You might want to put the massive spoilers after the cut. Just saying.

that was amazing but...depressing! 8(

One of the best hours of television I've seen in a long time. Wasn't disappointed in the final cylon reveal at all -- and the questions around Starbuck makes things even more interesting. Plenty of "Holy Frak!" moments, and Dee was the best one. Purely awesome, and here's why: http://narwilliams.com/blog/

Anastasia "Dee" Dualla (Kandyse McClure) is a great actress I am sorry that she and her character can be around for the final 9 episodes.

So say we all.

Yeah, pretty sloppy and unprofessional on scifiwire's part.
They really should link most of that article from a jump spot before the spoil.
I never thought of them before as newbs to writing and displaying content.

McClure did a great job this episode. It was really shocking, because she shows such job and sweetness and then in 5 seconds saw it turn off. Well acted.

Talking to my friends as we watched, we all said the same thing. What the dougle hockey sticks was that. And that sure came out of left field. Sorry to see her go.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Dualla because I think I saw her as simple-minded and simplistic -- first in not understanding Tom Zarek's resort to terrorism at all and then in helping to rig the election for Roslin. Still, the show could have used a 5th year precisely because this actress wasn't given as much to do in the last couple of years. And her very insightful comments on suicide show a much more thoughtful side to her, which I wish Dualla had expressed. Her acting throughout the episode was top notch, though.

I was happy Lee wouldn't get back together with her, but I felt quite strongly about her dying. I felt a sense of real sadness and kind of teared up, when Lee simply said, teary-eyed, "She shot herself", I suppose because her action is something I've contemplated, and it made me realize how badly the survivors feel. I think it was a powerful end for her character.

Wow, that came from left field. A few moments before she pulled the trigger I thought, "oh my god, she's going to kill herself". That's the awesomeness of her acting. It still brings tears to my eyes watching it a second time. The character will be missed.

Thanks for the spoiler in the second paragraph. I'm taking your io9-wannabe site off my blogroll.

Oh, seriously, kids, get over yourselves.

They posted the article after the episode aired. BEFORE an episode airs, sure, it's "the right thing to do" to try and warn up front about spoilers. AFTER an episode airs? Hey, if you didn't watch it live, it's YOUR job to sequester yourself from information not the rest of our job to tip-toe around you.

Dredd, seriously? It's the morning after. The show runs on a Friday night, when most of the non-fanboy world is out having a life. Most of us haven't watched the tape/DVR yet and quite a few will have stumbled onto this unintentionally. Get over YOURself. It isn't that much more difficult to hide the spoiler better, and under the circumstances it should have been done.

A great episode, I just hope that Dee's death ends up meaning more than Kat's did. The article's opening sentence is inaccurate (not that I'm surprised). Dee's death occurred halfway through the episode, not at the end. The shocking surprise that ended the episode involved a different character.

WOW what the frak was that? Killing D off like that came completely out of left field. She was one of my favorites is no one safe on that show? Will any of them live to see the end?

What's the point of having a jump if you put the massive spoilers BEFORE it comes?

Another cock-up from the new Sci-Fi Wire. Nice work, idiots.

The death of Dee was very predictably and no surprise. The lone black is always one of the first to go. You sort of wait to see when they will killed of.

Boo! I was rooting for Dee and Lee (as well as Kara and Anders) to get back together. This whole "I settled and married the wrong person" storyline is played out.

So typical....

"The lone black is always one of the first to go. You sort of wait to see when they will killed of."

Now that comment is the most sickeningly predictable hate filled thing of all! Welcome to earth... :(

As far as the spoilers go, you guys obviously have no idea how people take in a web page these days. I look at the page as a whole and often words from lower paragraphs jump out at me even though I begin reading at the top. This post is really irresponsible.

As to Dualla's very sad end amid the trashing of the Galactica, it unfortunately makes sense. The moment is impressive on the series because, like so many other Galactica moments, it is pitch perfect in it's performance and presentation. I'm really going to miss this show.

As much as I would have liked to see Dee stick around until the end (and I too was suckered in by the notion of her and Apollo getting back together), her death serves an important metaphor in the story. The revelation of the post-holocaust Earth is the ultimate downer - the hope the survivors had clung to literally turned to dust. Dee becomes the picture of ultimate despair. She has no future to live for, so she lets herself relive one happy moment from her past (her relationship with Apollo) before she dies. The fact that it was Dualla, the heart and soul of the Galactica, makes it even more poignant and tragic. Nice job by the writers on this one!

