Let's talk about 'Deadlock,' Friday's episode of 'Battlestar Galactica'

On to the interview. It's best if you've seen "Deadlock" before proceeding.

Questions are in bold type, answers are in regular type.

This episode struck me as a family reunion that goes the way most family reunions go -- everyone starts out with good intentions, but then baggage and grievances (old and new) get in the way. Ellen in particular seems like a mother who is shocked and hurt by the way her "children" have acted. Care to riff on or just rip on that analogy?

What I will do with that analogy is applaud it. I think that's very apt.

Katev Why isn't the Ellen of "Deadlock" as cool and collected as the woman we saw last week in "No Exit"? Was it the devastation of finding out that Tigh got Caprica Six pregnant? Or were there other factors that brought back hints of the "old" Ellen?

Great point! That was something I really loved about Kate Vernon's performance -- she totally played the way that returning to familiar (and familial) relationships can make us revert. Ellen and Saul bring out each other's worst traits, and I think Ellen was doomed to be the old Ellen Tigh again the second she saw him, regardless of any circumstances. Also, the greater availability of alcohol doesn't help.

After thousands of years together, could Ellen really believe that Tigh loves Caprica more than he loves her? Does he?

I believe that Saul really loves Caprica. But not more than he loves Ellen. I don't even think Ellen *really* believes that. But it's clearly more than a casual relationship, and Cylon beliefs about pregnancy and love seem to confirm her fears. And remember that the "thousands of years" is said whimsically -- they didn't perceive it as nearly that long.

If the Cylons on Earth could have children, how come Ellen and Tigh never could?

Some people can't. And then when the Cylons developed their theory about love and procreation, it was ready-made for Ellen to grab in hurt and anger.

It seemed like "Deadlock" had the potential to be kind of soapy -- women confronting each other about the man they both love, etc. I didn't think it was, but was that a concern for you as you wrote it -- the desire to keep it from becoming soap-opera-esque?

I never thought of it as soapy, but as emotional. Fights over love probably feel soapy because these are the sorts of stories that were traditionally told about women, while men got workplace stories. Now these two types are just some of the stories we tell, but they're still worth telling. And they don't have to be soapy. I hope the Six/Ellen scene isn't too close to Dolly Parton's song "Jolene," because I suppose that is the danger. I just tried to write an exchange I believed, about emotions as complex as I could muster.

Was the baby's distress and eventually his death brought about by the extreme stress that Caprica Six was under? Or was Liam's death an inevitability -- did he die because a Cylon-Cylon child was never going to be viable?

I like those questions. If you want to, you could add the question: "Did the baby die because Tigh, witnessing Ellen's gesture of sacrifice, fell in love with her all over again and deprived Six of his love in that moment?" And I'm sure there are other possible explanations, too.

It seems like there are two different factions, among the humans and among the Cylons -- those who want to retain the "purity" of their race and those who are willing to live with a "blended" culture. I sense this will not go well -- looking at history, any time you have two groups like this close proximity, they tend to clash. Thoughts?

Well, I think the clashing of those two factions was carried out pretty well during the recent mutiny.

Baltar How much of Baltar's altruism toward the residents of Dogsville is motivated by a desire to wrest power back from Paula? Or is there some real, honest-to-goodness altruism mixed in with Baltar's loaves-and-fishes theatrics?

Honestly, I don't think even Baltar could answer that.

What had to be cut from "Deadlock"?

I'm watching it now -- as it's going past, I'm trying to recall this. Oh, there was a whole little runner about the possibility of bringing Centurions over to help keep order among the civilians. It was a very cool idea, but there was ultimately no room for it. And there was a big debate about whether Laura/Lee/Adama would allow the Final Five to reunite, with or without witnesses. And there was a really fun exchange between Tigh and Ellen about her poisoning in which she pretended to be furious about it. Tigh: I thought you know it was poison! You asked for the cup! Ellen: I was thirsty!

