The Miniseries: The Recap (Gaius/Six focused)

Cross-posted at BSG: The Journey Home - a Gaius/Six rewatch community.

I was told to write a brief and concise recap, and I have a feeling this isn't quite it. I cannot write brief. I tried not to try to be funny or insightful and just write down my observations, because I hate overdone recaps. I just briefly skimmed thru the scenes with others, and wrote down the gist of it, but I haven't deep-analyzed them. And really, I tried to not deep-analyze the Six/Gaius scenes either, so there'd be something left to discuss. I might not have time to post anything else until the weekend, but you know, discuss. I'll be back.

A Six - not Caprica - walks in wearing a red jacket and skirt. The man clearly doesn't know what to think. A human being with the cylons? "Are you alive?" the Six asks the man as she leans over to him. "Y-yes," the man stammers. "Prove it," Six whispers and they kiss. Suddenly a cylon baseship attacks the ship the guy's on. "It's begun," Six says. Any shippers for these lovebirds?

-Elsewhere: credits. JAMES CALLIS and TRICIA HELFER, most notably. Old rusty Battlestar Galactica is retiring, and so is old rusty Bill Adama. Tyrol and his men have found Adama's old plane and a picture of him with his sons. He is touched. Starbuck and Tigh get into a fight, and Starbuck gets sent into the brig. Bill and Saul talk about Starbuck; Bill likes her, Saul does not. In CAPRICA CITY, CAPRICA, Laura Roslin gets the diagnosis for advanced (breast) cancer. Next we see her on a plane with PA Billy. She hides her feelings and only allows herself to fall apart a little in the bathroom.-

Caprica Six walks through the market place in Caprica City. She stops to look at a little baby boy. The proud mother lets her hold him, and she says, "So light.. so fragile..." all creepily. The baby cries a little, and Six tells him, "You won't have to cry much longer", which seems pretty ominous. The mother picks up on this and tells her they should be going. Six observes how surprising it is that the fragile neck can carry such a heavy head, and the mom looks creeped out, but as she looks away for a moment, Six snaps said fragile neck. Six walks away very fast, and as we hear the mother scream, Six's eyes fill with tears. Our first tip that she's not all machine.

The first time we see Gaius Baltar, he's sitting in front of his TV, which is apparently an interactive one, giving an interview. His house looks very stylish and very, very expensive. Notably, he's wearing the same outfit HeadBaltar wears - the pin-striped black suit that makes him look very dapper. The embodiment of arrogance, he smarmily compliments the host. Asked about his views on technology, he explains that the cylon threat is long gone and fear shouldn't hamper the development of new technology. This is all very ironic, but he doesn't know it yet.

Six comes in, notably NOT wearing a red dress. She lays her handbag - or suitcase? It's metal but looks light - on a desk. She looks at Baltar across the room with adoration.

And they're at it. This first sex scene was the first thing they filmed, and while they're doing a good job, I do seem to sense some awkwardness (particularly from James, who had less experience with being naked on camera). It's not something that particularly bugs me, though; it's easy to imagine that, after all their time together, Baltar still finds Six's immense physical power both a turn-on and a bit scary. How many women can throw their man onto the bed like that?

Before they get that far, though, Six stops to ask if Gaius missed him - maybe his body did, but did his heart and soul? "Do you love me, Gaius?" The answer is obvious as Gaius stops in his tracks, horrified. Six saves face by claiming she was only kidding, and Gaius is visibly relieved. He probably thinks they'll be laughing at this five years from now when they're no longer exclusively seeing each other. As they make love, Six's spine starts to glow. "I'm so hot, Gaius," she moans. I'll say.

-Elsewhere: Lee Adama arrives on Galactica and is arrogant and rude. Tyrol and Boomer get into an argument, which leads to sex. Lee Adama has no respect for his Daddy.-

Back in the market place, Gaius and Six are walking together. Gaius arrogantly smokes a cigarette and then arrogantly tells her his program has been a success. (Actually, just assume he does everything arrogantly until Six tells him the truth.) Six points out that she deserves a little credit too. "I rewrote half your algorithms," she reminds him. He admits to this, but says she benefited too: "all that poking in the defense mainframe" will further her career. Dun dun dun!

Six says she has a meeting, and Gaius jokes he's very jealous. "I doubt it," says Six in a voice that suggests she's not completely joking. Gaius says he must go anyway. "I have a meeting too - business," he quickly adds. I'm sure. He walks away, and Six turns to meet SOMEONE or SOMETHING. "About time," she says. "I was wondering when you'd get here."

-Elsewhere: Laura Roslin and Billy get on board. Billy gets lost and meets Dualla. Roslin and Adama get into a little spat over technology (Roslin for, Adama against). Lee and Kara have a heart to heart. You can tell they're going to fall for each other. -

Gaius' house, night time. Six is sitting in a chair in the darkness of his bedroom. "Gaius," she says softly. Then louder: "Gaius!" Gaius sits up in the bed, as does a brunette. Oops. She asks who Six is. "Get out," Six tells her in a chilly voice. Gaius, unable to look either woman in the eye, babbles that Six is just a friend - then adds, "Well, more than a friend.. when I say friend..." Hee. It's all very feeble.

Six has no time for this: "Get out. Now." Her tone is creepy. Gaius sheepishly looks at the woman and she storms out. When she's gone, he starts to get dressed while giving Six his very weak "it's not you, it's me" speech: "It's a flaw in my character, one which I'm trying to overcome..." He still can't look at her. Six tells him to spare her from his excuses; she has come to tell him something. She's calm, despising and kinda scary, but as the camera zooms in on her eyes, we see she's fighting back tears.

-Elsewhere: Lee Adama still doesn't like his Daddy. Bill Adama blames himself for the death of his other son. Lee also blames him for it.-

Dawn is breaking as Six and Gaius are having their heart-to-heart. Gaius is mocking and disbelieving, but it seems like deep down he believes her. Six says she's a woman. Gaius, despisingly: "You're a synthetic woman. A robot." Six points out she's repeated it a few times, and Gaius says he doesn't believe her, because cylons are supposed to look like "walking chrome toasters". This is the first time cylons are referred to as toasters. Six says calmly that those models are still in use.

"Prove it!" Gaius says. Six says he believes her, because he's always known there was something different about her. "And you believe me because it flatters your ego, to believe that alone among all the billions of people of the twelve Colonies, you were chosen for my mission..." She says this in a mocking tone, like she enjoys her grip over him. Gaius is all "Mission?!", and she has to remind him about the defense main frame.

