into tangents that fill in gaps for diehards.
"I think it was created really for the fans of the show," Stockwell said. "I don't think you could assume that Ron Moore or David Eick or Edward Olmos would imagine that people would see The Plan that had not ever seen Battlestar and know anything that's going on."
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.
By Liam at 7:32 AM ON 11/10/09
THE PLAN was a huge disappointment! It was little more than a bunch of out-takes stitched together to make a few extra $$$.
By REDante at 8:22 AM ON 11/10/09
It was interesting to watch. It did feel like the way the edited the new scenes with scenes from the series that it was a bit like watching delted/alternate scenes or a clip show. It just would jump from one moment to the next.
Dean Stockwell's character I really liked and stole the show, the subplot between 2 new minor characters were meh. It did answer some questions that really had no impact to the show.
And of course now that the series is over the whole movie really was moot. I mean after watching it, this big "Plan" they had, kind of feels like it was a big waste of time for them because of how it ended. It didnt really talk about model 7....Lucy Lawless was spliced into one scene showing nothing more than a look on her face.....the movie was interesting thats pretty much it. I didnt hate it, I just feel like the Cylons "Plan" was all in vain.
By Facepalm at 8:23 AM ON 11/10/09
Agreed, The Plan is a bunch of deleted scenes that should have remained deleted. Answers to questions nobody needed answered and a disjointed garbled mess of scenes without any interesting story arc or buildup of tension.
If the goal of the movie was to diminish seasons one and two, then mission accomplished.
By REDante at 8:23 AM ON 11/10/09
It old only makes me feel like the new series Caprica will be moot because we all know how it will end for them, for the entire series unless.............lets get JJ Abrams to make a BSG movie where the Humans on 2nd Earth time travel all the way back to Caprica, changing the very course of the history making everything in the BSG series pointless because its now in alternate future time line to start a new fraschishe.....yea he could bring back the Vorlons, and the Shadows, and yea time travel that solves everything to recycle scifi shows.
By Crazy Snail at 8:25 AM ON 11/10/09
I thought the movie was quite good. More of a gap-filler than a stand-alone, so it couldn't be extremely spectacular, to begin with. What they'd call "a character story". However, I found the scenes with the attacks on the colonies frakking awesome! The images with the basestars attacking and the colonies, I quote, "trampled at our feet", combined with mr. McCreary's delightful soundtrack and the hybrid's spooky giberish in the background really made my skin crawl. Way to go, Galactica!\m/ I hope it's not the last movie, though I haven't got the slightest idea what more they could talk about and not seem overdone.
By Fan at 8:27 AM ON 11/10/09
As a huge BSG fan, I was really disappointed with The Plan and have to agree with Facepalm above.
By Steve Rogers at 8:46 AM ON 11/10/09
The only good thing about the Plan, was the amazing score by Bear McCreary!!! Outstanding. The special FX were frakkin awesome as well, but filling in the gaps was completely unneccessary! Totally agree with Facepalm...
By AstroBoy at 9:10 AM ON 11/10/09
I have to agree that I was very disappointed by The Plan. The first minutes showing us more of the attack against the colonies was pretty good but yes it was a bunch of deleted or previously shown scenes interlaced with Cavil's commentary. I feel like we pretty much knew everything that was revealed by the Plan from the years of dedicated BSG watching we had already done. I guess this just proves that you can't really go home again. I'm not as convinced that Caprica will be as good as we're all hoping for.
By a different tim at 9:27 AM ON 11/10/09
I instantly fall asleep whenever i hear the letters BSG.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
By GordNYC at 10:21 AM ON 11/10/09
Well, in the end, it wasn't "the Cylons'" plan... it was Cavil's plan, and he tried to drag the rest of them into it, and he failed miserably, never obtaining what he wanted.
And yes, I found it to be a great disappointment.
By nate91111 at 10:50 AM ON 11/10/09
this was, is and always will be slit!
By Raisin at 11:22 AM ON 11/10/09
Ah, the fresh smell of faux-BSG hate. It's like fresh urine on a lily pad. I love how someone can watch the entire show, all the way through and drool over all the cylon chicks, but the moment Ron Moore hands in the ending you didn't write, all is shot to shizz. Grow up. Or go watch Stargate. You'll come running back on your knees.
By bsgloverswillbuyanything at 11:22 AM ON 11/10/09
goes to show you, bsg fans, ron moore and company have such low opinions of you ("ooooh, this show is the greatest show ever invented!!!!") that he thinks he can put out junk and you'll still gobble it up like the sad bastards you are. but hey, you're the same people who kept calling this show "the greatest sci-fis show in all of existence", so maybe he's not so wrong. you really are dumb enough to buy his dvd lmao.
By asfm at 11:33 AM ON 11/10/09
The only part of The Plan that I enjoyed was when they zoomed in and lingered on the penis in the shower room. It made me laugh out loud.
Besides that, it's an utterly, utterly pointless, needless and rather boring film. I love BSG - it's one of my favourite shows - but The Plan is just no good.
By ObeyMyBrain at 11:52 AM ON 11/10/09
But The Plan is the most important and greatest piece of film-making that has or will ever exist! It will touch you in ways that no woman has ever conceived. Children will run into the streets in tears because of the emotional insights they will receive from The Plan.
Well at least according to Edward James Olmos.
By Jason Swartz at 12:51 PM ON 11/10/09
I thought it was ok as a recap of the show and not having to watch hours and hours again although i do plan to watch the whole series again soon.
@ bsgloverswillbuyanything BSG was really good but i dont think anyone thinks its better than Trek or Babylon 5.
By a different tim at 1:16 PM ON 11/10/09
You mean people actually watched Babylon 5? why?
By LOLASHOES at 1:31 PM ON 11/10/09
what a bummer: i was really expecting more of the backstore on the final five: i.e showing them leaving earth / the toasters finding them / the plan to create a new gen of cylons.. this was just a bunch of scenes: and cavil's story: what a croc:
By Sheep Farm at 6:57 PM ON 11/10/09
I don't think anyone here gets the point. Not every "i" was dotted and not every "t" was crossed for a reason. It is quite obvious that other additional installments and quite possibly a series is being considered.
Now, come on, who didn't think of this?
There will be "The Plan 2"!
What I am wondering is if there will be a series that runs completely parallel to the BSG episodes.
By OrchidStation at 9:23 PM ON 11/10/09
Glorified clip show.
By jmhuntin at 9:31 PM ON 11/10/09
I agree with LOLASHOES...the story about the origins, journey, and takeover (by Cavil) of the final five would have been a far more intriguing story. Maybe there wasn't the budget for it.
By fsadasdff at 10:07 PM ON 11/10/09
one word: craperrific!!!
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