Two New Articles

The SciFi Portal has posted up two articles on Season Two of Battlestar Galactica, with some major spoilers:

'Galactica's' Olmos Juggles Acting, Directing
Author: Wayne Hall Date: 06-21-2005 Source: DailyNews.Com
Edward James Olmos, who plays Commander Adama in "Battlestar Galactica," is preparing to direct a film for HBO while continuing his acting role on the successful SciFi Channel series, according to DailyNews.Com.
Olmos has signed to helm "Walkout," an HBO movie about the 1968 East L.A. event in which 10,000 students protested educational conditions and complained of anti-Mexican educational bias.
Working on two projects at the same time can be difficult, especially since the actor is working on only the eighth episode of 20 of "Galactica's" second season. In fact, Olmos insists there are no plans to write out or reduce the role of his character while he's shooting the film.
Even for someone as talented as Olmos, how can he be two places at once?
It takes "a lot of cooperation between Universal and HBO," said Olmos, who is flying to Los Angeles for a day of preproduction and location scouting, then jetting back at night to Vancouver to the "Galactica" set for work the next day.
"Walkout" features Alexa Vega from "Spy Kids" as student activist Paula Crisostomo. An important role yet to be case is that of Moctezuma Esparza, who has been the producer of such noted projects as "Gettysburg," "Selena" and "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge." Now one of the film's producers, he was among the student protesters in 1968.
Friday, July 15, will be an important day for both projects. Production begins on "Walkout" during the day, then "Galactica" airs its first episode of the second season on the SciFi Channel at 10 p.m. that evening.

And,

Apollo To Step Out From His Father's Shadow
Author: Alan Stanley Blair Date: 06-23-2005 Source: Chicago Tribune


The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the second season of "Battlestar Galactica."
The first season of "Battlestar Galactica" ended on a bittersweet note -- the survivors of the Cylon onslaught discovered the mythical planet of Kobol only to have the Cylons claim it for themselves, a senior officer is revealed as a Cylon operative, martial law is declared and Commander Adama (Edward James Olmos) is mortally wounded.
The main question now is, what will season two have to offer? According to actor Jamie Bamber, his character of Apollo is having an interesting time.
"It's defined Apollo in a new way," said Bamber, talking about the events of the season finale.
"He isn't the son of the commanding officer anymore. He's completely alone in the fleet. His dad has been shot, he's an orphan, he's not defined by being the heir to a military tradition," he said. "He doesn't regret his decision for a second. For the first time, he can truly be an individual, rather than someone trapped in this military world."
With the revered Commander Adama out for the count at the opening of the second season, Bamber also mentioned that Apollo gets the chance to stand up and be his own person. In essence, he steps out of his fathers shadow and is recognized for the person he is.
Speaking of shooting the second season, Bamber added that the main challenge for him now is working in Vancouver as he lives in London. With the extension of seven episodes to this season (bringing the series to a total of 20 episodes compared to season one’s 13) it means Bamber now has to spend nine months a year stateside. But for the moment, the actor is very happy to be part of the BSG story.
Bamber also hinted that along with Caprican soldiers resisting the occupation, we will also be seeing Cylons fighting other Cylons.
"There is, in the second season, further confusion about the Cylons. Some fight other Cylons along with humans," said the actor. "It's not just a simple analogy for Al Qaeda. There are all sort of religious themes in the whole relationship."
And as for the complicated dynamic that exists between Adama, Apollo and Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff), Bamber remained coy as to what fans can expect.
"It's like lots of relationships, you can't simplify it," he said. "They are indisputably attracted to each other. But it's latent. There's so much guilt for the dead brother and dead fiancee between them. Then arguably, she's more responsible for his death than anybody else, yet he blames his dad for it"
"Can they get together knowing there's the dead brother between them? That's really awkward," Bamber said. "And Commander Adama really really relies on her, she's like a daughter to him, he's close to her and Lee resents that."