For a moment, Gaius looks like a scared child again, staring off into space. But it doesn't take too long for him to start washing his hands: "This had nothing to do with me!" Six, calm and composed, finds time to marvel at his skill for self-deception. "How do you do it?" she asks teasingly. Gaius points out that he might be facing death penalty for treason. Six doesn't seem too concerned for him. He takes the phone to call his attorney, but she tells him it won't be necessary: "There won't be anyone left to charge you with anything." Gaius just stares at her. "The children of humanity are returning home. Tonight." Gaius lays down the phone as he realizes what this means. A light flashes in the horizon.

-Elsewhere: There's a ceremony on Galactica. Bill Adama ad libs some of his speech, and it's clearly about him and Lee. Lee is touched.-

Gaius is watching three channels at once, all reporting the same thing: the cylon attack is underway. As each channel goes blank, he looks completely devastated. "What have I done? What will I do now? There's no way out." He hangs his head and cries. Six looks on with what seems like genuine compassion. Gaius realizes she hasn't made any plans to get away. "How are you leaving?" he demands. The bright light of a nuke meets his eye and he screams like a child. There's something amusing about that, even if I might do the same in that situation. Six sadly tells him she can't die; she'll be downloaded. "I'll just wake up somewhere else in an identical body." Gaius asks if there are more like her out there. "There are twelve models. I'm number six," Six tells him and the viewers. "I don't want to die," Gaius cries in panic. "Get down!" Six shouts and covers him as the nuke hits the house.

-Adama receives word about the cylon attack. Boomer and Helo are attacked and their plane is damaged. Lots and lots of SPACE BATTLES take place. Laura Roslin takes over Colonial One.-

Helo and Boomer have landed their broken plane on Caprica. Helo's watching mushroom clouds in the horizon and counts that he's seen six now. Just as Boomer gets it fixed, a bunch of people come running, among them one Gaius Baltar. He trips over and falls, and someone seems to walk all over him, but he gets up all determined.

-Elsewhere: Lee Adama and Aaron Doral meet on Colonial One. Lee is still arrogant.-

Helo and Boomer try to keep the people out, saying it's not a rescue ship. The crowd demands that children at least get on board, and they oblige. They have room for three more people after that. Gaius, among others, quickly raises his arm. He's all about survival still, so I don't think the guilt has fully hit him. Boomer says they will make lottery tickets and draw three numbers. Completely unbiased decision. People agree to this.

-Elsewhere: Space fighting takes place.-

Later on, the third number is called, and it's 47. Gaius does not have the winning ticket. An old woman next to him asks what her paper reads. Of course, it reads 47, and Gaius gives her a shifty look that suggests he might consider cheating. Suddenly Helo calls out, "Aren't you Gaius Baltar?" Gaius quickly responds with, "I haven't done anything!", which would make me very suspicious, but doesn't seem to affect Helo. Gaius tells everyone the woman has the winning number and gallantly walks her across the crowd. Helo decides to give up his seat for Gaius, because the fleet can use his brilliant mind. Boomer resist, almost in tears. "Look at those clouds and tell me this isn't the end of everything," Helo says. Boomer agrees, but kind of angrily. Gaius is very quick to get into the ship before anyone changes their mind. As he gets on, he sees HeadSix in the crowd for the first time, glowing in her red dress. But when he looks back, there's only a ratty old man there.

-Elsewhere: Colonial One receives word that President Adar and the cabinet are all dead, and Laura Roslin has to step in as president. Laura says to Lee she never wanted to be in politics. She takes her vows, first with a trembling voice, then more stern. Lots of press record the moment.
A random kid named Boxey talks to Boomer, who says she also lost her parents when she was little.-

On the ship, Gaius sees HeadSix again. She's glowing and tells him this is why she loves him: "You're a survivor." She disappears as Gaius shakes his head. This won't work for much longer. Gaius looks overcome by guilt and shame again, and he hangs his head.


Gaius gets on board Colonial One. Boomer's talking to Lee as we see him stepping out of the plane. Boomer says Helo gave up his seat for Gaius, "I hope he's worth it!" she snaps loud enough for him to hear. Gaius looks at her with a cute "what did I do NOW?" expression. Lee tells Gaius that the president has asked to see him. "President Adar is alive?" Gaius says, freaked out. You can tell he thinks he's survived only to get sentenced to death. Lee tells him there's a new president, and Gaius is relieved.

President Laura Roslin is happy to see Gaius. How many times was Laura actually happy to see him? Maybe we should count them. She tells him they met last year. Gaius stammers that he's not good at remembering faces, but Laura doesn't get offended: "I wouldn't remember me either." She gets back to business and tells Gaius she wants him to be her scientific advisor in all matters cylon.

-Leoben Conoy is found hiding somewhere in the storage rooms. He's all kinds of creepy. -

Six appears again as Gaius is working on some papers. He tries to ignore her, but she tells him it won't help. He says he's decided she's just a part of his subconscious trying to deal with all this. Sounds like a nice scientific explanation, and typical of him. "So I'm... only in your head?" Six asks flirtily. She torments him by asking, "Have you considered the possibility that I might very well be only in your head without being a hallucination?" She suggests the cylons implanted a chip in his head - a theory we now know to be false, but it's a nice little mindfrak. Gaius looks like he's horrified, but tries to play it cool.

Six asks what he's working on. gaius snaps, "If you're in my head, you know." "Indulge me," Six says sexily, but at the same time, kinda scarily. Gaius says he's trying to figure out how the cylons got to the colonial defense programs. He says it was Six's work, and Six admits to this. She says she had other motives than being programmed: "What I want most of all is for you to love me. Don't you know - God is love?" She leans in to kiss him... and then he yells "NO!" and she's gone. I had forgotten how she kept disappearing in these first scenes. I'm kind of glad she didn't later on. I think their interactions are more interesting when he's tormented by her presence, but also likes her being there, as his only ally.

-Elsewhere: Leoben and Adama somehow manage to get stuck in the gutter together. Leoben is still being all kinds of weird and Adama gets suspicious. Laura Roslin has to make her first decision as president and let some people die, including a cute little girl. She feels burdened by her responsibility.-

Billy Keikeya shows Gaius to the CIC. He stops to ask Dualla for directions. Dualla leans over and kisses him passionately, which is a surprise to both guys. Gaius gives Billy a very comical look. "Really? This guy?" he seems to be thinking. I bet he has a newfound respect for Billy.

