The TV Addict Previews BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Prequel CAPRICA

The TV Addict has a secret.

No contrary to popular belief, I’m not the final Cylon! Rather, I’ve been keeping quiet that for the past two weeks I’ve had in my possession the prequel script to CAPRICA, the highly anticipated spin-off of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

Yet, rather than risk the wrath of the Gods — and by ‘Gods’ I’m naturally referring to CAPRICA show-runners Remi Aubuchon and Ronald D. Moore — this TV thought he’d take a different approach. Because as much fun as it might be to play Michael Ausiello [ie. Spoiler King] for a day, I truly believe that television is far more entertaining when you don’t know what happens next.

But first things first, if you thought BATTLESTAR GALACTICA was a far cry from your father’s science fiction [ie. STAR TREK], you ain’t seen nothing yet. CAPRICA, set a mere fifty-one years prior to the planet’s destruction portrays a far seedier version of modern day earth, essentially reading like an episode of HBO’s THE WIRE. Like all Ronald D. Moore projects, the pilot is riddled with political intrigue, racial prejudice, religious zealots and a seriously cool take on Second Life courtesy of Graystone Industries million dollar idea, the Holodeck HoloBand.

Which brings us to the family Graystone. Meet Father/Billionaire scientist Daniel Graystone. Sure he may not be the world’s most attentive parent, but can you really blame him? He’s awfully busy worrying that his company is on the verge of losing the Government contract for the Robot Super-soldier and Meta-Cognitive Processor after wasting five years and half a billion cubits. Worse still, his lack of attention has led his wife Amanda to seek comfort in her husband’s chief rival Tomas Vergis [a Tauron!] while his daughter Zoey’s cries for attention lead her to an organization known as the “Soldiers of One” — a monotheistic religious group that advocates the worship of a single, all-knowing, all powerful God whose mission is to quote, “drive out the many Gods.”

Which is where things get a little murky. You see, Zoey and friends [particularly boyfriend Ben] take their mission very seriously. Thus, act one ends with a shockingly violent act of terrorism which lead to Ben and Zoey’s death as well as innocent bystanders Shannon and Tamara, wife and daughter of one Joseph Adams.

Not surprisingly, grieving fathers Daniel Graystone and Joseph Adams not only find each-other amidst their grief but also begin to formulate a plan. Using the technology available at Graystone Industries, Daniel believes it will be possible to download both of their daughter’s conscience into the cybernetic life-form nodes [or Cylons!] that are currently under development at Graystone Industries.

Needless to say, this being episodic television, no one is who them seem, everyone has an agenda and nothing goes exactly as planned. Complications arise, threats are made, rivalries will form and by episode’s end, Joseph Adams and Daniel Graystone will find themselves on opposite ends of the ethical spectrum. Pretty much the ideal start to what will be a phenomenal prequel.
Cue emotional final scene that will surely get fans stoked for CAPRICA’s premiere.

JOSEPH

Our family will survive this, we’re going to put our lives back together. Your mother is gone and Tamara is gone. They’re not coming back.

Suddenly, without warning, tears begin to stream down William’s cheeks. Joseph takes his son in his arms and they hold each other tight as Joseph struggles with his own emotions.

JOSEPH

I want you to know who you are, William. We come from a long, proud line of Tauron peasants who knew how to work the land and still stand proud. You’re named after your grandfather, did I ever tell you that?

WILLIAM

No.

JOSEPH

He was killed in the Tauron uprising fighting for what he believed was the right of all the Children of Kobol — to live free. It’s a good name William and you should wear it proudly. And our last name isn’t Adams - I changed it when I arrived on Caprica.

(beat)

Our family name is… ADAMA and it’s a good, honorable Tauron name.

The Last Cylon image - The Last Supper

These articles are really good. They take this picture apart! I didn't write these

Battlestar Galactica: The Last Cylon

Someone is indeed absent from the table, admits Moore: “We have not yet revealed the final [unknown] Cylon.” Does that mean the people already at the table aren’t the final cylon? Moore laughs. “You ferreted that out pretty slyly. I didn’t really want to give that away.” — Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly did an excellent job of highlighting the different elements in the image, and what significance they hold in the series.
First I approached the image from the aspect of a MAD Magazine fold-in. Dividing the image into quarters, and folding along those lines produces a striking image — but it felt incomplete.

That’s when I turned to analyzing it in a similar fashion to Da Vinci’s The Last Supper. As mentioned before, the configuration of the figures troubled me. What also troubled me was the fact that the two glasses were exactly on the same line. It seemed too unusual — especially when you take into consideration the two glasses of water on the table, which, all too conveniently could form registration points for a fold-in image. The rest follows from artist intuition. The two glasses were the same shape, on the same line, and transparent. I proceeded to lay one glass over the other and set the one layer to roughly the same percentage as one glass is less than the other. And my heart jumped at the image that was produced. The majority of the image was a jumble of imformation, but the center of the image produced a clear result:

The relation between Kara and Lee and between Tyrol and Baltar is too good of a fit to be coincidental. It places Kara squarely in front of the grail. The image still felt incomplete, however. I then struck upon the idea of trying to merge the two images. That produced a much more complete composition.

At the end of what I felt that I could conceivably accomplish. It seemed that if there were secrets buried deeper in the image than I could divine. I stumbled across a major revelation, but not having watched the show as religiously as I could have, I contacted the good people at Galactica Sitrep. ProgGrrl didn’t want to be potentially exposed to spoilers, so her counterpart Logan Gawain stepped in.

