BattleStar Galactica - The Return of Athena
Spoiler Warning: If you are not 100% up to date on your BattleStar viewing, please skip this post.
I’m a huge fan of the original Battlestar Galactica, so naturally I protested the character changes that where announced when the “re-imagining” sprouted wings. For me, finding out that StarBuck was going to be female just really knocked any images of Dirk Benedict, cigar wagging from the corner of his mouth, straight out of my mind, which really wasn’t such a bad thing; If anything, it was necessary. If you look at where the producers of the new BattleStar Galactica went, thematically, it is hard to see where facsimiles of the old characters would fit in. By jettisoning any resemblance of those characters viewers new, and old, came to the show with a clean slate.
One gender switch that never really stung for me was Boomer. Boomer was an African-American male pilot in the originally, an Asian female named Sharon in the re-imagined Galactica. Maybe it was just the flap over Starbuck and the Cylons, but nobody seemed nearly as surprised by Boomer’s shift, until she turned out to be Cyclon programmed to assassinate Adama. Thanks to the miracle of limited Cylon ‘models’, Grace Park, the actress who plays Boomer, didn’t have to worry about her job security when Boomer was killed early on in season two she was already playing a duplicate Sharon stuck on Caprica. This Sharon, as we know, had a human hybrid baby and wound up in a holding Cell on Galactica until being admitted to the fleet as an officer in the beginning of Season Three. Galactica purists be still!
A decidedly Star-Trek’esque maneuver, splicing an enemy amongst the heroes ranks, the twist came with one more turn last week when Galactica producers decided to resurrect yet another old school Galactica character. There are several characters missing from the “re-imagining”, Cassiopia, Boxy, and Serina, to name a few. When Caprica Sharon 
proclaimed that she is not “Boomer”, the unit which was destroyed on Galactica, her pilot buddies decided to come up with an entirely new call-sign for her: Athena.
Now, Athena is NOT a new name to classic BattleStar Galactica, she was a hotshot pilot and Adama’s daughter. She was not, however, an African American man who became an Asian Women who turned out to be a Cylon whose copy get pregnant by a human, later joined the fleet, and eventually got recast as a classic character. Whew. Surely bringing Athena back to the new universe of BattleStar Galactica is nothing short of simple homage, but proof positive that BSG’s producers still have one eye on the past watching for characters they can reflux before our eyes. It’s all fine and dandy as long as BattleStar Galactica keeps doing what it does, but I can’t shake the feeling that Sheba is going to walk in the door some day as a male Cylon early hybrid breeding experiment.
Derrick Stolee said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 2:30 am
You mention Boxy as a missing character. Boxy was definitely in the miniseries and at least one more episode after that. However, he fell flat as a really bad idea.
Kizzle said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 2:31 am
You should REALLY add a spoiler warning to the top of this post.
Mike J said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 2:32 am
Actualy Boxy has appeared along the way - though almost as an extra in one of the pilot or early episodes as I recall.
Keiran Sparksman said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 2:39 am
Um, Boxey was present in the new series - he was played by Connor Widdows in Kobol’s Last Gleaming Part 1, and also formed a minor part of the plot of Water (but a major part if you watch the deleted scenes).
DaggitsSuck said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 2:56 am
I think the use of the Athena is not just an simple homage. It’s clear that Adama has come to trust this particular toaster to the point she was his confidant in the season three opener. With things between Adama and StarBuck, the girl who until last episode was “like a daughter” to Adama, not going so well, I think Athena/Sharon is his new “daughter” at least until she finds out Adama lied to her about her baby’s fate. Then I think Athena and “Dad” are going to have a really bad falling out.
groggyboy said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 2:58 am
I have to agree with the person who wants a spoiler alert at the top. Some of us don’t have the luxury of watching every new episode as it comes out. I’m still stuck at the end of season two, gasp. Good article tho.
admin said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 3:01 am
I have added said spoiler warning. Though it does not seem that it is being noticed…lol
Marcus said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 3:48 am
I hate Boxey, so glad he isn’t in it anymore.
justme said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 4:40 am
Personally, I could stand boxie in the original show. I was his age when it came out. He was SOOOO annoying and actually brought the series down like the way scrappy did on scooby doo.
John Griffiths said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 5:58 am
Don’t agree with the name change but then i suppose it had to happen to destroy the image of the pro-cylon Boomer and start a-fresh with the character.
p.s.
check out www.youtube.com or www.dailymotion.com for the latest episodes from season 3, i looked a while back and a couple of people posted them in complete or partial forms.
web design uk said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 6:03 am
I can’t wait!
SciFiSpy said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 8:40 am
Ah props on the Boxy references, but I did not see the deleted scenes, and even now can’t recall the kept scenes actually identifying him as Boxy. Remember, if it’s deleted… it’s deleted.
Kurt said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 10:22 am
Uh - sorry but I am pretty sure that Athena is Commander Cain’s daughter from the original series.
Adama had only two sons, “Apollo” and the dead kid.
streaky said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 11:00 am
It wasn’t deleted scenes - he first appeared in the mini-series when Boomer (yeah, the dead one) was getting off Caprica, somebody asked him his name, and he replied “Boxy”.
Mark my words he’ll be back at some point, I suspect somewhere around when they find Earth - don’t be too shocked if he turns out to be Lee Adama’s son either
Rootman said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 11:55 am
Once in a while I’ll catch an episode of the original BSG on Sci-Fi, they sometimes air at 12 noon CST.
I can’t believe how cornball this series was, it seems to be in league with the original 60’s Batman series. Even the FX seem pretty crappy.
I can’t believe I watched it as a kid.
SciFiSpy said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 3:09 pm
Athena was Adama’s daughter in the original. Again props on the Boxy memory, but from the looks of things good thing he was not a “keeper”
Trash said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 3:49 pm
I want the Dagget back!
Hurray for monkeys in costumes!
notatntt said,
Wrote on November 7, 2006 @ 4:46 pm
Athena is Adama’s daughter. Adama was father to Apollo, Athena and Zac. Her career was on the bridge of Galactica and not a fighter pilot. The fighter pilot that came from Pegasus was named Sheba.
Jeff Nathan said,
Wrote on November 9, 2006 @ 6:27 pm
Regarding Boxy: In one of the season 1 DVD commentaries, the producers address the presence and then disappearance of young Boxy by announcing, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, that sadly, Boxy has died of cholera.
Bob said,
Wrote on November 15, 2006 @ 7:16 pm
Can’t say i was a big fan of the original series, i did however watch more than enough episodes to know that boxy was annoying, but not as annoying as the robot dog thing (Dagget as someone said earlier.). That is the most annoying thing ever… even worse than K9 from Dr. Who…
I like the twists of the old characters coming back, but who’d have thought they’d have the same person play 2 of them. The writers really do like to mess with our minds!