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© (C) 2006 NBC Universal
Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell and Jamie Bamber in BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
:
Exclusive Interview: DAVID EICK TELLS BATTLESTAR GALACTICA SEASON THREE SECRETS - PART 4
Adama is a criminal, the interior of a Cylon Basestar, and what gets left unsaid from season two
By SEAN ELLIOTT, Associate Editor
Published 5/11/2006
Two men hold the fate of the remnants of humankind in their hands. These men make the decisions that will either doom or save humanity as a species. The Cylons have control of New Caprica, and the fleet has jumped away to safety leaving most of the human population behind. Where do we go from here? Only David Eick and Ronald D. Moore know for sure. Shooting has been going on for the past month in Vancouver on season three of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, and while not all secrets can be let out, Eick shares quite a few of them with iF MAGAZINE for the fourth and final installment of our interview with the series producer.
iF: Do you write scripts with specific actors in mind as in the creation of Adama and President Roslin [i.e. Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell]?
DAVID EICK: We were talking about Eddie and Mary at the conceptual stage where you always use actor’s names as placeholders just to get a type in your head. It’s not that you are literally saying "wouldn’t it be great if we could get Eddie and Mary" because you really aren’t think about casting. Also, I don’t think either Ron or myself thought it was possible to get them.
I think the Mary idea stuck in Ron’s head even more as he was writing, and he had a really specific voice. That was a very specific character compared to the Adama character. Adma had a sort of weighty, heavy presence in the commander role of the starship. Eddie does a wonderful job with it, but it's not an unusual thing. There are many shows that have that kind of role.
What was really bizarre was the notion of a female president who is forty-third in line of succession, who gets the job in spite of her woeful feeling of inadequacy and insecurity. Add to that, she has just been told that she is suffering from breast cancer, and it’s such an amazingly crafted character. I think Ron latched onto Mary McDonnell to give the character a really strong voice to help guide it. The irony that we actually got her is doubled, because of how rare it is to have that happen and the actress serving as a real inspiration play the real character.
iF: What stories are you really excited about for season three?
EICK: I can’t give spoilers. [Laughs] I’m excited about the fact that we will be exploring the interior of a Cylon basestar, and that will include the introduction of the new type of Cylon. I’m excited about the fact that we’re going to have Lucy [Lawless] back. I think it’s going to be exciting for the fans to watch the opening trilogy of episodes, because we’re really falling into the rubric of something for everybody. There will be great philosophical crisis talking place with Baltar [James Callis]. There’s a round-up taking place of human beings becoming a police force, or a Gestapo, for the occupying Cylons. Then there’s an attempt at an escape that will be like THE GREAT ESCAPE, and be a dynamic action episode. There’s a lot of really rich stuff for the opening three. Beyond that point everything is embryonic, and still in development.
The script that I’m writing right now, has to do with a revelation about something truly egregious and illegal that Adama was guilty of doing during the days leading up to the attack, and how he has kept the revelation of that incident from rearing it’s head. An event transpires that brings it all home with a vengeance, and the ramifications are significant. The fun is always in dealing with the humanity of these characters. They’re heroes, but we are always discovering their feet of clay. For reasons both personal and practical they have to carry on as leaders and role models in their world. The script is called HERO, because it’s necessary to keep functioning.
iF: Have you talked about taking BATTLESTAR to the big screen?
EICK: We’ve talked about, but it just becomes an issue of time. I don’t think we’ve had the wherewithal to pull over to the side of the road, and take a story idea that we were considering for the premiere of a season and use it instead as the idea for a movie. We locked editorial picture on episode twenty of season two, about a week before it aired, because it was such a long episode and there were extra logistical concerns airing an episode that was over an hour long. We had to prepare another version of it that was only an hour long, and it was a real marathon.
