By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
The Battlestar Galactica reboot mentioned God quite a bit as a figure whom both the Cylons and a handful of humans worship as a deity distinct from the Lords of Kobol. This figure seemed like an abstract belief for much of the show until the series finale more or less confirmed that this higher figure was real and that some of our characters had been getting divine visions. While the Battlestar Galactica fan community is split on making this deity a tangible force in the universe, most fans don’t realize that God was very nearly introduced at the end of Season 1.
Battlestar Galactica Almost Cast God
The Season 1 two-part finale “Kobol’s Last Gleaming” was a showstopper in which the fleet discovered Kobol and hoped that it would point the way to Earth. Meanwhile, tensions and power struggles arise between President Roslin and Commander Adama, the latter of whom is unexpectedly shot by Boomer after she successfully destroys a Cylon Basestar. This Battlestar Galactica episode had a bit of everything, but producers very nearly included Baltar recognizing a Jimi Hendrix song and discovering a God character who would have been played by Dirk Benedict.
Needless to say, it would have been bold for Battlestar Galactica to introduce a tangible God in Season 1, and showrunner Ronald Moore was always fond of taking such big narrative swings. Why, then, did we not see Benedict’s God character talking with Baltar? In short, SyFy executive Mark Stern thought the whole thing sounded hokey, and Moore agreed, ultimately cutting this plot point out of “Kobol’s Last Gleaming” altogether.
For once, we’re glad for network meddling because such an introduction to God would arguably have ruined the rest of the show. That’s because the things that Moore reluctantly removed from the Season 1 finale were things that Battlestar Galactica fans hated in later seasons, including the random use of a Jimi Hendrix song and the series finale revelation that God is real. The show’s saving grace by that point was that it was popular enough that these bits of “hokey” storytelling weren’t enough to sink the show, and even the failed landing of a series finale wasn’t enough to destroy our collective impression of the show.
But just imagine if the first season of Battlestar Galactica ended with a character having a heart-to-heart with literal God after jamming out to Jimi Hendrix. Honestly, “hokey” is probably too generous of a description for this bonkers idea. It was bad enough to accept characters hearing Hendrix in later seasons, especially after the series finale confirmed he wouldn’t be born for many millennia. And the confirmation of God’s existence would arguably throw all future stories out of whack because fans would have to debate if free will even exists or if everything happens (ahem) by his command.
Fortunately for us all, Battlestar Galactica held off on this wild Season 1 idea and didn’t torture us with revelations about God or Hendrix until much later on. Those later plot points became some of the weakest aspects of the entire series, and we’re thankful that they didn’t pop up earlier and ruin the show’s chances of renewal. If that had happened, fans would likely start appealing to a higher power to bring this seminal sci-fi series back.
And you know what that would mean: a lot of very specific fan mail for Dirk Benedict.