After doing some research and reading in the Entertainment Weekly article the very coy answer about the grail (note that Moore doesn’t simply say “no”), I felt that Kara should be the last Cylon. I’m sure that there are still more mysteries waiting to be uncovered, but this, I believe is the primary one.

Images Explained by Logan Gawain

While I firmly believe Nathan has discovered an important key to understanding the BSG Last Supper image, I am not as prepared to conclude any single meaning from it. Rather, I see multiple interpretations.

But, I do agree that the glasses of water probably are a marker that when lined up reveal something important, perhaps even crucial to understanding any meaning in the photo. And the perfect alignment of the glass of water and other elements proves to me that either this is the way the image has to fit, or it’s one amazing and wild coincidence. Just look at how exactly every element fits rather precisely, as if it’s meant to fit that way. For instance, does Chief Tryol’s position change to now holding the knife at Baltar’s head foreshadow a final confrontation between the two of them? The number Six, known as Natalie who is leading the Cylon rebellion against Cavil’s faction, in this positioning is now pointing directly at Tyrol. Does that convey some special meaning, or deeper understanding?

Do the merging of the two glasses of water themselves represent an important metaphor, or foreshadowing? The glass of water by Anders is full. The glass of water near Baltar is nearly 3/4ths full. It might mean something in of itself, I just don’t know what.

Kara, Lee, Anders: Notice how it now appears that Kara is looking at Lee. In the repositioning Anders sits with his arms around both Lee and Kara almost in a group hug, or family portrait, while he kisses Kara. Is he, in this image, handing off Kara back to Lee, and letting her go? (Kara/Lee ’shippers take note!) Also notice how the book that is in front of Kara, now fits perfectly under the chalice or grail. What’s the meaning of relationship between the book, and the grail?

Yes, Kara sits directly before the grail. But, that doesn’t not have to mean she’s the final Cylon. Instead it may in fact mean that she’s the savior of mankind. Or it may also mean that the 5th Cylon has a unique relationship to Anders, Kara, and Lee. Still, could Kara Thrace be the final Cylon? Maybe she could be. I want to find more clues in the show itself as the episodes play out, before coming to a conclusion. Does the First Hybrid’s prophesy from “Razor” provide any clues?

At last, they’ve come for me. I feel their lives, their destinies spilling out before me. The denial of the one true path, played out on a world not their own, will end soon enough. Soon there will be four, glorious in awakening, struggling with the knowledge of their true selves, the pain of revelation bringing new clarity, and in the midst of confusion, he will find her. Enemies brought together by impossible longing, enemies now joined as one. The way forward at once unthinkable, yet inevitable. And the fifth, still in shadow, will claw toward the light, hungering for redemption that will only come in the howl of terrible suffering. I can see them all. The seven, now six, self-described machines who believe themselves without sin, but in time, it is sin that will consume them. They will know enmity, bitterness, the wrenching agony of the one splintering into the many, and then they will join the promised-land, gathered on the wings of an angel. Not an end, but a beginning. — The Hybrid, Battlestar Galactica: Razor

Clearly, the Hybrid spoke of things we’ve already seen, such as the occupation of New Caprica, the Four discovering their true nature, and the emerging Cylon civil war. Other events prophesied remain shrouded in mystery: What will be the “unthinkable” but “inevitable” way forward? Why is the fifth Cylon still in shadow, “hungering for redemption”? And who, or what, would be considered “wings of an angel” that will gather everyone at the “promised land”? In “Maelstrom” Starbuck gave to Adama the figure of Aurora, the Goddess of the Dawn. Does Kara’s positioning next to the challis reaffirm her role as savior, as Aurora, leading the way to their new home? Or, is she a false prophet, as as the First Hybrid prophesied to Kendra Shaw in Razor, who will “lead the human race to it’s end. She is the herald of the apocalypse. The harbinger of death. They must not follow her.”

I agree that this photographic discovery is an important find, and will add to the lore around the Last Supper image. But, it’s too early to draw any one conclusion to solve all the deep mysteries and mythology involved. I’m sure more is to be discovered before all is revealed. But, this new insight opens up many new avenues to explore.

Final Word

This is an open article. These might not be the final (or even correct) answers, but hopefully, at the very least, this article will take the analysis of The Last Cylon image to a whole new level. If anyone has further discoveries that may have been missed, then please, feel free to contact me and your contribution will be added.

My post on "The 12 Reunited" Thread!

ya you guys are so right about the Leobens. they are coming back and Staruck will be a part of that. There will be Cylon rebels; 6, 2, 8, and 3 when she gets upboxed. They will jion as one.

this is the hybrid's theory:"At last they’ve come for me. I feel their lives, their destinies spilling out before me. The denial of the one true path, played out on a world not their own, will end soon enough.

Soon there will be four, glorious in awakening. Struggling with the knowledge of their true selves. The pain of revelation bringing new clarity. And in the midst of confusion, he will find her, enemies brought together by impossible longing, enemies now joined as one. The way forward, at once unthinkable, yet inevitable.

And the fifth still in shadow, will claw toward the light, hungering for redemption that will only come in the howl of terrible suffering.

I can see them all. The seven now six self-described machines, machines who believe themselves without sin. But in time, it is sin that will consume them. They will know enmity, bitterness, the wrenching agony of the one splintering into the many and then they will join the promised land, gathered on the wings of an Angel. (Starbuck bign that angel, cuase Rosiln will die and not see Earth)

Not an end, but a beginning."

there is alot of answers right there, and it will all play out the way it says it will, its starting with the Cylon Fleet crumbling becasuse the Final Five are in the fleet. There is a reason why they are there and that the model 8 is with the S7, they swtiched the mdel 7 and 8 so that they can rejion when they find the Final Five and be as one! In the promise land on the wings of an Angel to Earth.

