I’m not sure how many we’ll get, but even one movie (plus the webisodes this summer) will be enough to prolong the end of the series for me.

The latest news in the production of this new TV movie is that one of the more popular writers on the show, Jane Espenson, will be the one penning this new chapter in the series. She wrote four episodes this season so far, according to IMDB, which include the awesome Hub episode, to go along with co-executive producing the entire season.

The move to put her at the head of the table for this one was the leaving of two other writers for the series, David Weddle and Bradley Thompson, who are moving on to the hit CBS series, CSI.

SyFy Portal talked to Weddle, who had this to say about Espenson:

“Jane Espenson has eagerly grabbed the baton and will write the movie,” Weddle confirmed. “We helped the staff outline the plot this week, and this [Thursday] is my final day at ‘Battlestar.’”

Interesting developments. Weddle and Thompson penned the awesome mid-season finale, Revelations, but they had to make this move now, even though there was the potential for a few more films to write.

Espenson has written for all kinds of popular TV shows, like Firefly, Buffy, Gilmore Girls, Angel and an episode from my beloved Nowhere Man.

Well, he’s back this week with a pretty sweet breakdown of the final shot of Revelations, the mid-season finale of BSG that ran a few weeks ago.

The big discussions over where the picture of the bridge was taken turns out to be no big deal: Vancouver, where the show is filmed. Hilarious.

And of course all the original shot had in it was a beach. Nothing fancy there. Everything else was added in post-production.

Anyways, Mojo talks about a bunch of other technical things, and even tossed a few videos our way of “fly-bys” on the Galactica.

Pretty cool stuff. I really get into all the special effects behind television shows and this guy gets pretty detailed. He plans on doing this kind of thing for each episode of this season.

Check out the rest of it over on his blog, Darth Mojo.

He was battling cancer for awhile, but died at the very young age of 37. According to what I’ve read, Turner was an exceptional artist, having worked for both DC Comics and Marvel, with covers ranging from Superman/Batman, Civil War and Uncanny X-Men, to Witchblade and Fathom. Some say he was a big reason for Witchblade becoming a popular comic book series.

Aspen Comics has a memorial up on their site where people can send in condolences or even contribute to the fight against cancer.

As far as covers, he did this one for JLA #12 (Variant) and this one for Uncanny X-Men #500.

He also did the Battlestar Galactica cover that I have showing to the right in this post. Caprica Six never looked so good.

Most notably and highly frakking sad in my opinion, is the continued disregard for Battlestar Galactica. I guess not enough people watch the show. I can only assume if it was on FOX, enough people would have seen it and voted it into this group.

Honestly…Grey’s Anatomy over BSG? Really?

On a happier note, I’m LOVING that Flight of the Conchords made the Top 10…that’s just outstanding. Good for them.

Can’t say much bad about the dramas (aside from Grey’s). Dexter from the four episodes I’ve seen so far is awesome, I heard amazing things about The Wire, and it’s cool to see Friday Night Lights get some more love. Not sure I still get the love for Boston Legal, but I don’t watch it, so who am I to judge?

I’m going to slap little asterisks next to my predictions for the five series who make it to the finals. There just MIGHT be a bit of wishful thinking in there, but I don’t care!

Comedy Series:

• Curb Your Enthusiasm*
• Entourage
• Family Guy
• Flight of the Conchords* (sleeper pick!)
  
• The Office*
• Pushing Daisies* (super sleeper!)
  
• 30 Rock*
• Two and a Half Men
• Ugly Betty
• Weeds

Drama Series:

• Boston Legal
• Damages*
• Dexter*
• Friday Night Lights
• Grey’s Anatomy
• House
• Lost*
• Mad Men* (sleeper?)
  
• The Tudors
• The Wire*

At least we know how Cylons will survive after Battlestar Galactica ends. Apparently they’ll get non-stop work on other TV shows.

Tricia Helfer, who plays the Cylon model Six on BSG, is set to co-star in the Fox drama Inseparable. This comes right on the heels of her stint on Burn Notice this summer.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

“Inseparable,” from ABC Studios and writer/exec producer Shaun Cassidy, is a modern-day Jekyll and Hyde tale about Justin/Clyde (Lloyd Owen), a partially paralyzed forensic psychiatrist with a split personality whose alter ego is a charismatic criminal.

