‘Galactica’: Final frontier

Sci-fi’s favorite think piece gears up for a final season

PREVIEW. Humanity’s had a rough go of it on cable’s favorite underdog, “Battlestar Galactica.” First, during the show’s 2004 premiere, most of civilization was destroyed by killer robots called Cylons. Now, as the show prepares for its fourth and final season, the intrepid humans are hanging on by a thread, with only 20 episodes to discover the identity of the last killer machine (they look like people, hence the difficulty), locate a planet called Earth and, oh, forgive the human race for all their sins.

“It’s depressing,” says series star Edward James Olmos. “Don’t watch this program, it’s depression upon depression.” He’s only half kidding; the series has been known for its downer moments and parallels to the American occupation of Iraq. Presenting the show as a brainy space opera rife with unanswerable moral quandaries has garnered plenty of critical love, if not blockbuster ratings.

“There are certain things that happen within ‘Galactica’ that lend themselves to doing allegories,” says series co-creator Ronald Moore. “I don’t think we’ve made a concentrated effort to do it … but it would be hard not to use politics and international issues [in the show].”

Moore and co-creator David Eick have had plenty of notice to plan for the show’s swan song, a split season of 20 episodes. “I don’t know that I can promise that every little thing will end up paying off; there are certain things we’ll leave deliberately vague,” says Moore. Eick jokes that the leftover storylines will be resolved in DVD inserts; the show is known for its bonus content, including podcasts and webisodes.

One plot point guaranteed to get screen time this season is the return of hotshot pilot Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff), who was killed in a massive explosion, yet popped up in last year’s finale. Is she a Cylon? Sackhoff isn’t saying, but she’s clearly excited to be returning to the show.

“The sci-fi/fantasy thing is the most fun and challenging,” she says, pointing to all the special effects work she does. “It’s like sitting in a cardboard box, pretending it’s a racecar.”

Whether Starbuck turns out to be a robot or not, she’ll have to answer for her promise last season: to deliver the ragtag remains of the human race to the elusive planet Earth. Does Sackhoff think they’ll finally make it? “I think we’d be blown out of the sky by the Americans when we got there,” she laughs. Humanity just can’t catch a break.

Tune in: ‘Battlestar Galactica’ premieres Friday at 10 p.m. on Sci-Fi.