• Is it age appropriate?

  About our ratings

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  Not age appropriate for kids under 13, age appropriate for kids over 18; suggested age 14.

• Is it any good?

  4.0

• Common Sense says

  Exciting space drama has complex adult themes.

Why We Rated This for Ages 14–18

The good stuff

• Messages:

  The Colonial Fleet is a rigid military hierarchy that places a high value on respect for authority. Certainly there are a few somewhat rebellious characters, but even when they appear to be disobeying orders, their actions are still in support of the overall good, and are generally lauded by their peers. The storylines featuring the often-tense relationship between the military and the civilian government, which is not bound by the chain of command, are complex, and demonstrate a nuanced understanding of the use, and abuse, of power. On the downside, there's plenty of betrayal to go around, and a robotic army is out to destroy the remains of humanity.

What to watch out for

• Violence:

  In this alternate reality, humans are at war with a ruthless robotic enemy, and violence is a given. Battles tend to be on a large scale, showing combat between spaceships far more often than hand-to-hand fistfights, but later seasons have amped up the violence, including some torture scenes and attempted rape.
• Sex:

  Most episodes have some romantic interludes, which range from relatively tame to somewhat racy, though none include nudity or explicit scenes.
• Language:

  No explicit language, unless you count "frack," which is all too common among this offshoot of humanity and sounds quite similar to an expletive used on this planet (though it's managed to escape the ire of Earth's censors).
• Consumerism:

  There's no room for product placement in a show focused on a completely foreign culture, especially one in which every city -- and almost every commercial product -- has been reduced to rubble.
• Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

  Many episodes feature scenes of soldiers drinking, usually in the context of blowing off steam after battle, and often while mourning fallen comrades. Many of these scenes make it clear that the characters are quite drunk; a couple of characters are clearly alcoholics. Occasional use of stimulants to keep the soldiers alert during extended shifts, and the show stresses the downside of abusing such drugs.

What Parents Need to Know

About Battlestar Galactica

Families Can Talk About