MovieChat Forums > Battlestar Galactica (2005) Discussion > Viewing Order: The Last Thread

Viewing Order: The Last Thread

posted 7 years ago by NotASpeckOfCereal
6 replies | jump to latest

I've googled, I've seen, I've read. There's a lot of conflicting stuff out there, including:

-- when to watch Caprica (if at all)
-- when to watch Razor (some say watch it twice, the first time with the final 10 minutes muted
-- then there's the web-based series, some of which are NOT in our DVD/Blu-ray collections

Note that this board is:
a) truncated/purged, not having all of the old threads
b) will hopefully be read-only (still available) after the forums close
c) if not, it is actively being archived by at least one project

So give it your best shot: my Gray box Complete Series set arrives this afternoon. What order should I watch it?

RIP IMDb message boards!

[–] throw-41 7 years ago

Depends.
If you have seen it before I would go in chronological order:
- Caprica
- Blood & Chrome
- BSG Miniseries
- BSG S1 & S2
- Razor after "Captain's Hand" and before "Downloaded"
- The Plan at the end of S2
- "Resistance" before S3 (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2n8z21_bsg-the-resistance-webisodes-complete-2006_fun)
- "Face Of The Enemy" after "Sometimes a Great Notion" and before "Disquiet Follows My Soul" (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xxxcck_battlestar-galactica-the-face-of-the-enemy-complete_shortfilms)

If you haven't seen it yet I would still keep that order except for "The Plan". That one contains major spoilers throughout S4 so the first time you want to watch it after S4.
Razor has a mini spoiler, but it really isn't that big of a deal - you may not even catch it until you get to the end of S3.

[–] Metatron_Fallen 7 years ago

Razor has stuff in it that could be considered spoilers for Season Three.

Also, there is no clear time line in Razor. If you want to put it where it takes place, then you must watch it before the miniseries. During the miniseries. After the miniseries.

Apparently, a study was done. Only 1.4 percent of the world population gets confused when they see something out of chronological order. These people find it impossible to watch Pulp Fiction for example and have to have a special version of that film created for them (which Tarantino did as an act of charity). The film is re-edited to flow in normal chronological order and those people are happy. But normal viewers who watch this special 'for idiots' version are often quoted as saying, 'the film was boring' after watching it.

There has been talk in recent years in creating a special version of BSG for chronologically impaired viewers. It would help those viewers who think everything they see needs to start at A and wind away towards Z.

I might buy that version when it comes out just to have it in my collection.

I've seen the series 20+ times. I never get confused by the flashbacks and always watch it in the order the story-tellers meant it to be seen in. And have never seen the Plan at all.

[–] throw-41 7 years ago

I have no problems with complicated plot lines or flashback scenes, but prefer Razor in S2. Razor wasn't really intended in S4 but rather an afterthought to get a bit more on the events on Pegasus during the attack and later in S2.

Aside from the flashbacks, the framing story of "Razor" plays somewhere between day 240 and day 260, near the end of S2. I have no problems watching it at the beginning of S4, but it kind of feels out of place there, like ancient history.

BTW: I found that the plots in "33" are out of sync. While the events with Helo and Sharon on Caprica happen on day 6, the events shown in the fleet actually happen on day 7 (if you add up all the jumps they did, they would have had started jumping shortly after the attack on the Colonies (that was 07:00 Caprica City time sharp) to be on day 6 during jump 238. Also in "Water" on day 10 Cmd. Adama states that the Olympic carrier incident was 3 days ago.)

The scene at the end of "Downloaded" where Roslin gives the Agathon's baby to Maya must have happened about 2 week after the other Galactica events of "Downloaded" (Hera was born on day 270 but due to her underdeveloped lungs had to stay for two weeks in the incubator), chronologically well in "Lay Down Your Burdens Pt. 2", around Day 285, after the SAR mission returned on day 281 (date given in "The Plan"). For dramatic reasons it would have actually been better there. Not only would it have a shock effect, but also you would have seen the fallout that vicious act had on Sharon and Helo first before learning what really happened. It would make you hate Roslin so much more... And you would truly understand why Doc Cottle is so unhappy about this whole transaction and gives Roslin the "stink-eye".

[–] mussobrennon 7 years ago

I've just started the show, and I wasn't really aware of any problems with the viewing orders except the miniseries. I started with the 2 miniseries episodes, then watched 33 and Water. Can you guys tell me about any episodes I might want to watch out of order, or anything that might not be with the regular show, like this web series that I know nothing about. Do I need to, or even want to watch that? I'm watching on hulu too.

[–] throw-41 7 years ago

First time I would just go in order as they were aired. For subsequent viewings I would watch Razor after The Captain's Hand in S2.

You should definitely also watch the webisodes "Resistance" (between S2 and S3) and "Face of the Enemy" between "Sometimes a Great Notion" and "A Disquiet Follows My Soul"
These will explain why certain events in the regular episodes.

[–] Metatron_Fallen 7 years ago

You cannot go wrong by watching it in the aired order.

Stephen King is a writer of horror and a very successful one. He wrote many stories that were made into successful screen adaptations. I don't know if you ever heard of him or not but he made a LOT of money doing it.

He wrote a novel called 'It'. The chapters are not in chronological order.

According to some- this is wrong. You should ask someone who has read the novel to find out what the proper chronological order is and then read the novel in that order. According to some that is the best way to enjoy the story.

Or you can just trust that the story-teller knows what they are doing and enjoy the story the way they wanted to present it.

This is also the case in BSG. There are a few individuals who believe the original story-tellers made a mistake. That they did not know what they were doing when they aired the story. That the 'RIGHT' way to watch it, is in chronological order.

But according to those people, it would always be wrong to begin a story in media res- but this is a totally legitimate way to begin a story.

I will repeat it. I have seen the series a lot more times than anyone in this thread, I would wager. You cannot go wrong watching it in the order that the story-tellers presented it to the public.

But you CAN spoil some bits for yourself watching it in the arbitrary order that some random pedantic viewer thinks is best.