-Tyrol kisses Boomer with much passion and relief. Boomer has apparently adopted Boxey. Whatever. There's some more Kara/Lee, but we're ignoring that, right? Adama figures out Leoben is a cylon, and he tries to deny it, but he's looking like the living dead so it's pretty obvious. -

This is an important scene, because it's the first one between Gaius and Felix Gaeta. It's also the first time Gaius has to talk to a "real" person and ignore HeadSix. So we're setting up two series-long themes here.

Technobabble: the cylons implanted a virus into the colonial defense system, thus disabling them. Gaeta tells Gaius that Galactica is not in any networks, and Gaius thinks this will protect the ship from any harm. Still, he wants to test the systems. He's putting on his arrogant face again and acting very important.

Gaeta wants to linger a bit longer and stops to say, compassionately, that this must be so hard for Gaius. Unfortunately, Gaius has no idea what he's talking about. "The guilt?" Gaeta tries. Six appears and leans in to say, "I remember you telling me once that guilt is something small people feel when they run out of excuses for their behavior." I love that quote. Very Baltar. Gaius tries very hard to not look freaked out by Six, but you can see him jolt in horror. He tells Gaeta, in the same tone he used with Six earlier when he talked about this flaw in his character: "It is...hard... I feel... responsible... in a way...for what happened..."

Six tells Gaius she loves him precisely because he doesn't feel guilty: "You have a clarity of spirit. You're not burdened by conscience, or guilt, or regret..." I'm intrigued by this quote, but we can discuss it more later. Gaeta warmly tells him not to beat himself up: "It's not like you knew what they were doing." Gaius rolls his eyes to signal he couldn't know, one of those hilarious looks he has. Six torments him, her tone going from amused, to angry, to seductive:

"It's not like you knew you were lying... It's not like you were breaking the law... It's not like you cheat on women...It's not like the world's coming apart and all you could think of was Gaius Baltar."
She sits on the console, almost into his lap.

As Six strokes his hair, Gaius is clearly trying to keep his thoughts clear while his libido is winning: "No, I know... exactly what you're saying... I know." Gaeta looks at him nonplussed and then leaves. Is he a little disappointed in his hero already? Or did this meeting make him all the more fascinated with this brilliant yet weird man? Discuss.

Six is enjoying this and tells Gaius, "I really hope you make it out of this alive. I think we could have a real future together." He says bitterly, "That would be special," and Six takes offense at his tone. She says he's all sarcastic when she's helping him. Gaius asks how she's helping, so she demonstrates by turning his head into the right direction. Turns out there's a cylon device between two consoles. That's what she had in her suitcase in the earlier scenes, as a flashback shows us. Gaius says she told him it was an electronic organizer. "That would be a lie," whispers Six. I'm not sure how their electronic organizers look, but come on. It looks like a set of speakers to me. Gaius realizes what this means - there's another cylon on Galactica.

Gaius goes in for a closer look, trying hard to appear casual as he goes around and round the computers. Gaeta walks by and taps his shoulder - shippers, take note - and asks if everything's going ok. Gaius says he's just going to check one more time that the computers are fine. As he gets back into his chair, Six shows up again and Gaius tells him she's not helping. He asks what the device is for, and she pretends (?) she doesn't know. He says he needs to warn the others. She ad libs a whole conversation between him and the Galactica crew, ending with "I forgot to mention I'm familiar with their technology because I've slept with a cylon for the last two years." She's really enjoying this. Gaius says he'll think of something.

Six - or Gaius, depending on how you interpret HeadSix - has a one-track mind and puts her hand down his pants, causing much pleasure. Just as Gaius cocks his head back and moans, Aaron Doral shows up with a list of ships who use his program. It takes Gaius quite a while to recover. Doral asks, "Are you OK? You look a little flushed." Gaius snaps that he's OK and Doral wanders off to do whatever he's supposedly doing on that ship. He seems very suspicious now that I know he's a cylon.

Gaius has thought of something, i.e. lying that Doral is a cylon. He's an easy suspect since he's been walking around the ship unwatched, yet he's an outsider. "I don't remember seeing him in any cylon parties", Six says. That's the same line Cavil used on Chief Tyrol when he was suspecting he's a cylon. I guess it's safe to assume that this joke means the person IS a cylon. Gaius notes there is a problem. "Morally?" Six mocks. "Practically," Gaius says and looks at her sternly. How will they reveal that "cylons look like us now", without getting him caught?

-Elsewhere: Leoben Conoy's body is carried away. Tigh is horrified that "the cylons look like us now". Well, that takes care of that problem. Tigh says anyone could be a cylon, which is very ironic for obvious reasons. Tigh tells Adama Lee is alive. Lee and Adama meet and hug, realizing they only have each other now. They tear up. -

Tigh, Adama and Gaius are in Adama's quarters having a very confidential meeting. Tigh says Leoben had everything a human body has. Gaius tries hard to look horrified and shocked, and adds that there were synthetic compounds found during the cremation. "So he was a cylon?" he says, feigning disbelief (very poorly). Adama and Tigh tell him they need him. "Word has it you're a genius," Tigh says. Gaius has to restrain a big smile and is obviously trying to come up with some modest way of agreeing. He settles for "I'll do my best, Commander." Adama and Tigh are very calm and matter-of-fact and a stark contrast to Gaius' eye-bulging. How do they not suspect something? They tell him to keep it under his hat. "I'll be very discreet," Gaius promises.

-Elsewhere: Starbuck is sent on a mission. She tells Lee that his dead brother should have failed his pilot's test, but Starbuck let him thru because they were a couple.-

Doral is very discreetly arrested in the hallway by a bunch of armed guards.

Brig. Doral's already in handcuffs, shouting protests at them. Tigh asks why he isn't sick from radiation, like Leoben was. Gaius says that it must take effect slowly. Tigh asks if he's sure, and Gaius looks so obviously guilty you'd think Tigh can see right thru him. To his credit, Tigh does look pretty suspicious, but that could just be his usual "I hate people" look. Gaius babbles some nonsense about how he analyzed Doral's hair and it had synthetic fibres. He's clearly made it all up, but he does have it on paper in case Tigh should want evidence. "I'll take your word for it," grumps Tigh who couldn't care less about science. This is probably what Gaius was counting on. Six appears, clapping her hands: "And just like that, Dr Baltar invents the AMAZING cylon detector!" It's hard to tell if she's mocking or admiring, or both at the same time.