Seriously, shut up about whether this article "spoiled" it for you. I am a huge fan and plan to be where I can watch the show the night it airs. If I can't I either watch it over the internet or read the episode synopsis. Just because "you" spend way too many hours blogging instead of something that actually matters doesn't give you the right to critisize someone else for doing there job, correctly I might add.

To me Dee seemed to be the most upbeat and positive of the crew. She was able to inspire Adama and keep Lee in check. She will be missed, even though I am glad the "Lee and Dee" possibilities are over.

Seriously, shut up about whether this article "spoiled" it for you. I am a huge fan and plan to be where I can watch the show the night it airs. If I can't I either watch it over the internet or read the episode synopsis. Just because "you" spend way too many hours blogging instead of something that actually matters doesn't give you the right to critisize someone else for doing there job, correctly I might add.

To me Dee seemed to be the most upbeat and positive of the crew. She was able to inspire Adama and keep Lee in check. She will be missed, even though I am glad the "Lee and Dee" possibilities are over.

Sad, shocking and so typical Battlestar. No sweetness and light there. I loved the part where Adama greived for her like she was his child. I cried with him.

i like others feel the need to say that if you had time to blog then you had time to watch the show this morning. I did.. so they were not spoilers.

Even though I am not a Dualla fan I think she did an exceptional job. I think how she was feeling would have been the same for most of us. I know I would have been feeling the same thing. Great show...

Just a note to say we've listened, and the spoiler is now in the jump.

They did not even let her go to the wrap party - bad form, Ron Moore!

I didn't think killilng off 'the lone black' on the show was Battlestar's thinking. She was one of the most composed, cool, level-headed thinking person on the show. It was clear Lee and Saul and even the Admiral had clear respect for Dualla and that she was the one who Lee leaned on when things could look too bleak. The scene where she found the jacks in the rubble clearly took their toil on her and that was the first sign of emotion she showed anyone in the years I have watched the show. Give her character a moment of grace where she began to lose her faith to a despair that is only going to grow as this season's show wear out.

Dee was one of my faves :-( Beautifully acted and in this episode, I can see why she did it. Everyone reaches that breaking point at some time. It was the only part of the episode that made me swear out loud.

Why wasn't she allowed to go to the wrap party? That is stupid and I hated the final cylon. Anti climactic and lame..

I cried buckets of tears; Dualla's suicide was shocking but also a great way to conceptualize the despair of the crew at that moment. After holding out hope for so long after a tragedy people do give up when that hope is taken away, just look at what happened in New Orleans in the wake of Katrina. Many cops committed suicide because of their despair over not being able to help people during the flood. Great interview with Kandyse too, much appreciated. She and Gaeta were my favorite characters going back to the mini-series, these two very loyal kids who always followed orders, even when ordered to rig an election. They symbolized all the young citizen soldiers who take on the military as a family but who manage to retain their humanity. My favorite Dualla scenes were when she would sit with Adama and try to counsel him almost like a daughter. Dee was the one who quietly convinced Adama to set aside his pride and go help Lee when he led the mutiny to find Kobol. I was sad to see so many fans take up a hard stance against her because she stood in the way of Lee's relationship with Starbuck. Instead of simply saying they preferred Lee with Starbuck many fans attacked the character of Dualla, ignoring the fact that the writer's have an overall plan for the show where yes, go against the pairings the fans want to see on the show. Kandyse did a great job with the character and who knows, this is sci fi; we may yet see her pop up again.

"Now that comment is the most sickeningly predictable hate filled thing of all! Welcome to earth... :("

So speaks someone who doesn't get it. Fantasy and science fiction is very racially diverse as it is and the few characters that do appear are frequently killed off. How accessible do you think that makes such shows to other ethnicities? I love Battlestar Galactica but out of three repeating black characters on a show with a fairly large cast, two are killed off. The remaining is a Cylon.

I will miss Dee - I was taken completely by surprise when she pulled the trigger. However, looking back at the episode it was obvious that she was more than troubled by finding earth barren. After she gave her pep talk to Lee and had a happy ending to their relationship it would seem she felt like her purpose was fulfilled. Still, she was my favorite of the junior officers and she will be missed!

My maternal grandfather committed suicide when I was barely 8 months old. To this day, nearly 40 years on, my family still has no clue why he did so.

