CAPRICA writers room shaping up

Mo Ryan got the news yesterday...

The "Battlestar Galactica" prequel "Caprica" will have some familiar names among the credits when it debuts next year on Sci Fi.

Jane Espenson, co-executive producer of “Battlestar Galactica,” will have that title on “Caprica” and will eventually become “Caprica’s” showrunner.

...Ron Moore said he’d be running the writers’ room when it first convenes in early February, but he added that at some point, he’d be handing over those day-to-day showrunner duties to Espenson, who will take on the title executive producer midway through the season.

...Espenson said that "Battlestar" writers Michael Taylor and Ryan Mottesheard would also be joining the "Caprica" staff. On Jan. 16, the day "Battlestar" returned with the first of its final 10 episodes, Galactica Sitrep reported that "Battlestar's" composer, Bear McCreary, as well as its production designer, Richard Hudolin, and special effects supervisor, Gary Hutzel, would also be working on "Caprica."

Promo for 415 The Oath

Spoiler warning.

Open Thread: #414 A Disquiet Follows My Soul

Alrighty, dear readers...let's talk new BSG tonight. Unfortunately I (ProgGrrl) won't be back from my frak party till later tonight...Logan, are you out there?


Please read our spoiler policy before you post on the open threads.

Past 4.5 open threads can be found in the index on our blogroll rightside column. If you know of other fun sites or forums that are having lively non-spoilery episode discussions, please feel free to post links here as well.


RDM's directing debut! Very exciting... earlier this week, RDM had this to say about the episode:

It's a character piece. It's a smaller show; I designed it deliberately to be that way. I wanted to take a breath after the events, the shocking events, of the past couple of episodes. Things were happening huge. Revelations were coming one on top of another. And now I wanted to do a smaller piece that was just about people on the ship and where they are in their lives before the next giant arc just sort of pulls them along into even bigger events.

Also note that another Propworx eBay auction is live this weekend, containing items that were on the show last week and tonight, and some other older stuff as well (Socrata Thrace photos!). Frakkin fun.


EPISODE 414: A DISQUIET FOLLOWS MY SOUL
Writer: Ronald D. Moore
Director: Ronald D. Moore


Hulu embed:

Videoblog: Life On The Cylon Baseship

ETA: io9 has transcribed all bits of The Cylon Bible that appeared onscreen in this video.

Items of Note

Ronald D. Moore previews his BSG directorial debut, "A Disquiet Follows My Soul" for Sci-Fi Wire:

Sci-Fi Wire: What can you tell us about the episode? What kind of story is it?

Moore: It's a character piece. It's a smaller show; I designed it deliberately to be that way. I wanted to take a breath after the events, the shocking events, of the past couple of episodes. Things were happening huge. Revelations were coming one on top of another. And now I wanted to do a smaller piece that was just about people on the ship and where they are in their lives before the next giant arc just sort of pulls them along into even bigger events.

Ron also discussed Caprica:

Sci-Fi Wire: What's happening with Caprica?

Moore: Caprica is getting underway. We're putting the writers' room together as we speak. It's very exciting. It's a very different challenge. It's a very different show. I think there's a sense of "Well, Battlestar has set a very high bar." That makes everybody have to bring their A-game, and I think that's the spirit in which we're approaching Caprica.

Sci-Fi Wire: Knowing that you had Caprica on the horizon, did you hold back at all on wrapping up the Cylon mythology in Battlestar Galactica in order to give fans an incentive to tune into the new show? Or does Battlestar Galactica settle it for everyone?

Moore: Galactica is going to pretty much settle it. Caprica will be about how the people on the colonies developed the Cylons. And that has its own story to tell about how that came about. But in terms of the larger mysteries and mythologies and hows and the whys and how everything lays out on Galactica, we set out to answer as many of the questions that we could by the end of the show, and that's what we did. We didn't hold anything in reserve and say, "Oh, well, we'll deal with this over in Caprica."

Matt and Nat of the BSG Cast review Sometimes A Great Notion, and Nat talked with Battlestar Galactica's costume designer, Glenne Campbell in Pasadena at the site of the prop and costume auction.

