Friday, March 30, 2007

IGN Interviews Mark Sheppard

IGN posted up this fun interview with Mark Sheppard, who played Romo, Baltar's lawyer in the last three episodes of this season:

Battlestar Galactica: Defending Baltar
We talk to Firefly and 24 veteran Mark Sheppard about his new role on Galactica as Baltar's lawyer.

March 16, 2007 - When I first began to talk to Mark Sheppard about his new role on Battlestar Galactica, the actor put it to me as simply as he could, saying, "I think I have the best character on the best show on television." Sheppard is a very familiar face to TV fans, including notable roles as Badger on Firefly, as Ivan Earwich (AKA "Yellow Tie Man") on 24, and as the evil Dr. Charles Walker on Medium. He made his debut on Galactica this past week, as the memorably named Romo Lampkin, a defense attorney who takes the case of none other than the infamous Dr. Gaius Baltar (James Callis). Sheppard will be appearing in the final three Galactica episodes of the season, and the day after his first appearance aired, I spoke to him about his experience working on the acclaimed series.

When I asked how he got the part, Sheppard replied, "I'm a huge fan of the show. Absolutely huge fan," and noted that he is friends with Galactica executive producer Ron Moore and his wife Terry. "I know Ron through [CSI Executive Producer] Naren Shankar and [Medium Executive Producer] Rene Echevarria. They all started at Star Trek together. Ron and I got to be friends and talked and talked and I said, 'When I grow up, I want to be a Cylon.' And he tried to make that happen. It was gonna maybe happen last year, and I wasn't available and it just didn't work out. I was in the middle of doing Medium. I was totally crestfallen, because it's my favorite show, without question. Battlestar is, I think, the best written show on television."

Sheppard then recalled being at a party with Moore and Galactica's other Executive Producer David Eick, "And David said, 'You still want to be a Cylon, right?' I said, 'David, I'll play anything!' He said, 'We may have a trial coming up at the end of the season,' and I said, 'Keep me in mind.' Then I was at Ron's house, and he said, 'I have something for you.' And I said, 'What's that?' 'Three episodes of Battlestar.' I nearly fell over! I read the first script and Michael Angeli's characterization of Romo, which I think is fantastic. There's a lot more stuff then was in the episode. The intro scene [for Romo] was a three page monologue about fear, which was taken out. There wasn't room for it. But it explains the puzzled look on Laura Roslin's face and, 'I'm glad to hear you're not afraid about defending the most hated man in the universe!' Because I'd just given her a massive speech about fear, very weirdly."

Read the Full article Here

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Ron Moore Updates his Blog, Finally

With various podcasting news:


March 26, 2007
Q & A Podcast on its way

I'm uploading a podcast to SciFi.com tonight that is a recording of an extended Q & A session I did with a large group of fans in Berkeley following the airing of the finale on Sunday night. I'll record my normal podcast on the episode tomorrow and hopefully they'll have it up day after tomorrow.

(And yes, I'm steadfastly not commenting on the fact that my last blog was months ago.)

Posted by Ron at 11:44 PM

Season 3 DVD and Soundtrack in August?

This in from TV Shows on DVD:

Battlestar Galactica - Composer says 'Season 3 in August'

Robin Parrish was the first to let us know about a posting at Bear McCreary's (Composer for Battlestar Galactica) blog which mentions the third season DVD release:

Next month, I'm in the studio working on the Battlestar Galactica Season 3 Soundtrack album (which will definitely have All Along the Watchtower on it!). Our release date will be mid-August, to coincide with the DVD release.

So, it sounds like we should have season 3 in August. Thanks for sending the news our way, Robin.


Excellent news! Not only is that somewhat sooner than the usual DVD release dates (Which tend to be September/October), it'll be at a nice time to take our minds off the long wait.

Starbuck: The best character on Television

The Chicago Tribune has been running a contest on who has been the best character on television. It's recently come down to Jack Bauer and Kara Thrace. And the winner? Kara Thrace!

REDEYE'S CHARACTER WARS

UPDATE: Come back later for a personal thank you from Katee Sackhoff, aka Capt. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace.
In the end, it wasn’t even close.
Capt. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace of “Battlestar Galactica” routed Jack Bauer of “24” to win the title match of RedEye’s “Best Character on TV” tournament.
The final tally: Starbuck finished with 3061 votes while Bauer brought in 777 votes.
To everybody who spent part of their days and nights here over the past three weeks, everybody at RedEye thanks you.
But the biggest thanks go to all the wonderful actors and actresses who have created such tremendous characters and who have brought so many people so much entertainment.
Until next year’s tournament…
Cheers,
RedEye

Season Finale Reactions

I'm going to open the floor up to everyone who reads this - what did you think of Crossroads Part 2, as the season finale for Season 3?

My own reaction is a little mixed. I really enjoyed the episode, although I felt that it probably could have been split into two parts. There was a lot in there. I don't think that there would have been any tears shed if one of the more standalonish episodes was cut and replaced with one of these arch-y ones.
That being said, there was a lot of buildup here, with the trial, and I felt that they've really carried it on well with the season, ever since they first captured Baltar, and the entire mystery with the final five Cylons. I guess we now have the Final One, who will hopefully be revealed next season at some point.
I was completely geeking out about the use of All Along the Watchtower. It's one of my favorite songs, and this cover of it has better be on the Season 3 soundtrack. The lyrics being used as the dialog was also paticularly well done.
And we finally see Earth. And apparently Starbuck's wracked up a number of frequent flyer miles to get there and back. Man, I can't believe that we have a nine month wait for the next season.
So, what did you think?

Monday, March 26, 2007

More Reactions

Lots of press concerning the final episode, so here's some of the highlights:

Q&A with "Battlestar" Showrunner Ron Moore
On the Return of Starbuck, Falling Ratings and 'Caprica' Prequel
By James Hibberd
Last week Sci Fi Channel announced the pickup of nine more episodes of its Peabody Award-winning series "Battlestar Galactica."

The pickup completes a partial fourth-season order that left the show's fans in suspense over the fate of the show. A third-season storyline drawing parallels to the war in Iraq won critical raves, yet ratings have slipped, leaving some comparing the show to another serialized cult program struggling in its third season, ABC's "Lost."

Developer and executive producer Ron Moore spoke to TelevisionWeek about the show's future, its ratings, the long-planned "Caprica" prequel and the return of fan favorite Starbuck.

TelevisionWeek: You've said the show is going into its third act. How many seasons do you want that act to be, and, if this is a different answer, how many do you anticipate that it will be?
Ron Moore: It's a hard question and something I'm grappling with right now. It's going into the third act and there's a couple chapters left, and they could be 10 episode chapters, 20-episode or 30. We're moving toward the climax of the series and resolution of storylines. We're just in the process of sitting down and mapping out the fourth season. We're excited about having those decisions in-house. So far, the network has very much been saying, "We'll take our cues from you."

TVWeek: "Battlestar" was one of several NBC Universal shows that produced webisodes last year, until the Writers Guild of America ordered members to cease writing short-form content due to a lack of separate compensation for the work. Were you happy with the first round of webisodes?
Mr. Moore: I thought we did a good job with them. It was a big learning curve. We had to piggyback on the existing production. There was no money to build a new set or even go to a different set -- we had to shoot it right on the same sets we were using that same day. That said, the story we came up with ... it was an interesting story.

TVWeek: After "killing" one of the most popular characters on the show, Starbuck, she reappears in the last scene in the March 25 finale. Does that mean she'll be back for season four?
Mr. Moore: Yes, definitely.

TVWeek: Katie Sackhoff [who plays Starbuck] made it sound in media interviews as if she's off the show and getting new jobs. Was that part of the ruse?
Mr. Moore: We were trying to walk a very fine line. She was very careful how she phrased it. We wanted people to feel the loss. We didn't want to put Katie in the position of lying to people. She did look for other work and is getting other work -- just other work that won't interfere with her "Battlestar" commitments.

TVWeek: Sci Fi also announced a two-hour "Galactica" movie to air this fall. Will that pick up where season three leaves off, or will it be something different?
Mr. Moore: It will be completely different. It didn't feel right to try and resolve the cliffhanger with a single airing and DVD release. It didn't make any sense. We told a story that takes place in the past in the "Galactica" universe but relates to events in the fourth season.


