By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Until today, Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica The reboot is remembered as the ultimate example of sci-fi storytelling. There are many reasons for this: the cast was full of insanely talented actors, for example, and each scene in the show kept fans on the edge of their seats. But the show's greatest strength was its writing. The premise of the show was that humanity was trying to survive a genocidal attack by the Cylons, enemies who could wipe out everyone at any time. It's a very bleak story, and the show's solid writing made sure we heard every sad decision.
Moore began by writing Star Trek: The Next Generation. Although that franchise is about hope and optimism for the future of humanity, Moore confirmed Galactica it was the anti-Trek, with dark stories about paranoia and despair. This filtered into the show's design philosophy, which is why the Galactica felt like a submarine and the Enterprise-D felt like a flying Holiday Inn. However, what many fans don't realize is that Moore borrowed one aspect of Star Trek's design: Galactica The episode “Strengthen Me and Tie Me Down,” introduces a visual scene clearly inspired by Ten Forward's debut. The Next Generation!
One Chill Spot on Battlestar Galactica
This story comes to us courtesy of the commentary track “Strengthen Me, Tie Me Down,” just in case you need a little extra motivation to get your Blu-rays out. While this episode has a lot of the show's signature twists (including Adam suspecting that Ellen Tigh is a Cylon and Roslin suspecting Adama was a Cylon), had many light moments designed to give the audience a break from the non-stop drama of Season 1. It was also an episode that gave its characters a break, as it introduced the Observation Deck, a place where the characters can stargaze and generally think about space.
In a commentary track for the episode, Ronald D. Moore said “It felt right that, perhaps… there was one area of the ship, which accepted a window or a port to look out and that it would be a confined space for the crew on these long, deep missions.” This would be a place “where they could go and just stargaze. And in this case, it seemed like there would be a lot of people lining up to try to stargaze, you know, a break from the monotony of staring at metal walls.
If this sounds familiar, it's because you're actually describing Ten Forward from Star Trek: The Next Generation!
Do it Slow
Star Trek: The Next Generation it was to put it mildly, a more hopeful and optimistic show Battlestar Galactica. Even so, the Enterprise-D crew is still dealing with a fair amount of stress. On any given week, they can be thrown to the Borg by Q, caught up in the Klingon Civil War, or simply killed in an Away Team mission gone wrong. Because of this, the crew liked to relax at Ten Forward, a bar where they could gaze at the stars. Located on Deck 10 in the forward section (hence, the name), it offers everyone glorious views of the cosmos around them.
Now, Ronald D. Moore didn't clearly name the Ten Forward during the commentary track. However, the concept of a section of the ship where exhausted crew members can relax by gazing at the stars through the large windows is clearly inspired by everyone's favorite place to hang out on the Enterprise-D. That means the runner never in full escaped his television roots and that his acclaimed combat show Trek has powerful echo of Star Trek: The Next Generation hidden deep within Battlestar Galactica.