Ms. McClure's performance captures the tragedy and heartbreak of it all perfectly (something I plan to write her directly about). I'm truly sorry we won't see more of her work in the series.

This was a very serious, dark episode. I for one am sad to see Dee go, but in only the truly GREAT TV series do our favorites get taken away. This series will go down and one of the best television series ever produced. I wish I could have been an actor with the opportunity to work in this show.

24 is another show I like that is a testament to how many people, those who you think will hang around for awhile, can die in a single season. It makes it more real. I'm tired of the James Bond unreal aspect of getting shot at by 50 people with machine guns and only having his hair messed up.

A comment about an earlier comment ... "The lone black is always one of the first to go. You sort of wait to see when they will killed of."

it is this kind of ignorance and stupidity that keeps racism alive in this country. We have a BLACK President in this country that many WHITE people voted for! The time for excuses is over! Get with the program, join the human race, get off your butt, get educated and become part of a long term healing SOLUTION rather than still being part of the on going PROBLEM!

I've traveled to 27 foreign countries and America is the ONLY country that has this much intensity with its overblown stereotypes. It's unfortunate that so many people think like this. This also goes for the stupidity of the White people in the South. I'd like to take a few hundred trailer trash and gang bangers to England or Germany where they could see Black and White people behaving like educated, well spoken (having a much better command of English that myself), productive members of society.

The truth is Black people were SLAVES here and in South America, and in Europe and it was their greedy brethren (THE BLACK PEOPLE) in Africa that sold them out! Demographics also show that more slaves went to South America and Europe than here in the US.

So, QUIT WHINING! You disgrace our wonderful new President a remarkable human being who has overcome more obstacles than many of us would face in three lifetimes!

I agree with shark. It's always the lone black person to go first. If they wanted to make a statement, have President Roslyn commit suicide and let Dualla be the fifth cyclon. That would have been more interesting and set the tone for the rest of the season. No one would have saw that coming. There's alot of dead weight on that show (I'm talking about you Lee Adama and Starbuck) whose death(s) would drove home the same sentiment. Also why come they never show the black cyclon!!

My maternal grandfather committed suicide when I was barely 8 months old. To this day, nearly 40 years on, my family still has no clue why he did so.

Ms. McClure's performance captures the tragedy and heartbreak of it all perfectly (something I plan to write her directly about). I'm truly sorry we won't see more of her work in the series.

You have to expect the unexpected from Battlestar Galactica. I am sad the show is ending this year, but I am glad I had 6 years
to watch fantastic Science Fictions show that
cover social isssues,love, hope, and great special effects.

Give my best to the cast, writers, and actors.
Take care.

You have to expect the unexpected from Battlestar Galactica. I am sad the show is ending this year, but I am glad I had 6 years
to watch fantastic Science Fictions show that
cover social isssues,love, hope, and great special effects.

Give my best to the cast, writers, and actors.
Take care.

Kandyse McClure pitched it perfectly - and the understanding of psychology was spot-on! Dee was the touchstone of the ordinary person on Galactica - for her to lose all hope for the future bodes ill for all the rest in this superb, dystopian epic.

"wizzie"- You make valid point on somethings but not all. Just because someone wants to see a representation of themselves on television does not mean they are not educated and racist. We have came a long way as a nation and we still have a ways to go. Let's have television shows that show that diversity. I am sure you would have a problem if all the actors on television where men or vice versa. What if all where Chinese or Marsian. Everyone wants to see a little of their culture in order to relate. I am well educated and traveled, I can say in Germany, Turkish people are not recieved well, in France and England, Arabs are not recieved well. The list go on and on. As for your comment "The truth is Black people were SLAVES here and in South America, and in Europe and it was their greedy brethren (THE BLACK PEOPLE) in Africa that sold them out! Demographics also show that more slaves went to South America and Europe than here in the US." We all know that those slave traders did not have a sign up saying, "Buy one get one free." They simply took advantage of what they saw as being inevitable. It was going to happen one way or another. Please open your mind to rational thoughts beyond the physicalities of racial divide. Thank you for your time.

What a great episode! Of course I was really upset by Dualla killing herself. I became aware only after several seconds that I was cursing at the screen. I'm still upset, because she was special. We got to know her, and so it made a very real-life impact on us all, didn't it? A decision like that can be made in the back of the head, and then carried out quickly, as she did. It was such a great opportunity for seeing the connection between these BSG humans and our own real-life humanity, and you can see that we are the same.
It is also good when a show can mix things up and be dangerous enough to kill off some of the main characters. Stephen King once said something to the effect that as a good writer you have to be willing to kill off your 'babies' (meaning the special characters you have fallen in love with). I do expect a few more unexpected deaths to happen in the course of this final season. Well done!
And I miss you Dualla.

