Battlestar Galactica: The Wildly Varied Career Of Lee "Apollo" Adama

The re-imagined Battlestar Galactica was a television program that put all of its characters through their paces. Inspired by a 1970's TV series of the same name, the story was about the last remnants of humanity gathered together in a ragtag interplanetary fleet, having survived a devastating attack, on a quest to find a new home on a legendary planet called earth.

Over the course of four seasons on television (plus an associated mini-series, a couple of TV movies, and a variety of web series), the show depicted a steady stream of internal conflicts and enemy attacks which constantly disrupted the series’ cast and led to numerous shifts in the status quo.

Nobody finished in the same place that they started, but perhaps no other character went through as many individual adjustments and took on so many specific roles along the way as the heroic Lee “Apollo” Adama, played by Jamie Bamber. Lee never wavered in his loyalty to humanity and his efforts to serve the Fleet, but the form that this took went in many surprising directions.

There are many spoilers for the entire Battlestar Galactica series ahead.

At the start of Battlestar Galactica, Apollo is a pilot in the Colonial Fleet, having achieved the rank of Captain. He is assigned to take part in the decommissioning ceremony of the Galactica, where his father is in command. His strained relationship with his father makes this a difficult, and the whole encounter is challenging and unpleasant.

After the ceremony, he is escorting Secretary of Education Laura Roslin's transport back tot he Colonies when news comes through of the Cylon attack. Though others are skeptical, Apollo quickly recognize Roslin's leadership and supports her in the new mission to rescue other survivors.

Thanks to Apollo's tactical ability, Laura Roslin's ship survives a Cylon assault, and the remnants of humanity are able to gather as a new Colonial Fleet.