20 Years Ago, the Best Sci-Fi Show of the Century Delivered the Most Epic Space Battle in TV History

To liberate the humans trapped under Cylon occupation, Admiral William Adama (Edward James Olmos) jumps the titular Battlestar Galactica directly into the atmosphere of New Caprica. The warship plummets toward the settlement and deploys Viper fighter jets amidst the chaos before jumping back into space moments before it would have crashed, likely obliterating the planet on impact. Two decades later, this spectacle from Battlestar Galactica season 3’s “Exodus, Part 2” remains unforgettable sci-fi TV. It’s dazzling and horrifying, and still one of the coolest things ever broadcast on science-fiction television.