Tigh says everyone on board has to be tested. As he's already leaving, Gaius turns back as if he just now remembered that Doral seemed.. very interested.. in this strange device in the CIC. He's actually lying uncharacteristically well here, acting like he's not sure if he should even be saying this. Six ties her arms around him like a snake and says admiringly that his brain should be tested. Doral acts like he has no idea what this is about, so he's either a good liar or a sleeper agent. Gaius casts nervous glances at him. I maintain he's feeling guilty, but my girlfriend thought it's just fear of being found out.

-Elsewhere: the device is taken down. Tigh blames himself for not noticing it, and tells Gaeta to take the device to Baltar for testing.
Adama shows up at Roslin's quarters. He wants to stay to fight the war. Roslin tells him that there are only 50 000 people left alive, and they need to escape the cylons and make babies to survive. When Adama hears how many cylon fleets there are waiting for them, he decides they will all jump away and escape like Roslin suggested. The only "person" left behind: Aaron Doral.

SPACE BATTLES are fought.

Adama lies to people that they're going to find Earth, even if he doesn't even believe Earth exists. People say "So say we all" a lot.

Tigh and Starbuck talk. Tigh admits she was brave in combat, and apologizes to her, even if it seems to require a lot of him. Starbuck tells him he's weak, and a drunk. Harsh.

Adama tells Roslin that sometimes you need to lie so people can have hope and survive.-

Gaius is walking down the corridor, HeadSix at his heels. She tells him cylons will get them, and informs him about sleeper agents. Gaius says they will find the cylons among them. "We? You are not on their side, Gaius," Six tells him, but he's not fazed. For the first time, Gaius turns to face her with a stern look, controlling the situation. "I am NOT on anybody's side," he says and just walks away, leaving HeadSix to stand and think, as if she's a separate character outside of him. Which I guess she was. Awesome.

-Adama finds a note saying "There are only twelve cylon models." Doral really IS a cylon. So is Boomer. I'm sure you're all very surprised at this point.-

First Reactions: "A Disquiet Follows My Soul"

(I know I'm two weeks late with this, but I still haven't rewatched the episode, so these are my first reactions.)

All in all, I thought this episode was classic BSG. I'm not fond of CIC scenes, but I realized I had missed them. The show was well paced and competently written, which can't be said for some of the other season 4 episodes. I think Ron Moore as a writer makes a world of difference. I can understand the value of a quiet build-up episode, but on the other hand, you only have eight episodes to go, so something definite could have happened. This was my biggest disappointment with the episode: that basically nothing new happened. There could have been way more discussion of the revelations in Sometimes a Great Notion. I can't believe they didn't mention any of those again.

Doc Cottle is back! I love him and his grumpy, inappropriate, chain-smoking ways.
Nurse: "That's a lot of smoking around a pregnant woman."
Cottle: "She'll live."
Hee! Cottle, how I love thee! Besides, I'm sure cylon fetuses can handle a little cigarette smoke. They can cure cancer, after all.

Mixed feelings about Caprica-Six/Tigh. On the one hand, it was a very sweet scene and we got Caprica's reaction to her pregnancy! On the other hand - noooo this is so wrong this should be Baltar's child! Baltar and Caprica 4evah!

I was hoping we'd get some answers to questions that have bugged me: is Caprica still in the brig, or with Saul now? Is she being "pardoned" (not that she did anything except be a cylon and get on board the ship)? Are they going to let her have the child? What does HeadBaltar think of all this? But no, we move straight on to the other characters and Caprica isn't seen again until next episode. I'm beginning to feel that Tricia got an even more raw deal out of this season than James.

And what about Saul´s reactions? He just realized his dead wife - whom he killed - is the final cylon. We get no scenes with him dealing with this, and only one WTF scene where Lee tells the journalists that they believe the final cylon is dead - she died some time ago, and they realize he knows who it is and get on his case. The WTF element being: how does Lee know? When did Saul tell him? Is there a big scene that was cut here where Saul told them, and we never got to see it? The big final cylon reveal is now completely brushed away? Argh.

Nicky's Daddy issues: Ugh. Hot Dog? He's not an important enough character and I think this is just stupid and soap opera-ish. Chief raised Nicky so far, so I don't see why Hot Dog has to suddenly take responsibility. I don't have much to say to this, except that I love the toddler who plays Nicky. He's so adorably chubby, I enjoy any scene he's in just for that.

I liked Gaeta's growing discontent, it seemed true to life and fitting for his character. Gaeta started out an optimist, admiring Adama and Baltar, and feels like he's been betrayed by them both by now. The Gaeta/Kara scene was intense - but why no more Kara in the episode? Hello, she found her own corroding corpse. So yeah, it's nice that she's in a bad mood, but what about in private? Did she get a visit from HeadLeoben? Did she ever try to tell Lee again?

As usual, way too much Adama/Roslin. I get that they're the "heart of the show" to many viewers, but I think their scenes always run a little long, usually at other characters' expense. I did like that Laura was going a little insane and Adama had to be alone with the tough decisions. And we have a scene with them in bed. Enjoy, A/R shippers. I knew this would come sooner or later; it doesn't evoke particularly strong feelings for me. On a first watch of the miniseries/season one, I really liked Laura Roslin, but I've come to like her less and less over the years (months, for me, as I've only been a fan for the last six months). I don't know if the writers are trying to make her a tyrant, or if their idea of democracy is that the "moral winner" gets to lead however she chooses, but I think it's problematic. I'll return to this with the next episode.

And - yay for Baltar! Unlike last week's 5-second scenes, this time he has a real scene where we see his reactions. He's drunk, smoking, and losing his religion (which he probably never had in the first place). I loved the selfish rant against God and not even trying to soothe his followers or give them any hope. Great leader. One of the things James is really good at is playing drunk; he has just the right amount of slur and ridiculous melodrama.
Also: "Are you children? - Well, obviously you're a child... There are some children present, but..." Hee!

What is Baltar feeling? Does his guilt revisit him now that they weren't led to the promised land? Does he feel cheated by Head Six who promised he'd be the hand of god and that it all has a meaning? We don't know, because there was a HeadSix scene here and it was cut. That's right, it was cut. See Bear's Battlestar Blog for a photo of Baltar/HeadSix in that scene. What a waste! Head Six has been an important part of Baltar's psyche, and the show, from the very beginning and I think it's just wrong to keep cutting her out. This has been going on since season three, and I'm very annoyed.

If James and Tricia are going to have such a miniscule role on the show, you might want to take their names off the credits and replace them with, like, Richard Hatch. Because he had way too many scenes in this episode. Wayy too many. I'll discuss Zarek more in the next post, but I'll say that I just can't bring myself to like him or get any of his motivations, and at the same time, I hate feeling like the show wants me to hate him. This is not supposed to be a black and white show, and if we're going to see so much Zarek, at least give him a personality outside of politics, a life story, something.

