If you’ve never seen an episode of the new Battlestar Galactica, stop reading here. Really. You won’t understand most of what’s about to be written from this point forward and more importantly, you won’t care about any of it either.

That’s probably the biggest shame, if any, about Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, a two-hour addendum to Ronald D. Moore’s intriguing and polarizing re-imagining of the battle for existence between mankind and its machine creations/counterparts, the Cylons. Even a good portion of viewers who tuned in for all four seasons were put off by the series ultimate conclusion, citing so many unanswered questions and any real closure to the aforementioned battle.

To its credit, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan does provide answers to some of those nagging questions and fills in a lot of blanks that viewers probably didn’t even know were missing. Taking the perspective of the Cylons and their machinations against humans led by Brother Cavil (Dean Stockwell), we see life on the twelve colonies before the Cylon attack–Anders at pyramid practice, Tory on her way to catch a flight, Ellen Tigh in a bar being chatted up by a mysterious stranger–and how it all quickly comes to a screeching halt.

With deft direction by series star Edward James Olmos, The Plan moves at a blazingly fast pace. Again, if you’re unfamiliar with the show and its characters, you’ll no doubt be lost as there’s little exposition or setup to why events are unfolding the way they are and why these characters are important. That said, it’s refreshing to see the first three seasons of the Battlestar Galactica story unfold from a totally new perspective. With this feature revolving around secondary characters from the show, it adds another layer of depth to the BSG universe that we already know. No dwelling on the broken relationship between Adama and Apollo, the mischief of Starbuck or even the melancholy of Roslin’s inevitable fate. Here we see the Cylons (including the final five) with no stone left unturned, as they execute their plan and adapt to find ways of taking out the Galactica and remaining survivors.

You’d think what could be taken as the ultimate collection of deleted or truncated scenes wouldn’t make for a very intriguing story, and while it doesn’t approach the heady subject matter that the series did, it does reinforce on the notion that the Cylons, no matter their technological superiority, are not without fault. They are not the machines that Cavil expects them to be because in the end they are created in the image of man, including desires, doubts and most of all, the ability to love. With Cavil being the one holdout that forces his way past this until the very end of the series, the conclusion to The Plan is interesting to say the least. Imagine how different things would’ve been if Cavil had reconciled his frustration and resentment towards mankind. There are many copies indeed, but as we learn, not all copies are the same.