Full Article

There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief: "Battlestar Galactica's" (Frakked Up) Season Finale

Ronald D. Moore and David Eick know how to handle pain. "Battlestar's" executive producers are skilled at inflicting it on their characters, and aren't above sharing a little with viewers. Adama, Sam, Starbuck, Apollo, Tigh, Tyrol, Cally and Baltar all went through the emotional wringer this season, transforming from revolutionaries and war heroes to criminals, traitors and psychological wrecks. Personal rifts and betrayals severed ties and created unusual alliances, a few between humans and Cylons.

But I believe a friend of mine spoke for many a "BSG" viewer when she wrote in an e-mail:

"WTF?!?!"

You know what those letters stand for. You probably even said the words out loud, only in your living room, that "F" probably didn't stand for "Frak."

Don't let anyone tell you you're not entitled to a little swearing. Many mourned ace Viper pilot Kara Thrace's shocking demise only to find out that she isn't really dead. Three episodes after her apparent death, Starbuck rose again, appearing to a confused Lee Adama to be very much alive and ready to lead Galactica and its battered fleet to Earth. (Happy Easter, folks! The coincidental messianic symbolism should not be lost on you.) She told Lee she's been there and made it back – in the very same ship he saw storm winds crush to smithereens.

WTF, indeed.


Full Article

BSGwatch: The Road to the Final Five
Posted by James Poniewozik

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't watched Battlestar Galactica yet, stop. I will not talk falsely now; the hour is getting late.

So that was kind of a big one, yes? The makers of BSG had promised that the end of this season would be shocking and would entirely change the direction of the show, which on the one hand is true and on the other hand not at all so. Certainly turning four characters into Cylons and bringing Earth into our sights is a big deal. On the other hand--a change in direction? Most of the season has focused on getting ever closer to Earth and to the revelation of the Final Five, so maybe the bigger shock would have been if none of it had happened. And didn't you start suspecting the Cylon reveal once Tigh, Anders, Tyrol and Foster started picking up those signals from what, apparently, was Bob Dylan's XM show? (Also, seriously: who thought Kara was dead, like totally, never-appearing-on-the-show-again dead? Did you think Grey's Anatomy was going to kill off Meredith, too?)

I have to give the producers credit for going for the bold ending, in a way that courted risibility, and often got it. I mean, I'm sorry, when you have a character look at herself in the mirror and seriously intone "I can't get no relief," that's going to be hilarious even if the destruction of the human race is at stake. But I'll still be eagerly looking forward to season 4, and I'm sure plenty of BSG fans will spend the rest of the year anxiously parsing "All Along the Watchtower"'s lyrics.

Full Article


Ron Moore Clears up some Details

From the Post-Gazette Journal:

Executive producer Ron Moore discusses thrilling 'Galactica' cliffhanger

Fans of Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica" are no doubt filled with questions this morning following last night's third season, cliffhanger finale. (If you didn't watch last night's episode: SPOILERS AHEAD)

Four of the last five unidentified Cylons were revealed to be patriotic Colonials, characters viewers thought were human -- Col. Tigh (Michael Hogan), Chief Tyrol (Aaron Douglas), Anders (Michael Trucco) and presidential aid Tori (Rekha Sharma). And in the final moments, Starbuck (Kara Thrace), recently presumed dead when her Viper shattered into a million pieces, appeared to Apollo (Jamie Bamber), and she seemed to be very much alive. Starbuck said she'd been to Earth -- Galactica's much-sought destination -- and will show them the way.

With so many questions raised, it was time to seek answers from the main man in the know: "Battlestar" executive producer Ron Moore. In our chat last week, he also discussed plans for a direct-to-DVD movie and the state of the proposed prequel series, "Caprica."

Rob: Why did music cause these newly-revealed Cylons to discover they were indeed Cylons. Sharon didn't hear music when she figured it out in season one.

Ron Moore: It's more that they arrived at a certain point in space and they were made aware of who they are. The music manifests a dawning awareness. These are four of the final five, which puts them in a separate category from everybody else. There are reasons for that I can't really get into. We'll be playing out those plot lines for quite a while.

R: Now there are two half-human, half-Cylon babies -- Hera and the Chief and Cally's child. Will you be dealing with that?

RM: Oh, yeah.

R: Are there other half-human, half-Cylon children?

RM: You never know.


Read the rest of the Interview here.

Bear McCreary Talks Finale Scoring & Watchtower

I was completely geeking out last night with all of the references to All Along The Watchtower - I only hope that the song will make it onto the season 3 soundtrack. Bear McCreary updated his blog about it last night, so that will tide me over, and he goes into how this came to be:

March 25, 2007

"Crossroads, Pt. II"

"'There must be some way out of here,'
Said the joker to the thief
.
'There's too much confusion,
I can't get no relief
.'"

WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD:

Battlestar Galactica's epic third season cliffhanger is among the most daring episodes I've seen for any television series. Baltar's verdict, Roslin's returning cancer and cryptic Opera House visions, vipers racing towards a battle against staggering odds... all of this would have been more than enough for any typical "cliffhanger." However, Ron Moore and the other writers also incorporated stunning revelations that have cataclysmic implications for the rest of the series. Season 3 answered many of the series' long-standing questions, but this final episode introduces countless more.

The score obviously plays a more important role in this episode than ever before. Beginning with last week's "Crossroads, Part I" we have witnessed Tigh, Tyrol, Tory and Anders hearing a distant piece of music that no one else perceives. It slowly drives them mad, they begin losing sleep. The hints have been there all along, (watch both these episodes a second time and you're bound to catch them) but in the end we learn that the song is... Bob Dylan's All Along the Watchtower!?

Ok, I need to back up and start at the beginning... at least as far as my involvement with this episode is concerned. I initially learned that we would be using the song back in December, while I was busy scoring "The Eye of Jupiter." I have to admit that my first thought was that Ron might be going crazy. However, as always, his unexpected ideas evolved into an incredible episode.

While the song is among the best Bob Dylan ever wrote, Jimi Hendrix's 1968 version is so famous and iconic that many people simply assume he wrote it. In fact, All Along the Watchtower is among the most frequently covered pop songs in history. So, you can imagine my surprise when I learned that not only would it be included in the season finale, but it was incorporated directly into the script.

I knew I needed to get some more information before I could begin tinkering with this renowned song, and I needed it from the source. I had dozens of questions. What should it sound like? Which version of the song should we reference, if any? Do we want a performer who can sing and play guitar exactly like Dylan? or Hendrix?


Rest of the blog entry here.

Chicago Tribune Review of Crossroads

From Meg at the Chicago Tribune:

'But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate': Another insane 'Battlestar Galactica' season finale

The following post discusses Sunday's season finale of "Battlestar Galactica." DO NOT read this if you have not seen it yet. If you have, then by all means, join the discussion.

How cool was Sunday’s “Battlestar Galactica” finale?

Pretty cool. Actually, I thought it rocked.
So Tigh, Tory, Chief Tyrol and Anders are all Cylons. I don’t know about you, but that revelation blew my mind.
And as others have pointed out, all of them were leaders of the resistance on New Caprica. Coincidence? Maybe not.
Since lurking on the TelevisionWithoutPity.com “Battlestar” spoiler board a while back, I haven’t been able to get one commenter’s idea out of my head -- that maybe there are no humans. Maybe there are just different Cylon factions at war, and the Tigh-Tory-Tyrol-Anders contingent is just one faction within that war.
I think that's a pretty compelling idea: What if there are no humans, and this show’s been about the Cylons’ attempt to reclaim or develop the “humanity” of their human creators -- who are long dead?
Here’s another theory posted on this site earlier this week: Maybe the Cylons created the humans, not the other way around.
That’s even wilder, but as we know, “Battlestar” doesn’t shy away from the wild. I enjoy it when the show upends my expectations in such radical ways -- having earned the right to do so with solid storytelling first. And these last couple episodes of the season are about as solid as it gets on TV (and of course, some of Sunday's developments might have been set up well before this last bunch of episodes -- then again, knowing Ron Moore's affinity for shaking things up along the way, maybe not. Who cares. This finale worked for me).
All of these thoughts are pure speculation, keep in mind. I have not a scintilla of information about what is actually going on and what we’ll see next season. And that’s the way I want it -- now we can actually spend the long months until the show returns in January 2008 trying to figure out what the writers have up their sleeves for season four. Of course we’ll probably be wrong, and I have every hope that they’ll come up with something far better than what we can dream up.
Rest of the article here.