Helfer (“Battlestar Galactica”) will play Mason Wicks, a psychiatrist who evaluates suspects for the police department. The casting stems from the talent holding deal Helfer inked with Fox in April.

I’m very curious to see how Helfer does in these other shows. I think she’s a good actress, but after having played one part for so long (althought that one part had many variations), can she pull off being a “normal” person on something else?

I can’t wait to find out. After all, it’s frakking Caprica Six. Have you not seen her in that red dress?

It’s almost like a running commentary that you’d find with a DVD movie you rented. You can even play it, turn your sound down on the TV and enjoy it that way!

The problem has been the fact that these podcasts haven’t been available for recent episodes due to technical difficulties.

That’s been fixed. Partially I guess. You can now find a bunch more added to the available podcasts, including The Hub and Revelations. Visit SciFi.com to see their entire list of available commentaries.

In the meantime, if you are bored, I’ve uploaded the podcast for Revelations and embedded it here for your enjoyment.

Cannot WAIT to hear this one.

[audio:bsg_ep412_FULL.mp3]

I can do without Lana anyday of the week, but losing two critical cast members cannot be good. Especially when one of them is Clark’s nemesis.

Yet the series WILL continue without both, and we’ll be getting a few new villains to cause Clark restless nights on the farm.

The first will be Davis Bloome, a charismatic paramedic in Metropolis. He has a growing darkness inside him, and fans of the series are thinking he just might be Doomsday, the invincible villain that kills Superman in the comics.

Bloome will be played by Sam Witwer, who was most recently was on Battlestar Galactica as Alex “Crashdown” Quartararo.

Cassidy Freeman is also joining the cast and will play Tess Mercer, Lex’s hand-picked successor.

[Sci Fi Wire]

We totally love Bear McCreary here at Pop Critics, mostly because the work he does on Battlestar Galactica is astounding, but a tiny bit is also because he did a nice interview with us not too long ago.

Some of you may not be that into the idea of composing music for a series, but I have to tell you, the more I’ve learned about the process from Bear’s blog, the more it fascinates me.

During the afore mentioned interview, I had asked him about a piece of music he’d eluded to in a previous blog posting, and he had this answer:

But, for me as an artist and a composer, this piece changed the way I think about my music.  If I had to pick the most essential music I’ve written for the series, in terms of my own artistic growth, this would be it.  I think you’ll know it when you hear it, but I’ll give you a hint.  It’s in “Revelations.” *smiley*

Well, that episode was last night and I can fully understand now what he was talking about. Especially after reading his recap this morning.

He struggled a lot with the musical score for this episode, it took him much longer than normal, but when he was done, it had affected the way he would write for future episodes:

On a very personal level, “Diaspora Oratorio” is my first piece I feel has lived up to the promise of “The Collapse of Saint Francis.”  It is easily my most significant musical achievement to date on Battlestar Galactica, Whether or not it becomes a fan favorite does not diminish the impact that writing it has had on me.

An unforeseen result of my long struggle writing the “Oratorio” was that it ended up having a powerful impact on the second half of the season.  It is the first time that my process of composing has affected the series.  I hate to be so vague, but I can’t go into further detail until you guys see the episode I’m referring to.  It is a story for a future entry.

Diaspora Oratorio is the five minute span of music at the end of the episode, before it breaks to utter silence.

His recap of the episode is so much longer than the excerpt above and I suggest you go check it out when you get a chance.

The music Bear composed in Revelations was just amazing…I can’t even put into words about how much it MAKES the show what it is, and how 90% of other TV music out there pales in comparison.

I did not see that coming. At all.

Earth? Already? With an entire half-season left?

If you had told me yesterday that they get to Earth in this episode, I might have been disappointed that it was happening so soon. But it was executed so beautifully and then shockingly at the end, I am so excited about where we still have to go.

Instead of a major rundown of what happened, I’m going to give you the abbreviated version of the events, and then talk about the awesomeness of the episode.

