'Galactica's' 'Razor' just for fans

At this point in the Sci Fi Channel series "Battlestar Galactica" — three seasons down, one to go — it would be nearly impossible to jump into the story and fully appreciate what has gone before or some of the plot twists that undoubtedly lie ahead.

The new, flashback-heavy "Battlestar Galactica" war film "Razor" (Saturday, 7 and 11 p.m., Sci Fi) is strictly a for-the-fans affair. Even then, it will best be appreciated by those who remember what happened in the second season when the Battlestar Pegasus made a surprise return, commanded by brook-no-dissent Admiral Helena Cain (Michelle Forbes, in a wonderfully steely performance).

"Razor" offers more backstory on Cain and her crew, depicting events fans have only heard about and showing what happened from the point of view of a heretofore unknown young officer, Kendra Shaw (Stephanie Jacobsen), who continued to serve on Pegasus after Cain's death when Lee Adama (Jamie Bamber) took charge.

Lee's first mission as commander sets the stage for flashbacks to both Cain's command and a Cylon War battle when his father, William Adama (Edward James Olmos), was a young man.

The flashbacks to young Adama (Nico Cortez, overdoing his Olmos vocal impersonation) are also presented in a series of two-minute shorts that have been airing on Sci Fi Channel Friday nights during "Flash Gordon" and can be seen at SciFi.com until "Razor" premieres. Some of these shorts are included in "Razor," but fans will want to check out all seven for better context and to see a cool scene of young Adama in hand-to-hand combat with a Cylon centurion while falling through a planet's atmosphere.

In "Razor," Kendra encounters a missing link in Cylon evolution — the same one Adama comes upon in flashbacks — and hears a dire warning about the future of the Galactica fleet that's sure to have repercussions when the show's fourth and final season begins airing in April.

Written by Michael Taylor and directed by Felix Alcala, "Battlestar Galactica: Razor" jumps around a lot and is likely to confuse all but the most die-hard fans with impeccable memories. My suggestion: Watch it with other fans so everyone can help pull together the pieces of this section of the story.

Even after doing that, I still felt the need to rewatch "Razor," and I discovered new bits of character information that sailed past me the first time. "Galactica," as always, is densely layered and demands rapt attention to be fully appreciated.