However, the fact that Gaeta is teaming up with him is very intriguing.

Starfury Q&A - James Callis / Katee Sackhoff, Part 1

So, I'm very excited about this. I have been given the audio files of the Starfury Q&A's with James. Many thanks to my anonymous donator!

I have been working hard on these, and I'll be posting the transcript with commentary within the next couple of days. Since these are one-hour files, I realized that posting the entire transcripts with commentary at once might be, to quote James, "an almost Herculean undertaking", so I will do half and half instead. I'll post the first parts of both transcripts, then the second parts.

So this Q&A took place on the 7th of December in Heathrow, London, where the Starfury convention was held.

I've decided to transcribe everything Katee says as well, and might even indulge in a little Katee gushing. I like her, I think she is a great actress and she says some smart things here. James has a big-brotherly attitude on Katee here, and seems to constantly say things to reassure her or help her feel more at ease. Which was totally sweet. He also gave this incredibly sweet monologue about how much he likes Katee/Starbuck and how strong she is, but this will be in part 2.

So, applause, they come on and say hi. They remark on how cold it is, and I think Katee says the door in the bathroom was freezing. I have trouble hearing this very well, though, because the audience is still clapping and getting settled.

James: Did you all have a good evening last night?

Crowd: Yeah!

James: Did you all drink too much?

Crowd: Yeah!

Hee! He sounds amused at himself, and I'm wondering if he drank too much, because he did look much more tired in the second day photos than he did in the first day ones.

The first question is a bit unclear at first and Katee has to ask a few times what the person means. I think that in the end, it's about Starbuck being in competition with Kat, and how Katee had said it was a hard episode to play. So the question is why she found it hard.

Katee: I love the actress that plays Kat, it's a great girl. I found it hard to believe that Starbuck would ever be intimidated by another pilot. I didn't think that that was very true to form, and I also thought that if she was ever hit by another woman she would beat the shit out of them. And she didn't do it. So I kind of thought that it was an episode where... You know, and it happened a couple of times, but I think it was the first time I felt that... this isn't her. Um, and ultimately it ended up helping me find who she was at the very end. So yeah, it was difficult. It's always difficult to play those roles where you know, you... It's gotta be ? the the final five though, you play this character, you think you're one thing, you go four years playing this character, all of a sudden you realize that you're completely different. So then you start second-guessing everything you've done. So it was kinda like that.

What's interesting here is that James obviously had a lot of moments like that too, and he always contested them. Some of the scenes were changed because of his demands - "Baltar didn't just nonchalantly sign the death list in Precipice" being my favorite example that I keep bringing up. On the other hand, he did do the accent change in Dirty Hands even if he didn't really think that was true to form (more on that in the James/Mark Sheppard transcript). I'm intrigued by that "find who she was at the very end". What could that be referring to? I'm tentatively excited about the finale, and I think something very awesome might come for Starbuck - I loved that scene where she found herself dead.

[These next questions are transcribed partially based on the Youtube video file, which is why there's some commentary on how James looks.]

James is asked if he has "any desires to do a Hamlet", apparently because David Tennant is doing it. He sounds a bit like he doesn't have a real answer to this.

James: Um..uh.. maybe one day, I might... but I'm not, I dunno. I like Shakespeare, I haven't been on stage for a while. I think science fiction is a bit like, I remember somebody saying that Strek Trek is like bad Shakespeare, you had like these two [embassies] from either side, they've got a political debate, bla bla... Yeah, it's fascinating. I'd actually love to get a chance to see David Tennant playing Hamlet right now, but I imagine that... [someone says something from the audience] No, I mean that, but like totally sold out, so...

I'm not really sure if I'd like to see him do Shakespeare. For one thing, I wouldn't understand anything. I have actually read Hamlet, discussed it in class and seen a performance of it on video (as well as a modernized movie version), but I still don't feel like I really "get" it. James probably does, though.

James and Katee's singing voices are complimented, and I think the question is if they'd like to sing for the crowd today.

James: "Battlestar: The Musical. (?)"

Katee: "I always thought that would be kinda fun to do, like they did on Buffy."

They both look very amused, and the crowd laughs. It's a silly question, but it makes for a nice warm feel.(I'm glad BSG didn't do a musical episode, by the way. Those might be fun to do, but they always end up taking away from the reality of the show.)

The next question is asked for someone who couldn't be here, because they're having, and I couldn't catch this earlier, but it's "dirty weekend in Belgium". Which explains why people laugh and James says, "Great" looking and sounding like he finds this funny. Heh.

So on to the question: Speaking of David Tennant, would he be interested in being the next Doctor Who? If someone called him and said, "James, come to Cardiff, we want you to be Doctor Who, what would you say?"

James: I think it would be like that radio... phone-in hoax line, it'd be like... actually the guy from Canada who rang up Sarah Palin and pretended to be Nicolas Sarkozy. [laughter] And so... yeah, no, I um... Time travel... It's not... It's that on some level, the parts are similar in my mind, not that they are at all, but I have been a doctor or professor, whatever, in a sci fi drama. Being Doctor Who is not the right idea for me right now."

There's a ripple of (mock?-) disappointed "Awwww" in the audience. (James looks amused)

James: "Sorry. (laughter) Maybe, but I mean they could cast maybe a female Doctor Who? [Cocks his eyes meaningfully at Katee; laughter] A real kick-arse woman [like her]."

I don't have much to say about this; the Dr Who thing is really persistent and actually a lot of the James blogsearch results will always be "I want James Callis to be the next Dr Who!" Now that the next Dr Who has actually been announced, maybe this will die down a little. It'd be a cool role, but I can see why James doesn't want to do it at the moment (and I'm not sure if they've asked him either, but it seems feasible that they'd consider him in the future, if they look at the online discussions at all).

On a first listening, I thought he was saying, "Maybe they could cast me as a female Doctor Who?" That would have been funny. Kinda nonsensical, but funny. I love when James says "kick-arse" or "bad-arse". It just sounds amusing. I guess to my mind, American English is the norm and the other regional varieties are always a bit exotic.

And hee at the hoax bit! Always so self-deprecating. Somehow it feels funny that he'd bring up Sarah Palin - she's someone my girlfriend and I have often discussed (mostly mockingly), so it's odd to see the same topic come up in a James context. I realize we live in the same universe and all; it's possible he celebrated Obama's victory just like we did, but it still feels a little surreal. (I had another dream where James was elected president of the USA. Maybe it was because of writing that bit in the post.)