What was the hardest part of writing "Deadlock"? The most fun part of writing it?

The hardest part was making the moves clear -- how the votes were shaking out, what a "yes" would mean, what a "no" would mean, all of that. Most fun-- I got to put some jokes in this one! Sometimes it's not right for the tone of the episode, but this one had some light elements (up until it gets very dark indeed).

What was it like when you were up in Vancouver making the episode -- was it one of the more challenging episodes to shoot? Any memorable moments from the set?

I remember that everyone on set was getting very curious -- anxious, even -- about what was going to happen next. Memorable moment -- I had thoughtlessly used the word "earthshaking" in dialogue, so there was a last-minute realization and then a quick debate about what to use to replace it. We ended up with "mythic".

Was it a big deal to know that this was your last episode of "Battlestar"? Did that affect the writing or shooting process for you?

Yes, it was very hard, knowing this was my last one. But this episode shot before "No Exit," and I stayed for the shooting of that. So this wasn't my last trip to the stages.

Why does Galen Tyrol want to leave the fleet? I thought the fact that he took his old job as Chief meant that he wanted to stay with the Galactica.

He took his job back because Adama asked him to. But he is increasingly distanced from his old life.

Why would Adama -- with Roslin and Lee's apparent agreement -- give Baltar's fringe faction lots of large guns? I know Adama hasn't been himself lately, but this seems like a bad idea.

Adama is having trouble maintaining order on the ship. He lost a lot of marines during the mutiny. If he doesn't get some sort of force that can keep the civilians under control, he will have to consider using Centurions from the base ship, and he fears a civilian insurrection if he did so. Baltar says that this is the last human solution, and Adama has to agree.

Here are some questions from Alan Sepinwall (whose thoughts on the episode are here):

This is something that maybe needs clarification from "No Exit": Are the bodies that the Final Five have now identical to the bodies they had on Earth? Was the 13th Tribe indistinguishable from the more familiar Cylon skinjobs? Or was Saul and Ellen's difficulty in conception entirely a result of winding up in these new bodies?

Ah... yes... the bodies are supposed to be identical, but of course they did download, so they're not the same bodies, which suggests that that could be a factor. But, personally, I just think they're a couple who cannot conceive. And, seriously, aren't you glad for that? Personally, I'm not convinced they'd be the very best parents.

At this point, given the number of identities and jobs he's assumed, and how quickly he's shed them when something better came along, should we really believe anything that comes out of Baltar's mouth? And, if so, is that a challenge for a writer to try to differentiate between those moments when he's just playing a convenient role and when he's being sincere?

I think he's almost always sincere when he's saying it. I write it as if he's sincere.

This one seemed to be more filled with memorable one-liners than normal: Adama's line about the "project" he's working on in the head, Tigh having a power sander for a grandfather, Caprica Six suggesting that Laura's called him many different names, etc. Was that a function of doing an episode built around one of the series' more overtly comic characters in Ellen, or just you using up some good jokes you'd been saving for your final script?

I always look for places to put jokes. Not specific jokes, just places for ANY jokes. Sometimes a script isn't right for humor, but if I think the situation can support it, I jump on it.

Is there a mythology reason why Head Six has been absent for so long, or why she happened to return at this exact moment? Or have a lot of Head Six (and/or Head Baltar) scenes been left on the cutting room floor for a while for more practical reasons?

There is not a mythology reason for it.

Was Bill right that Saul consciously chose Liam as a diminutive of William?

He was naming his child after his best friend.

Mo here again: There are some thoughts from me on the episode below.

"Deadlock" struck me as a family reunion -- there are big hugs at the start and everyone has the best of intentions. And then the whole thing devolves into petty squabbles and recriminations.