Have you not noticed since the beginning with Booomer dying and moving back to the cylons and now is with Cavil totally, just Boomer. And then Athena (Sharon) being loyal ever since the tomb of Athena and them getting the road map to earth. These 8's balance each other out and therefore will help the process of getting to the Final Five and finding out the 7th

This ws also in the propecy you might say. I got the following from Battlestar Wiki's desription of the First Cylon Hybrin on Razor:

"words of the Pythian prophecy, "All this has happened before, and will happen again..."




Transformation is the goal - The Hybrid

Last edited by caprica_six; April 21st, 2008 at 12:22 AM. Reason: more on my point. and more about Pythia

The Hybrid's Theory from Razor

"At last they’ve come for me. I feel their lives, their destinies spilling out before me. The denial of the one true path, played out on a world not their own, will end soon enough.

Soon there will be four, glorious in awakening. Struggling with the knowledge of their true selves. The pain of revelation bringing new clarity. And in the midst of confusion, he will find her, enemies brought together by impossible longing, enemies now joined as one. The way forward, at once unthinkable, yet inevitable.

And the fifth still in shadow, will claw toward the light, hungering for redemption that will only come in the howl of terrible suffering.

I can see them all. The seven now six self-described machines, machines who believe themselves without sin. But in time, it is sin that will consume them. They will know enmity, bitterness, the wrenching agony of the one splintering into the many and then they will join the promised land, gathered on the wings of an Angel.

Not an end, but a beginning.



This was also in it :

words of the Pythian prophecy, "All this has happened before, and will happen again..."

Thoughts on the Six of one

Theres something about that that resonats with me, as if they are all started out anew when they get to Earth, one true godm and ONE Earth. Kinda one in the same to me

totally agree with you here, I'm thinking the same thing. Like thats the evolutionary change, "something has changed" the 7 moved into the other equation (final five) and 8, being Sharon has moved into the Sig 7. I thik they will coem together and be as one. My theory with the Final Five is that they are protectors of humanity, and that they feel for them very much. Theh have overcome the life death process, and that they transcendant and will lead the other cylons into thier destiny. They are different in many ways we'll just have to wait and fine out I guess.

Caprica casting info

Now that we got the confirmed greenlight for the Battlestar Galactica spin-off series, Caprica, of course we can expect to see more details of the series trickle in. Just today, for example, sources have provided us with casting information for the series. Cool stuff!

Anyone familiar with the details of the show knows that Caprica will center around two families, the Graystones and the Adamas, and the goings on leading up to the Cylons as we see them on the show now. Now we can get a sense of what the characters on the show will look like and perhaps make our own wishlist of who we'd like to see in the roles. I warn you that there are what to some will consider SPOILERS ahead.

[DANIEL GRAYSTONE] In his early 40s, a spectacularly wealthy computer engineer / designer, Daniel is married to Amanda and the father of Zoe -- but his extensive business interests leave him little time for his child, whom he still sees as a little girl in pink shoes. Busy trying to design an intelligent robot, Daniel is devastated when Zoe is killed in a suicide bombing, and has no idea that his daughter had a complex, very secret life. After learning that his own wizardry with computer technology was exceeded by his own child, who found a way to upload her personality into an online avatar, Daniel realizes that with a little stolen technology, and with a little intellectual elbow grease, he can create a robotic version of his dead daughter -- and in doing so, he creates the first Cylon...SERIES REGULAR - SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES.

[JOSEPH ADAMS] In his 40s, he is a Tauron, an off-worlder who has emigrated to Caprica; his hair is already starting to go iron-grey and his entire demeanor is that of someone who's already put on more miles than most men his age. There's a gravitas to Joseph, an intelligence, and a strong sense of someone you wouldn't want as your enemy. He has risen above the traditional Caprican prejudice against Taurons, and has become a powerful, influential defense attorney, with powerful ties to the Tauron crime underworld. His wife and daughter are killed in the same blast that takes out Zoe, and he bonds with the much-wealthier Daniel in a common grief. A man who has done a few crooked things in his life (largely in order to use his position to protect his fellow Taurons), Joseph reluctantly agrees to assist Daniel in his grief-fueled efforts to create robotic versions of both their children -- but after stealing vital technology from a Tauron computer developer, Joseph is ethically appalled by the robot version of his dead Tamara, and repents his actions. Left with a 9 year old son to care for, Joseph reaches out to young William, revealing to him that his last name is really Adama...SERIES REGULAR - SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES. HOWEVER, PREFER LATINO.

Comment from the poster I got this from; At first I thought the "Adams" was a typo, but it seems this was an alias Joseph used at some point. It's no wonder why the Cylons have such an interest in Bill Adama, seeing as his own father was quite instrumental in assisting with their creation.

[AMANDA GRAYSTONE] In her late 30s, Daniel's wife, she is a successful surgeon with a volatile streak to her, who has married well and dearly loves her daughter. Devastated after the death of her daughter Zoe, Amanda turns for consolation, not to her husband but to an ex-lover, Tomas Vergis, a Tauron who is one of her husband's competitors. Furious with herself for having cheated on her husband, Amanda in fact is something of a double agent, plucking information about Vergis' intellectual property from his blabbing mouth and taking it home to Daniel to use as he sees fit...SERIES REGULAR - SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES.