EW Review of Crossroads Part 2

Entertainment Weekly has posted up their review of the season finale:

Crammed Finale
At the end of season 3 of ''Battlestar Galactica,'' Gaius Baltar is a free man, Tigh, Tyrol, Anders, and Tory are toasters, and Lee is seeing Starbuck
By Marc Bernardin

I'm of three minds about the season finale. I'm simultaneously completely satisfied, sorely disappointed, and totally frustrated.

SATISFACTION

The conclusion of the trial of Gaius Baltar gave me everything I wanted from this story line. It ended exactly as it should have: It forced the men and women of Galactica to play by the rules they've made for themselves. The substance of Lee's little tirade was spot-on: Everyone in the fleet has been willing to forgive everyone for everything — except Baltar. Because someone had to take the blame for all the horrible crap that's befallen humanity. (Granted, the leap in jurisprudence that it takes to have a member of the accused's legal team take the stand is equivalent to Evel Kneivel's jump over the Snake River Canyon.) If you're intent on giving Baltar a trial, one that adheres to a legal system roughly based on old episodes of Law & Order, then Baltar absolutely should've gotten off. The prosecution, as Admiral Adama said, just didn't make its case.

And so Baltar walks. But what does he walk off to? A life hidden in the fleet, jockeyed from ship to ship, protected by his cadre of priestesses willing to shelter their exonerated messiah? That shot of him walking through the corridors of Galactica, holding his meager box of possessions, untethered to anyone or anything, was just priceless.

DISAPPOINTMENT

In years past, the Battlestar Galactica cliff-hanger has been an event of monumental story-line importance, a grab-'em-by-the-short-hairs whirlwind of plot threads. Season 1: Adama stages a military coup; Starbuck arrives on Caprica; Boomer fires a couple into the old man's chest. Season 2: Roslin loses the presidency; humanity settles on New Caprica; the Cylons place everyone under a robotic boot.

And now, in season 3, we get the revelation that four of our beloved crew are Cylons. It's not that I hate the idea that Tigh, Tyrol, Anders, and Tory are toasters; it's that I hate how we learned that they are. A song? Really? When Boomer's programming kicked in, I don't recall hearing any classic rock. There had to be a better way for them to all twig to each other than listening to music from within the ship.

Of course, we're led to believe that these four are members of the Final Five. Which, of course, they must be, because they're special. They're different. For instance, unlike other Cylons, they must age; otherwise Bill Adama would've noticed that his friend of 40 years never got any older.

Beyond that, I wanted that revelation to mean something. They're Cylons. So what? They've still got their day jobs. They're clearly different from other Cylons, so it's unlikely they're gonna haul off and start shooting their best friends.

And I wanted this to make sense, in the way that every other cliff-hanger made sense. How is it that they're all humming a techno cover of ''All Along the Watchtower''? Is the nebula acting as some sort of harmonic conductor, allowing signals from Earth to reach Galactica? If so, why can only those four hear it? There were just too many questions left in the air. At the end of a cliff-hanger, one shouldn't be thinking, ''What the hell just happened?'' The only thing on your mind should be ''What the hell happens next?''

FRUSTRATION

Here's my theory about Starbuck's ''resurrection.'' I think she's still dead. It's not clear that anyone else but Lee saw that ''unknown'' vessel on DRADIS. So she's talking to Lee from beyond the grave and will speak through him to help lead the fleet to the promised land. Which is exactly what we needed on this show: more people talking inside others' heads. Why couldn't Starbuck just be dead? Why not have the courage of your convictions? You wanna kill her? Great. You wanna keep her alive? Just as good. But pick one and stick to it. Sometimes you can't have it both ways.

Hey, were there good things in this episode? Absolutely. I loved Gaeta on the stand, willing to perjure himself to get back at Baltar. (And I loved Baltar calling him ''butterfingers'' for botching that murder attempt.) I loved Tigh going to Adama, talking about the music in the ship, feeling trapped, and then saying to no one in particular, ''There must be some kinda way out of here.'' Still loved the crap out of Lampkin. And I loved Lee remembering that, before he's anything else, he's a pilot.

But there was something rushed, maybe even reckless, about this episode. As if the producers weren't sure that they were coming back for another season, and wanted to accelerate the progress toward closure — and in the process left things even more vague.

Now, I know there will be a hue and cry about this TV Watch. Some will think that I've turned on Battlestar Galactica or that, perhaps, I never even loved it to begin with. Those people are wrong. I love this show. I have ever since I cracked the miniseries. And I still feel it's one of the best shows on TV. But that love doesn't mean that I have to ignore its shortcomings, or blind myself to the point where I think it doesn't have any.

So that's season 3. See you guys in January '08 for season 4. In the meantime, post your reactions, criticisms, and predictions below. Gods-speed!

Sunday, March 25, 2007

TV Squad's Review of Crossroads 2

TV Squad has posted up their review of Crossroads, Part 2:


Battlestar Galactica: Crossroads, Part 2 (season finale)
Posted Mar 25th 2007 9:55PM by Keith McDuffee
Filed under: Science Fiction, OpEd, Battlestar Galactica, TV Squad Chatcasts, Sci Fi

(S03E20)
First of all I want to thank everyone who attended the chat tonight during the episode. The room's still open for anyone who wants to hop in and discuss what went on (if I'm there, I go by 'TVSKeith'). I'm pretty sure there's plenty to talk about.

As I was watching the show tonight, and having read so many comments on this show here at TV Squad throughout the season, I realized there are going to be two main schools of thought here. One one side we'll have those who felt the trial was the most important piece of the episode, while the other will find it to be the haunting music, those who were driven by it and surprise ending. But of course if you've got any sense about you, you'll realize they're all important pieces to the puzzle.

I'll admit that I read the spoilers going into this episode, and sure enough they turned out to be right. I'm rather desensitized to spoilers these days, as it was part of my job here for years. Though I will say that as the spoilers were written, I'm not so sure I agree with the assumptions made in their presentation.

For example, the members of the crew affected by the music immediately assume they are Cylons because what's happening to them cannot be explained. Yet are we really supposed to believe they are Cylons, too? I certainly don't think so, and in fact I'm thinking quite the opposite. In case you didn't know yet (and live under a rock), the music heard is Bob Dylan's 'All Along the Watchtower', though the version we hear is sung by someone I couldn't place. I'm thinking that these crew members are somehow related or connected to Earthlings, and perhaps only they are able to hear it as part of a safety measure for finding Earth.

It's actually reminiscent of a witch hunt, isn't it? Something that can't be explained or seems so completely out of place is automatically assumed to be witchcraft. I'd believe they were Cylons only if it was obvious that Six or Sharon also heard the music, but as far as I know they didn't.

As for the trial, I now wonder what effect Lee's speech will have on how others perceive him as a leader. He outwardly admitted to everyone that he wanted to leave everyone to die on New Caprica with the Cylons. Does that make him a fit leader in their eyes now?

Why did Gaeta lie on the stand like he did besides just not liking Baltar? Was he just looking to make himself seem better off or was he just looking for revenge for what Baltar whispered to him in an earlier episode and missed stabbing him with a pen over it ("butterfingers!")

There are too many ways one could explain how Starbuck came back from what seemed like death from a few episodes ago. One of my favorite theories mentioned in the chat (and one I believe mentioned in comments in a previous post) was that Kara was now in Lee's head much like Six and Baltar are in each other's, and that she is a Cylon, though not necessarily part of their "plan." I'd only say there's no coincidence that Starbuck shows up just as the Cylons show up and just as the music gets clearer for who we're supposed to believe are part of the final five Cylons.

While it's great to know we can look forward to a new full, geenlit season of this show, it's going to feel like a long wait. If rumors of the theme for the gap-bridging two-hour movie this summer are true, we're in for a great treat to help make that wait less painful.

I can't wait to read everyone's theories and thoughts on what went down in this episode. Until next season (or my next show review, if you read them)...

Telemovie to focus on the Pegasus?

Very good article from the fine folks at SyFyPortal, with some info about the telemovie, season four and season 3:

Battlestar Telemovie To Focus On Pegasus
PLUS: Ronald D. Moore hints that Season 4 is the last


By MICHAEL HINMAN
Source: Salon.com
Mar-24-2007

The following story contains scattered MINOR SPOILERS for various episodes of "Battlestar Galactica," including the first part of the third season finale and the telemovie.

When the "Battlestar Galactica" telemovie premieres on the SciFi Channel this fall, it will have very little of the Galactica itself, but a lot more about a battlestar that many fans have been wanting to learn more about: The Battlestar Pegasus.