Katee is asked about Nathan Fillion and if there were funny pranks on set while she was filming with him.

Katee: That movie was shot simultaneously with Battlestar. So my days on White Noise 2 are filled with fog. I don't really remember much. It was also the paint episode with Callum. So it was all.. I was going from White Noise, Nathan dying, to painting with Callum. There was... he is a prankster, but the one thing I have to say is that he got me to quit smoking. So he told me a story that was so.. hard to hear about um.. I can't remember who it was about, a family friend of his who ultimately passed away from smoking, and told me the entire story from the diagnosis with cancer till the end. I felt... I couldn't smoke after that, I was like.. oh my god. So... anyway. I miss it though. (laughter)

James: And the funny story he told you was...?

(laughter)

Katee: (laughs) There's no but, there's no funny story. Nathan is a very very good guy. The pranks he pulled with everyone else, it was them more than me.

[End of video]
It's interesting that she was working on something else while doing the very intense paint scene with Leoben. That was one of my favorite episodes from season 3, and Katee was great in it, so maybe she had trouble focusing on a movie project at the same time. I could imagine that any BSG character, and definitely Starbuck, would take so much from an actor that it's impossible to do something else.

Katee is asked if Starbuck would have killed Cain, had Adama given the order. I liked this question, because it seems to go into Starbuck's personality, and also because I loved the Pegasus arc.

Katee: Of course. Yeah. Starbuck walked into that situation knowing that she wasn't going to walk out of it. She knew she wouldn't come back. And.. She is.. At the end of the day, she's a very good soldier. She always did what she was told. And I think um... even if she did it ? and whining and crying the entire time, she still did it. So she would have done it. I'm very sure.

And how would her relationship with Adama have looked after that? (A really good follow-up question, too.)

Katee: I don't think Kara would have made it out of there alive. There were too many marines? with rifles pointed at her. That was what it was, it was a suicide mission. And that's how Adama played it, that's how myself and Jamie played it. Jamie didn't go, but he was supposed to go with her, that was how we chose to play the scene, I don't know if that's how it looked, but that's kind of...

I hadn't really thought of that myself. It's true, they probably would have killed her, but as a viewer, I hadn't considered the possibility that Starbuck could die like that in mid-season (until she did die in season three, I guess). It's a very interesting point, and I like the way Katee talks about Kara here, you can tell she's given the character a lot of thought.

Silence falls for a moment, and James quips: "Do you know any good songs?" Hee. People laugh. I like James' ice-breaking little comments; he seems to be determined to put both Katee and the audience at ease.

[This, again, is partially from the Youtube file, but I've added a few things that I didn't hear there.]

James is asked about Gaius and Gaeta, by someone who met Alessandro Juliani and he had said he's not "against a romance between Gaius and Gaeta" (the audience laughs a lot at this one).

James: I just wish he'd told me, it's tragic that I found out through the grapevine now. (laughter) I think that that was something that he really had programmed into the background of his character. He's a very subtle, very clever actor, a brilliant actor. And for a while I think fell a bit... Oh, *I* felt initially that, you know, he had the rather thankless task of talking kinda technobabble in the CIC and stuff. He's quite brilliant to work with. And so really, again, totally taking his own lead. He said to me on several occasions, he was like, "You know, I just don't buy the ridiculous hero worship that you know, I'm going to..."

Because he was so clever very early on, he could have exposed me or found out that it was really... me. There's something about the computer codes and I ask him to erase them, in the miniseries, in the pilot. And I think he had the idea then that he'd have this fawning respect, based on maybe a kind of... a latent homosexuality, that would continuously blindsight him, and think about the better side of Gaius' qualities. Gaius being the rid... gargantuan egomaniac and narcissist that he is, is like.. has no idea that's going on on some level. He'd be very surprised. It adds elements to that. So I think it might have been... you know, not reciprocated on that level unfortunately."

This is a great answer. It proves that Alessandro had really thought of this from the start, and it's not just something the fans projected onto the character. There were some complaints about that recently at Skiffy, and I feel very validated now that this is obviously not just the fans' imagination running rampant. Gaeta loves Gaius! Squee!

To continue a bit on my original notes, the complaint at Skiffy was that people are "desperate" to see Gaeta as gay, and even after the first webisode spoilers and pictures came online, people were still saying this. Like, they were comparing to seeing the original Starbuck and Apollo as a gay couple. I think there's a huge difference, because in this case, the subtext is on the show itself, and not just "I want to see more gay characters on TV". (Not that there's anything wrong with that subtext either, but it does get tedious if all friends on TV are suddenly gay.)

I also like how James points out the "technobabble in CIC" thing. Yes. Thank you. I really like Alessandro as an actor; I think Gaeta's a great character, and I really think he was shortchanged in the first season doing those boring "dradis contact, sir" scenes. I've been glad to see him as the star of the new webisodes and hope for a more central role in 4.5. Addendum: his role in the season is still building up, but I'm intrigued that he seems to be going "evil" and joining Zarek. I just hope this doesn't mean he'll be dead by the end of next week's episode.

Which characters would they have liked to have sex with? (lots of laughter from the audience)

James: How long have you got? (laughter) Christ, oh. I don't know about Katee, but you know, our set was filled with just the most beautiful women all of the time. All of them happened to be, are, superb actresses as well. I was very excited to get a kiss out of Mary McDonnell. To be honest, it really wasn't written that way. It was just written that she blows a gun off in my head. We were saying, wouldn't it be... I think there was an idea about, you know, oh Baltar's kissed everybody, so [wouldn't it be funny] that in a dream... It's so unusual that Laura would kiss Gaius. And so that was the thing that we went on, cos we just shot that as a kind of thing that, oh we possibly weren't going to use that. But it was the... what was fun to me in that moment was the kind of thing about.. I knew it was a dream, because why would Laura Roslin ever want to kiss Gaius Baltar? Yes, lots of people... If only the show had gone on another year, I'm sure I could have accommodated several more. (laughter) Over to you, Katee. (laughter)

It was written as her shooting Gaius? Wow. Absolutely the right idea to keep it like this. So this is season 3, Collaborators, where Gaius has that dream where everyone supposedly forgives him and is all, "Water under the bridge", even frakking Tigh. HeadSix goes in angry conscience mode and Adama can suddenly see her. And then Laura Roslin suddenly says, "I've always wanted you" and leans over to kiss him. I thought it was a very Gaius dream - self-justifications and women randomly throwing themselves at her. In the third season gag reel, you can also see that Mary falls onto James' lap while doing the kiss, and they both laugh. It's very cute.