Jamie Bamber spoke to TV Guide about working on the final episodes of BSG and what it was like to say goodbye to the show.

Sci-Fi Wire talked to Kandyse McClure about her arrival at closure for her work on Battlestar Galactica.

Bryan Lambert shares his thoughts on Dirk Benedict.

BSG effects artist Mojo about working on BSG for the last time.

See also, a slew of science fiction links.

The Reviews Are In

Reviews of "Sometimes A Great Notion" from around the web...

Alan Sepinwall:

As much as I love to speculate on the nature of the Cylons, the prophecies, the opera house and all the other stuff that Ron Moore promised he'd get back to, what really grabs me about the show (as I discussed in today's column) is its humanity, the way its characters react to situations the way you imagine real, contemporary people might.

How would you react if you had been living a horrific existence for years on end, and the only thing keeping you going is the hope of one day finding this wonderful place called Earth -- and then that hope gets taken away when Earth turns out to be ruined? I like to think I can handle myself well in a crisis, but I could very easily see myself committing suicide like Dualla, or curling into a fetal position like Roslin, or getting drunk and trying for a suicide-by-Cylon-cop like Adama. This is a brutal, brutal development on what wasn't the happiest show to begin with, and I'm glad team "Galactica" (led here by writers David Weddle and Bradley Thompson and director Michael Nankin) didn't flinch from that.

Eric Goldman of IGN:

What's really surprising about this episode is that there are some huge revelations in it – by the end of the first half, some amazing things have been revealed that completely uproot the backstory on the series. On the heels of the discovery of Earth happening with ten episodes still to go, perhaps I shouldn't have been so surprised, but it's really amazing and impressive to realize there are still several episodes to go and we're learning the things we are already. Not to say these revelations close doors – instead, they raise some major new questions to mull over as we head into the home stretch of this wonderful series.

Cory Johnson at 411mania:

The biggest question this season is going to face will be how they can produce an ending for this show that works. The way that Earth was suddenly no longer the panacea they were hoping for felt a little like a bait and switch tactic, but the explanation was so great, it doesn’t matter. There are a lot of unresolved issues to work through in the final nine episode, so either way, the ride should be worth it.

John Annese of the Staten Island Advance:

Sometimes, you just have to take a step back and say, "Everything's going to be alright." Well, unless you're a character on Battlestar Galactica. Then you're pretty much hosed.

MaryAnn Johanson writes:

Oh, man, I am still trying to get my head around this one. Talk about bombs dropping... Ellen. Dualla. Starbuck. The distant pasts of the final four. I barely know where to begin even thinking about it, never mind writing about it.

And I can’t not think about it. It’s not like you can just sit there and tell yourself, “Well, I’ll simply wait to see how things develop over the next nine episodes. I don’t need to turn it all over in my head and wonder about how things will turn out. The episodes are completed, everything is set in stone, it’s all a done deal. It’s merely that I don’t yet know what the deal is that’s been done, but all I need is to be patient and hang on from week to week.” No: you can’t not think about this.

Elizabeth Brown, Associated Content:

Things couldn't be looking worse for the weary refugees in episode one of the final ten. They traveled across an entire galaxy only to find that Earth was destroyed in a nuclear attack almost 2000 years ago and remains completely unihabitable. The opening episode shows the leaders of the scrappy survivors starting to completely lose their minds as they realize that the original inhabitants of Earth were apparently cylons. With all hopes of reuniting with the rest of their species dashed, the crew spirals into depression, mania, desperation and a whole lot of suicide.

Ben Scarlato, a transhumanist writing for the IEET observes:

As the final half season of Battlestar Galactica opened with one of the darkest episodes ever, it gave me a lot to think about regarding death, immortality, and hope even in the worst of situations. Even if you happen to assign a low probability to the possibility of a high-quality future for ourselves here in 2009, it is worth dedicating a lot in pursuit of that future when its realization is of great value and permanence....