"That story will not pick up our cliffhanger at the end of Season 3," executive producer Ronald D. Moore recently told Salon.com. "That didn't seem right. The story will be set on the [Battlestar] Pegasus, and will take place in the past, relative to where we are in Season 3. But the events set up in that story will then pay off in Season 4."

While it had been rumored for some time that the telemovie would focus on the Battlestar Pegasus, thus assuring a return of Michelle Forbes as Adm. Cain, this is the first official confirmation that has been received that the telemovie would in fact focus on the Cylon attack of the BSG pilot, but from the perspective of the Pegasus.

"There was no way we could pick up the cliffhanger in that format, and then ask people to wait to really start the season later," Moore said. "One of the storylines everyone had really liked was the Pegasus story and the character of Adm. Cain, so we decided to go with that."

According to the mini-Pegasus story arc, the Pegasus survived the attacks much like the Galactica, but had a much different approach, putting civilians secondary and military first. That included the execution of the XO when he hesitated on an order, and the stripping of civilian ships.


Full Article

Friday, March 23, 2007

‘Battlestar’ finale may put fans at crossroads

From the Boston Herald:

‘Battlestar’ finale may put fans at crossroads

By Mark A. Perigard
Boston Herald TV Critic

The Cylons are closer than you think.
For much of the season, fans of Sci Fi’s “Battlestar Galactica” have been teased with the notion that one of the five hidden Cylons would be revealed - as a member of the Galactica crew.
The third-season finale (Sunday at 10 p.m.) delivers on that premise and then some.
“Cliffhanger” is such an inadequate word to describe the episode.
Cries of “Holy frak!” will arise from fans all over the country after the final moments air. The “Battlestar” universe will never be the same after the revelations in “Crossroads Part II.”

Some fans will be jazzed for the new season. Others will accuse the show of jumping the shark. But no other TV show on any other network has shown such a willingness to both surprise its viewers and rip apart its own formula in such a challenging, creative way. Ronald D. Moore, executive producer/writer, refuses to take the easy route and let his cast or his viewers get comfortable.
Baltar’s (James Callis) trial takes a shocking twist. President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) has a strange dream that reveals her subconscious is linked to those of Cylons Sharon (Grace Park) and Number Six (Tricia Helfer). Several crew members are haunted by a strange melody that only they can hear.
The fleet is attacked by Cylon ships. At a crucial moment, Lee (Jamie Bamber) becomes separated from the rest of his squad and encounters hope from the most unexpected source.
I’ve already said too much. There are spoilers on other Web sites that give away every detail of this episode. Please avoid them. Give yourself the chance to enjoy “Crossroads Part II” as it was meant to be. Allow yourself the pleasure of being genuinely surprised.
There are far too many shows on the air that are capable of doing that. “Battlestar” is one of the few that delivers and one of the best.
Sci Fi announced yesterday that it has picked up “Battlestar” for a full 22 episodes, to begin airing in January. In addition, an original two-hour “Battlestar” film will air in the fall, to help bridge the wait between seasons. While the entire cast is expected to appear, it is unclear at this time whether it will pick up from Sunday’s finale or tell a stand-alone tale. My bet is it will be some sort of prequel.
When “Battlestar” returns, it will be a new show, with some incredible stories to tell. This is one viewer who cannot wait.
“Battlestar Galactica” Season finale Sunday at 10 p.m. on Sci Fi -- Grade: A

Finale Spoilers Leaked

From the SciFi Wire:

Battlestar Finale Spoilers Leaked

Grace Park, who plays Sharon "Boomer" Valerii on SCI FI Channel's original series Battlestar Galactica, told SCI FI Wire that the show's upcoming third-season finale, "Crossroads, Part 2," will provide closure to some story threads while setting the stage for new intrigue in season four. The finale airs on March 25 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. SCI FI Channel recently announced that Battlestar Galactica would return for a fourth season, and on March 21 the network revealed it had increased its episode order to 22 from 13, including a special two-hour extended episode.

Full Article Here

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Season 4 to be 22 Episodes

TV Week has announced that the episode order for Season 4 has been increased to 22 episodes. What this means for the series is not yet known, although it's been rumored that this could mean the end for the series, according to a report from SyFyPortal several weeks ago.

Sci Fi Extends 'Battlestar'
By James Hibberd
Sci Fi Channel has increased its fourth season order of "Battlestar Galactica" to 22 episodes.

The order will include a special two-hour "Battlestar" event to air during the fourth quarter of 2007 on Sci Fi, and will also be released on DVD.

Previously, the network announced a reduced "Battlestar" season order of 13 episodes rather than 22. Combined with a slight ratings erosion during the show's current third season, fans worried Sci Fi might cancel the Peabody Award-winning show.

The fourth season will premiere in early 2008. "Battlestar" is executive produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick.

Source

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Another Galactica Alum on 'Bionic Woman'

First we had David Eick doing another reboot of an older sci-fi series. Now, he's going to have some familiar company as Galactica star Katie Sackhoff (Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace) has been connected to the project as a guest.

From Zap2it:

Pilots: Starbuck Goes 'Bionic'

Sackhoff will guest-star in NBC's remake

March 20, 2007

Katee Sackhoff is going from one remake of a late-'70s series to another, taking a role in NBC's "Bionic Woman" remake.

The "Battlestar Galactica" star, whose character was recently killed off (or so it appears, anyway), has signed on to the pilot, leading a list of actors that also includes Julia Ormond in ABC's "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and Jane Curtin and Lex Medlin in comedies at the Alphabet. CBS has also added Angus Macfadyen to its comedy "The Rich Inner Life of Penelope Cloud," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"The Bionic Woman" stars British actress Michelle Ryan as Jaime Sommers, a woman who has her body reconstructed with cyborg-like artificial body parts after a horrific accident, thereby giving her extraordinary strength, speed and hearing. Sackhoff will play an evil bionic woman in the pilot, which is co-written and executive produced by "Galactica's" David Eick.

She'll be billed as a guest star in the pilot; it's unclear whether she could recur if the show is picked up to series.


Source

Scene from Crossroads Part 2

This in from Youtube, a 1.5 minute clip:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrSPh8OO3sY

Spoilers for The Finale

This in from BuddyTV, major spoilers for Crossroads Part 2:

MAJOR SPOILERS
Battlestar Galactica Spoilers - 3.20 - Crossroads Part 2 - So How Does it End?

March 19, 2007 bsg-crossroads-two.jpg It's forbidden fruit time. You've watched part one of Battlestar GalacticaBattlestar Galactica season three for yourself, get the big final five reveal when it was intended, find out what character makes an unlikely appearance somewhere they shouldn't be, and of course get the answer to Battlestar Galactica's looming question Du Jour, will Baltar get off or not. Or you could click the tempting little link below and find out everything ahead of time. C'mon, you know you want to...

First a few interpersonal items. Seems like Anders is getting comfy with Seelix, right? Wrong! In fact, Anders is going to have a hot and heavy make out session with Roslin's aid Tory! Well, something has to bring them together because this thing with the mysterious music that Anders, Tory, and Tigh are hearing has to come to a head at some point. Oh and speaking of the music, next week you can add Tyrol to the list of people who are hearing its mysterious strains. (Which happen to be, get this, Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower". Yes, I'm frakkin' serious.)

Baltar is found not guilty! Part of this might be Lee's speech on how they are all guilty of making choices that have cost lives, Roslin, Adama, all of the leaders in the fleet have left people behind, and none of them have been held accountable. So, Baltar is a scapegoat. It's a tight vote, 3-2, and Adama Sr. winds up being the swing vote. A fact that doesn't endear him to Roslin.

Tyrol, Anders, Tory, and Tigh meet in a launch tube to discuss the mysterious music. They decide amongst themselves that they are Cylons, and coincidently the Cylons attack. What are the new found Cylons to do? Well they return to their posts for duty, of course. Are they really Cylons? Uh... I'm thinking this has to be like a Cylon implant thing or something. But who knows. The producers did say the reveal would challenge our sense of what makes a Cylon a Cylon.

The ending. My god... the ending. As the Cylon's attack, Baltar is wisked away by the cult that has formed around him. The courtroom empties in a hurry. Lee's first impulse to to head to the hanger for action, three piece suit and all. He picks up an unidentified craft on radar and investigates, When he gets there he sees Starbuck's Viper, but it can't be, can it? Lee approaches and sure enough, in the greatest con job in television history Starbuck is alive (Katee Sackhoff is NOT on the credits for this episode!) She says she has been to Earth and can lead them there. OMG!


