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edward_l
OLMOS ''This is the darkest show I've ever seen on television. There's a lot of good TV out [now], but as far as what I've seen in my lifetime, [this show]'s been extraordinary.''
Justin Stephens

EDWARD JAMES OLMOS

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So what did you think of the finale?
EDWARD JAMES OLMOS: Yeah, it's pretty intense. You start to realize that you really don't know very much about everybody. I'm very happy, though, about the way that Colonel Tigh handles his realization [that he's a Cylon]. I think he would rather kill himself than do anything against a human. He doesn't realize that he has no choice. Once you're a Cylon, you're a Cylon, period. [Laughs] Except that Boomer's character has been able to cross over.

In many respects because of Adama's trust in her.
No, I think it was her baby that really pushed her to the point of being more human than android. The love of a child is really the premise of this story. My [character's] love of my children, Roslin's love of humanity — all of us are her children. I have my son [Major Lee ''Apollo'' Adama], and of course I just lost my [surrogate] daughter [Captain Kara ''Starbuck'' Thrace], which was brutal.

But you didn't, it seems.
Well, for me, for Adama, she's gone. For Adama, it's over. For us looking at the [show] and how it's unfolding, there's still a possibility [Starbuck is alive], but for Adama there's no possibility. I haven't seen her; they don't even explain what [Apollo] is seeing. Just like Number Six materializes to Baltar, we don't know what that is. What is she? Is she [Apollo's] Number Six? Is she only going to be seen by him?

There was also that great, tender moment between Adama and Roslin when he called her to motivate her to get out of bed. It's really remarkable how feminine Roslin is with Adama.
Most of the time she just allows herself to be the political leader. With me, she becomes the woman. Not that she hasn't allowed herself to be that way with other men; she has. But right now, in this time of the story, there's only a handful of us left.

Would you like that relationship to be consummated?
Right now, the way the show is going, it's really hard. The last episode is brutal. We're now way too deeply embedded in self-hatred and loathing of what we've been dealt that I don't think [Adama and Roslin] have any chance to do that right now. There was a point a couple of weeks ago when I looked at her and said, ''Do you still think about that log-cabin house on New Caprica?'' [During humanity's year spent colonizing a planet, Roslin, no longer president, shared with Adama her wish to build a log cabin in the woods, intimating she'd like to move there with the widowed Adama. —Ed.] She knew what I was saying when I asked her the question. That was, for us, a very interesting moment.

Down the line, I wouldn't mind it. I think it would be very much appreciated by Adama and Roslin if they could get to that level, to forget about everything except for themselves. But I don't think it's going to happen. I don't think the show is headed that way at all. [Laughing] Just the opposite — I think we're going to really, really end up at our wit's end.

Is it a relief that your character is almost certainly not a Cylon now?
Certainly. I never thought of me being one. I didn't know if they were going to throw a curve at me, but obviously Michael Hogan, who plays Tigh, was floored. All the kids who were chosen [to be] Cylons were floored. Just stunned. I remember reading it going, Oh my God — just like people watching the show. Tigh is a Cylon, oh my God!

Where do you think the show is headed?
You're going to be very surprised, because I've gotten some inklings as to what [the writers are] thinking. I've come up with story ideas. I personally — this is not [from] any of the writers, but my thing — I wanted to come into [the present day], find Earth, cruise on top of it, see it for what it is, and as we're coming down to it, we're blown up, we're nuked. And then [someone says to] the President of the United States, which is [George W.] Bush, ''They've been taken care of. Thank God you saved the world again.'' And you turn, and you see who told him that, and it's one of the Cylons. [Laughs]

That would certainly be quite bleak.
[Laughs] That's what the show is, isn't it? It's become very, very bleak. This is the darkest show I've ever seen on television. There's a lot of good TV out [now], but as far as what I've seen in my lifetime, [this show]'s been extraordinary. And it's not even on [premium] cable. Like, if [Battlestar] was on HBO, forget it, you could do stuff that would just drive people crazy.

NEXT PAGE: Galactica executive producer Ronald Moore


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