The proper response to even devastating tragedy is not the seductive embrace of death and its incomprehensible oblivion, but rather perseverance even when it seems all hope is lost. The appeal of immortality lies not in continuously experiencing the pain and disappointment of life, but in looking forward and having the time to eventually create a situation that allows for a thriving life filled not with sorrow but with the things we cherish. A better place may be a long away for the Colonials, but by clinging to life it’s nonetheless a possibility for them.

Adama’s Cylon allies would seem to prefer a mortal life to an immortal one, but at least the mortal Adama has the wisdom to cling to life in the hope of a better future even when life is at its worst.

Sam J. Miller writes about Roslin's loss of faith:

Poor Roslin. Last night, she finally had the breakdown that she has never allowed herself to have, going back to the initial attack, because she was immediately thrust into the role of president and had to focus all her energy on keeping morale up, giving the people hope, keeping the comforting wheels of government bureaucracy turning. She never got to grieve for all the things she lost, or mourn her murdered loved ones, because she had to heal everyone else’s grief by giving them something to believe in. Something called Earth. Now that Earth has been reached, and instead of the answer to their prayers it turns out to be one more horrific nightmare, she is confronted once more by The People, demanding that she make everything okay, and she breaks. Finally, the superhuman mask of The President cracks, and she let’s herself feel all the pain and bewilderment she could never afford before.

Andy Grieser of Zap2It and Asma Ahmad in North by Northwestern provide recaps. Other reviews from Galactica Variants, The Young Turks, Examiner.com and Galactica Science has a few interesting observations on Earth.

And check out an exclusive set of excellent behind the scenes photos taken by director Michael Nankin during the filming of Sometimes A Great Notion in The L.A. Times.

"You're the 5th"

photo by Randee St. Nicholas for the L.A. Times.

In The Los Angeles Times Geoff Boucher has an exciting and interesting interview with Kate Vernon.

Kate reveals that she's held the secret Ron Moore told her for quite some time:

All of this was a tremendous surprise considering Ellen was poisoned to death in Season 3, but with the Cylons, the usual rules of mortality don't apply. Vernon is thrilled to be back. Her character was originally written for a four-episode arc, but she endured and became a key character -- until she was murdered by her on-screen husband.

"I wasn't done with the character," Vernon moaned. "They killed me off. I was devastated. Why me? What did I do wrong?"

A small reprieve came when executive producer Ron Moore told her she would return as a dark vision of her husband's tortured mind, but Vernon resigned herself to the fact that her role in "one of the greatest shows ever made" was over. Then, on an especially wrenching afternoon many months ago, she got a phone call.

"I was crawling down Sepulveda and I had just come from a therapy session and I was crying, my eyes were swollen like clam eyes, and I was hanging on my steering wheel wondering what was going on in my life and my career. The phone rang. It was Ron's assistant."

For the next 45 minutes (traffic was bad) Moore explained that Ellen would return as a centerpiece presence. "Now I'm in seven of the last nine, and they are just absolutely brilliant. I can't tell you how good they are," she said.

Kate and Ron also talked to The Deadbolt about how trilled she was to return to BSG for the last episodes.

The L.A. Times also responded to reader complaints about their article, which ran a front page photo of Vernon in the Calendar section, with a large headline and with no spoiler warning. The L.A. Times responded:

"We really did think about it, but the story was too good to pass up for the few people who would inevitably be mad at us," says TV editor Kate Aurthur. She explained: "Entertainment journalism is a competitive medium, and this was a huge exclusive scoop for us. We took great pains to make sure it didn't export to the Web early by accident, and even held the Web version up so it published after the episode aired Pacific Time (letting our East Coast competitors perhaps get the jump on us, but out of consideration for Sci Fi's wishes and our core readers in California)." As for a reader who sarcastically asked if editors were aware that some readers record shows to watch later, Aurthur responds, "Though we certainly know that many readers have DVRs, we can't hold back on our coverage when something very important happens on a show people love. We must assume that people who care the most watch in real time, or close to it."

I have to agree with the Times on this one. This was a major event in the history of the show, so it's logical that it would make big news. My view has always been that once the show airs in the U.S. it's no longer a spoiler, and any embargo on the information can be lifted. At least that's our policy here. There are other sites on the web that specialize in spoilers, and they do a fine job at it. But on Sitrep, after an ep airs, the information is fair game to report and discuss.