Tricia Helfer on Them

TV Guide is reporting that Galactica star Tricia Helfer (Six), has been cast in another David Eick show, Them, a fox show about a group of alien sleeper cell agents. Here's the article:

TVGuide.com Exclusive! BSG's Six Is One of Them
TVGuide.com has learned exclusively that Tricia Helfer has joined the cast of Them, the Fox pilot being shepherded by her Battlestar Galactica boss, David Eick, and concerning sleeper cells of extraterrestrial terrorists. Previously announced to the cast are James D'Arcy, Rachel Nichols, Ben Feldman and Reg Rogers. Before you start speccing on what this means for BSG's Six, TVGuide.com has it on good authority that if Them gets picked up in May, it's entirely possible that Helfer — who will go dark (meaning brunette) for this new gig, which she starts shooting Monday — could do double duty, seeing as how, you know, Eick is a big cheese at both shows. Out-of-this-world hottie Helfer on two TV series? That I'm not sure the human race could handle.

Galactica to End after Season 4?

This in from the New York Post:



'GALACTICA' PREPARES FOR END
By DON KAPLAN


March 20, 2007 -- 'BATTLESTAR Galactica" may be making its final landing after next year.
The creators of Sci Fi Channel's acclaimed space opera are consider ing ending it after its fourth season, according to studio sources.
"Like many other serial dramas, such as 'Lost' or 'The Shield,' these series have a beginning, a middle and an end," says an insider at Universal, the studio that produces "Galactica."
"Right now it seems to have become fashionable for the makers of these shows to talk about how and when they want their series to end."
In recent months, the creators of "Lost," ABC's increasingly confusing island drama, have said they hope to end the series in about two years, but ABC brass has downplayed their statements.
"With any of these shows lately, it's comes down to the basic struggle between business and creative," says an official at a rival cable network.
"Galactica" is nearly done with its third season and Sci Fi execs are expected to inform advertisers tomorrow about when its fourth season will begin.
Sci Fi officials say that it is still too early to say when "Galactica" will end, but acknowledge its future is uncertain.
"At this point, we don't know," says Mark Stern, executive vice president of programming at Sci Fi. "It's still early days. We need to sit with [creators] Ron [Moore] and David [Eick] to hear what their plans are for that [fifth] season, and what they'd like to do about any future seasons."
"Galactica" is one of the hottest, most acclaimed and beloved shows on the NBC-owned cable channel.
It follows the adventures of a group of humans fleeing though space from a race of machines bent on their annihilation. But the series has also become one of the most politically informed shows on TV, filling its episodes with rich metaphors about war, race relations and prejudice.

Source

Monday, March 19, 2007

Crossroads Podcast Delayed

According to the SciFi site, the podcast commentary for Crossroads Part 1 has been delayed, and will be released later on this week.

EW Review of Crossroads Part 1

From Entertainment Weekly:

Family Court
On ''Battlestar Galactica,'' the Adamas clash during the trial of Gaius Baltar


It's funny, in the back of my head I've always known the Galactica crew was supposed to be like a family, one forged not through love but through necessity. But it never really came to the fore, for me, until this episode. It only happened because now this family is on the verge of disintegration. For this show, for these characters, that's as apocalyptic as a Cylon occupation. And that's truly Baltar's most heinous crime. Because the only thing that's keeping this ragtag fleet together is their allegiance to each other. In the first part of the season finale, Gaius Baltar is the wedge that's driving the family apart. And if the leaders can't keep it together, what hope do the rest of them have?

Because of Baltar, and his right to a fair trial, Lee and Bill Adama are at each other's throats. Duala has left her husband, because she can't abide what he's doing in the name of justice. Laura is snapping at everyone and has been ''outed'' by the closest thing she has to a son. And Saul Tigh, poor Saul, has been reduced to the crazy uncle, drunkenly babbling in the corner. It was sad to see Tigh, such a stalwart warrior, reduced to a quivering mass on the stand. (Michael Hogan, gods damn it, may actually be the best actor on a show full of great actors. Because he never shows off. You never see him doing it. He just shows up and...hurts. Right there in plain sight.)

One of the most delicious parts of the trial — really of the whole Baltar-in-a-colonial-cell story line — is just how weak and ineffectual Baltar himself appears. I loved the astonished, who-me? look on his face when the de-sunglassed Romo Lampkin launched into that opening statement/tirade about how vile a person the accused really is. I think at this point Baltar has realized that it's his lot in life to be carried along by events, that his survival demands he relinquish control to others, that the only thing he can do for himself is try and prepare for the inevitable rocky landing. (But I must say that I don't get the transformation of Baltar from war criminal to popular author to, now, prophet. Is it the messiah hair that makes people think that he's some kind of holy man, fit to bless babies?)

I'm so happy that the Cylons are back. Especially in the manner in which I want to see them. And by that, I mean not at all. They're once again the mysterious, implacable threat that constantly dogs our heroes. That said, I did like to see Caprica Six finding her edge again, no longer sitting around like a kid who lost her puppy. There were, like, six kinds of crazy going on in that prison cell, from the reappearance of Head Baltar — always fun — to Tigh, giving too much away, letting Six get inside his skull before he slugged her in hers.

Speaking of things rattling around in people's skulls, what was the deal with the weirdo synth Muzak that Tigh, Anders, and Tory seemed to hear and no one else did? It's gotta mean something — nothing happens on Galactica by accident — but what?

Every now and again, the faithful devotees of a TV show find themselves rewarded for their constant vigilance. And this episode had a moment that actually took my breath away. It was when Lee, all duded up in his incongruous suit and tie, started questioning President Roslin. He started down the kamala-extract line of questioning, his father's attempt to shut down the whole trial squashed (the admiral...denied!). And just as Lee was about to move in for the kill, Laura, in a voice meant only for Lee, begged him, pleaded with him: ''Please don't do this...please.'' That nearly broke my heart. Because we know what they've been through together. We remember that Lee was the first member of the military with whom she formed any sort of bond. He was her Captain Apollo. He sided with her when his father staged his military coup. And here he was, throwing all of that away, in the pursuit of ''justice.'' That moment is powerful only if you know the show. If you've been with it since the miniseries, it has exponentially more weight than if you tuned in for the first time this week, or even this season.

Moments like that make the whole thing worthwhile.

What did you think? Is Anders moving on from Kara too fast? Is his enrolling in the pilot corps, and his new attachment to Seelix, just a way to fill the Starbuck void with everything Starbuck-related? Was it a mistake to put Helo back in the XO role? And is Baltar gonna get the chair?

Posted Mar 16, 2007

TV Squad Review of Crossroads Part 1

battlestar galactica lee adama pinstripes
(S03E19) Don't you sort of have a love-hate relationship with the final episodes of your favorite shows? There's the heightened anticipation of what's typically some of the best episodes of the season, while at the same time you get that disappointing feeling in your gut when you realize things are soon coming to an end. Two-part finales are cruel.

No early podcast this week, which is a good thing for purists who want to keep surprised as each episode airs.

Random thought: If there are humans still left on New Caprica, would it be possible then that they'd be alive in some way and able to continue living? Were they reliant on most of the technology upon the ships that were forced to leave them behind, or are they as good as dead? The nuke was never set off, right?

Some of you commenters may be onto something with the whole Balter-as-Jesus thing, that Moore's intention has been for Baltar to appear and almost become a Jesus-like figure in the eyes of some of the residents of the fleet. I certainly wouldn't say that his appearance will have anything at all to do with the relationship later to Earth, though; it's just a metaphor.

Lampkin may have been right in explaining that Baltar's decision to surrender is likely the reason the human population on Galactica is *only* missing 5,197 people. I say "may have been" because I'm not so sure Roslin wouldn't have also surrendered. In their condition at that time, what choice would they have had?

Definitely an odd sight seeing Lee in a pinstripes rather than his military uniform. It seemed that Bill Adama knew why Roslin was again taking kamala extract, which is why he was moving to put a stop to the question. Still, it was infuriating for the Admiral to so vehemently try to stop Lee's questioning in the way he did.

Getting back to Lee handing in his wings, it wasn't all that a surprising move. In fact, it was inevitable that he'd want to completely step out from under his father's shadow, and since he's rather stranded within the fleet, this is probably one of the final gestures he could have made in order to clear his mind and do what he feels is the right thing by the law.

