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You Can Watch the Best Sci-Fi Show of All Time, If You Know Where to Look

Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) looks out of the cockpit of her viper, wearing her helmet.
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Remember Battlestar Galactica? Life was good back then. I mean, not for the folks aboard the Galactica. I mean for all of us who got to watch them flee a terrifying robot invasion. 20 years ago (god, I feel old writing that), you could watch Battlestar when each episode aired, or catch up on previous seasons with Netflix DVDs that arrived in the mail. But how do you watch Battlestar Galactica now? Can you stream it? Sort of.

Battlestar Galactica was quality TV

What’s that? You’re a wee young one and you don’t know what Battlestar Galactica was about? Well, sit on my knee and I’ll tell you why it’s one of the best sci-fi shows of all time!

Battlestar Galactica, Ronald D. Moore‘s reboot of the 1970s series, takes place in a distant solar system called the 12 Colonies of Kobol. When the colonies are attacked and destroyed by a race of robots called Cylons, the last remnants of humanity are forced to try and find a new home in a ragtag fleet of starships, led by the gargantuan warship Galactica. Their destination? The fabled 13th colony, Earth.

However, the Cylons, who look human and can infiltrate human enclaves, are hot on the heels of the fleet. It turns out they want to find Earth, too, and they wouldn’t mind wiping out the last humans in existence while they do it.

Battlestar Galactica‘s story is exciting on every scale. There’s the question of whether humanity will survive the Cylons, of course. But Battlestar has engrossing human stories, too. The last shreds of humankind are led by Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), the Secretary of Education who finds herself suddenly promoted to President after the government is destroyed in the genocide. William Adama (Edward James Olmos) is the commander of the Galactica and a father figure to his frightened and exhausted crew. The characters include fighter pilots, civilians, conflicted Cylons, scheming scientists, and more. Every single character has a compelling story.

Okay. Ready to watch? Ready to experience Battlestar? Here’s the bad news.

Battlestar Galactica isn’t currently streaming—but you can still find it

Unfortunately, Ronald D. Moore’s Battlestar Galactica isn’t currently streaming on any platforms. Boo. However, it is out there, if you know where to look.

Currently, all four seasons are available for purchase on Apple TV+, Vudu, and Amazon. The miniseries that kicked the show off is a bit trickier to find, but you can find various Battlestar media for sale on DVD and Blu-ray.

(featured image: NBC Universal)

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Author
Julia Glassman
Julia Glassman (she/her) holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and has been covering feminism and media since 2007. As a staff writer for The Mary Sue, Julia covers Marvel movies, folk horror, sci fi and fantasy, film and TV, comics, and all things witchy. Under the pen name Asa West, she's the author of the popular zine 'Five Principles of Green Witchcraft' (Gods & Radicals Press). You can check out more of her writing at <a href="https://juliaglassman.carrd.co/">https://juliaglassman.carrd.co/.</a>

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