I like definitions.

ret ● con
noun
retroactive continuity; the common situation in fiction where a new story “reveals” things about events in previous stories, usually leaving the “facts” the same (thus preserving continuity) while completely changing their interpretation.¹

I don’t like retcons. I get nervous around them. Never met one I really liked. In the end, they can only be as good as the story that they exist to serve. ‘Hero’ fiddles with the basic premise behind the Battlestar mini-series, and indeed, the rest of the show up until this point. The change, as I’ll explain, isn’t a big deal. But then, nor is this episode, particularly.

Way back when, humanity created the Cylons. They had a bit of a fight, and then the Cylons left, after working out a treaty, whereby there were lines the humans could not cross. The humans never did send Commander Adama along to spy on the border, and send a fighter across it. Unfortunately it was spotted by the Cylons before Adama shot it down, and they picked up its pilot. The humans just kept on sending their ambassador to a remote outpost to negotiate with the Cylons. Who never showed up. Until, one day, they did, and proceeded, unprovoked, to wipe out the twelve colonies — save for a rag-tag fleet, led by the Battlestar Galactica.

The new story is more believable than the old one, really. I find it hard to believe that humanity would have just contentedly trusted the Cylons. It isn’t quite as neat though.

In the present day, the lost pilot — Bulldog — returns, chased by Cylon fighters. For perhaps the first time in the course of the series, Adama practically squirms in embarrassment, and Tigh loves it. In fact, this episode belongs to Tigh. I’ve found him supremely irritating this year, but as the somewhat predictable tension between the pilot and the man who left him for dead plays out,² Tigh’s hilarious commentary is what really makes it enjoyable.

Oh, and Number Three is killing herself secretly. Those crazy Cylons and their resurrection, making suicide a guilty pleasure. What will they think of next? Oh, alright, threesomes with Gaius. Damn, that James Callis has a cushy job.

1. The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, copyright 1993-2006 Denis Howe. Would you believe, this wasn’t in my computer’s dictionary? ↩
2. It was interesting to note in the recent ‘Battlestar Roundtable’ (a great listen, available at the Battlestar podcast page) that the writer and some of the actors don’t think they’ve managed a really good standalone episode since ’33’ at the start of season one. ↩

This entry was posted by the illustrious Tom Charman on Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007. It concerns such pressing issues as Battlestar Galactica, tv. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.