But why would Roslin not choose to go through with the same "cure" once again? Maybe she's a kamala junkie? I guess the opening sequence to this episode may lend a hint, where Sharon and she were chasing Hera. They both want Hera to be alive and safe, though their reasons may not be in sync.

As for the music that Tigh and Anders are hearing, all I can say is that it's definitely an interesting new twist. I have read some of the unavoidable (for me) spoilers out there regarding this particular detail of the finale, and I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. Obviously only select people can hear it, but why?

Definitely a step in a better direction with this episode, and the case of Baltar is much better than I'd thought it could be already. One more episode, everyone!

Current fleet population: 41,399

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Two Promos

For the first part of the season finale, Crossroads:

American: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciCtbbNHNCc
Canadian: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxRPS5HsUZI

(Not embedded because Blogger is rejecting the embedding - anyone know how to get around that?)

This'll be the last update of the week, as I'm headed out of state for a couple days.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

EW Review of Son Also Rises

From Entertainment Weekly:

Let's Kill All the Lawyers
On ''Battlestar Galactica,'' Lee has to babysit Baltar's court-appointed attorney, who becomes the target of assassination attempts
Watching Baltar's lawyer work helped Lee deal with Kara's death
Jamie Bamber: Patrick Hoelck
By Marc Bernardin

So, yeah. Kara Thrace is dead.

Her name's not in the credits. The survivor count is one lower than it was last week. The admiral is crying like a baby. Anders is drinking to excess and snapping limbs. And Lee's putting her picture on the Mausoleum Wall. It would be easy to say that Starbuck's death hovered over this episode, except that it didn't, really. Where was her funeral? For a show that devotes so much screen time to the formalities of ritual — personal, military, political — to skip something as crucial to a main character's death as a funeral ceremony? More fuel to the idea that maybe she's not dead-dead after all (and maybe that survivor-count decrease was due to Baltar's detonated lawyer).

But the new lawyer — him I like. Could be the accent — foreign makes it exotic, Irish makes it down-to-earth — could be the sunglasses (more on those later), could just be that a new character, one of substance, is a breath of fresh air on this show. The Galactica company is a great one, but it's so hermetically sealed. When we get a new face, he or she is usually a pilot we've never seen before, a miner, or just some nameless red shirt who's not gonna matter a bit to the story at hand. But this guy, this Romo Lampkin, he's slimy, he's hungry, and he's smart. (Mark Sheppard, who plays Lampkin, has done his time in genre TV, having guested on Star Trek: Voyager, The X-Files, Firefly, Medium, and 24.) And he's a petty thief, which is a great trait for a lawyer looking to steal a trial.

Didn't, however, buy the whole saboteur-assassin thing. The plot thread didn't pay off in any real way, other than to show that no one but the Colonial brass likes the idea of a Baltar trial. Oh, and to have Lampkin get injured by that keypad blast. But wouldn't it have been more interesting if Lampkin had planted that bomb himself as a ploy to gain sympathy from a hostile tribunal? As it was, those moments played like cheap dramatic tools to build suspense. And it didn't add much of anything that Kelly was the perp. The only real payoff of all that dross was the Sharon-Cally confrontation, which was worth its weight in skinny women.

Back to Lampkin, and the sunglasses. Shades have been used for years as a dramatic tool. The comic-book writer and Internet godhead Warren Ellis has a theory, one he came up with after watching this YouTube compilation of CSI: Miami teasers, in which the Carusobot almost always dons his shades before dispensing the One Liner of Justice. Ellis feels that the sunglasses are used to conceal emotion, to hide the inner workings of a heartless machine. ''To don the shades at the beginning of a story is the equivalent of Superman changing into costume.'' For Lampkin, however, the shades serve a different purpose. When he's wearing the shades, he's telling the truth. When he takes them off, when we can see his eyes, he's lying. (The omnipresent trench coat, however, just makes ol' Romo look like a bit of a tool.) When he lays on the Gaius-misses-you goop to Caprica Six, you can see the lie doing its job, making her believe in her own lie, the one she continues to tell herself: that Baltar still loves her. That exchange was some of the best Galactica writing I've seen all season.

In fact, it feels like the producers have settled on Lampkin as a totem upon which to hang some of their finest dialogue to date. Learning about the kind of man Joseph Adama was not only helped us understand the complicated relationship between Lee and Joe and Lee and Bill, but more about Bill and Joe. Every father is someone's son. We all exist in someone else's shadow and spend our lives trying to get out from under it. And it only gets that much harder if the shadow is both long and cast by someone you can't respect.

So, where do we go from here? Will Baltar get a fair trial? Should he get a fair trial? How far will Lee go to escape from his father's shadow? Will we ever see Starbuck again? If yes, when and how?
Posted Mar 09, 2007

TV Squad review of The Son Also Rises

Fom TV Squad:

the son also rises
(S03E18)
Since Ron Moore's podcast came out a few days ago, I'll do a little bit of recap of what he said along with the review.

Something that Battlestar does well that has bothered me with some other shows is how, when we have a primary cast of characters amongst a much larger involved population, I'm not left wondering why more background cast doesn't come forward more often. There's a decent balance here. It makes sense why someone like Kara is so highly mourned and regarded, while some other pilots aren't so much. And when a background character comes forward, it's done at the right time and place where it fits.

Moore mentions in the podcast that he needed to come up with a plausible reason for Adama to be selected to be on the tribunal, and the fishbowl scene worked for that. I agree -- I may have raised an eyebrow had they not gone the lottery route. It's definitely interesting to listen to this podcast, even without accompanying video, and hear what decisions were made along the way to help tell the story. I'm fascinated at how easily and naturally Moore can put these podcasts together, many times without even the hint of a pause in his speech, without uttering a key spoiler to the entire series.

In the scene with Lee adding Kara's picture to the wall, Anders drunk on a Raptor, originally that was going to open with Anders and Lee at the wall and a fight would break out. But with the time that had passed on the show since Kara's death, he felt it made sense that they were past that, that the reason for their rivalry was now gone.

Something else Moore points out that I think others have brought up before is how seemingly easy it was for Sharon to be given "human status" while Caprica Six is not, even though she clearly helped the humans. I think that's a point that could be argued to death, but the simple fact right now is that Six's actions have yet to earn her the humans' trust. A couple more human lives saved down the road and maybe we'd see things differently.

The quick mention by Lampkin regarding Adama's tarnished button seems to speak much more than I think was let on. If you put together what the Admiral's been through (including being shot multiple times in the chest), his quasi-relationship with Roslin and then this small revelation of him not caring to keep his uniform in shape, one might conclude that he's considering some sort of retirement. But is that even possible given the situation everyone's in?

Moore made mention of the talk lately of Lee's grandfather, his involvement with Caprican law and his relationship with Bill and Lee. While the spin-off series Caprica hasn't been greenlit yet, this is somewhat a bit of foreshadowing into who Joeseph Adama was and what he was like. Moore mentions that that wasn't his intent, but that it's more to explain Lee's attraction to the law. Actually, can your foreshadow something for a story of what happened in the past? Weird.

Romo's letter to Baltar seems to help put a finer point on what we have to look forward to in the coming episodes. Ever since the fat Apollo days, we've seen Lee and his father at odds with one another. The result of their rift brings up an interesting side effect. Lee's desire to step out of the shadow of his father will outweigh his want of Baltar to lose his case. And as the letter said, there is no greater enemy to the enemy.

I think once again we're going to have people very much on both sides of the fence with this episode. It's guaranteed that a lot of you will be disappointed with it, that it was uneventful and lacked what we've come to love about this show. On the other side of the fence will be the purists, those who loved it and really felt the dynamic between many of the characters. But then there will be those few, like me, who can feel both ways about it.

If I were to judge this episode on its own, I'd say it wasn't great. But if I take what's happened thus far with what I believe will happen in the final two episodes, I think we'll come back to this episode and find it to have been great. A "great" episode to me is one that not only I can explain to non-BSG watching friends and get them to consider watching the show, but one I want to tell them about in the first place. This is not one of those episodes.

