I am – Hercules!!


“Battlestar Galactica” mastermind Ron Moore is talking, and he’s answering a lot of questions the fans are asking after Sunday night’s third-season finale.

In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Rob Owen, Moore reveals that, yes, Galen Tyrol, Saul Tigh, Sam Anders and Tory Foster are indeed four of the “final five” Cylons. But Moore also cautions that they are “fundamentally different Cylons.”

I'll say! Bill Adama and a lot of others in the colonial fleet witnessed Saul Tigh serving in Cylon War I 40 years ago. He may have even been around before the “invention” of the toaster centurions!

Which begs the question, “What are Cylons”? The opening of the show each week tells us that they were “created by man” and that they “evolved” and that they “have a plan.”

But. The Final Five Cylons were lurking in the Eye of Jupiter, an edifice supposedly built by human ancestors (or gods, or something) 3,000 years before the toasters were supposedly “invented.”

The proposed “Caprica” prequel series, set 50 to 70 years before “Galactica,” would center on civil rights attorney Joseph Adama (Bill’s dad) and his opposition to the early Cylon-creating efforts of somebody named “Greystone.” So was Greystone a Cylon? Was he somehow influenced or directed by Cylons all those years ago to create these robots? And if so, why?

And how long ago did the Final Five Cylons “evolve”? And how long has “the plan” been in place?

SciFi programming exec Mark Stern once told Owen that the “Caprica” pilot script ends with an explanation of how the Cylons were named:

"Cybernetic, something, organism" was as much as Stern could remember.

(If anybody has a copy of that “Caprica” pilot script, there are - needless to say - a few of us over here who sure would be keen to read it!!)

Other highlights of the new Owen-Moore interview:

* The 2008 episodes (and perhaps the TV-movie due this autumn?) will deal with the backstories for Galen, Saul, Sam and Tory. “A part of next season's storylines will uncover how they came to be who they are and the specifics of that.”

* Moore is not ruling out the idea that Starbuck is only in Apollo’s head. (Real or not, Katee Sackoff will return to her status as series regular next season.)

* “Will we meet the final fifth Cylon next season?” asks Owen. “I think so,” replies Moore.

* D’Anna will be back if Lucy Lawless’ schedule permits. “We're developing a storyline dealing with D'Anna and what she saw and who she was talking to,” says Moore.

* The “entire cast” will be in the Pegasus TV-movie due this autumn.

* Moore says whether or not the show will receive a fifth season “has nothing to do with next year's ratings. It's first and foremost a creative decision.” He goes on to say: “I think we would probably not go to them [and ask for more episodes] unless we were pretty sure they would give them to us.”

* No matter how many episodes are left, Moore is determined that there will be no unresolved cliffhanger, and that the series will end with Earth.

Behold all of the Post-Gazette’s must-read interview with Moore here.

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Meanwhile, Moore gives a much shorter interview to TVWeek.com, in which he is asked (among other things):

* “Your show was renewed for 13 episodes, then this week you got the extra nine. The renewals of some NBC shows have hinged on budget cuts -- was that the case here?”

* “Katie Sackhoff [who plays Starbuck] made it sound in media interviews as if she's off the show and getting new jobs. Was that part of the ruse?”

You can read all of TVWeek’s interview here.