Video interview: Olmos

Some time before heading to DC for the inauguration festivities, Edward James Olmos gave SciFiWire this exclusive video interview, which has spoilers for ep 413:



[Embeddable video at last? Nice one SFW!]

SO SAY WE ALL: A Thank You From The Fans

Grant over at the livejournal Battlestar Blog is spearheading a wonderful fandom thank-you project: you can submit letters of admiration, thank you, or other celebratory greetings -- and it will be collected up into a PDF file that will be distributed to the show's cast and crew.

Deadline to submit for the project is SUNDAY, JANUARY 25. That's this Sunday, so hurry up and get over there!

Thanks to Grant (and his secret crew contact at Universal) for putting this together, so that fans everywhere can show a little bit more love as the series ends. Sigh.

[Did you also know Grant is a terrific artist and some of his art is actually in the BSG wrap yearbook. Here's his latest BSG art, an image of Racetrack.]

More BattleAwesome AwesomeStar

We are once again late to the party on announcing this, but Toronto's Bad Dog Theater Company is once again doing weekly shows of the improv comedy show BATTLEAWESOME AWESOMESTAR this month.

Unfortunately all shows are now sold out except the last one on January 31...so hurry up and get your tickets. Wish I could be there...or that they'd take this act on the road!

Here's a clip of one of their shows uploaded by youtuber corecorina:

413 Ratings

NBCU has released a cheerful press release on the Friday ratings for ep 413. As they should do. Bottom line: a bit better than 4.0 and very popular amongst men who hang at home on Fridays.

Meanwhile, in the Cranky Fan Department, THR Feed's James Hibberd has hit the nail more squarely on the head, for those of us who actually watch the show on air…

The first episode of the final batch of "Battlestar" episodes (2.1 million viewers, 1.3 million adults 18-49) matched the Season 4 premiere in viewers and was down just slightly in the adult demo.

The network is fortunate that's all it lost. Sci Fi has engaged in a momentum-crushing, yet budget-friendly, release schedule for this relatively pricey series. In an era when serialized shows have proven time and time again to benefit from as few breaks as possible, Sci Fi went the other direction for its final round of "Battlestar," splitting 20 episodes into a two-part season airing about a year apart (meaning the network also has to market the show twice).

After DVD sales are factored (look, it's "Battlestar" Season "4.0" ... then "4.5"), it probably all makes sense on paper. But fans get so annoyed by the network's strategy, you have to wonder if it costs Sci Fi in unfactorable ways.

You think YOU hate hiatus...

The timing is off for posting this vid...but it's so frakkin funny I can't help myself. If loving this is wrong, I don't wanna be right.


Downfall Mashup: Hitler's BSG Breakdown (Spoilers), by slumbering




[This gets even funnier if you also read this. This has always been another personal favorite. HT for vid to Mark Verheiden.]

Inauguration Day

Well, we've watched Laura, Gaius, and Lee all get sworn in as president, so why not take a moment to watch President Obama take the oath of office and celebrate the day...

Regular Sitrep coverage of BSG will resume after the inauguration.

It's The Music

Bear McCreary goes into astonishing depth and detail about the score for Sometimes A Great Notion on his blog.

It's all a great read, but the story behind Dualla's score is quite noteworthy to learn how Bear incorporated Kandyse McClure's improvised humming into the music throughout the episode when Dualla is on screen.

More Auction Stuff

Access Hollywood has this up:




Battlestar Blog found video of a Hollywood 411 piece from the Auction.


Melody Muse was blogging the auction here and posted a nice flickr set of her photos from the weekend.


Don't forget the eBay auction is up for another 7 hours...


ETA: Thanks to reader Jack for two more great auction links: a really fun video up on EW.com's BSG HQ, and this SciFi Australia article that runs down the selling prices of a lot of the major items -- apparently the auction raked in over A MILLION DOLLARS this weekend...

At The Auction

Here is a great flickr set of shots by reader Jeremy...and a few vids I shot this weekend:



BSG Auction from ProgGrrl on Vimeo.



