Chris Snellgrove | Published
in Battlestar Galactica Reboot, who do you think is the main villain? It’s easy to point your fingers at the Cylon, but these antagonists never pretended to care for humanity… so many fans think that Balter, a hypocritical human narcissist, is the show’s main antagonist. And although he didn’t show his true colour until the second half of the series, showrunner Ronald D. Moore was going to predict the heels of this character much earlier in the season 2 episode “Resistance.”
Looking back, it’s a bit clear that “resistance” sets up a transition to Baltal’s villain. In this episode, after the revelation that his girlfriend, Boomer, is secretly one of these enemy robots, he is asked to determine whether Chironchiron is a Cylon. He is supposed to use a so-called cylon detector, but instead he simply takes steps to add Tyrol, allowing him to force information from the boomer. From her, he learns that other Cylon agents secretly penetrated the human fleet and then cured Tyrol. She is shot by Curry, so he will never question Boomer again.
It is clearly a shocking decision on Balter’s part to threaten human life, but mostly Battlestar Galactica Fans at the time didn’t think it was a villain’s move. The show often explored what other good people would do when pushed their breaking point away. This episode shows how to kill Tigh’s controversial use of martial law in a Boston genocide wind shooting while Adama is injured. When the commander of the title ship kills multiple people in his rash decision, it is easy to overlook Baltal’s ominous overtones and heal the man.
Interestingly Battlestar Galactica Showrunner Ronald D. Moore didn’t consider Tyrol’s addiction to be the beginning of Baltal’s villainous era. At least not directly. In the podcast commentary for “Resistance,” he confirmed that the beginning of Baltal’s character’s darkness was his decision to actually force a Boomer, and addiction to Tyrol is a way to do it. Moore further confirmed that Balter wanted to continue her fear tor in the future. This is a plan that was only stopped by being murdered by Curry at the end of the episode.
It’s worth noting that his character gets darker, that happened relatively early… “Resistance” was the fourth episode of season 2, and many Battlestar Galactica Fans believe that Balter will not be a complete villain until Balter is elected president and begins working directly with Cylon in Season 3. Moore’s comments reveal that Balter secretly took power away and was not afraid of others threatening to get it. Once he realizes he plans to force Boomer indefinitely, it makes sense for Balter to sell out humanity and generally do whatever it takes to keep him in power.
Even if you’re there Battlestar Galactica Fans who view Balthal as a victim rather than a villain (he ended up winning his day in court), and it’s fascinating to consider the various ways his character has evolved. Heck, Moore even thought of putting Balthal in a triangle of love with six boomers. Of course, that’s one of the things you can always count on from this legendary series.
