Thoughts on “BSG vs BSG”

So, while again browsing in the local comic/board game store, I came across “BSG vs BSG” written by Peter David, which crosses over the original Battlestar Galactica with the revamped Battlestar Galactica. Seeing that premise, I really had to buy it. I’ve always far preferred the original to the reboot, but seeing the two of them contrasted with each other was irresistible.

However, storywise it’s a bit of a disappointment. The reason is that the work seems to be far more interested in packing in as many references as it possibly can instead of telling a story that allows for those references. For example, the two Baltars meet each other in a scene that’s pretty much completely irrelevant to anything that was actually going on in the plot. Pretty much every combination of character that you’d want to see is mentioned — they even have a small subplot built out of Apollo from the original series and Tom Zarek from the reboot being played by the same actor — but in doing so we end up with a plot that’s haphazard and uninteresting without a really satisfying conclusion.

Still, the references are interesting, capture the ones we’d want to see, and often really capture the difference in the series. An example is the meeting of the two Starbucks. Of course they play cards together and of course they have sex, which leads to a great line from the original Starbuck of “Well, if anyone tells me to go frak myself, I can tell them I did and it was great”. And then leads to a line that really does capture the difference between the two characters — and why I didn’t care for the reboot’s Starbuck — where she comments “Yes I was”, which captures her far more self-centered attitude. Of course, this is also during a time when she was married to Anders, and he discovers them together, and the original Starbuck is outraged that she didn’t tell him because he doesn’t have sex with married women, which she replies to with a flippant “Well, you can cross that one off your list”. The original Starbuck is the rogue with the heart of gold, while the reboot Starbuck is just an amoral, self-centered person. The original Starbuck breaks the rules mostly because he thinks they don’t matter, but the reboot Starbuck breaks them just because it benefits her to do so (with a hint of self-loathing at the end of the scene that could just be a lie). This whole sequence, with the original Starbuck apologizing to and commiserating with Anders at the end, neatly encapsulates the differences in the characters and the shows.

The book is nice for the references, but as stated the plot left me a little cold. As such, it’s an okay crossover but not as good as it could be.