In a Raptor at last... from ProgGrrl on Vimeo.


(Does anyone know who won Baltar's portrait?)

Quite a send off.

ProgGrrl's favorite things about going to the BSG cast and crew screening of 413, last night in Los Angeles:

• I was there. How the frak did that happen? And I got to hang out with this terrific blogger, extra double plus good.
  

• Ron Moore and Bradley Thompson praising the entire cast and crew effusively on stage before the screening.

• A SciFi exec onstage, saying "they're feeling it" for an Emmy this year. Cross your fingers.

• Bear and Brendan McCreary performing All Along The Watchtower live onstage with a guitar and an accordion.

• Finally seeing some BSG eps on The Big Screen. The detail. The intensity. Wow.

• The reaction of the audience to any scene starring Michael Hogan's Incredible Acting Eye. FTW!

• The reaction of the audience to any of Tory's scenes (lots of boos and hisses, LOL).

• Knowing, at the end, that we may be seeing a lot more of a certain somebody on the show now. I hope.

• Meeting Paula Malcomson and Esai Morales and telling them how happy I am about Caprica moving forward. GO TEAM!

• Leaving the afterparty...feeling like a fox drifting, drifting along in the river...on a strong current...

ProgGrrl's favorite things about the auction today in Pasadena (WHICH YOU SHOULD ALL GO CHECK OUT ON SUNDAY, ADMISSION IS FREE):

• Standing two feet away from all those memorable props. Getting up close with the CIC set pieces to see how detailed (and beat to hell) they actually are. TV magic at its finest.
• Finally meeting Joe from the wondrous Battlestar Wiki...and Steve from the very cool site FuturePast... two of the folks that have been working really hard on this auction for months.
• Sitting in the frakkin' raptor! (More on that soon.)

(Sorry bout the cruddy video quality...but my Mino HD didn't get here in time...)

Space promo for 414

I'm not watching the promos anymore, myself...but I heard on the SciFi boards that this one shown on Space is much more "interesting" than the one SciFi showed last night:

Commentary track for 413

Hulu and Scifi have ep 413 with Ron Moore's commentary (which you can also download as an audio podcast from iTunes here or from SciFi here).

First Reax: The Story of Job

Over the next few days, I'll be collecting, posting, and quoting the reviews of Sometimes A Great Notion as they pour in...

In the meantime we have this MUST READ from Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune, who talked to Ron Moore, David Weddle, Bradley Thompson an Michael Nankin about the episode. My favorite quotes from the article are the words of David Weddle:

This is perhaps the most universal theme you can explore. For the people of ragtag fleet, the dream was Earth. For those of us here on Earth, the dream could be many other things. It may be the house you saved all your life for but now can no longer afford to make payments on. The career you fantasized about since high school, went to college to prepare for, finally landed and loved, then lost when your company downsized. The woman or man you met who seemed to be everything you ever wanted to find in a lover, who betrayed your trust or left you or died. The flood waters that swept your entire neighborhood away. The war in a far away land that took your son or daughter or husband or wife. The spot on an X-ray that now wants to eat you alive....

The day the staff finished putting the cards up on the board with Ron, and the day before we began writing, I flashed on my favorite American novel, Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey. It is a much underappreciated and towering work. Anyone interested in fine literature and great story telling should read Kesey’s masterpiece.

The book opens with a childish rhyme that enunciates the theme of the book and what to me was the theme of our show. “Sometimes I live in the country. Sometimes I live in the town. Sometimes I get a great notion. To jump in the river and drown.”

In Kesey’s book, the hero --Hank Stamper, an Oregon logger -- does constant battle with the river that runs past his home, a river that has claimed the lives of pets and loved ones and comes to symbolize the vast and indifferent power of the universe that both gives life and cruelly snatches it away again. In his notes to himself as he was writing the book, Kesey scribbled something that has become one of the shorthand phrases Brad and I use while writing scripts. Kesey wrote: “Try to make Hank quit.” By that he meant: take this strong, heroic character and pile one misfortune on his back after another until he finally falls. What happens in that moment? Does he despair? Does he get up and go on? For me, there is no more defining moment for a character.