[SISTER CLARICE WILLOW] In her mid 30s to 50s, dressed in the traditional clerical robes of an Athenian High Priestess, Sister Clarice is the headmistress of the Athena Academy, a private religious school, where Zoe, Lacy and Ben are all enrolled. A gracious, eloquent, thoughtful woman who grew up in a slum and has seen it all, she's elegant and sophisticated -- and utterly duplicitous. In fact, she is a closet monotheist, and has taken the best and brightest of her students and shared her own (illegal, closeted) beliefs with them -- only to see her efforts literally explode in her students' faces...SERIES REGULAR - SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES.

This sounds like a role that's going to require quite a lot of depth. Very interesting with the whole "closeted monotheist" thing, as it shows such beliefs didn't just come from the sentient minds of Cylons alone.

[ZOE GRAYSTONE / ZOE-A / ZOE-R] 16 going on 40 (18 TO PLAY 16), with severe hair and makeup, Zoe is the daughter of Daniel and Amanda Graystone, and she's a girl with many secrets. A computer genius like her father, she has found a way to enliven a holographic avatar of herself, by uploading all her memories and DNA into the hologram, thus creating her online twin, Zoe-A. A closet monotheist in the polytheistic culture of Caprica, and obliged to perform her religion in private, she tries to leave the planet with her boyfriend, Ben, only to be killed when Ben suicide-bombs them both into oblivion. But Zoe-A is left behind, a baffled, grieving digital duplicate of the real, flesh and blood Zoe. With the collaboration of Daniel and Joseph, Zoe-A is downloaded into a robotic brain, thus becoming the first Cylon: Zoe-R...SERIES REGULAR - SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES.

[WILLIAM ADAMS] 9 years old, Latino, Joseph's sole surviving child, William is inward and withdrawn in the best of times, and grows more taciturn after the death of his mother and sister. Barely aware of his father, whose work kept him away from the family, William is a stoical Tauron who keeps his deepest thoughts to himself and rarely smiles. Promised a closer relationship by Joseph, he is taken aside, taught the basics of his Tauron heritage, and told that his Tauron name is William Adama...7 / 13 SERIES REGULAR -TO PLAY EDWARD JAMES OLMOS AT 9 YEARS OLD.

Big shoes to fill for a 9 year old.

[BEN STARK / BEN-A] 16 years old (18 TO PLAY 16), with close-cropped hair, Ben has an intensity to him, a sense of a kid who's gone someplace far away and may not be coming back. Zoe's boyfriend, he is a fanatical monotheist; he introduced her and Lacy to his cult, and induced them both to flee Caprica with him. But Ben is a little crazy, and he's fleeing Caprica in a different way than he promised: by blowing up their train with a suicide bomb. He later is revealed to have his own uploaded avatar, an on-line twin named Ben-A, whom only Sister Clarice can contact...7 / 13 SERIES REGULAR - SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES.

Well, there you have it. I also got a look at the sides (portions of scripts for auditioners to read), but I'd be killed for showing any of that. To be honest, no notable actors come to mind to play these roles, but I'm clearly not thinking too thoroughly about it. I'd love to hear any thoughts you have other than "they should all be relative unknowns" (even though I pretty much agree with that statement, since it will keep the show's cost down.)

Cylon Blood, Kara's Mom and the Adama's

Yet Another Frakking Theory!

First I have to say that this is my first post and the first time a talk about a TV series on a forum. I like Sci-Fi, but BSG made me addicted to this new concept of Sci-Fi genre and the entire plot is so interesting that I can't stop thinking about it.

I was heavily influenced by the first Kara's mother theory, but since I'm going a little bit deeper in my speculation I decided to create a new thread, giving the proper credit to cdccarter, who opened my eyes to this character.

The Theory

The last cylon is Kara's mother (Hera), which is the cylon version of Bill Adama's (Zeus) sister. Joseph Adama is the cylon God.

The Clues

1) "...the fruit born of two peoples is alive. A child named after the wife and sister of the all-knowing Zeus." - from Exodus Part I.

2) "Soon there will be four, glorious in awakening. Struggling with the knowledge of their true selves. The pain of revelation bringing new clarity. And in the midst of confusion, he will find her, enemies brought together by impossible longing, enemies now joined as one." - from "Razor".

3) "And the fifth, still in shadow, will claw toward the light, hungering for redemption that will only come in the howl of terrible suffering." - from "Razor".

4) "The seven, now six, self-described machines, who believe themselveswithout sin. But in time, it is sin that will consume them. They will know enmity, bitterness, the wrenching agony of the one splintering into the many." - from "Razor".

5) "And then they will join the promised land, gathered on the wingsof an angel." - from "Razor"

6)"Five final Cylon models. Five healers of the temple. For the five priests devoted to the one whose name cannot be spoken." - from "Taking A Break From All Your Worries"

7)"You are the guardian and protector of the new generation of God's children." - from Kobol's Last Gleaming Part 2

The Hipothesis

As we know, in Caprica spin-off, Joseph Adama will team up with a computer engineer to create robots with the memory of their daughters, killed by a terrorist bombing. I think Joseph Adama has gone a little bit further than his partner, creating a cylon version of his daughter using her DNA. So his is considered as God by her, since he is her creator and biological father. This could be the origin of cylon's monotheistic religion.

While the first quote refers to Athena/Agathon baby, it is actually a clue about the incestuous relationship between Hera and Zeus - Kara's mother and Bill Adama. Kara's mother was on military duty at the same time as Adama and they are from the same generation.

So I think they had an affair and Kara was the result of their forbidden love. Self-aware of her cylon nature and origin, she kept this secret to herself, until she "claw toward the light, hungering for redemption" with the revelation of the entire plot.

