The Anti-Trek?

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone!

BSG has been called the anti-"Star Trek," but I thought it would be fun today to have a little cracky fun imagining the two coming together.  Use the plot generator I've put under the LJ cut below (taken and mildly adapted from Justin B. Rye's Do-It-Yourself Star Trek Script Flowchart) to design your own BSG/Trek lovechild of an episode.  Illustrate your episode, or any individual item on the list, with appropriate screenshots (frak-that.com is a good resource for caps), or write a ficlet or caption, or just giggle about the things you would never see on Galactica, or -- if you're like me -- be surprised at just how many of these things they actually did on Galactica!

 





Design your own episode:

1) Whilst…

boldly going where no one has gone before
discussing / demanding / debating / corrupting / idealizing politics
on Cloud 9
carrying out a vital mission of mercy
taking a shortcut
investigating a doomed world / strangely familiar world / time warp / space warp / form of energy never previously encountered / distress signal

2) Kara
Lee
The crew of Galactica
The cylons
Ensemble member of your choice

3) falls in love
gets brain- washed
is put on trial
starts aging rapidly
apparently dies
falls ill
gets lost

3) ...when the Galactica encounters an apparent…
conman
monster
madhouse
paradise
horde of little things
gang of superbeings
captain with a grudge
computer
duplicate of: Kara / Lee / an old friend / Abraham Lincoln / some historical period on Earth / the Galactica

3a) …which is in fact not what it/he/she seems.

4) It/he/she...
ambushes them
tries to ingest:  them / everything
pisses them about:  as a test / for fun
drains the algae supply
hijacks the Galactica
picks off the security guards
isolates the landing party
depletes the FTL to 5%

5) But their opponent turns out to be…
mad
all alone
well meaning
misled
just a kid

6) ...and vulnerable to…
gibberish
a show of emotion
a cunning bluff
a good talking to
violence

7) ...and…
dies
leaves

8)... once…
A secondary character dies a heroic death
Kara delivers a right hook
Lee delivers a speech
Cottle develops a vaccine
Chief jury-rigs the engines
Gaius does/says something which makes no sense
Roslin opens the airlock

9) So in the end everything turns out okay…
and the planet is saved in the nick of time
give or take a few personal tragedies
and everybody forgets it ever happened
though a few regulations have been broken
and they all have a good laugh

Comments

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Hee! Love the Lee-Spock gifs. :) Fun fill in the blanks too!

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Hee! Me, too. Eyebrow emotion is their way.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

I think it was Ron Moore who started calling it the anti-Trek, actually. He worked on Star Trek for, like, fifteen years -- he got his start as a screenwriter on Star Trek: The Next Generation and then went on to be a writer/ co-producer for Deep Space Nine -- and he said that, though he loved Star Trek a lot and always would, after all those years he was really tired of the limits its format and philosophy built into storytelling. So one of his stated goals for BSG was to tell stories in a way that broke the Star Trek mold, to tell the stories he couldn't approach on Trek..

[thegreenkitty.livejournal.com]

IMHO, it's the take on bright shiny futures.

Trek seemed to like wrapping up an episode w a moral and go sailing happily off toward said future.

We see bright shiny futures as overrated (although the discussion of such is a great excuse to flirtingly spit at Lee) and we appreciate the angsty realism. It also gives us more appreciation for the little happy moments bc they aren't guaranteed.

(Disclaimer: I've really only seen classic and next gen Star Trek...I have heard the newer incarnations weren't as cut and dry...and bright/shiny morality can be nice, so not a diss...just saying, bsg was 'messier'...and other than the clusterfrak that was S4/4.5, I kinda prefer it messy. Moral ambiguity is appreciated.)

[winegums.livejournal.com]

well, there's the obvious: no 'aliens', limits on technology in-universe, a MUCH more realistic and gritty feel than any iteration of Star Trek was ever allowed to have.

And then there is what rachelindeed and thegreenkitty says too, in terms of story and format limits.

Star Trek: The Battlestar Generation

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Whilst investigating a doomed world,



The crew of Galactica is put on trial,



when the Galactica encounters an apparent conman, who is in fact not what he seems.



He picks off the security guards,

*I can't find a good cap of Romo stabbing his guard with a pen, but insert appropriate mental image*

But their opponent turns out to be just a kid,



and vulnerable to gibberish



and leaves, once Gaius does/says something which makes no sense



So in the end everything turns out okay, give or take a few personal tragedies.



THE END

Ta da! The anti-Trek, my foot. It's practically canon.

Re: Star Trek: The Battlestar Generation

[winegums.livejournal.com]

there are actually a fair few similarities between DS9 and our show, theme-wise, but I like this version better.

Or maybe I'm just biased because I was never as emotionally attached to any of the Trek characters as I was to the cast of BSG...

Re: Star Trek: The Battlestar Generation

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

I loved them both, myself. I watched DS9 every week when I was in high school. I loved those characters :) Plus Mr. Spock is, well, fascinating.

Yes, when I rewatch DS9 I'm often struck by how very similar the two shows are in many of their themes, plots, and characters. But the tone of BSG is much more naturalistic and gritty, IMO.

Re: Star Trek: The Battlestar Generation

[winegums.livejournal.com]

yeah, shows like Firefly and BSG basically spoiled me for all sci-fi/alien-featuring shows forever, after I fell in love with them I wasn't even into Farscape anymore. Star Trek is great and I love Spock too, but it's easier to just idly wonder about things than go absolutely batshit waiting for answers to be given and ships to sail

**forgive my rambling, I'm half asleep**

Re: Star Trek: The Battlestar Generation

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

I hear you! I find I still like them all, but I have to be in the right mood for each, you know? :)

[n-e-star.livejournal.com]

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

HEE! I LOVE THEM! ESPECIALLY THE PICARD DANCE!!!

[n-e-star.livejournal.com]

Whenever I see that gif all I can think of is the Picard Song.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

[lanalucy]

OMG Jamie's eyebrow raises are so the love-children of Nimoy's!

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Aren't they, though? :)