Other random things from the podcast:

- Roma Lampkin was originally going to die at the end of this episode, giving Lee sole responsibility for the trial.
- A cat makes its entrance for the first time in this episode. Moore made note of the fascination of online folks with the dog from earlier in the season (yes I was guilty of that, too). The cat was supposed to "run" out of the Raptor, but they sped up the film in order for it to appear that it ran, since it just sauntered out hen they actually shot it. "It's a little bit of Land of the Lost," says Moore. Later the cat runs because he thinks people on the set threw things at it off-camera.
- Some were worried about the sunglasses thing on Romo Lampkin, though Ron liked the idea and wanted to try it. I agree with Moore -- Romo Lampkin does resemble John Cusack in a few scenes.
- In the plot of who the bomber is, in the first few drafts, they were going to have the identity not revealed in this episode but keep him alive as a threat throughout the trial.
- No more kleptomania from Romo in future episodes.
- Moore always had qualms about both Lee and his father being in on the same case and went over it over and over in the writing room. He felt the dynamic between these two characters was important to show here.

Current fleet population: 41,399 (I'm figuring the death prior to the first act was counted in that number already and that nobody died in the explosion Lampkin was involved in.)

Friday, March 09, 2007

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Extended Finale

This in from the SciFi Channel:

March 7, 2007
NEWS FLASH! The Sunday, March 25, season finale of Battlestar Galactica will run five minutes longer than usual. If you plan on recording the episode, set your DVR or VCR to continue for five to 10 minutes after the end of the hour so you don't miss anything!

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

2.0 and 2.5 Packaged Together!

This in from TV Shows on DVD:

Battlestar Galactica - Season 2, and 2.5 packaged together

Some fans of Battlestar Galactica believed Universial would release a 'Complete Season 2' set that would combine the 2.0 and 2.5 sets into one box. Unversal has said thtey had no plans to do that, but fans who didn't purchase the existing sets will save a bit of money thanks to the announcement of the 'Value Pack' coming May 8. The "Value Pack" includes Season 2.0 and Season 2.5 shrinkwrapped together, with a list price of 69.98. You may recall Universal did a similar thing with the first two seasons of Miami Vice. The content of the sets will be identical: same discs, same episodes, and same packaging, you just get a piece of plastic to hold the two sets together. Information from Universal indicates that this value pack will be available for a limited time.
Source

Make Your Own BSG Film

From the SciFi Wire:

Battlestar Fan Film Tools Here

SCIFI.COM is putting Battlestar Galactica in the hands of its fans with the launch of the Battlestar Galactica Videomaker Toolkit.

The toolkit gives fans everything they need to create their own four-minute Galactica movies. It provides more than 30 visual effects and 20 audio effects, as well as cuts from the show's soundtrack. Fans can post their completed videos on SCIFI.COM to share with other fans. Two videos have been posted on the site as examples.

Battlestar Galactica executive producer David Eick will select his favorite video, and it will be broadcast in its entirety on SCI FI Channel during an episode of Battlestar Galactica.
Sounds like a cool project - I poked around the video clips and am tempted to come up with something myself.

EW Review of Maelstrom

From Entertainment Weekly:

Childhood's End
On ''Battlestar Galactica,'' Kara Thrace finally confronts her early demons before causing her own death
TAKING KARA HERSELF
Starbuck's sacrifice is a little puzzling

Frak me, I didn't see that coming.

I mean, I'd heard the Internet chatter saying that something major was coming that had to deal with Kara Thrace, but I didn't quite expect, you know, death. (More later about whether I really believe she's dead.)

After indulging in some dream-time hanky-panky fit for an episode of HBO's Real Sex — and some refreshingly precise psychic action — the show put us back in the cockpit, somewhere we really haven't been too often in the second half of season 3. And we're in there with Kara, which just feels right. Before anything else, she's a pilot.

For me, the big moral point this whole episode spins upon is the idea that we are what our experiences make us, good or bad. Would Kara have been both the abject screw-up and the best pilot ever if she hadn't had the childhood she did? Not that I'm defending crippling child abuse — and that shot of her hand almost getting slammed in the door was one of the creepiest things I've seen in a while — but that hell helped craft the person that Kara is. Just as being the son of a military man and the grandson of a lawyer — and the son of an alcoholic mother — has left Lee with something of an identity crisis. (Executive producer Ronald D. Moore has said, on more than one podcast commentary, that Lee is one of the hardest characters to give shades to.) And I think my favorite part of the episode — maybe of the last three episodes — was when Kara and Lee were sitting on the landing gear of Kara's viper, just talking. Like old friends with a metric ton of history.

Looking back on this hour, it now seems clear that Kara did get to say goodbye to all the people who meant anything to her, in appropriate degrees. She got her moment with Helo, in the head. With Anders, who did his best to derail her crazy train. She got to give Admiral Adama a farewell present and to give a little adios to President Roslin. And then her Lee moment, with that great line about how after everything they've been through, here he is, once again, as the CAG with a hotshot problem pilot on his hands.

It also seems clear that Kara was the pilot she was — reckless, inspired, dangerous — out of some desire to prove to everyone (including herself) that she didn't fear death, that it held no sway over her. And in getting Kara to realize that she had never really confronted death, not in a really personal way...well, that's where the episode started to lose me.

It's always nice to see Leoben again. As a Cylon, he never seemed quite as bloodthirsty as some of the other models, and his actions toward Kara seemed to be coming from a place of truth. (A twisted truth, to be sure, but I think he thinks he was acting in her best interest.) For all of that, though, it was weird seeing him in the Clarence role in Kara Thrace's It's (Not) a Wonderful Life, showing Starbuck what her life was and what could've been if only she'd sat by her mother's side as she passed away. (Can I just say that I am so done with adventures inside our characters' heads? These strolls though the mental tulips are getting boring and repetitive.)

I'm all for Kara's having a destiny (and I love the way the producers tied that mandala painting in her old apartment into the Temple of the Five and now into that storm system). I just don't understand what her destiny is, other than to disregard orders and commit suicide by flying into a storm. I'm all for heroic sacrifice, provided I understand what the sacrifice is for. And here, I don't.

I will say, though, that I'm not terribly worried about never seeing Kara Thrace again. This is science fiction, where no one ever truly dies. Especially in a world where they can download.

What do you think? Was Kara brave or weak for surrendering to the pull of destiny? What is Leoben's true motive? Do you really think Starbuck's dead? (I suppose the opening credits of next week's episode — whether or not Katee Sackhoff's name is in them — will tell us for sure.)


The 'death' of Starbuck and the mindblowing 'Battlestar Galactica' season finale

From the Chicago Tribune:

The 'death' of Starbuck and the mindblowing 'Battlestar Galactica' season finale
Given what happened in Sunday’s episode of “Battlestar Galactica,” you may have questions about Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) and whether she’s dead or alive.

I have questions too, but they’re different ones: How do the creators of this show keep coming up with such gripping season finales? And if fans are in a tizzy now, what will they think of the mindbending season finale? I can’t even imagine.

Sci Fi Channel sent certain members of the media the last few episodes of “Battlestar Galactica’s” third season. And it’s my fervent hope that nobody, including me, spoils the major details of the end of the season for “Battlestar” fans.
Having said that, we can now talk about Sunday’s episode, and I think it is safe for even those who like to avoid spoilers to check out a January interview executive producers Ron Moore and David Eick did with the Tribune. They said then that Starbuck would be involved in a “major event” with “lasting reverberations,” and they certainly were right about that.

Regardless of whether Starbuck is dead or not, it must be said that if there were any justice in the TV award-giving world, Sunday’s episode would win Sackhoff (more from here here) an Emmy nomination. The episode, which involved flashbacks to her life with her mother, allowed her to show her full range and not just do that rebellion thing that she does so well, but to play the rage and heartbreak of an abused child who still deeply loves her parent.
Full Article

Monday, March 05, 2007

Maelstrom Podcast

Is now avaliable here: 317Maelstrom

Sunday, March 04, 2007

TV Squad Review of Maelstrom

TV Squad has posted the following review for Episode 317, Maelstrom:

Battlestar Galactica: Maelstrom
Posted Mar 4th 2007 11:58PM by Keith McDuffee
battlestar galactica starbuck
(S03E17) There are shows that I watch where I can't stand when they rely too much on flashbacks to keep the story moving. Battlestar did this a bit too much in the previous two seasons, though they seem to be getting much smarter about it. This episode was one small example of that.

Now I'll say a bit of something that's spoilery if you haven't caught this episode. I'm a bit disappointed when the goings on outside the show - like casting and contracts - leads to strong hints to the fate of certain members of the cast. Then again, maybe only we nutcase fans of this show knew this information, while others are blissfully ignorant and surprised. Damn you!Seriously, why am I so disappointed when I've written Spoilers Anonymous posts for this show? Sorry, I digress.

