Sci Fi NetworkMy job doesn't suck.
On Wednesday evening, the Sci Fi Channel and the Los Angeles Times hosted a Battlestar Galactica midseason finale screening and panel discussion with BSG boss Ronald D. Moore and stars Tricia Helfer (Number Six), Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin) and Katee Sackhoff (Kara "Starbuck" Thrace).
Now, I can't tell you anything about the midseason finale, "Revelation," which airs tonight at 10 on Sci Fi because Ronald D. Moore literally made us raise our right hands and swear to keep the show's secrets safe, and because I really wouldn't want to take away your enjoyment of the shocking revelations that come at you like asteroids.
However, I'd like to try to make it up to you with some exclusive quotes you can't read anywhere else.
Click in for the dish about Roslin's ultimate fate, Starbuck's frakked-up relationship with Apollo and whether or not the Battlestar Galactica spinoff Caprica will go to series:
The Final Finale Is Gonna Be Good: The cast just got the script for the series finale, and Mary McDonnell told me, "I'm satisfied completely with the complete saga of Battlestar. I don't even want to begin to talk about any of it, because I'm afraid I'll let it slip. But I will tell you that I personally feel that now that I know the end of the story, it has an even deeper resonance as a complete saga than it had in weekly episodic installments."
Vote Roslin-Adama in '08: Roslin has struggled to balance her empathy and her authority in the most recent episodes of Battlestar Galactica, so I wanted to know if McDonnell thought that Roslin was born to be the dying leader or if it's something she's grown into. She told me, "It was part of her destiny. She didn't know that she knew this stuff, she didn't want to know this stuff, she had no interest in it. Women in my generation weren't necessarily prepared for positions of power, we weren't brought up to do it. So, when you earn those positions, or when you're thrust into them, you discover how you handle power, and you discover a lot about yourself. Maybe Hillary Clinton was raised for it, but [Roslin] certainly wasn't."
Everyone's Best Frenemy: Now let's address Kara Thrace and her special destiny (aka the best cover band ever). As Starbuck learned to accept that she does have a mission from a higher power, there was some suggestion of a concurrent fear. Is that because Starbuck is afraid she's a Cylon or some other thing that might make her dangerous? According to Katee Sackhoff, "No, she's not afraid that it's dangerous. She's afraid that she'll fail. That's her biggest fear—that she's not good enough."
Twelve Colonies, to Be Continued: The proposed Battlestar Galactica spinoff Caprica (starring Esai Morales, Paula Malcolmson and Eric Stotlz) is officially still just a two-hour movie, but based strictly on the enthusiasm of Howe and NBC Universal chief of cable programming Bonnie Hammer, I'd say that Caprica is getting picked up. Howe wasn't making any promises yet, but he said, "Based on the casting and the writing and talent involved, I think it's going to be spectacular." Hammer agrees that it's good stuff: "The dailies look amazing." Yay!
Enjoy the finale tonight, guys, and come back Monday for the spoiler chat, where we'll have a little talk with the lovely Tricia Helfer about her new gig on Burn Notice.