She also knew her daughter Kara have a prophecy role to fulfill as the first one of the "new generation of God's children" and tried to prepare her to this moment.

So Kara will unite cylons and humans and "they will join the promised land, gathered on the wings of an angel". Obviously that the "the wings" refer to her viper, but her true nature after dying and reappearing could be also explained by her origin and the role of "Gaius counterpart" of her generation as "the guardian and protector of the new generation of God's children".

Kara's mother never told Bill Adama she was his sister, because of their forbidden love, which will result in a "howl of terrible suffering" due to the recurring incestuous relationships in the family.

The redemption is family forgiveness, specially from Kara and Lee, since the affair caused a lot of pain on both families. This is supported by behavior of Kara's and Lee's mothers, who discharged a lot of anger over them.

This could also explain the odd relationship between Kara and Lee. They love each other, but they struggle not to be with each other because deep inside they know is not right. So Kara marriage Anders just after her brief relationship with Lee.

The "Final Five" are not only cylons, they are different. They are descendants of the five priests that worshiped the "the one whose name cannot be spoken". We already know that in the Caprica series, Adama's father uses "Adams" as alias because of a unknown reason. So the name Adama "cannot be spoken". The "Final Five" is a lineage of descendants of the first cylon of Kobol's 13th Tribe, which is from the same genetic pool of Adama's family.

So "the one splintering into the many" could be the first cylon DNA from Kobol 13th Tribe, which is the origin of all others, including the "Final Five". Since this DNA is originally from a human, as the new cylons are, humans and cylons realize they came from the same genetic pool and are actually just different reproduction stages of the same species. As defined in biology, a species can only be distinguished from another when the offspring between them are not fertile. The cylons creation is the asexual part of the sexual/asexual life cycle of humans, which may or may not involve a hybrid stage.

"The pain of revelation bringing new clarity...enemies brought together by impossible longing, enemies now joined as one."

I did not formulated a theory about the Earth colonization and the Exodus of Kobol, but due to the recurring nature of the prophecy I believe colonization/exodus and war/peace are in constant loop, with "The pain of revelation" being the turning point of each cycle.

What do you think about this?

Season 4 Episode Tiltles revealed!

4x03: He That Believeth in Me (aka 4x01) April 4nd, 2008
The thin line that separates humanity from the rapidly evolving Cylons is redrawn, as Starbuck returns from the dead with claims that she has found Earth.
written by: DAVID WEDDLE & BRADLEY THOMPSON
directed by: MICHAEL RYMER

4x04: Six of One (aka 4x02) April 11th, 2008
Conflict and mistrust torment humans and Cylons alike, as both sides struggle to understand their respective mythologies — one rooted on Earth, the other in the mysteries of the Final Five.
written by: MICHAEL ANGELI
directed by: ANTHONY HEMMINGWAY

4x05: The Ties That Bind (aka 4x03) April 18th, 2008
With Kara Thrace piloting a lone freighter in her desperate search for Earth, political intrigue and marital discord aboard the Galactica are paralleled by deep rifts in the Cylons' solidarity.
written by: MICHAEL TAYLOR
directed by: MICHAEL NANKIN

4x06: Escape Velocity (aka 4x04) April 25th, 2008
Religious freedom is debated and defended as the messianic Gaius Baltar promotes his belief in one true God.
written by: JANE ESPENSON
directed by: EDWARD JAMES OLMOS

4x07: The Road Less Travelled (aka 4x05) May 2nd, 2008
The prospect of a truce between humanity and the Cylons encourages Starbuck to trust an old enemy.
written by: MARK VERHEIDEN
directed by: MICHAEL RYMER

4x08: Faith (aka 4x06) May 9th, 2008
The cancer-stricken President Laura Roslin and hotheaded pilot Kara Thrace both must make difficult leaps of faith in order to accept an uneasy alliance with the Cylons.
written by: SEAMUS KEVIN FAHEY
directed by: MICHAEL NANKIN

4x09: Guess What's Coming to Dinner (aka 4x07) May 16th, 2008
President Roslin's leadership is tested as the Galactica teams up with Cylon rebels in a plot to destroy the enemy's vital Resurrection Hub.
written by: MICHAEL ANGELI
directed by: WAYNE ROSE

4x10: Sine Qua Non (aka 4x08) May 23th, 2008
President Roslin's abduction by the Cylon Hybrid triggers a bitter power struggle within the Colonial fleet.
written by: MICHAEL TAYLOR
directed by: ROD HARDY

4x11: The Hub (aka 4x09) May 30th, 2008
In pursuit of the enemy's Resurrection Hub, a misfit team of Viper pilots and Cylon rebels become uneasy collaborators as they formulate a battle plan.
written by: JANE ESPENSON
directed by: PAUL EDWARDS

4x12: Revelations (aka 4x10) June 6th, 2008
A band of rebel Cylons holds President Roslin hostage while attempting to lure the Final Five out of hiding inside the Galactica and the human fleet.
written by: BRADLEY THOMPSON & DAVID WEDDLE
directed by: MICHAEL RYMER

4x13: Sometimes a Great Notion (aka 4x11) June 13th, 2008

Starbuck learns that the dire predictions of the Cylon Hybrid might be true, and a devastating discovery plunges the fleet into chaos and despair.

written by: DAVID WEDDLE & BRADLEY THOMPSON
directed by: MICHAEL NANKIN

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A Starbuck Theory

tonight's Battlestar was one solid kick in the nuts. I just spent the last hour or so looking at people's opinions and comments over in the Battlestar Blog episode review thread.

flummoxicated brought up a great theory that really got me thinking... So I dug out my classic BSG DVDs, and whaddaya know.. I think we have a winner.

