Edward James Olmos Tells the Future of Battlestar

Justin Stephens/Sci Fi Channel

In just three short days, the rag-tag fleet's long journey comes to an end. Sob.

As the landmark series Battlestar Galactica heads toward a thrilling two-hour series finale this Friday, plans are already under way to continue the franchise. We caught up with BSG star Edward James Olmos and Sci Fi SyFy boss Mark Stern for a look forward to The Plan, the upcoming Cylon-centric BSG film...

Olmos, who directed The Plan, tells us, "The Plan is literally what the Cylons had in mind and why they did what they did. At the beginning of every show they have, 'The Cylons were created by man.' We created them to help, and they ended up creating themselves. Some of them don't know that they are Cylons and they have a plan. So this is the plan."

And Stern, who does the network's programming, adds, "It's going to be a sidestep to the series overall in the way that Razor was, so it's backtracking to another part of the story. It's really how it all came together. It's a bit of Cavil's [Dean Stockwell] story and how we get to that place. It jumps into various pieces, but there is a lot in the before time, before we get to the attack, so it really fills out the larger mythology."

Olmos famously says that BSG is the best job he's ever had and explains his gratitude for the opportunity thusly: "Everybody who came to visit us at one time or another felt compelled to think. That's all you can ask. When you're done spending 84 hours on a story, you better hope that you gave people something to think about, because they're really not going to like you when they're on their deathbed and thinking about the waste of time. 'Where did I waste my time?' "

But yesterday's SyFy (seriously?) upfront wasn't just a professional valedictory for EJO; he also had some personal growth to share. When asked what he learned by portraying Adm. Adama, he told us, "I learned that I'm very emotional. I learned that there's always room to grow. And I learned that television has an opportunity of creating entertaining shows with substance." Awww...he's actually a big softie!

Are you dying of anticipation for the finale? Are you seeking spoilers or avoiding them religiously? Post in the comments!

—Additional reporting by Bryan Reesman