U.N. hosts Battlestar Galactica retrospective

Tonight, the reimagined version of Battlestar Galactica will air its series finale after six years, four seasons and an epic trek across the galaxy. Yes, one of the decade's best science fiction television shows is coming to an end, but not before being given a proper sendoff: The United Nation's department of Public Information and SciFi recently hosted a retrospective on the show at the U.N.'s headquarters in New York City.

BSG is no stranger to our twenty-first cenury anxieties: The show has dextrously handled the topics of war, religion and terrorism, not to mention just about every permutation thereof (biological weaponry, the morality of preemptive warfare, and the use of torture). A fictional show might seem out of place in the chambers of international law, but BSG's consideration of such pertinent topics merited praise from Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Planning Robert Orr: "You've got people thinking about issues that we try and get people thinking about every day."

Whoopi Goldberg (herself quite familiar with genre fiction) moderated the event, which featured actors Edward James Olmos (William Adama) and Mary McDonnell (Laura Roslin), as well as creators Ronald Moore and David Eick. Each of the delegate seats had a placard from one of the show's twelve Colonies on it—effectively turning the U.N.'s chambers into the Quorum of Twelve for a night. The guests took questions from an audience of 300 and discussed the show's significance for its portrayal of issues like women's rights and the dangers of technology.

Olmos mirrored the legendary level-headedness of William Adama for most of the discussion, until a panel member mentioned how the U.N.'s mission was to safeguard human rights for everyone, regardless of race, nationality or gender. Olmos, a social activist for most of his life, growled back,  "You never should've invited me here," before taking the entire U.N. to task for continuing to use race as a means of dividing people. Turning his attention to the high schoolers, he said, "Adults will never be able to stop using the word 'race' as a cultural determinant... There is only one race: the human race. SO SAY WE ALL!"

And you'd better believe the whole chamber shouted it right back at him. Pour a bottle of Ambrosia out for Billy, Dee, and all the other ones who didn't make it: The series finale of Battlestar Galactica airs tonight on SciFi at 9 PM Eastern.

(Watch part of the panel discussion is available here.)

Related links:
List of the Day: Five reasons why you should start watching Battlestar Galactica even though you don't like sci-fi
News: Battlestar Galactica prequel to premiere on DVD
SciFi.com: Battlestar Galactica

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