Do NOT keep reading if you haven't seen the season 3 episode "Maelstrom" yet.

So Starbuck bit the bullet. Starbuck Go Boom.

I don't think she's permanently gone though, and I'm not just saying that because I love the character and am in some sort of fanboy denial.. (no.. seriously..) I truly think that if this was the last we were going to see of Katee Sackhoff's purdee face on the show, Ron Moore & Co. would've had her go out in a blaze o' glory. They love the character just as much as we do, and they've been building up all this "special destiny" talk for far too long to have her just go nutty, start seeing things, and commit suicide.

First of all, I do not think she's a cylon, or a half-cylon, or hybrid, or anything of the sort. We're not gonna see her wake up in a resurrection tank. Mark my words: Kara is human. Special human, yes. But still human.

Clues as to what's going on are sprinkled throughout "Maelstrom," and I think the BSG episode called "War of the Gods, Part 2" (from the original series) gives some huge hints as well. We know that RDM has paid homage to the original series several times in the past -- the biggest of which was probably the Pegasus storyline -- and I think we're gonna see some of that again.

In "War of the Gods, Part 2," the topic of humans who are special and have potential beyond normal humans is explored. There's a scene where Adama is sitting in his chambers using his mind to move a small golden statue of a bird (which looks very similar to the small golden statue of Aurora that Starbuck gave Adama in "Maelstrom"). Apollo walks in on him, says "WTF?" and Adama proceeds to tell him that years ago there were people who could train to realize their brain's full potential, mind over matter, etc. He said that some humans are in the early stages of being able to expand their minds, and it was something he'd been working on before the attack. (Who knew Papadama could use the Force?)

Later in the episode, Apollo and Starbuck are on an alien world and Apollo gets killed. Starbuck, along with another pilot named Sheba, hop in a ship to bring Apollo's body back to Galactica. Along the way, they encounter a big glowing crystal-like ship of lights (seen in the photo above). They're pulled toward it and go unconscious.

When they wake up, they're surrounded by crystals and light, as well as FIVE FIGURES wearing white (that look very much like the Final Five D'Anna saw in "Rapture"). Starbuck asks where they are, and one of the Five tells them that the city of light is not located in their world - it's in another dimension (between life and death). Apollo is brought back to life and he and Starbuck are told that they're special and have more potential than most humans, and that the reason the Five are helping them is because they share a common enemy, and because the humans are now as they once were. (Verbatim: "You are now as we once were.")

The heroes are then sent home and don't really remember any details.. However, they suddenly realize that somehow they all now know the coordinates to Earth. The Five somehow embedded the knowledge into their minds....

There are several hints in "Maelstrom" that make me think this is the direction we're heading.

The oracle seemed to call Starbuck "Aurora" as soon as she walked in the room.. We heard the name Aurora several times, in fact. Aurora = Goddess of the Dawn. Dawn = Light. I know that's kind of cryptic, but it seems to foreshadow events in a big way, along with the fact that the lighting in this episode was a major player -- Lights going out around Starbuck, then one light illuminating her face.

Starbuck's last words to Lee were something like "You have to let me go, they're waiting for me" and her face was lit by a blinding light. She was seeing something - approaching something - some beings. "THEY are waiting for me."

Leoben wasn't exactly Leoben -- he said as much in the episode. Perhaps Leoben was one of these Beings of Light, one of the Final Five, an angel or guide of some kind to help her along. He even tells her that her destiny lies somewhere between life and death..

Anyway, I'm reaching brain overload here, so I'm sure as soon as I log off and go to bed, I'm gonna remember about ten different things I wanted to add to this theory... But you see where I'm going with it...

CONCLUSION:

I believe that Starbuck is going to awaken in the presence of the Final Five (or Beings of Light, whatever you wanna call them) and I think they're gonna give her the roadmap to Earth

....

Still.. we have reason to mourn the death of Starbuck. Even if she comes back, which I believe she will, she'll be a changed person. No more out-of-control basketcase Kara. She'll have realized her destiny, she'll have a path in life, the demons of her past have been defeated.

So, with that, I'll stop rambling.. It'll be interesting to see how close or far off this theory is... Either way, looks like Battlestar's got its balls back. :)

I really like this idea. I was thnking that Kara was the most obvious choice for the 5th, but now I'm not sure. Everyone has their role to play....

That being said I think that this whole theory has complete relevence to the plotline of the Final Five. They are the guardians the guardians of Humanity on the path to Earth.

My thoughts on - He That Believeth In Me

Just a forward on this post;

These are all my words, it was written by me!
I'm also posting this on The Battlestar Forum


I LOVE this show to death!! This season promised to be the best and it is the BEST!


I really think the Cylons and Humans are really co-exsisting together in a way we really don't see. The Final 5 are the one's that help humanity find Earth. As disscused before with the song All Along the Watchtower, and the Final Four each being connected to someone of power. I was thinking last night that Kara is the "harbinger of death" that can be taken literally but not sadly per say she will bring them to Earth and I think Earth to them is the beggining of time, that they will all die and be reborn, almost like a heaven type deal.

In this episode her viper is in PERFECT condition. From the promos I've seen and pictures as well I'm pretty certain that she IS the Final Cylon, the one who has suffered alot in her life only to be shown the true path of humaity's destiny, Earth, being reborn Cylons being programmed to help humanity fulfill this destiny. Th promo's are the Kara Thrace - Agitator or Angel? one and also Entertainment weekly managed to slip and little pic of Kara on a basestar with things connected to her head to measure her brainwaves. This pic is in the Spring TV Preview mag, the one before April 4th. It's a page with random TV shows in a collage and that pic is in it.