Katee: Um.. I don't know if there's many men on the show that I didn't have some [communal?] with... I was disappointed that they never talked about the fact that Kara and Gaius slept together, it literally just happened and was never brought up again! (laughter) I don't know if they had like a ratings dip in that scene or something? They went, "Well, that's not working!" (laughter) (chuckles) Um.. so I don't know. I always kind of thought that Michael Hogan is just a ... just a beautiful person and such an extremely good actor. And uh.. (laughter) He kinda makes me feel all special! (laughter) And of course I want to hear him go, (imitates the Saul Tigh laughter) Hoo hoo hoo! -in the middle of a sex scene. (laughter)

Heee! The famous Saul Tigh laughter! It's actually interesting that Lucy Lawless, too, mentioned in her Q&A that she's always had a thing for Michael Hogan. Maybe there's something particularly sexy about him when you see him in person. I'm not sure what Starbuck fans thought of the Gaius/Kara sex scene, but I always thought it was a good example of Gaius' ego at play: woman says someone else's name, you're wounded and driven to drink.

Asked if they read fan sites, forums or fan fiction. That's how I hear the question anyway. Katee starts to answer the question in a wider sense, like about forums and sites, and James tells her it's about fan fiction. I don't really blame him, because I have trouble hearing the person myself. (Why does James think Katee doesn't know what fan fiction is though?)

Katee: "I don't. I made the mistake of doing that in the beginning and um.. you know, you can never... win everyone. You can never..."

James: "She was talking about fan fiction."

Katee: "Oh, fan FICTION, someone handed me..."

James: "So you know, like, that somebody's written about... projective ideas of...your character..."

Katee: "Yeah, yeah yeah. Someone handed me one time...um...something about... me being a porn star." (laughter) "Um, and I was like, really offended. And so I don't."

James: "She gave it to me." (laughter)

James: "To be honest, I haven't read it. Uh... I know it's out there in the sense of on the internet, but I just feel that that takes um...uh... It's one of, you know, I play Gaius Baltar, I'm not really interested now in that kind of... What other people feel and see, it's like... My donation to the party is kind of... over, like that, and uh... So I haven't."

Katee: "I just want to add, mine was written about me as a person, not as Kara. That's why I was so mad. That's why. Sorry."
(shocked oooooh in the crowd)

I can see why they wouldn't read the fan fiction. I think James is trying to be really nice here, knowing there may be people in the audience who write fan fiction; he sounds a bit apologetic and tentative. What I assume he's saying is that it could never feel real to him because he's been inside Gaius' head. If the show is real to you as an actor, it might be harder to get in the mindset of enjoying fan fiction. Perhaps he's also referring to how many fans really misread Gaius. I mean, half the stuff in the forums is like "he's evil, has no remorse, no conscience, no empathy..." I don't know how much James has read of that, but it angers me on a regular basis that people refuse to see the good sides of Gaius' personality. I think the show needs subtitles for dummies: "Gaius is exhibiting empathy for another person." "Here, Gaius is feeling guilty even if he is also feeling horny. It is possible to feel both at the same time."

I have mixed feelings about fan fiction; I've loved some of it, but other times I've felt I could be reading a story about any set of characters, because it doesn't really have anything to do with BSG. I think James might enjoy some of the crack fic though, because it's just that kind of humor. You could even say that his own pages in the BSG book are like a crack fic written from the point of view of Gaius Baltar.

And a special message to the fan who wrote that fiction about Katee: You are a complete, utter douchebag and should be ashamed of yourself. Just because you find a star attractive, it doesn't make her your personal sex toy. Keep that stuff to yourself, dude.

Katee's asked if the fan response to her playing Starbuck affected her performance.

Katee: This is where it was... started to say before I understood it was fan fiction, I dunno... I did make the mistake in the beginning of reading the message boards, which was wrong. I should never have done it. Because... I think that people have such a love for the original series, they still do, that any... drastic change the character was going to um, kind of, you know, create this panic. And so I read that while we were shooting miniseries, I actually went to like a.. java page in Vancouver, I looked at the...website, and um... and ultimately ended up playing Starbuck way too masculine in the miniseries because of the messageboards. Because people were convinced that I wouldn't be able to play Starbuck.

And I didn't really... I knew that I was doing it at the time, but I didn't think I would notice it when it came out. But I ended up watching it and it... I guess it worked in a sense because I think my insecurity from those messageboards came through as Starbuck's insecurity. So it ended up working, um.. but that was the last time I read the messageboards. So I just um... Like I said you can't, you can't make everyone happy. That was kind of the realization I came to was that... There's always going to be someone somewhere who thinks you are horrible. And that's fine. I don't need to talk to them.

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it's a shame if they don't read what the fans say about them, because there will be many people whose lives they have touched and who can't go to conventions for whatever reason. I think for them, for us, it would be nice to know that they also read what we write somewhere online. On the other hand, I can totally understand her reaction because forums can be huge and disorienting (Skiffy certainly is), and some stuff online is just plain mean. Some people don't really consider that the stars might be reading. Criticism is one thing, but you can be critical without being a complete jerk. (And you can watch the show before you start saying she wouldn't be able to play the role. Eye-roll.)

Every time I write a post, I try to keep in mind that James (or his family or friends) might find it one day. I write to the fans, but I want the blog to be a place that he would feel comfortable visiting too. If I want to discuss perverted sexual fantasies, I can do that in private emails. So my conscience is clear in that sense. (Not that I have any perverted fantasies, ahem.)

A question about Starbuck and Boomer being played by women. At this point, I can't hear very well what either the question of the answer is.

Katee: I kept reminding people that, you do remember that Boomer was a black man. And now she's a Korean female. That didn't seem to bother them much. People loved Dirk Benedict, they still do, and um... You know, had they cast a man, I think it would have been worse. So...

James jokes something which I can't hear, but that I guess is something like "Gaius would think so, certainly". People laugh. Katee says it's not "unfair", or it's not "an affair". Um, I'll edit this bit later. :P

James is asked about getting "pushed around by women". Is it him or Gaius?

Katee: He loves it! (laughter)

James: I dunno. No, I really wouldn't say it's me, at all. Um, but there's something about... uh... about that that's terribly funny and amusing. And uh...oh, dear! It's one of these things that's like .. I think a lot of people, a lot of actors would be very adverse to doing that. Because it's something about, you know, looking like a coward or being uh, being... you know, not strong, not physically strong, but in this light it's kind of uh.. I suppose I really get pushed around physically by.. Tricia Helfer, who is either an extraordinary, extraordinary robot, as the whole idea of... they push you, they can crush glass, they're cylons. Or she's a manifestation of something in my head which is equally strong, you know, you can't fight against it.

