Galactica 1980 (TV Series) The Return of Starbuck (1980) User Reviews

Echos of Robinson Crusoe on Mars

[tranquility-84349 · 7/10 · 21 January 2018]

If you've ever seen the sci-fi movie Robinson Crusoe on Mars you may notice a similar theme in this episode of Galactica.

Starbuck returns from the original run of Battlestar Galactica for a brief appearance in this revamped version of the series. Starbuck's fighter is damaged in a Cylon skirmish and he crash lands on a barren planet and tries to survive alone with limited rations and no chance of rescue.

Finding himself stranded and desperate he sets off exploring the unknown planet and comes across a wrecked Cylon ship with 3 damaged non-functioning Cylon robots in the wreckage. He takes one of the Cylons from the ship and attempts to repair him, and eventually succeeds, only to have a standoff with his mortal enemy and his murderous computer programming.

Starbuck tries to reason with the Cylon as they are now separated from the hostilities of war and dependent on each other. Starbuck eventually manages to persuade the robot that a truce is their best option, and soon they become allies of sorts. From here things get a bit silly as a relationship is created between a human and a robot who were former enemies, and still may be.

This episode has it's charms, but a heavy dose of suspended logic is advised to enjoy this space fantasy. One point in particular, Starbuck and the Cylon salvage parts from both of their wrecked ships to quickly build a new ship that is fully functional and space worthy on it's maiden voyage.

There is humor and some silliness, but this episode nonetheless is quite entertaining. At times the Cylon seems to have the same cynical attitude as the robot from Lost in Space, but when the chips are down Starbuck soon discovers that the Cylon is more than just a pretty chrome face.

Dirk Benedict reappears from the first season

[CCsito · 9/10 · 28 January 2018]

The 1980 season of Galactica 1980 only brought back Lorne Greene and Herbert Jefferson Jr from the previous series. The two main male characters played by Kent McCord and Barry Van Dyke were a later generation from Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict's characters. For the last show of the season, it brought back Dirk Benedict's character with a tie-in with Dr. Zee. Dr. Zee tells Adama of a dream that he had recently. In the dream, Starbuck gets stranded on a planet after his ship is damaged by a Cylon raid and the planet appears to have a Cylon outpost. One of the units powers back on and Starbuck gets acquainted with it. He is happy to have some company. The enemy attitude is suspended between them as they discuss how their lifestyle is different from each other. Later, the Cylon brings a woman to keep Starbuck company. The woman is pregnant. Where she came from is a mystery. She asks a rather odd question to Starbuck - will you die for me? Later, a repaired space vehicle is made up by Starbuck and the Cylon using parts from their ships. A group of Cylon ships approach the planet and Starbuck places the woman and her new born child into it so they can leave. The Cylon that befriended Starbuck attacks the other Cylon units, but is injured in the battle and shuts down. The woman appears in the horizon and proclaims that she loves Starbuck (for sacrificing himself for her and her child). Adama tells Dr. Zee that he thinks that he was the child in the dream. The episode ends with Starbuck all alone again on the planet. One of the main points of the episode Is that enemies can become friends given different circumstances.

how can you not love it?

[kateymaybe-98888 · 10/10 · 26 February 2016]

OK, the plot is utterly preposterous, and full of holes. Much of the acting is questionable at best...and yet. A snarky, moody, Cylon and smarta$$ Starbuck eye candy. Perfect.

Some of the dialog between Cy and Starbuck in this episode has stuck with me for more than 30 years, in that list of stupid movie or TV quotes that most of us have some version of in our heads. So it's hokey; who cares? If you watch it accepting that it is an old TV show, and don't take it seriously, it is a lot of fun.

The rest of the season was pretty much torture that only die-hard Battlestar Galactica fan desperation can get you through, but this one almost makes up for it.

A Flawed Show Musters a Final Bang to Exit On.

[anderbilt · 10/10 · 24 March 2023]

One year after ABC cancelled Battlestar Galactica to conclude its first and only season, the network put an end to its half-hearted attempt to bring the show back in a cheap, unsatisfactory format. "The Return of Starbuck" marked the final goodbye to Battlestar Galactica.

I could appreciate this as a Star Trek fan. The third season of that show was a creative letdown, and NBC flipped the 'off' switch after airing a mundane mid-season ep about a crazy ex girlfriend with a body swapping machine who almost left Captain Kirk permanently singing soprano. That show's last fadeout left us with the final image of Kirk wondering " if only " ............. about his ex. Not a good look.

Battlestar Galactica, for its shorter more fiery arc, swung for the fences and went out sliding through the mud of a horrible second season into home plate to score the game's only run with this episode - - which stands as a well told legend about this show's undeniable breakout star: Starbuck.

Dirk Benedict and a hot-wired Cylon companion voiced by Gary Owens make this among the great hours of Battlestar Galactica to air on ABC in either season. And like the whole BSG series, it carried secrets we would find out only much much much later.

Hidden earlier in this second season, was the underlying surprise that would fuel David Eick and Ronald D Moore's 2003 reboot: that Cylons also came in HUMAN form. This like many other good dark dramatic devices, were given but never ever explored in the first Battlestar Galactica, which I declare to be a victim of its shortsighted commercial TV era and the way networks programmed and created by committee instead of reaching for artistic vision and excellence.

This episode's special secret for the ages: Humans and Cylons were compatible, mutually sympathetic, and were destined to stand side by side in brotherhood, if only

Final image, Starbuck, alone on a rocky windy planet, blessed by the ethereal woman with child who he helped, destined we think to join the Beings of Light.

Final note: to everyone who hates the theological elements of the Eick/Moore BSG, don't forget that this original BSG had some crrraaaazy ideas too. Thanks all.

once more, with starbucking

[robrosenberger · 5/10 · 20 January 2016]

I'm going to say something i've never said about any creation - there may not be a human alive qualified to review this. Is it awful? Even appalling, in more ways than one could enumerate? Yes. Is it also...wonderful? Maybe. Or maybe it's a just a balm on the wound that was inflicted on all those adoring fans who were too loyal to walk away from this season of hell. Starbuck, the one and only Dirk Benedict, is back. The set-up is actually a (gulp) Dr. Zee origin story. He has a dream in which a warrior is stranded on a barren planet with only the corpses of his enemies for company. He reanimates one of them, and the first cylon-human friendship is born. Seeing his friend's loneliness, Cy (Gary Owens - LAUGH-IN, European VACATION) goes off and returns with a pregnant woman (Judith Chapman - THE FALL GUY, THE SWEETEST THING). A patchwork ship is built, and Starbuck sacrifices his place aboard so that mother and child might survive. Cy sacrifices his own life, to save Starbuck from a cylon patrol. The mother is from another dimension, and the baby Zee is finally found by the fleet, alone. I promise you, if you tendered that script to any fan in 1979, their response would have been incoherent wailing. And yet...it's Dirk Benedict, dear friends. As Starbuck. And some of the scenes with Cy actually come across with depth and resonance. Is it awful? Yes. But we may never see its like again.