(takes in deep breath)

Lee and Starbuck look at a book with the Temple of Aurora in it, the Basestar returns, Deanna holds Roslin, Baltar and the rest of the humans hostage until the Final FOUR are allowed to leave Galactica, Tory goes over and tells Roslin to frak off, the Watchtower music plays again for the Final Four, the Galactica and Lee work on a suicidal rescue mission, Tigh, Anders and Tyrol all meet at Starbucks’ brand new ship,  Tigh tells Adama he’s a Cylon, Adama loses his mind and puts on a bathrobe, Lee takes control and threatens Deanna to airlock Tigh, Tigh spills the beans about Anders and Tyrol who are with Starbuck at the brand new ship, marines bring Tyrol and Anders to the airlock, Starbuck turns the ship on and realizes it’s a compass to Earth, she races to find Lee who is about to blow Tigh out of the hatch, they tell the Cylons about the compass, Deanna comes over with Tory and a Sharon, they agree with Lee to release all hostages and find Earth together in peace, Adama puts back on his uniform and says it’s time to get to Earth and NOW, everyone jumps to Earth, they hug and cry, they go down to the surface and find…devastation.

(exhales)

Whew.

If you thought that was bad, it actually almost felt that way in watching this episode. Everything that happened was at a breakneck pace. And I LOVED it.

Earth

In fact, it was so fast, that when Earth had been found and the emotional toll of their journey set in, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Which it did. Down onto the radioactive surface of what was left of the Temple of Aurora. Or New York. Or where was it? There is a big question surrounding that. At the start of the episode, Lee is looking at a picture of The Temple of Aurora in a book, and then at the end we see rubble and something that looks slightly dome-ish.

But we also see what might be a bridge, and an ocean with another bit of land over it, looking oddly like it could be Manhattan.

The picture of Aurora also had bridges in it, crossing over water. So did we see the Brooklyn Bridge, or were we supposed to be standing where the Temple of Aurora used to be?

Or are they one and the same? Well, check out this photo below for a side-by-side comparison between the Galactica shot and the Brooklyn Bridge (Thanks Richard). What do you think?

(Click on it for a larger version)

That question will have to wait for an answer.

Saul and Bill

This episode was awesome and full of fantastic moments that I wont soon forget.

The pillar of them was Colonel Tigh telling Admiral Adama that he was a Cylon. You gotta love Saul as a Cylon, because no matter how long he’s known he’s a skin job, he still hates it and wishes he was the same old guy he’s always been.

That came across so vividly when he tells Bill through the gritting of his teeth. He knew if he didn’t give himself up, the rescue mission will cost the human race its very existence. Instead of saving himself and going to the Cylons, he sticks to his human nature, the man he’s always been, and reveals himself Bill.

It was such a brutal, amazing scene. The pinnacle of Michael Hogan’s days on the show (well, aside from when he killed his wife – that one still resonates with me to this day).

“I should have told you when I first found out, but I didn’t have the guts.”

Damn, that was just an amazing line. It completely captures the man Saul Tigh is.

“If I’d have had the guts to airlock myself when I first found out, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Adama can’t believe it. He thinks Tigh is joking. But once convinced, Adama goes into a tailspin in a matter of two scenes, first bashing in a mirror and then completely collapsing into uncontrollable tears and sobs.

“I AM ONE of the Final Five! Deanna would back down if you threatened to flush ME out of the airlock!”

I can’t imagine the betrayal and confusion that came over Adama. The man he’s known for 30 years is a Cylon.

Un-frakking-believeable.

Many, Many Moments

There were just so many scenes and exchanged that were awesome in Revelations:

Baltar thanking Roslin for not murdering him.

Baltar’s big moment trying to reason with Deanna to not making the same mistake a THIRD time.

Starbuck and Lee back together, talking about Earth, helping bring peace between the two sides.

Lee helping his father who is lying on the floor in utter agony.

I totally loved that the music came back to the Final Four to tell them about the ship. Was just a nice touch.

Starbuck listening to Anders about the ship, even though she had just found out he was a Cylon.

Tyrol not even surprised when the marines show up to take him and Anders to the airlock. In fact, I think he breathed a sigh of relief.

