By Chris Snellgrove | Published
There were many things that appealed to science fiction fans about the Battlestar Galactica reboot, including the fact that (unlike the original series) it did not include any alien races. This helped to highlight the conflict between humanity and the Cylons, while also making it clear that humanity and its rebel creations are more alike than they are different. Turns out this smart creative decision is partly due to Edward James Olmos, who says it was in his contract that his character, Commander Adama, would have to be killed if he encountered aliens.
No aliens for Adama
This story that Edward James Olmos didn’t want his character to encounter aliens on the show is one the actor shared with the AV Club. He was very excited to “be a part of” the show because it was “incredibly well written by Ron Moore”, but during his first meeting with Moore and the show’s producers, he warned them: “I don’t want to not see four characters. people with crazy eyes, or strange jellyfish, or strange space people. The alien antipathy was so strong that he had it written into his contract that if Adama encountered aliens, the writers would have to have his character die of a heart attack.
If you’re a fan of science fiction in general or old Battlestar Galactica in particular, you might think that Edward James Olmos hating the idea of his character encountering aliens is pretty strange. However, it makes more sense when you consider the actor’s sci-fi background…in this case, he’s starring in Ridley Scott’s groundbreaking film. Blade Runner. He was actually relieved when the Galactic the producers reassured him that the new series would be like Scott’s film because, as Olmos says, “there were no monsters in it, they were all human beings”.
Reading between the lines a little, it seems obvious that Edward James Olmos prefers the idea of his on-screen characters interacting with humans or human-like characters rather than aliens. The great revelation of Blade Runner was that the supposedly evil replicators weren’t really that different from their creators, and this idea is strongly rooted in the themes and narratives of Battlestar Galactica. After playing a memorable human in a world where killer replicants turned out to be victims to fight against their oppressors, it was much easier for Olmos to play Commander Adama, a man fighting genocidal aliens who accuse humanity of his past oppression.
As an added side effect, the fact that Edward James Olmos got his “no aliens” demand met meant that Battlestar Galactica could stand out better against other science fiction franchises such as Star Trek. This was probably very important to showrunner Ronald Moore, given that he got his start in TV writing for Star Trek: The Next Generation and became one of this franchise’s most talented scribes. Moore knew very well that his own series was going to have to distinguish itself from what had come before it, and making his ultra-realistic sci-fi series sans aliens was one of the best ways to do that.
In retrospect, Edward James Olmos’ story about not wanting Adama to encounter aliens proves how fortuitous the situation was. Battlestar Galactica the reboot really was… just when the acclaimed actor was ready to talk about a major sci-fi trope, he discovered that he and the producers were already on the same page. From top to bottom, this show was filled with actors and other creators eager to redefine what TV science fiction could be. And they succeeded so well that, to this day, nothing has been able to eclipse the ambition and scope of a series that boldly went where no Star Trek had gone before.
