Critical response
Throughout its run, the series earned critical acclaim from Time, National Review, Rolling Stone, Newsday, The New York Times, The New Yorker, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune, and Entertainment Weekly.
Diane Werts of Newsday wrote: "You can look at this saga any way you want—as political drama, religious debate, psychological suspenser, sci-fi adventure, deep metaphor or just plain fun—and it's scintillating from every angle." Robert Bianco of USA Today commented: "Driven by violence and rage, Galactica is perhaps the darkest space opera American TV has ever produced. In Galactica's future, humans are on the run, and if external enemies don't get us, internal divisions will... You'll understand them [the characters], their conflicts and their desires, because they're recognizable humans in all their glorious complexity. And that's what makes Galactica a great TV series." Peter Suderman of National Review stated that the series is "arguably the most potent, dramatically vibrant series on television. ...[I]t packs the power of a gut punch on screen. For that, much credit is due to the immensely compelling cast of characters... Battlestar Galactica burns with a combustive mixture of political turmoil and human drama that is as achingly real and relevant as anything on television. Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the show "has distinguished itself as one of television's very best dramas — on a par with 24, The Wire, and Lost — because it so utterly transcends both its genre and its source material. ...[The] series' sophisticated stories have also attracted a distinctively new breed of fan, one who's not necessarily a sci-fi buff." Moreover, in 2012, Entertainment Weekly listed the show at #7 in the "25 Best Cult TV Shows from the Past 25 Years," saying that producer Moore "expanded the show's central premise into an addictive post-9/11 parable and one of the most critically acclaimed series of the decade." The article credited Starbuck and Number Six as "geek and feminist icons," adding, "best of all, the show introduced this peerless profanity into the national lexicon: Frak !"
Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times praised the show's ability to "anchor fantasy with vivid and recognizable human psychology" and declares that the series is "not just a cult hit but a significant piece of television." Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune described it as a "sprawling, enthralling tale of human survival" that is "full of political allegories and fascinating, multifaceted characters." She finds, "Like Deadwood, Battlestar Galactica is interested in exploring how a society on the edge decides to govern itself. What rights and actions are sacrosanct, which are outlawed, when most of the human race is eliminated? ... Thanks to a stellar cast and brave writing, Battlestar soars." Throughout its run, the series has often surprised reviewers with its many twists and turns. Ryan comments: "There's nothing like a good Battlestar plot twist to make your head spin, but the 'holy cow' moments aren't the main point (though they're one heck of a tasty side dish). The show and its twists and turns are grounded in deep curiosity about human nature, and how contradictory and confounding it can be."
Matt Soergel of The Florida Times-Union stated: "Its propulsive and complex storytelling is matched by, at best, just a handful of theatrical movies a year." Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle opines, "Battlestar Galactica transcends the sci-fi genre; it competes, creatively, on the same level as any other top-tier drama." Mark Perigard of the Boston Herald stated: "A drama this gripping comes 'round rarely." James Poniewozik of Time magazine named it one of the 100 best TV shows of all time. Time also wrote in the spring of 2005 that the new show was one of the six best drama programs on television. It would proclaim the program the best show on television in December of the same year. Television Without Pity described Battlestar Galactica as "one of the finest, most beautifully written, expertly acted shows on television." Alan Sepinwall, then of The Star-Ledger wrote: "[W]hat makes Galactica so gripping is its emphasis on character over hardware. The explosions and the killer robots are cool, but they don't stack up to seeing fully-drawn people - brought to life by a great writing staff led by producer Ron Moore and an astonishing cast led by Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell - grapple with these life-or-death, genocide-level decisions." Joshua Alston of Newsweek declares that the show "captures better than any other TV drama of the past eight years the fear, uncertainty and moral ambiguity of the post-9/11 world" and "always finds ways to challenge the audience's beliefs." It has also been named the best science fiction series by IGN.com and Boston.com. The series placed #59 on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list. Empire ranked it #6 on its list of the 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, then reranked it as #12 in a list of the Top 100 Best TV Shows. They explain it was a reboot "done right" with interesting character story arcs. In 2013 TV Guide included it in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time and ranked it as the #3 sci-fi show and the #57 best series of all time. Also in 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked it 38th on their list of the 101 Best-Written TV Series of All Time.
The series also draws praise for having many strong and complex female characters. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Melanie McFarland notes, "[Starbuck], played with a tomboyish swagger by Katee Sackhoff, is fast becoming the latest in a long line of feminist television icons."