As for the Final Four, the Cylon scanning Anders eyes is suppose to be realted to the Command Navigation Program as seen in the Mini-Series. It was developed by Baltar and was mentioned a bit in the Mini-Series and Season 1. My interpretation of the Nebula power outage and the sudden Cylon bolt is due to Anders retinal scan is beauase of this Command Navigation Program. Which I think has started to take affect when the Final Four were hearing the music, and the Cylon Basestars were tracing that transmission as well as the "radiation signature". Then when they all go to the nebula the Final Four were going insane. Until they realized that they were Cylons. The Moment this happens the power to the Fleet is retored. Back to Anders and his eye scan, its almost the same thing, but now the cylons have this information of where the Final Five are. The Command Navigation Program has allowed a back door to be opened in the Cylon Fleet and now they know where the Final Five are. In the next episode this will be discussed as far as I know. I think that the Final Five are older than the Significant Seven and can be traced back to when the Cylons were first created as slaves to man. I also think that the Final Five have power over the 7, which will be relealed soon.

I was thinking last night as well, I know alot about the zodiac and its inner workings and how they relate to alot of spiritual and relegious ways about our scoiety. If you look at what they are revelaing SLOWLY but surely, the Final Five. Now in the zodiac there are 12 signs, each one is repersented by a figure; 2 fishes - Picses, Bull - Taurus. Also the signs can be arranged by season 4 seasons, also they have 4 elements, and also we have our 4 duel signs if you may, Picses - the 2 fish, Libra - The Scales, Sagittarius - Centor, and Gemini - The Twins. As well the #4 is relevent to the show because they only have 4 seasons for the shows run!! Get it now, this is why I love this show so much because Ron Moore has managed to put this all together from the start. They are consitantly playing with these #'s 4, 2, 12, and 7 is the remander. All of this you can relate the Final Four, these duality signs have a capibility of seeing things that others don't. They are more open - minded and can see things that alot of humaity cannot see. There for it fullfils my theory on the Final Five bieng the Gaurdians or of The Watchtower.

Now this theory can work for sure the thing I can't get over is the fact that the Final Cylon is the 5th, I'm not sure how to work the 5th into this 4 number theory. But I do beleive that the Cylons say they know of the one true God and they are the children of him. I think they are trying to make the humans recognize this and that by the end of the series they will beleive in one God and Humanity itself will be detroyed or in another perspective transfomed. This transformation is said by the Significant Seven's Hybrid. There is a scene coming up that she will talk about the Final Five and how transformation is the goal. I believe also that the Final 5 are different in the way that they have perfected being human. They cannot download and they do not have thousands of copies. They are born into this life and know the meaning of life.

Going back to Kara, Leoben said that she will se what others have seen in the space between life and death. This is said right before her ship explodes. D'Anna as well has seen this and the Final Five were revealed to her. This space between life and death in the case of Kara is quite literally Earth. She went through and saw, felt Earth. This is why is would work so well if she was the Final Cylon becuase it would make sense to the vision that is being presented for the series.

So this is what I thogh as I was watching last night's Episode. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.

Frakkin' Five on Friday! Battlestar Galactica edition

The 5 reasons to watch BSG

Next week, television's best science fiction -- or any television, for that matter -- in years returns on Sci Fi network. The fourth and final season of "Battlestar Galactica" continues the quest of the remnants of human civilization to escape their Cylon hunters and find a little ol' blue planet the legends know as 'Earth.'

But tonight, get caught up on the series and ready for the continuing adventures when the network airs a pair of specials titled "Revealed" and "Phenomenon", starting at 10:00 p.m. (Eastern).

The specials will not only serve as a refresher for the series, but will also include insights and commentary by such celebrity fans as Seth Green, country superstar Brad Paisley, host of "The Soup" Joel McHale and sci-fi writer Joss Whedon.

They'll no doubt share what they love about the series.

Here are five reasons I can't frakkin' wait.

5. Frakkin' A.

War is hell. The show is about the last handfuls of human survivors trying to survive. Cylons keep hunting them, battles keep going on, people don't always make it. It's edgy, it's ugly, it's dark. So inevitably, the people involved are going to want to drop an f-bomb or two once in a while.

So what do you do when the mother of all curse words is not allowed on tv? What do you do to help keep the show raw and edgy?

You invent your own frakkin' swear word. In the Battlestar universe, 'frak' is the f-bomb dropped when the stuff hits the fan.

4. The end is near.

When it was announced that this would be the last season, fans lamented. The show is too good, the stories too rich, the adventures too grand. We don't want to see the series end.

But at the same time, if it can go out on top, if it can thrill us one last time with the final chapter of this saga, then that's ultimately better than if it were to drag on and eventually wane creatively. I'm not saying that would happen in the near future, but we've seen it happen all too often with series that stayed past their prime.

"Battlestar" hopes to go out on top. Leave 'em wanting more, isn't that what they always say?

3. The storytelling

It's a compelling series, no doubt about it. Complex and layered, with multiple arcs and fantastic character development that has spanned the show's life, it's simply a joy to behold each and every week. Even the promo for this upcoming season, so simply designed with its main characters looking straight-on at the camera and a line of dialogue -- sometimes cryptic, often foreboding -- have been a visual treat.

But beyond the promos, the series not only gives us fantastic action in the battles between human and cylon, but deeper debates about what it exactly means to be human, the actual differences between human and cylon, mythology and religion, race and politics, good, evil and those shades of gray in between...