Starbuck realizing that everything had played out exactly like it should have: She disappears, comes back with a vision to find the Basestar, which turns to finding the Hybrid, who says the Three can uncover the Five, and then Roslin finds out the Five know the way to Earth, and then the Four we know figure out the ship is the key, and then Starbuck finishes it.

President Lee becoming the man he’s always wanted to be as he negotiates peace between the Cylons and Humans. And the handshake between him and Deanna.

Roslin and Lee getting Adama to put back on his uniform, and then his quick return to form:

“Frak it. This is the end of the line. We’ve got nowhere else to go. And if we give the alliance too much time, it will fall apart again. We gotta roll the hard six. We all go together…and as fast as we can.”

The episode was full of some awesome music again, with giant orchestra blasts and choirs. It helped build the tension early on during the stand-off. Make sure you check our Bear McCreary’s recap of the episode – it’s a MUST READ – because he talks about how this was the first time a full choir was used on the show.

The Jump to Earth

The ending moments when they are making the final jump to earth almost brought tears to my eyes. The only thing that prevented it was the obvious anticipation that it wasn’t going to end happily or the way it was playing out.

When they arrive, we get shots of everyone that has meant something (and is still alive) in the series. Gaetta, Dualla, Roslin…Lee jumping up on the table in the CIC and ripping his jacket off in totally jubilation, Baltar with his people, Athena with Helo and Hera.

But then we get the other side…Tyrol in his bunk with his child and no Callie, Tigh in his quarters with a bottle and wearing his wedding ring, Starbuck looking at a picture of Kat in the corridor of pictures saying:

“We made it Kid.”

The contrast was awesome and the memory of those who had been lost along the way still fixed in most people’s minds.

The Landing on Earth

The first shock of this episode was the fact that we slowly realized that Earth was going to happen RIGHT NOW, but that wasn’t as shocking as what they found once they landed on the surface.

Thunder in the background, gray, bleak, cold skies, a Geiger counter ticking after measuring some radiation in the soil.

I can’t tell you how amazing this final scene was. It was one SINGLE shot, and it included everyone in various groups:

Roslin and Adama standing together, Deanna looking shocked, Athena and Helo walking, Tory reaching for Anders who walks away, Lee by himself, Baltar sitting on a rock, a pregnant Caprica Six reaching for Tigh, Dualla alone, Leoben standing with Starbuck close by.

And then the big pan out to what looks to be the Temple in ruins, and across the river even more devastation.

The end.

Frak me.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Like I said at the top, I’d never have guessed we’d be at Earth already. I just figured it would end when they got there. I think most people did. But now that they are here, we still have all kinds of questions to answer in the final 10 episodes:

• Who is the Fifth Cylon? And more importantly, why did Deanna only ask for the FOUR who are in the fleet. Was that because Helo, Roslin, Baltar or Lee could possibly be the Final Cylon? She obviously knows who the Final one is, but she is reluctant to reveal it for some reason.
• I’m almost positive the Final one is the person Deanna talked to in the Temple of Five when she said “Forgive me. I didn’t know.“
• What is the deal with Hera? The shot with Helo and Athena hugging had an ominous angle of Hera who didn’t look too lovable.
• The opera house.
• Why did the Final Five leave Earth?
• What happened to Earth?
• Why do the Final Five age differently?
• How is it possible for Caprica Six to be pregnant with a Cylon father?
• Will Cavil and Boomer, along with the rest of the Cylons, show up?
• Will Roslin die?
• Will we learn why Baltar sees the Six in his head? Or is that over now since it hasn’t happened in ages?

Because I wasn’t expecting it, I just loved the way it ended. I am excited to find out what happened down on Earth and how this new, shaky alliance will play out. They are on a dead planet from what it looks like, so what the heck is going to happen in the next 10 episodes?

And just WHO is the Final Cylon?

What did you think of the episode? Are you blown away?

The news comes from Laurel’s TV picks. Also, I just checked my DVR and it has the show as going until 8:01.

Your handy-dandy DVR may not pick that up, so be sure to tape the show RIGHT AFTER and you should be fine.

I can’t stress enough how important the final minute can be in a finale-like episode.

Thanks Richard for the heads up.