The series has also received favorable reviews from other writers. Stephen King wrote, "This is a beautifully written show, driven by character rather than effects...but the effects are damn good. And there's not a better acting troupe at work on television." Joss Whedon commented: "I think it's so passionate, textured, complex, subversive and challenging that it dwarfs everything on TV."
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 90% with an average score of 8.4/10 based on 20 reviews; with a critics consensus stating, "A captivating combination of riveting political drama and science fiction fantasy make Battlestar Galactica must-see sci-fi." The second season has an approval rating of 100% with an average score of 9.5/10 based on 12 reviews; with a critics consensus stating, "In its second season, Battlestar Galatica doubles down on the series' high-minded themes and satisfyingly complex storylines." The third season has an approval rating of 100% with an average score of 9/10 based on 20 reviews; with a critics consensus stating, "Dark, charming and unusually thoughtful, Battlestar Galactica's third season continues to improve on the show's most addictive elements." The fourth season has an approval rating of 92% with an average score of 8.1/10 based on 38 reviews; with a critics consensus stating, "Battlestar Galactica's final season proves a satisfying conclusion to TV's best science fiction offering." On Metacritic, seasons 1 and 2 have a score of 89/100, season 3 is scored 94/100, and season 4 is scored 85/100.
Some fans of the original 1970s series opposed the new series since the time it premiered, due to what was perceived as its darker, more confused tone. In a May 2004 article from Dreamwatch magazine titled "Starbuck: Lost in Castration", Dirk Benedict, who portrayed Lieutenant Starbuck in the original series, harshly criticized the new series, citing its dark tone and supposed moral relativism. Benedict devoted the greatest part of the article to criticizing the producers' decision to turn Starbuck into a female character, tying it in to what he perceived as a general anti-masculinity agenda.
Other critics, even those who wrote rave reviews about the first two seasons of the series, felt that a major drop in quality occurred in the third season, continuing into the fourth and final season. In particular, the controversial series finale drew heavy criticism, largely due to the view that it failed to explain many of the main plotlines which had been teased throughout the series' run. Charlie Jane Anders of io9.com wrote:
Even Battlestar Galactica couldn't be Battlestar Galactica for longer than a few years. By halfway through the third season, the cracks are pretty apparent, as the show detours into romance subplots. The writers start throwing out curveballs like randomly selected Cylons and Starbuck's inexplicable (and unexplained) resurrection. By the time the show ended, its mystique was somewhat tarnished, and its ending remains controversial.
Anders later included the series on her list of "10 Once-Great TV Shows (And The Exact Moments They Started to Suck)", saying:
There was a time, not long ago, when BSG was considered the gold standard for science fiction television. Tense, multilayered, complicated, and filled with morally gray characters — it was all the things we always clamor for but seldom get. The show stumbled somewhat in its third season, with the boxing episode and a boring love triangle. But it didn't actually become raw suckage until Starbuck died for no reason, and then came back from the dead for no reason. The writers have basically admitted they had no plan for killing and resurrecting Starbuck — they just thought it would be a cool thing to do, and they would figure out the reasons later. And thus, we ended up with a year of Starbuck Interrupted, constantly shouting "You're going the wrong way!" and playing the piano while talking about her daddy.
In a Commentary article on the prevalence of Bush Derangement Syndrome in popular culture, conservative political commentator Jonah Goldberg analyzed the show's "radically bizarre and nonsensical turn of events ... that led inexorably to its self-destruction":
Originally, the series was very difficult to pigeonhole ideologically. ... When it came time to make the third season ... a show marked by gritty realism about how a decent but flawed civilization modeled on our own tries to cling to its decency while fighting an existential war against an implacable enemy veered wildly off course. The humans were no longer analogized to Americans; rather Americans were analogized to genocidal occupiers. In other words, we are no longer the inspiration for the futuristic Israelites trying to survive. We are now the Nazis.
Fantasy author George R.R. Martin expressed his dissatisfaction with how the writers handled the ending of the TV series, commenting:
Battlestar Galactica ends with 'God Did It.' Looks like somebody skipped Writing 101, when you learn that a deus ex machina is a crappy way to end a story... Yeah, yeah, sometimes the journey is its own reward. I certainly enjoyed much of the journey with BSG... But damn it, doesn't anybody know how to write an ending any more? Writing 101, kids. Adam and Eve, God Did It, It Was All a Dream? I've seen Clarion students left stunned and bleeding for turning in stories with those endings.
Josh Tyler of CinemaBlend concluded that the series finale made no real attempt to resolve any of the plotlines or mysteries set up during the earlier run of the show.