There was heavy drinking, and a "parent" disappointed in her unruly "children." There were arguments, there were were power plays, there were factions. Some people just wanted to leave. But everyone ended up staying, and instead of arguing over a Thanksgiving turkey, they stood around and bickered over the hospital bed of Anders, who at least got to be unconscious throughout the whole thing.

Ah, family reunions. They bring out the best in all of us!

The Ellen in this episode seemed more like the old Ellen we used to know -- the Ellen who likes a drink, likes to make trouble and usually overplays her hand.

And I could see where the change in her demeanor came from. She had the upper hand, or thought she did, with Cavil. She created him, she sees herself as his wise, patient mother. Given her confidence level around him, she can dismiss his ideas as the ravings of a disappointed and disappointing child, the one who was supposed to carry on the family legacy but instead is becoming the universe's crabbiest old guy ("Damn kids, get off my cybernetic lawn!")

But aboard Galactica, she's back with all the people she knew in her former life as Ellen Tigh, the wayward officer's wife. All those old tensions have resurfaced and all that old baggage is back -- and on top of that, she has to deal with her husband's betrayal.

I'm sure she really would not have cared if Tigh had a fling or two after her death. Goodness knows she had her share of flings when they were married -- well, more than her share.  
But for Tigh to have an ongoing love affair with Caprica Six, one of her "children" -- and to make Caprica pregnant? Thus (possibly) proving the strength of their love? That's just too much for her to take.

What I enjoyed seeing was that, deep down, the two Ellens -- the cool Cylon version and the impetuous human version -- basically have the same programming. Whatever and whoever Ellen is, to have had a relationship last for so long, then have that connection sliced to ribbons must have been devastating. The show has demonstrated that the Cylons aren't so different from us -- jealousy, rage and betrayal make them do irrational things too.

BadasscapricaEllen wasn't the only one deeply hurt. We saw both Ellen and Caprica SIx react silently to devastating news: Ellen to the news that Caprica was pregnant, and Caprica to the news that Tigh had slept with Ellen, and that they had planned to name their son, if they ever had one, Liam.

Both actresses nailed those moments; Kate Vernon gave Ellen (at first) the excessive dignity of a woman who is truly mortified and furious. And Tricia Helfer made Caprica's pain and betrayal tangible. You could almost see the pain in the room with her and Ellen as they circled around each other.

But why was Tigh able to make Caprica pregnant? Surely he has a stronger bond with Ellen. I'm guessing their status as Original Flava Cylons had something to do with the fact that they could never have their own children. The Cylons on Earth, we've been told, could reproduce, but I wonder if Tigh and Ellen became part of the team working on resurrection because, for some reason, they could not have kids?

It could be that it was just physically possible for Caprica to become pregnant but not possible for Ellen, and love's got nothing to do with it. But Caprica -- and apparently Ellen, too -- think that the missing ingredient, the thing that prevented the Cylons from bearing children, was love.

So to think that after thousands of years, Tigh loved the other woman more -- that must have cut Ellen deeply. So deeply that she'd want to collect her Cylon "children" and scram.

As for the Baltar story line, that left me with more questions than anything else. I think Adama must be hitting the bottle pretty hard -- way too hard -- if he thinks arming the Baltar's Church With Benefits (not my term, it was invented by the Mystery IMDb.com Recapper) is a good idea.

What purpose can this serve? Can't the brain trust at the top envision several dozen ways in which this could go wrong? Very, very wrong?

Still, I loved, as usual, how James Callis brilliantly played Baltar's altruism and canny strategizing at once, and managed to make all of that faintly hilarious.

There is so much to say,No wonder old tigh was drinking.That woman will drive you nut's.She forgets that she was the Swirl girl for Cavil.I know some of you will say: She had her memories erace!And what about old Tigh he had the same thing.Plus he thought she was Dead.So live goes on.I really wanted to know could it be distress that killed the Cylon baby!So Tigh had a point Also,Cylon Alone and Human's alone will not cut the Muster,They need a blending.So what do you think about this episode???? GTO

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