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By Jonathan Klotz
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Battlestar Galactica is one of the best sci-fi shows ever made, with incredible performances and memorable moments, and decades after its cancellation, it’s still attracting new fans. Considering the lack of planning and flying by the seat of their pants, the writer’s room did when making the series, it’s a miracle it became an all-time classic. One example is the “boxing” of Cylons to prevent them from being resurrected, which was only created as a concept because Lucy Lawless was leaving the show, and creator Ronald D. Moore needed to explain why all the Cylons No. 3 now missing.
Boxing No. 3
Cylon boxing is quite literal, with the newly downloaded consciousness diverted from the waiting Cylon body into a small metallic box attached to the resurrection tank. The digital consciousness is trapped inside the box in punishment reserved for individual models who might cause danger to their society, usually by becoming too sympathetic towards humans. In Battlestar Galactica Season 3 Episode 12, “Rapture,” John Cavil/Number One (Dean Stockwell) boxes the entire model line of Number 3 because of her fanatical quest to uncover the secret of the Final Five comes close to unraveling his plans, a dramatic exit for Outlaw Lucy which later ended up being a central plot point.
Number 3, introduced as D’Anne Biers, an investigative reporter in Season 2’s “Final Cut,” was the only Cylon fascinated by religion. Battlestar Galactica always had religious undertones, but with Number Three’s bid for the legendary Final Five, Lucy Lawless was able to dig into the role, and her performance helped make Evolution No. 3 is plausible. Just before she is boxed by John Cavil, she has a look in her eyes that she accepts her fate as a true believer, confident that she will see the Five one day.
During its run, Battlestar Galactica it didn’t have many cast changes during its run, with the departure of Lucy Lawless remaining the most notable. The human characters could be killed, well, five of them couldn’t be, but the rest were fair game, which is why Cylon’s departure needed a creative solution. The first time boxing is mentioned is in “Downloaded” in Season 2, by Number 3 threatening Number Six (Tricia Helper) and Number Eight (Grace Park) with him, but behind the scenes, the writing was already on the wall for Lawless to walk away, which gives the scene a bit of irony when rewatched .
Battlestar Galactica Never Had a Plan
Battlestar Galactica is lack of planning from day one is not uncommon, to be honest, Babylon 5which was famously written entirely from start to finish before it began filming, is an exception among sci-fi shows and not the rule, which is why there was no trap door planned for Number 3 Lucy Lawless. That’s also why the reveal of the Five presented enough plot holes to fuel a generation of YouTube explanatory videos. The revival series that gave a look at the workings of Cylon society helped humanize the cybernetic life forms, but as fans learned after the fact, there was never a plan.
Both Battlestar Galactica and Lucy Lawless are still loved by thousands, if not millions, of science fiction fans around the world, unplanned or not. Writing and plotting around the edges works well with the dark tone of the series, making it sometimes seem like horrible things are happening, reflecting what life would actually be like trapped on spaceships trying to defeat an unrelenting enemy. . The concept of boxing a Cylon ended up working out for the best and presented a great subject for their digital immortality because nothing is more terrifying to a race that has conquered death than the existential fear of eternal nothingness.