2. "All Along the Watchtower"

Ever get a song stuck in your head that you just can't get out? Well, if you're on the Battlestar Galactica and start hearing a certain Bob Dylan song, watch out.

You're probably a Cylon.

One of the recent story arcs involved the 'final five' Cylons -- a series of the robots unknown to the others. Sleeper agents perhaps? Ready to strike the humans from within, or simply to allow the main forces to keep tabs on the humans? Why they're there is still up for debate. But at the end of last season, four of the final five were revealed.

They came together after getting that frakkin' song stuck in their heads.

Each was a notable 'human' survivor. Each has different access and each can cause potentially huge repercussions if they decide to flip to the Cylon side. Among them is Saul Tigh, the ship's executive officer and right-hand man to Admiral Adama. No one has had a bigger vendetta against those tin men and no one has fought harder against them.
And now he's one of them. I can't wait to see how that plays out.

1. Number Six

Science fiction shows have always catered to their typically-male audiences by casting at least one hot babe in their ensembles. "Buck Rogers" had Col. Wilma Deering. "X-Files" gave us Scully. "Star Trek: Voyager" had "Seven of Nine."

But none have been easier on the eyes than Tricia Helfer's "Number Six". The blonde Cylon who's been driving Gaius Baltar -- and more than a few fanboys -- a little batty since day one will be back this season, and who knows where her allegiance will ultimately lie.

But there's a good chance she'll stand at the center of all that goes down during the final flight of the battlestar.

Scott Brown on Why Battlestar Galactica Must Self-Destruct

This one is pretty good

Back in high school, I bought a T-shirt: PICARD/RIKER '96. At the time, this identified me as (a) a massive loser and (b) a politically conscious massive loser. But hey, it was the mid-'90s, protest votes were chic, and Star Trek, with its indomitable moonshot optimism, painted a far more inspiring portrait of humanity than any earthbound presidential candidate. What starry-eyed nerd wouldn't have plunged into the breach for Captain Picard, that oaken-voiced amalgam of King Solomon, Lord Nelson, and Abraham Lincoln? Then, somewhere between Impeachment and Recount, the shirt faded, ripped, and turned chamois. Time passed, towers fell, war and scandal raged. I bought a new T-shirt: ROSLIN/AIRLOCK '08.

For the uninitiated, that's a reference to Laura Roslin, the hard-nosed, Hillaryesque president from television's Battlestar Galactica — the Hobbes to Trek's Rousseau. On the show, humanity is locked in existential conflict with a godly, genocidal foe, and Roslin has the dual, sometimes dueling responsibilities of preserving democracy and uniting the fractious remnants of civilization under one banner: She's not above rigging an election, making dodgy claims of divine guidance — or tossing a terrorist out the ol' airlock. (In the future, airlocks are the new military tribunals!)

BSG is, at first glance, an unlikely vessel for serious sociopolitical critique. While science fiction may be the genre of Big Ideas, it's fair to say no one expected Howard Zinn-level watchdoggery from the "reimagining" of a chintzy '70s TV series starring Dirk Benedict by the basic cable network that also gave us Mansquito. BSG enters its fourth and final season in April, and none of its fans expect encomiums on par with The Sopranos. Yet BSG has done for the post-Roddenberry space western what Tony and Co. did for the post-Coppola mob tale: exhumed a mummified subgenre and reanimated it with all the relevant eschatological dread and martial hysteria of millennial America. BSG was, for a while there, the most important show on television.

Much of the show's success has been attributed to executive producer Ronald Moore, a longtime laborer in the Star Trek mines, who made Battlestar the gunmetal-grim instrument of all his Trek-suppressed pessimism: Less "To boldly go," more "Run for your frakkin' life!" With co-exec David Eick, Moore saw in the original show's premise — a fugitive humanity on the run from a committed, inhuman enemy — something chillingly topical. But in the reboot, there are a few key tweaks: The inspiring search for Earth — a mythic, lost human colony — is predicated on a religious lie cooked up by Commander Adama (Battlestar's rasping answer to Picard and Kirk). Adama says he knows where the promised land is. He doesn't. But he needs the authority to keep the screaming leavings of humanity together — and fend off certain noisome democratic complications, like the Roslin administration, civil rights, and dissent. Meanwhile the Cylons capture most of the human fleet — but instead of utterly destroying their foes, they decide, neoconically, to rehabilitate them ... by force. The desperate humans resort to suicide bombing. So, uh, who're the good guys again? Moore, like Sopranos creator David Chase, is unsentimental about humanity: "All this has happened before, and all of it will happen again," is, after all, found in The Book of Pythia: The Cycle of Time. And every science fiction fan recognizes an allusion to cyclical reality as a harbinger of doom.

As the end — and Earth — draw near, BSG has seen its moral clarities cloud over. This was always going to be a hurtling, one-way trip to enlightenment and/or oblivion. And like all the fantasies born in the Bush age, the show is programmed to self-destruct: Consider Lost, the purgatory-as-therapy sci-fi ropes course that has declared a 48-episode limit on its desert-island wanderings. In fact, it's Lost creator J.J. Abrams who'll be relaunching BSG's sunnier predecessor, Star Trek, with a prequel due out next year. By then, we'll have a new president-elect and, one way or another, a new age, with a new mood — and a new T-shirt. What will it say, I wonder? KIRK/SPOCK seems hopelessly nostalgic, KANG/KODOS a tad cynical. What new interstellar epic will arise to ferry our hopes and fears, our better angels and worst demons, across the vast galactic wastes?

Whatever happens, hey, don't blame me: I voted for Roslin.

Email scott_brown@wired.com.