It's been obvious since long ago that Starbuck was an unstable character. From her actions on deck and barroom brawls, to her toying with Apollo and seemingly enjoying Leoben's company, it was almost unnecessary to throw us yet another reason for her to become totally unhinged -- her dying mother she left behind. And let's not forget the entire situation at hand, with humanity hangling on by a thread and drifting through space basically on derelicts.

Young Kara, at first look, bore a close resemblance to Kacey, the girl Leoben used to fool Starbuck into thinking she was a mother. That could have been the point though, as Leoben obviously knew everything about her.

I'm actually not really sure what we're supposed to have walked away with in this episode. Like I said, Starbuck was screwed up, but suicidal-like? Really all that would make sense is that Starbuck turns out to be a Cylon, though I believe Ron Moore has said she's not one.

One logical step from this event seems to be the aftermath, as we've already seen in Adama's reaction. Though most likely I'm looking too much on the surface of things, and really the moral of this part of the story is that some or all of these people have predestined fates, some more aware of their own than others.

A few questions I'm left with: Why was Starbuck ready with her eject seat? Would that have saved her? We're not seriously supposed to consider she did pull it, are we? And what did Leoben mean by "all of this has happened before ... and will happen again?"

I'm not 1005 convinced it's time to say goodbye to Starbuck just yet, but it seems pretty likely. Well, at least they've put an end to Starpollo for the time being.

Starbuck and the Good Episodes

Caution - If you haven't seen Episode 317 of Battlestar Galactica, Maelstrom, this'll contain spoilers. Same goes for the episode Scar.


So one of the most hyped episodes of Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica was just released, entitled Maelstrom. While I've gotten out of the habit of reviewing every episode that I see, I have to do something for this one, as well as a number of other episodes.
Finally, a TV series has had the guts to kill off (or at least appear to kill off) one of the main stars and characters, Kara 'Starbuck' Trace. Tomorrow morning, there's probably going to be a flurry of newsites and journalists writing in about the episode, wondering if BSG has jumped the shark, gotten better, or something of that nature. Fans will most likely be divided over what happened in tonight's episode.
I have to say that this is where Galactica should be every episode. Strong, character-driven, heavy storyline seasons, much like the first season was, somewhat like how Season 2 and 3 have been. While I recognize that standalone episodes are good, throwaway ones aren't. This wasn't a throwaway episode, and it wasn't part of a major arc, although it'll have some huge ripples coming in the next episode, or there should be.
In this episode, Starbuck's hallucinating while on duty, and having flashbacks to her past. All the while, she's seeing Leoben (or not Leoben) saying that her destiny's catching up to her. While she's chasing a phantom heavy raider (looks like they're now called Turkeys), she goes below the hard-deck (Most likely the zone where the fighter'll implode due to pressure) and explodes, appearing to die. I'm not going to say that she's dead, because we haven't seen the body, and there've been rumours that Starbuck'll be back somehow. Personally, I can't see how she'll be back, because they've said that she's not a Cylon, and I haven't the faintest as to how she'll have survived.
This episode reminded me very much of Scar, one of the strongest episodes from last season, when Starbuck was having problems with leaving Anders behind, all the while having problems with an insane Cylon Raider, which was picking people off. Both episodes delved deeply into Starbuck's personality, showing her to be a loose cannon, angry young woman, who's got some major problems. This episode showed us why she had those problems, and did an excellent job doing so.
Why is it that Starbuck's episodes have proven to be the best out there? Can't Go Home Again, from Season 1, was another Kara-centric episode that was amazing, and it seems that non of the other characters out there have gotten the same treatment and detailed storytelling that Starbuck seems to have been enjoying. I guess time will tell.
Personally, this episode'll stand out for me, not only in this season, but for the entire series thus far. And, it did the extremely good job of making me forget a little about the previous couple episodes, and showing us again what this show can be. Plus, the CGI workup in this episode was off the hook. I want to see a big screen Battlestar Galactica movie, if they can do this stuff. That would totally rock my world.

Friday, March 02, 2007

Two Previews for Maelstrom




Preview 1:



Preview 2:

News Roundup

There's been quite a bit of news coming out about Galactica as we near the finale, and I've been... stuck with work for the past week. Apoligies on the lax updates. Here we go:

'Galactica' picks up steam
Even if the conclusion seemed rushed and unusually pat for this series, Sunday's "Battlestar Galactica" was a pretty good episode compared to the two previous ones. Those were the typical midseason, "Oh-my-gosh-we-have-to-fill-a-20-episode-order!" filler installments that annually fail to rise to the heights of most "Galactica" episodes.

But the writers get serious about their story in the last four episodes, which kick off Sunday (10 p.m., Sci Fi Channel) and conclude with the March 25 third-season finale. The fourth season is due to premiere early next year.

Sunday's episode is a Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) spectacular as she confronts her recent dances with destiny while dreaming of her former Cylon captor, Leoben (Callum Keith Rennie). Starbuck and Apollo (Jamie Bamber) also mend their rift and exchange what, for them, counts as sweet nothings.

Full Article

From the SyFyPortal:

James Callis Reveals Baltar's Fate
Trial will be one for the history books
When asked about what will happen to the once famous scientist, the one-time vice president, and the former president Gaius Baltar, actor James Callis sees all roads heading into one direction...
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McDonnell Thankful For Being Cut Loose
‘BSG’ actress thinks finale is best yet
President Roslin, played by Mary McDonnell, has traditionally had a calming effect on the series through her fair-handedness with civil unrest, respectable dealings with the military and even through the crisis on new Caprica. However, in “Taking A Break From All Your Worries,” her character received a much welcome break as she finally loses it with former President Gaius Baltar (James Callis) during his interrogation.

"I found it really quite wonderful to play because it was easy to play," McDonnell said in an interview with Zap2it. "There was an emotional ball of fire inside her regarding this man and his ... duplicity. I was grateful to the writers and to Eddie [co-star Edward James Olmos, who also directed the episode] that they allowed her to cut loose like that. To me it just made her more human. And you know what? I don't think it's over."


Full ArticleMcDonnell Thankful For Being Cut Loose
‘BSG’ actress thinks finale is best yet
President Roslin, played by Mary McDonnell, has traditionally had a calming effect on the series through her fair-handedness with civil unrest, respectable dealings with the military and even through the crisis on new Caprica. However, in “Taking A Break From All Your Worries,” her character received a much welcome break as she finally loses it with former President Gaius Baltar (James Callis) during his interrogation.

"I found it really quite wonderful to play because it was easy to play," McDonnell said in an interview with Zap2it. "There was an emotional ball of fire inside her regarding this man and his ... duplicity. I was grateful to the writers and to Eddie [co-star Edward James Olmos, who also directed the episode] that they allowed her to cut loose like that. To me it just made her more human. And you know what? I don't think it's over."

Full Article

Getting 22 Episodes Could Mean Cancellation For 'Battlestar Galactica'
Source tells SyFy Portal that if there is a pickup, it could spell doom for the series
Usually getting additional episodes in a season is a good thing for a television series. But if SciFi Channel opts to increase its fourth season order of "Battlestar Galactica" from 13 episodes to 22, it could very well mean the end of the line for that channel's signature series.

A source close to the network tells SyFy Portal that if an additional nine episodes are ordered, it will be SciFi Channel's way of telling executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick to use those additional episodes to wrap it up.

Full Article

Virgin customers wake up to no Sky channels
The week-long war of words between Virgin Media and bitter rival BSkyB last night culminated in the satellite broadcaster's channels, including Sky One, being pulled from 3.35 million households.

The failure of the two sides to reach a deal meant fans of shows such as Lost, 24 and Battlestar Galactica were cut off halfway through the current season.

Full Article


Bear McCreary scores a pivotal "Battlestar Galactica" episode at Warner Brothers
Release Date:(02/28/2007)

Last week, composer Bear McCreary held the last orchestral scoring session for the third season of the hit Sci-Fi Channel television show, "Battlestar Galactica", at the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Brothers. The pivotal episode, "Maelstrom" continues the musical trend this season has shown, where McCreary has been leaning more towards Asian instruments and influences in the score. In addition to the gamelan, commonly heard in the music in the series, McCreary has started using an erhu, the "Chinese violin".

Full Article

Right, that's it for now.