We don’t really have a big enough writing staff either. Our writing staff on GALACTICA has been a little lean. As far as other major network shows, they have about three or four more warm bodies than we have. Lots of these shows have many series consultants that are producers, and can roll out of bed and get you a draft you can go right into prep with. We tend to go with younger writers who have more spirit. They might take a little bit longer to get there, but I feel we have a more passionate piece of work at the end.
Here we are already, with drafts for the first three scripts for season three, and I don’t know where a pocket of downtime to make a movie would be. You never know, maybe we’ll figure out a way to do it.
iF: How much will be left unsaid from season two?
EICK: We have an episode in the first leg of season three, which is more or less devoted to at least a couple of the major issues that arose during the time on the planet. There’s going to be a lot answered. The flip side of that is that there are a lot of things that will fuel upcoming storylines that we may not have fleshed out yet. I certainly knew, as did Ron, that the risk in leaping forward a year [besides people thinking it was a dream] was that people would feel jerked around. We didn’t want people to think we were pulling a TWIN PEAKS move that wouldn’t pay off. I think that they’ll find in fairly short order that we won’t leave anything hanging. For example, Adama and Sharon [Grace Park] have a subversive relationship, and you don’t need to see a whole year to know things have changed between them. I don’t want anyone to feel that they have missed things, but it might be a chance for new viewers who check in to the show to start fresh with these new explanations of character relationships. The people, who’ve been watching for two years, will hopefully see these changes as a legitimate outgrowth that has its own storytelling value. In a couple of cases where we’ve said Kara [ Katee Sackhoff] is married to Anders [Michael Trucco], Lee [Jamie Bamber] is married to Dualla [Kandyse McClure]; there is an episode being put together that will specifically deal with what happened.
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Reader Comments
Major AKAATA from Oregonius sez....
U sure hope for our sake (the fans) that they don't find the thirteenth colony. that'd end the show quickly. space is a big place so they can hopefully keep looking for a long time. as for the news that adama is guilty of some kind of horrible act, i think his actions following the cylon attack should more than make up for whatever this thing was. and the apollo starbuck relationship, i hope it stays dead. i know we're gonna lose Dee in the next season, but lets hope these two stay apart, its more interesting that way. they're better off as part of a close-knit family than as a couple. anyway, here's to battlestar galactica, the best show ever made!
9/19/2006 7:53:54 PM
Ian from California sez....
For nearly the entire span of Galactica I've had this unsettling suspicion that yes, they'll find the 13th colony... and it will be a burned out husk called Earth: the place of origin. "This has all happened before, it will happen again"; right? What if this version of humanity is just the broken down reminants of the last time Cylons went human... on earth... and the rebels who severed their borg-like links to one another left to form the 12 colonies?
The second part is dubious but I really do see the sci-fi trick of the 13th colony being the place of origin at play here.
7/24/2006 2:45:13 PM
Jerome Lapointe from Montreal Qc, Canada sez....
Anyone who hasn't seen this show yet owes it to themselves to check it out (and start with the beggining)
This is the best thing I've ever seen on TV... miniseries/sit-coms/TV-movies/Sci-fi/drama/humor... this show just transcends it's genre/format.
Heck my sister and gf rave about it and they hate sci-fi. My friend's wife writes a blog about it and she's the high maintenance snobish type... I dunno one person who's started watching this who's not totally hooked. (I mean not just into it... HOOKED!)
6/22/2006 8:52:05 PM
Carlos Resende from Brazil sez....
Wow! I´m addicted in Galactica! I teach Politic Science in the Law University and I suggest my students to watch this show because it´s very deep. It´s intelligent and give us the necessary fantasy and creativity. Do you think the Galactica will find the Thirteen Colony? It would be strange to see the BSG in our skies! PS.: I love Starbuck!
6/3/2006 3:04:20 PM
Trapdoor from Reading, United Kingdom sez....
It is a shame these boards let idiots who are stuck in the past slate a show that has far surpassed its cheesy origins. Having just watched the Season 2 cliffhanger the reimagined BG has in my opinion far surpassed my other favourite shows such as LOST,24 and PRISON BREAK. I raise my glass to the impending Season 3 and jesus lets not wait too long - that cliffhanger was up there with Zha'Dum.