The only other woman that I'm constantly up against is Laura Roslin. And that very much is a battle of wills. And I've been on... in this series as well, they have another ? apart from playing Gaius Baltar. The way we see this thing is that Laura, she ? more than Gaius. She's right, he's not. And what we have, or what Gaius has for her, is tremendous respect. He actually likes her. Can't say that.. Cos Laura's ... more of an adult, I'm sure she doesn't like Gaius. [chuckles] It's not as mutual on that level. But yeah, being pushed around is totally... Being pushed around like that in that fashion... and being.. Are you familiar with the term "political buskin"? Buskin is a kind of... It's a shoe that apparently was worn by Athenian dramatists back in the Greek drama, ? and Aristoteles, back in the day, and the advantage of a buskin is it fits on either foot. So Gaius is a real buskin - He's like, "hey I love you, I love you", "I totally hate you"... like whatever the situation demands, I'm not uh... like that, you know.

Professor James teaches us about the buskin. (Which is a really cute word and has me in giggles, having to type it over and over. Heee, buskin!) I'm constantly learning new words and concepts - I don't think I've done a transcript yet where I didn't learn something new. Actually, this is something that's related to his profession, so it's slightly less amusing than something like "I was randomly reading a book about parallel universes..." But it still amuses me. It's true about Gaius, too. I think there are two characters on the show who have been politically playing both sides, and I'd say they're Gaius and Zarek. However, the difference between them is that Zarek has an agenda, while Gaius is just trying to survive and, if possible, get people to admire him. Of course, it looks like Gaeta is joining Zarek's side now, which will be very interesting.

What I'd like to sort of challenge here is the idea that Laura is "right" or a good person. Laura has done a lot of things that I felt were downright cruel (like taking Hera away from her loving parents). I think Gaius might have more empathy than Laura, in the end, for individual people (and definitely for cylons). Laura's actions have benefited more people and Gaius' have brought more destruction and suffering for more people. But that doesn't mean Laura is necessarily a kinder, better person than Gaius. She has higher moral ideals for sure, but I'm not entirely convinced that she's so caring. When Elosha got on her case, "You don't love people!" I was like, "WORD! Finally someone points that out!"

Some guy starts with how there are strong female characters on the show and Laura Roslin can be president and stuff (there are actually female presidents in real life too, like the one in Finland..), then goes on to suggest that Kara and Lee are a "great gay couple on TV". Um, what? I'm a bit annoyed by this question. Do people really have such old-fashioned gender roles still? People can have both masculine and feminine qualities without being gay, right? Right?

Katee: In a sense, I think... Yeah, I dunno. I think that Kara's very feminine. We were talking about this. I do think she's very feminine, she has a lot of feminine qualitites, and... I don't really... I mean she also has a lot of masculine qualities, and Jamie has... Or, you know, Lee has a lot of masculine qualities, but also some feminine. So I dunno... I think that's what's interesting is that they could have made Starbuck a man and Apollo a woman. It could have, I think that both roles could have been played either way. So I don't know. I don't uh.. I think that they very much heterosexual.

Yes, me too. Thank you. It's a good answer, and it's an interesting point that Lee could be played by a woman as well. I noticed that, at this point of the transcript, I had started writing "Kara:" instead of "Katee:". Not that I equate the actors with their characters or anything! The next question, which I can't hear, is about Lee and Kara.

Katee: I think it's just because they're kindred. You know, I think they have a relationship that transcends... physical relationship. They are emotionally... ? Lee is... Lee knows her better than she knows herself and vice versa. It's like they just.. they just are one and the same, they're almost the same person, kind of. So um... I think that's... you know.

I don't much care about Lee/Kara to be honest, so I have no comments.
Next question: Starbuck and Tigh, despite their disputes, have many similarities. How much is Kara emulating him? I loved this question, very perceptive.

Katee: I think that um.. I think that Kara is her own person. I think that Kara isn't ? ? some other person. I think she's influenced very much by the men around her she respects. Um, and.. so in that sense, I think that because she does have a respect for Tigh, which we got to see on New Caprica - it was never really explained, but she kinda regretted. They kinda, you know, she is desperately seeking someone to parent her. And she gets that from Adama, he's like the good parent, Tigh's like the bad parent [chuckles]. And then they both love her. And they both protect her in different ways. I don't know if she's channeling them purposefully any more than... I look in the mirror in real life, as much as I don't want to do that, I do. I'm my mother in a lot of ways, and the more you try not to be them, the more you become them. So I think that's kinda... why she is very much like a lot of people around her.

[Asked about the rumor that Starbuck is actually Tigh's daughter. The fan uses the phrase "child of Tigh", which amuses me.]

Katee: I thought she was for a while.

The fan: You did?

Katee: I did, until I had the...the... the stuff with my mother in the flashbacks. That's when I realized that she wasn't.

[There are some extra noises here so I can't hear what comes after this. It's not a very long bit - I'll edit this post if I hear it better.]

I think it's a very interesting point about Kara. Tigh and Kara are initially set up as enemies, but as the show goes on, you can see more and more of Kara's sensitive side, Tigh's kindness under their respective gruff/hardass exteriors. It's something that I've found both consistent and surprising about these two characters.

And I think it's really intriguing that even Katee had the idea that Tigh might be Kara's father! The fan sounds very surprised that Katee actually thought so, and so am I. I always thought it was a bit of a silly fan rumor. I apologize to those who believed it, even if apparently it didn't turn out to be true.

For James: How much did he watch the original show and base his Baltar on John Colicos' version?

James: I haven't seen it since I was eight. I didn't watch it, revisit it. I was just surprised um.. that they you know, that I would be up for Baltar, and I didn't want to play that role at all. That was very much in my mind from the very beginning. But I didn't mean to... I haven't seen it since I was a young kid.

[Something about Baltar sitting on a throne]

James: yeah. Uh... ? Do I want my own throne? No, thanks. Thank you so much for asking.(laughter)

It's interesting that he hasn't revisited it. I wonder if it's because he wanted his Baltar to be truly his own, or because, when you've seen something as a child, you are sometimes very disappointed when you finally rewatch it as an adult. I doubt the original show would be my cup of tea, from what I've heard, but I won't comment on it as I've never seen it.

To be continued in a few days!