She did a wonderful job portraying the despair of the human race. The color of her skin had absolutely nothing to do with it. The final reveal paled in comparison.

Loved Dualla. Sexy momma. Come back baby!

Nice article and, fortunately, not a spoiler for me. I was working when the edpisode aired & as soon as I got off, I had a one-track mind to BSG!!! No way would I look at ANYTHING before that.
The suicide of Dee was the highlight of the show (& I thought it would be the Cylon reveal...silly me)! Well written, well acted & wonderfully symbolic. Our most posivitve character driven to complete desperation...just like the Fleet.
I, too, found the last Cylon revelation to be disappointing & anti-climactic. But...I'm also hoping for the writer's to deliver as they have in the past & blow us out of our frakking minds. They certainly did a fine job with that where Dee was concerned!

now childern lets play nice were acting like cylons and humans first the only black had to die oh come on dee wasn't wearing a red shirt but what a fraking shock that was and if you didn't watch or tivo or dvr then stay away from your computer just saddens me that the show will not go on

Very informative article. However The resolution of the Dualla character was a total let down for me. For the first time I find myself disapointed with the writing staff. The Dualla character deserved a better send off.

It was sad seeing Dee go and really shocking as she just simply did it right after such a happy moment.

I like others am sad that she didn't get more development as she seemed like such an interesting character.

I didn't mind the flashbacks too much as it is creating interesting theories and explorations on what the hell is indeed going on with the five. And yeah, I agree the revelation of the fifth was a little anticlimactic but, not everything is shocking and explosive sometimes simple will do.

Bring on the next episode.

I think it's unfortunate that RDM and Eick didn't cast more minority actors-- (note: this is coming from a white guy), but Dee's death did not strike me as anything but expected... her death actually illuminated the despair of the Fleet, and was meaningful to the storyline... Billy, Cally, and Kat all bought the farm before her, and I'm sure those actors were just as bummed out that they didn't make it to the end of the series either... Her death has nothing to do with being black... in fact, I expect a lot more favorites will bite the big one before the finale, and their deaths will not have anything to do with their race either.

"The lone black is always one of the first to go. You sort of wait to see when they will killed of."

Excellent straw man argument there, well done.

So tell me; Where you there when the character of Dualla was conceived? Did it say in the original treatment that she was "black-skinned?" Ms. McClure was more than likely cast for her ability, not her skin color. As with many stories of this nature, there are many elements that are very clear in the writer's head prior to it being produced.

One of the first rules of writing is "Know your ending." My guess is that Ron Moore stayed with this, and already knew that Dualla was not going to make it to the end. The fact that a black actress is playing this character is secondary. The point is that the character doesn't survive, and that was more than likely the original intention.

There is an old saying; "When you point your finger at someone, you have three more fingers pointing back at you." You would do well do heed that warning the next time you make such an asinine statement.

Yeah, get rid of the only black character on the show!

Wizzie needs to shut the hell up, he has know idea of what he is talking about!

As far as I'm concerned, they should of gotten rid of Felix Gatea instead of Dee. He is the one with the bad leg and suicidal attitude.

Am I the only one thinking that EVERYONE started as a 'skinjob' Cylon on Earth, but has forgotten their roots during the intervening 2000 years? Because I can't see an 'Ellen as the Fifth Cylon' reveal as being a big deal. How does that explain Starbuck?

And by the way, good post, Semperus.

To those that are whining about this article being posted at 2am is just silly. This episode had aired at least 2 times. For those that "have a life" thats fine, however you do not run this website and if you really wanted to see this episode you would have stayed home and watched it.

Anyhow now that I am off that soapbox....

I found this episode to be shockingly good. The different twists and turns had me thinking what more are they going to throw at the fans of this show? The part in the episode where Dee commits the ultimate act was something that I did not see coming. I understand why she did it when it happened. As someone who has contemplated doing the very same thing, it was superb acting by everyone involved, it just shows what devastation is left behind in the wake of someone killing themselves. Especially when it was not obvious that she was going to do something like that.

Dee was on of my favorite characters on the show. I thought that she was never given her due as far as the other female characters on the show. It was always Six, or sharon, when it came down to the sexiest. