July 29th Spoilers (Lost, GA, NCIS)

Lost Spoilers
Updated on July 29, 2006

Lost airs on ABC on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST. The series will return in October for 6 episodes and then go in hiatus for 12 weeks and come back for 17 straight episodes.

All Spoilers are in "Inviso-Text" (highlight to reveal)

Episode 3.01: A Tale of Two Cities (Kate-centric)
Airdate: October 4, 2006

07/29 - This episode will be Kate-centric and have flashbacks featuring a 60-year-old motherly, warm, and funny woman as well as handsome twenty-year-old Karl. Source: SpoilerFix.com [Note: The role of Amelia, posted in the General Season 3 spoilers on July 14, may now be part of Kate's flashback.]

07/21 - During an interview Carlton Cuse revealed: We pick up where we left off, but obviously there are different stories on different parts of the island, and, you know, we will get to all of them in the first few episodes. But like last year, we didn't deal with the raft survivors in the first episode. Not everything is going to be answered in the first episode. But the captivity story [with Jack, Kate and Sawyer] will definitely be addressed. Source: The Ausiello Report

General Season 3 spoilers:

07/29 - Elizabeth Mitchell has joined the cast of ABC's hit drama "Lost" as a possible new love interest for Matthew Fox's character, sources said. Source: Yahoo! [Note: We believe that she will play "Juliet" decribed in out July 14 spoilers below.]

07/26 - Rodrigo Santoro, best known to American audiences as the hot dude Laura Linney crushed on in Love Actually, is joining the cast this fall. Source: The Ausiello Report

07/22 - Among the revelations to come: Viewers will learn more about Desmond and Penny, why Locke was paralyzed, why Libby was in the asylum, and why the island has healing powers. Source: Sci Fi Wire

07/22 - The smoke monster is definitely not made of nanobots. Kate will "make her choice" in the first six episodes of the season. Her choice is presumably between Sawyer and Jack. The word "clone" will never be heard on the show. The Powers That Be all but confirmed Libby will be appearing in flashbacks, most logically Desmond's or Hurley's. If you're asking about daddy issues, you're asking the right questions. Strong implication that an underwater hatch might exist and that it might be explored this season. The producers say the hieroglyphics on the timer translate to "underworld". Source: Kristin on E!Online

07/21 - During an interview Carlton Cuse revealed: We almost view the first six as a miniseries. And it's going to answer what we left hanging at the end of the finale. Obviously, we're going to explain what happened to Locke and Desmond and Eko, and sort of deal with the fact that Sawyer and Kate and Jack are in captivity. We would love to sort of finish up [Libby]'s story. We're casting two female roles and one new male role. I can't tell you where the characters are going to come from, but obviously, one of the things we're doing this year on the show is... learning a lot more about the Others, and their society and their history. So it might be fair to say that you're going to learn more about some other characters who are also Others. I wouldn't call it the season of sex, but I will say that romance will play a much more active part of the show this year... We actually meant to get to it last year. We didn't really get to the romance as fast as we thought we were going to. So this year that's definitely on our agenda. I think actually one of these new female characters is going to be a romantic interest, possibly for Jack. There will be several new romances on the show this year... I think that this year we're looking to make the show a little bit brighter, a little bit more vibrant, a little bit more on the action-adventure axis, a little bit more on the romance axis. I don't think the show will be as dark and as intense this year [as it was last season]. And it will be, I think, even more on the character axis than on the mythological axis. John Locke will be a very different person in Season 3. All of his questions and his doubts and his uncertainty have been answered. In fact, the button did mean something. And there was something at stake. And I think that will bring about a change in that character. Penny is an important character in the overarching mythology of the show. The interrelationship between the outside world and the island will be something that will be a part of Season 3. The monster will be a part of Season 3, as will the polar bear. People are asking what happened to the polar bear, so we will be doing some polar-bear stories. The smoke creature and the monster are one and the same. I hope Cindy shows up at some point. Let's just say we have many actors on our show; she is not at the top of the list of actors we're servicing. Source: The Ausiello Report

07/14 - Juliet, a woman in her mid-30s, will be added to the cast as a regular. Juliet is a natural leader and a smart and independant woman. One of her flashbacks (?) will involve her mother Amelia. During said flashback, the ladies will discuss burnt brownies and Juliet's love life. It seems that Juliet may be an Other. Jack is held alone in a room and Juliet looks at him, separated from him with a glass window. Jack tries to break the chains that are holding him. Juliet tries to convince a pissed off Jack to trust her. Source: SpoilerFix.com [Note: It is unknown when those scenes will be seen and if they will be part of an episode.]

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Grey's Anatomy Spoilers
Updated on July 29, 2006

Grey's Anatomy airs at 10 p.m. EST on Sundays on ABC. The series was renewed for a 3rd season and will air at a new day and time: Thursdays at 9 pm.


Episode 3.01: Time Has Come Today
Airdate: September 21, 2006

07/29 - A new, possibly recurring African-American couple is introduced. Joe shakes off a proposition. A patient is caught shoplifting. Another asserts her independence. One doctor's admiration of a gay patient seems out of place. We will see flashbacks featuring a five-year-old Meredith. Source: SpoilerFix.com

07/21 - I'm told that Diahann Carroll (aka Whitley Gilbert's mom on A Different World) is going to be the first new guest star on the show this year. Source: Kristin on E!Online

General Season 3 Spoilers:

07/01 - [Chris O'Donnell] is in talks to increase his Season 3 episode order from two to six. Source: Ask Ausiello @ TV Guide

05/22 - Katherine [Heigl] WILL BE on Grey's Anatomy next season. Source: Kristin on E!Online

05/19 - Sara Ramirez, who plays George's new squeeze, Callie[, revealed:] "I'm a series regular next season!" Source: Kristin on E!Online

05/17 - As partially confirmed by Shonda Rhimes herself in my blog Q&A, Kate Walsh (Addison) and the returning Eric Dane (McSteamy) are now on board for all of Season 3. They were originally only committed through mid-season. Source: Ask Ausiello @ TV Guide
05/10 - Sara Ramirez (aka dirty-hand-lady Callie) is only committed through the end of [Season 2]. As of Monday, my spy tells me there has been "no movement to retain her." That doesn't mean she's not coming back, it just means she's not currently contracted to. Chris O'Donnell, meanwhile, is still booked for eight episodes - six this season and two next. Again, this doesn't mean he won't stick around longer. Meanwhile Kate Walsh (Addison) is on board through early '07, which just happens to mirror the deal the returning Eric Dane (aka McSteamy) just signed. Source: Ask Ausiello @ TV Guide

05/09 - Callie is going to be back next season. Source: Kristin on E!Online

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NCIS Spoilers
Updated on July 29, 2006

NCIS airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS. The show was renewed for a 4th season.

Episode 4.01: Shalom
Airdate: Fall 2006

07/14 - Someone connected to Mossad assassinates a foreign bigwig in Georgetown, and Ziva happened to drive by the location. She tries to stop it, but the police regard her as a suspect. The team (with Tony as the new leader) tries to help her out. New to the team is Michelle Lee, the new probie, who'll be a recurring guest star. She studied law at Harvard. Director Shepard and Abby also appear. Source: SpoilerFix.com


Episode 4.02: Escaped
Airdate: Fall 2006

07/29 - A man brought to justice by Gibbs and Fornell manages to escape from prison and manages to make his way to Fornell, to ask him to reopen his case. Fornell is not amused, as he has his little daughter with him at the time. Gibbs is persuaded to come out of retirement once again to help out. The team ask around old accomplices and people the fugitive knew before he went to jail. Abby, Ducky and Director Sheppard also appear in this episode. Source: SpoilerFix.com


General Season 4 Spoilers:

05/24 - Mark Harmon is not leaving the show. Source: Ask Ausiello @ TV Guide

Q & A on BSG Season 3 with Ron Moore

Source: Ron Moore's Blog

News and Q & A (Battlestar Galactica Season 3)

So, yes it's been forever and a day since I've last blogged. I feel shame.

To catch up on things: we're currently filming episodes 10 & 11, our mid-season cliffhanger episodes, after which we're going to take a four week hiatus from shooting, then resume production on the remaining eight. "Eight?" you ask, perceptively recognizing that would only add up to 19 and our much-publicized order was for 20. "Are you in trouble? Are they cutting back your order? Or did you fail math?"

No, no, and yes, but that's not the issue.

In another of our patented feats of editorial derring-do, we've taken what was to be episode 3, "Exodus" and crafted two episodes from it, thereby obviating the need to shoot one more show. As it currently stands, we will be opening Season Three with a two-hour premiere of what were originally two stand-alone episodes, "Occupation" and "Precipice" ("Occuprice," as it were) then resume airing normal one hours with "Exodus Part One." Confused? Good, that's the way we like it. Gotta keep the audience guessing.

Since I last blogged, the show received the George Foster Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting at a ceremony in New York. The entire writing staff attended as well as myself, David Eick, and several members of the cast and a good time was had by all. Terry and I (Mrs.Ron to those of you in the know) did a series of podcasts from the event and they'll be available for download at some point.

Personally, I can tell you that being in that ballroom, alongside of the other recipients of the award was a truly humbling experience. We were watching clips of documentaries dealing with fake pharmaceuticals in Asia, coverage of Katrina, exposes on Army recruiting practices, AIDS issues -- it was an extraordinary gathering of talent and material and to even be considered in the same breath with most of the work on display was a jaw-dropping experience that I'll cherish the rest of my life. It was truly one of the highpoints of my career and I'm grateful to continue to be allowed to do this show with this incredible group of people.

And now, on to your questions:

"Hey Ron, a lot of Buffy fans are very excited that Jane Espenson will be writing an episode of Battlestar Galactica next season. My question is can you please get her to write more than one, or better yet get her to join the staff? Please! "

We were pretty excited to have Jane too. I actually took Jane's first pitch way back in my early days at Star Trek and I had the pleasure of buying what turned out to be her first sale. I hadn't seen her since, but I'd followed her career from afar and was very proud to see her do so well. Turns out that Jane was a huge fan of Galactica and really wanted to do a script for us, so we jumped on the chance. I think we're all hoping that we could get her on staff at some point in the future, but we'll have to wait and see how everything shakes out for Season Four -- and whether she's even available, she's very much in demand these days. Her episode this year is "The Passage" (originally Ep 9) and deals with a harrowing voyage of the rag-tag fleet and focuses on Kat.


"I'm sure you know that BSG has a large following in the gay community. Obviously I'm not saying a show should change because of who watches it, but it has appeared so far that there are no gay characters on Battlestar Galactica. I'm just wondering if it's the case that homosexuality doesn't exist in the world of Battlestar, or it does exist, there are gay characters, and it just hasn't been discussed because it isn't relevant toward the plot. I love the show, and I know you wouldn't want to have a character just be gay to please the audience, or even necessarily to touch on any issues, but couldn't characters be gay and it not be an issue? It seems unlikely that homosexuality completely wouldn't exist."

It's a fair question. I think homosexuality definitely exists in the world of Galactica, but I frankly haven't found a way to portray it yet. It's a texture that I'd like to introduce into the series without doing "the gay episode." It's something that gets talked about internally periodically, but so far there hasn't been a good story or character arc or scene that's seemed like a good way to establish the fact without really hanging a big neon sign out that says, "See, we're doing a gay theme now!" Ultimately, it's probably a failure of imagination on my part and a reflection of the fact that I've never made this a priority for us, so pin the blame on me for not moving this bit of reality into our universe.


"Question: Why were the 'Boomers' naked on that basestar at the end of season one but the cylons on Caprica wear clothes? If the cylons on Caprica are trying to mimic humans so much, why weren't the ones on the basestar?"

First and foremost, the naked Boomers were just a neat idea and that's really why we wanted to do them. But beyond that, the idea was that on the Baseships, the Cylons live closer to their true nature as machines and that certain concepts and social conventions of human society would be less relevant to them than when they were interacting in an inherently human setting like on Caprica.


"Since Roslin's cancer is gone *wink wink* I was just wondering something. She proclaimed herself to be the dying leader of Colonial prophecy and people followed her as a religous leader, but now that she's no longer dying *wink wink* is she still considered to be "The Leader"? Are people in the colonies still looking to her as a sort of Colonial Moses who will lead them to the promise land of Earth? And since she is no longer suffering from her cancer I would assume that she's no longer taking the Chamala, so is she still having visions? Will she be having visions later on? Has the experince on New Caprica taking a toll on her faith? Is the experince on New Caprica mentioned at all in the Pythian Texts? Are you still planning on exploring Roslin's role in Colonial reglion?"

Good questions all. We have had numerous discussions of the fact that since Laura is no longer dying she may not, in fact, be the "dying leader" mentioned in the scriptures. There's also been talk of how that would be reflected throughout the fleet and in particular among the religious community and there will be some follow-up in this area. She isn't taking chamalla any longer, but she will experience some... "experiences" which will indicate that this part of her life isn't necessarily over. Her life on New Caprica will definitely influence her outlook on religion, indeed it will influence her role as president from now on.


"Another question if you don't mind. Is there any significance in the specific model numbers you assigned to some of the known cylons? D'anna is a three, Doral is a five, Six is, well a six and Boomer is an eight? The running fan theory is that each model corresponds with a specific colony and thus a specific astrological sign, but Boomer was supposedly from Aerilon and Aries is the 1st sign of the Zodiac whereas the eighth sign is Scorpio.

So just wondering if you had a reason for assigning the cylon with the model numbers you gave them or did you just make up them up on the spot?"

Number Six was specifically a homage to "The Prisoner," but the rest were assigned their numbers randomly.


"With the amazing lengths you've gone to, to show all of the military detail (many of my friends who were in the service watch the show and remark on this), I'm struggling with a few little things and it's probably just me and the guys at work nitpicking. Is there significance to the props used, like the hummer and thompson automatic on the wall of the Pegasus ready room? Is there an implication that these items evolved in a similar way to the way they have on Earth or is there something deeper to look forwards to? LSO Kelly, for another example, we would have thought him to be an integral part of any scene involving the launch or landing of vipers, yet we rarely (3 episodes?) see him. Wasn't he left in charge of the Galactica at some point? I feel like I've just handed the keys to my jaguar to a valet thinking about a character we've barely seen being handed control of the most powerful ship in the human arsenal."

The props are all deliberate choices that imply more than just a passing connection between our world and the world of Galactica and there are deeper connections yet to come.

The appearance/disappearance of Captain Kelly has more to do with the budgeting process on the show than any creative issue. We only have so much money to spend each week and it's not worth it to pay to bring in Kelly (or any other recognizable guest-star for that matter) unless he's integral to the plot. So, we ask you to take the leap with us and assume that characters like Kelly and Kat and Hotdog and so on, are still aboard ship and doing their jobs even when they're not featured on camera, and therefore are ready to step into action the moment we actually need them for a story.


-------- Previously posted by "Bladerunner" on July 23rd -----------

Source: The Chicago Tribune

Without any clever preamble (I'm about to get on a plane and leave the country for two weeks, and boy, do I need the break), here's my last bit of TCA reporting for you. I spoke last night with Bradley Thompson, one of the writers on "Battlestar Galactica," and got a few interesting tidbits for fans of the show, which returns in October.

There's some semi-spoiler-y info here, but don't fret -- I'll warn you when that stuff is coming. And trust me, I will have plenty more "Battlestar Galactica" coverage when the show returns in the fall.

One final "Galactica" note before we get down to business: The second half of Season 2 comes out on DVD Sept. 19, and it features an exclusive extended version of "Pegasus."

Anyhow, here goes:

* The first outing of the third season will be a 2-hour episode. Early in the season, there will be two linked episodes as well; episode 3 will end with a "to be continued."
* Thompson and his writing partner, David Weddle, produced 10 2-minute "Battlestar Galactica" Webisodes which could debut online as early as August (when Sci Fi confirms a date on their debut, I'll let you know). Those Webisodes will concern the birth of the resistance movement on New Caprica (as you'll recall from the show's breathtaking finale, the Cylons, after leaving the human survivors alone on New Caprica for months, invaded the planet and took over).

Weddle says the Webisodes will give viewers more information about why certain resistance fighters take certain actions fairly early in Season 3. You don't need to have seen the Webisodes to enjoy Season 3, but it sounds like you'll have much more back story on the resistance fighters if you do happen to see the Web stories. "You find out why they do what they do," Thompson said.

We'll meet two new characters in the Webisodes, which take place a few months after the Cylon invasion, and they'll also feature Tigh, Cally and her baby, Tyrol and other characters we already know.

Thompson said he and Weddle didn't really view the Webisodes as 10 totally discrete stories, but more "a half-hour episode broken into 10 chunks."
* Jane Espenson, one of television's best and most versatile writers (she has a great blog too), is writing an episode called "The Passage." It's episode nine of Season 3. "We had a freelance slot," and Espenson got the call, Thompson said. Just some of the shows that Espenson has worked on: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel," "Firefly," "Gilmore Girls" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (where Weddle and Thompson were staff writers). So, yeah. I have a strong feeling that her episode is going to rock. (Jane on "Galactica": "It's been a long time since I've seen a show that does such a good job of crafting plot developments that defy prediction without feeling arbitrary." Word.)

Anyhow, Espenson's episode arose when the show brought in Dr. Kevin Grazier, a scientist from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who talked about how one would navigate through space; how one would figure out how to get from one point in the universe to, for example, Earth. Grazier's talk prompted the story at the heart of Espenson's episode.
* I asked Thompson about Adama's actions in the finale -- had he let the fleet protecting New Caprica dwindle because he was just tired, because so many folks wanted to head down to the planet and he couldn't stop them, or because he really thought the Cylons weren't coming back? "That will be addressed," he said.
* I also asked about the return of the Cylons. I'd thought that in the finale, Brother Cavil (Dean Stockwell's character) had said or at least implied that the Cylons were going to leave the humans alone. But Thompson pointed out, quite rightly, that Cavil had only said, "We have other plans." Hmmmmm.
* Part of the reason Billy died in Season 2 is because the actor got a pilot and things got complicated as far as getting him for certain days/episodes. "To his credit, [Paul Campbell, who played Billy] did a terrific job," in the episode in which he bit the bullet. (How cool is this? We're going to see Campbell again soon -- now that NBC has picked up Webisodes and prime-time episodes of "Nobody's Watching.")

This is the semi-spoiler-y stuff (everything in quotes is from Thompson):

* The Cylons "will have a bigger presence" in Season 3. And "we'll learn something new about them."
* "People will die. They always do," he said. When I asked about the strong rumors about a high-profile character's death, Thompson just gave me an enigmatic grin. He wouldn't elaborate on who dies and how, but he did say that when the writers sketched out the third season, there were originally going to be a lot more deaths. Regarding character deaths, some actors "don't know how closely they missed it."
* Baltar is more or less New Caprica's Marshal Pertain in the new episodes. Did Baltar know the Cylons were coming? "That's a good question, isn't it?" He asked what I thought. I honestly don't know. I'd guess Baltar didn't know, but boy, wouldn't it be interesting if he did?
* In the third season, we will meet someone from Adama's past.
* Though the third season will begin months after the Cylons begin their occupation of New Caprica, there will be some flashbacks of the "lost time" between the end of the finale and the start of the third season. One of those flashbacks will involve what Adama and Roslin were up to once the Cylons arrived.
* We'll find out why Kara "Starbuck" Thrace and Lee "Apollo" Adama were really, really grumpy with each other in the Season 2 finale.

New "Lost" Castaway member

Cast of "Lost"

"Lost" Adds One More

By Gina Serpe
E!Online July 28, 2006

There should be no love lost over Lost's new love.

Except maybe between Jack and Kate.

Elizabeth Mitchell, best known for playing Kerry Weaver's ill-fated girlfriend on ER, has signed on as a series regular for the upcoming third season of Lost.

(SPOILER ALERT: What little information has been released on the character could upset particularly fickle and/or dense viewers.)

Producers, as expected, have kept mum on details of Mitchell's character, divulging little more than her name--Juliet. However, the Hollywood Reporter claims the 36-year-old will act as a love interest for Jack (Matthew Fox), possibly dismantling the two seasons-strong love triangle of him, Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway).

Earlier this week, writer-producer Damon Lindelof earlier said there would be a resolution, with Kate making her decision between the would-be beaus within the first six episodes of the season.



And with Mitchell aboard, it seems like the good doctor just might lose out.

Still, it's unknown whether her character will be a hitherto unknown Oceanic Flight 815 survivor, a new castaway, an Other, a member of the off-island world or simply someone who appears in flashbacks--but since she's confirmed as a regular addition to the cast, the latter is probably unlikely.

And while clue-hungry viewers might be quick to associate her character's name with images of doomed love, producers have yet to confirm the depth of her relationship with Jack--if there is such a relationship.

Though it's looking fairly likely.

"I wouldn't call it the season of sex, but I will say that romance will play a much more active part of the show this year," writer-producer Carlton Cuse told TV Guide. "That's definitely on our agenda."

Mitchell is the second new addition, joining Rodrigo Santoro.

Earlier this week, producers announced that the 30-year-old actor, dubbed by media to be the "Brazilian Tom Cruise," was joining the show, though in a regular or recurring capacity was unknown.

Cuse again played coy when discussing the Love, Actually star's character, failing to disclose so much as his name.

"We don't really want to be at all specific about what we're doing with the character or what he's going to play," Cuse told TV Guide. "Part of the surprise and the enjoyment of watching the show is sort of getting a chance to meet a new character and see how his role is going to unfold in relation to the rest of the cast."

With the castings of Rodrigo and Mitchell, it's two down, one to go. Earlier this week, Cuse said that three new faces would be joining the show next season--two females and one male.

Of course, landing the gig is no guarantee of small-screen longevity. Of the three full-time cast members added at the start of the show's second season, only one made it through the year alive.

The J.J. Abrams-penned third-season premiere, "A Tale of Two Cities," airs Oct. 4.

BSG Season 3 update (Exec. Prod David Eick interview)

Executive Producer David Eick Talks Galactica Year Three and Caprica

Source: Now Playing

Battlestar Galactica may not have gotten any major Emmy nominations last week, but that doesn't mean that many of us aren't dying for season three of the series to debut. That won't happen until the fall, but in the meantime I recently had the chance to talk to David Eick, executive producer of the show. What follows is a portion of that chat (subscribe to our print magazine for the rest of the interview), including a glimpse of what's to come for Galactica, as well as its spin-off series, Caprica.

Now Playing: You took a step forward at the end of last season, and I hear you're planning on doing it again at the beginning of season three. Why did you choose to make that jump?

David Eick: It seemed that much of that year was being spent under a pretence of a detente between the Cylons and the humans. And there's little drama to be gotten out of that truce. In other words, one would presume that they made nice for a period of time. Basically, there is a lot of start-up that would have to take place within that society. The building of that society, the organization of it and then the beginning of the fraying of the relationships with the Cylons. And it just seemed like the more interesting part of the drama to cut to would be the point at which the world had undergone a year of having been built, the relationships had changed to some degree and the beginning of the friction with the Cylons was really beginning, so that was the reason for it.

NP: I understand that you're setting up a government similar to Vichy, France, is that right?

DE: Yeah, exactly. That's exactly my point. Versus what felt like rather dull society building, which just didn't seem that terribly compelling.

NP: Have you planned out the arc for the season already?

DE: Not for the entirety of the season, but certainly for the first 12 or so, we're pretty clear where we're going.

NP: Seems like you just went back to work.

DE: I know. It's going fast.

NP: Are we going to see a splintering of the Galactica characters?

DE: For the first three episodes of the new season, the skeleton crew that's left on the Galactica is in space sort of working as the lighthouse holding a vigil to protect against any sudden Cylon attack or anything going wrong. And the rest of the society is down on the planet.

NP: Is there a risk in making big changes to the show?

DE: I realize there's stuff we've got in the works that you aren't aware of yet, which is why things seem a little more different. But I do think you're correct that the formula so to speak has changed in that we had in the first season, for example, episodes like "33," "Bastille Day," "Hand of God," these were episodes that were more or less self-contained, they involved a specific agenda that resulted in some kind of clash or conflict and by the end of that episode, the conflict was resolved. We probably have fewer of those. I know there are some that are more in that direction. There's one that involves a human POW who's been trapped on the Cylon base ship for the last four years, and when we meet him we realize it's a great homecoming for him because he was one of Adama's pilots. But by the middle of the episode you realize the reason why this guy was taken prisoner was because Adama shot his ship down. And it becomes sort of an episode about why such a thing would have happened and how Adama begins to believe that on some level he might have been responsible for provoking the Cylon attack on the 12 Colonies. That's a very intense sort of tour de force episode for an actor like Eddie Olmos and for whoever we get to play this pilot. And it's also really an episode that brings Adama and Tigh, who have been a little bit at odds for the first handful of episodes of season three, bringing them back together. Through this very tumultuous and agonizing process for Adama, those two old friends are brought together. So that kind of episode is still possible. We will still do episodes like that. They still affect some of the arc, like I said, the Adama-Tigh arc is sort of resolved in this, but it's more of a standalone. That being said, the first three episodes are serialized. Episode four is pretty much a standalone. Five and six is a two-parter about the discovery of a dying base ship and a plague that has befallen the Cylons. And seven is standalone. Eight is a memory episode that goes back to that lost year and some of the things that took place. So in a way, that's sort of a standalone episode because it's not the continuation of an arc, but it's still serialized because it's going back and exploring an old story. And then nine is basically teeing up - it's not quite a standalone, it's not quite serialized - it's teeing up where we're going in the season finale, which is discovering the next big clue on the road to Earth. And that is the centrepiece of the next episodes, the 10 and 11 two-parter.

NP: So you're dividing the season into two halves again, with a mid-season finale?

DE: Exactly, although the breaking between the two halves is much shorter. I think it was four months last year and it's only going to be a month this year.

NP: How many episodes total this season?

DE: Twenty.

NP: In the past you and Ron have been very involved in doing podcasts and v-casts and additional material for the fans. Are you continuing that?

DE: Yeah. I was shooting my video blog yesterday with Lucy Lawless. So that stuff's continuing.

NP: How has it been working with Lucy?

DE: She's magnificent. She really is. And the audience that might be coming to see her because they were a fan of Xena are going to be dumbfounded.

NP: She's been great so far as a guest star.

DE: Yeah. I think she's reached a completely new level now. It's almost like she's not the same character. I just think in that [first] episode she was sort of in disguise. She was pretending to be this character named D'Anna who was a journalist. So she was affecting certain characteristics that would be consistent with that kind of person, but that's not her personality. The nature of the character's real personality is, I think, much darker, much more interesting and threatening. But in a very, very quiet, understated, powerful way. Which is a little different from the Xena character, which was obviously more fun, more in your face. It was a broader tone than this.

NP: Are you bringing back any of the other guest stars, like Richard Hatch or Dean Stockwell?

DE: Oh, yes. They will all be back, absolutely. Although not everyone survives, they will all be back. For the time being anyway. Some in flashbacks, some as we proceed.

NP: So what happened to Richard's character in the interim year?

DE: You'll have to wait and see. Initially, he is basically banished. And imprisoned. And you'll have to wait and see what happens.

NP: Are you looking at parallels with current events? Does that enter your mind in the writing or story development process?

DE: I think it does to the extent that we're all kind of political junkies and we all watch and read and consume a lot of material regarding what's going on in the world. Both Ron and I were poli-sci majors in school and it remains a sort of natural interest for us. So it informs what we do. It informs our conversations. It informs what we write. It informs how we play things editorially. It's not, however, a contrived, forced agenda. It is not the kind of thing where we sift through like they do in Law & Order, where they literally go through the papers and find their story. For example, when we did the prison torture episode "Flesh and Bone" in season one, I don't ever recall a conversation where we said, "Hey, did you see what's going on in Cuba? Let's do that." It was just a natural outcropping of what we were all kind of thinking and talking about, but it wasn't like we sat down with that agenda.

NP: In the coming season, are you splitting your time on this and the development of Caprica?

DE: No, because we spent a handful of days in a room with Remi Aubuchon, the writer, breaking the story, and we spent a day or so working on the outline with him. But really, that's in such an embryonic stage that it hasn't pulled us away. I mean, we should be so lucky to be sitting here going, "Gee, what do we do today, Caprica or Galactica?" It's not at that stage yet. Right now, it's just a script that none of us have even read yet because it's being written.

NP: It's something that will take place in the past, right?

DE: Yes. Exactly. It takes place about 50 years ago. It's in the Galactica universe, only 50 years before the events of Battlestar.

NP: Will we see any familiar characters, then?

DE: No. At least, not for the most part.

NP: Will we see Cylons like we know them now?

DE: It is about the birth of the artificial intelligence technology that will one day lead to the Cylon race. So on that level, it deals with the Cylons. But certainly not in the same way that we deal with them on our show.

NP: Is there anything more you can say?

DE: The script is still being written.

NP: O.K. Anything else on Galactica you wanted to say?

DE: No, other than if you really love the characters, prepare yourself to say goodbye [evil laugh].

NP: That can be taken many different ways.

DE: Exactly. And that's why I'm going to leave it at that.