5/29/2006 7:54:31 AM
John from Cambridge, UK sez....
Jeez, this comments board needs moderating! Yeesh!
Good show, though!
5/24/2006 9:41:10 AM
t-asarlai from Media Blvd sez....
Jesus H. Christ on a crutch! You people allow Spider987 to post here? We kicked him off of Media Blvd ages ago with the rest of the "Old Series" trolls!
Do everyone a favor and ban the idiot from here.
5/18/2006 10:25:59 PM
Spider987 from Moist Board sez....
Scoundrels! Traitors! I'll get you all! It's still September 17th, 1978; it is damnit!
5/16/2006 5:49:45 PM
Bill from Melbourne Australia sez....
Wow, great to see some new info about whats happening, I have just received the first half of the second season on DVD after having watched it on TV earlier in the year and I am hooked again. Season three sounds ingenius, Gaius is the coolest character out there, the cylon police sound cool and I wonder what adama and lee do after the invasion after they ran off in the finale. Are they regrouping for the attack? Great Escape, it could be Prison Break, BSG style, way cool!!!!!
5/14/2006 8:57:38 AM
Zofficer from UCSB sez....
This show is amazing! At fist I thought it was average, decent, I wasn't hooked, but I'd tune in when I could, then it started picking up fast and I found myself emotionally attached to all the characters as if they were my friends and family! The second season was ridiculously good and I loved the episode from the perspective of the cylons! That was an awesome idea! During the season 2 finale when it skipped a year and said that the cylons had left, I was like, "what! no! how could they just skip a year... what the cylon left, no, I want to see cylon battles and all that good stuff... and then when that blip came up on the dratis I pumped my fist in the air, and shouted for joy! ya baby the cylon are back! i got chills down my spine when the cylon ships were flying overhead! i entered a coma after its conclusion thinking of all the ramifications of what happened.... I dont know what I'll do until october... usually scifi friday shows air again in july, but it will be well worth the wait! this shows my dedication to the show, it airs on friday nights and I attend the number two party school in the nation... my friends call me up and say hey what are you doing tonight, wanna party? and i say I'm free... after eleven!!!
5/13/2006 5:40:07 PM
Bec from England sez....
*Jumps up and down* And Adama/Roslin?! Will they be together?!
5/12/2006 9:53:29 AM
Andrew from Italy sez....
This is the best series I've ever seen... It has very good actors,wonderful plot, and what about the cast? Tricia Helfer is'nt the most beatiful, sexy,exciting woman? Admiral Adama is the perfect starship commander, much more than kirk and picard together!!
I'd love to personal congratulate with David Eick for his great work.
5/12/2006 6:54:15 AM
Butthead from Springfield sez....
Soap Operas are funny.
5/11/2006 6:58:49 PM
Aitana from San Francisco sez....
Personally, I'm sick of people acting like Dee is only Lee's f-buddy. I think the writers screwed up big time with the speediness of their getting together, leaving development on the cutting room floor. I guess we know the REAL reason why many hate the idea of this pairing,with Lee as the starring figure. Maybe in another three hundred years or so, the venom won't be as prominent. Black Market seemed contrived anyway, coming so late in the series, but supposedly representing such a source of all of Lee's angst. It was poorly written, and left many unanswered questions. As long as Kara keeps acting like a (male member), she should stick with Anders, or alone, working out her voluminous problems.
I'm much more interested in this "illegal" act of Adama's. Perhaps it's not too out of character, as we've seen his not-by-the-book strategies before concerning his crew.
5/11/2006 4:56:47 PM
REL from Chicago sez....
When was it ever said that Lee married Dualla? After watching the show for two years, I DO NOT BUY THAT CHARACTER GROWTH. He was portrayed as totally committment-phobic in that horryfingly bad episode Black Market. Or maybe it was so bad that the passionate young writers forgot all about that? And now Adama is a criminal? Katee Sackhoff was so right - soap opera in space.
I think my BSG viewing experience is over now.
5/11/2006 4:36:27 PM
Shawn from Wichita Falls sez....
I don't know what Bill could have done that was so egregious, but I can't wait to find out. Kudos to whomever made the decision to cast Lawless. She's a much needed spark. Last, Apollo and Starbuck [i]aren't[/i] the "chemistry couple." It's painful watching her treat him like a dog. May their romance remain dead and buried. I'm sick of it. They're both married to others. Keep it that way.
5/11/2006 4:14:12 PM
James Bond Loves Lucy Lawless from Loving Lucy! sez....
Please forgive me for the double post, it also seems my earlier submission thankfully was not deleted. Also please forgive my fantasy, Oh My God Lucy! :)
Oh Lucy :) I Love :) You :) I Love :) You :) I Love :) You! :) Oh Lucy :) Oh Lucy :) Oh Lucy :) Oh God Lucy! :) Oh My god Lucy :) Oh Lucy :) Lucy :) Lucy :) I
Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove :) You :) So Much :)
My Sweet Sweet Heavenly Perfect Love :) oh God Lucy! :)
She :) is the most Indescribably Unbelievably Incomparably Out of this Wordly Beautiful Gorgeous Erotic Stunning Arousing Delightful Delicious Desirable Luscious Voluptuous Juicy Flawless Tender Cute Precious Lovable Adorable Wonderful Awesome Sweet Sweet Heavenly Sexxxy Perfect :) creature in the entire universe of all time Oh God Lucy :) Oh My God Lucy :) I Loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove :) You :) So Much! :)
Forever Devoted :) to the Sweet Sweet Heavenly Perfect Goddess Lucy, :)
James Bond Who Loves Lucy :) Forever :)
5/11/2006 3:22:30 PM
James Bond Loves Lucy Lawless from Loving Lucy! sez....
It seems my earlier comment has been unappreciatedly deleted.
Now then, let us see the interior of Cylon Three's D'Anna Biers Indescribably Beautiful Gorgeous Erotic Arousing Alluring Delicious Luscious Juicy Flawless Fragrant Heavenly Sexxxy Perfectness :)
OMIGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES
LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!! :)
Forever Devoted :) to the Sweet Sweet Heavenly Perfect Goddess Lucy, :)
James Bond Who Loves Lucy :) Forever :)
5/11/2006 3:14:17 PM
James Bond Loves Lucy Lawless from Loving Lucy sez....
It seems my earlier comment has been unappreciatedly deleted.
Now then, let us see the interior of Cylon Three's D'Anna Biers Indescribably Beautiful Gorgeous Erotic Arousing Alluring Delicious Luscious Juicy Flawless Fragrant Heavenly Sexxxy Perfectness :)
OMIGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES
LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!! :)
Forever Devoted :) to the Sweet Sweet Heavenly Perfect Goddess Lucy, :)
James Bond Who Loves Lucy :) Forever :)
5/11/2006 3:06:44 PM
Marcy from NYC sez....
Apollo and Starbuck should be together. They have the best chemistry and story. Sigh :(
5/11/2006 1:24:44 PM
Sheyla from Brazil sez....
Lee is married? not only he got over his commitment issues we saw on black Market, but he tied the knot with the warm body he was using for comfort and companionship?
Owie. I could kind of understand Kara and Anders, because she is a really needy character. But Lee... Lee is commitment-phobic. Plus now they are one breath away from killing the chemistry couple of the show. I hope the writers fix it fast... UST is well and good, but quite simply throwing a pool's worth of cold water on it does not work so well... at least not for the fans.
5/11/2006 12:04:31 PM
Perverted Ron from Fetish Heaven sez....
"I’m excited about the fact that we will be exploring the interior of a Cylon basestar," Will it look like a Vulva?
5/11/2006 10:59:30 AM
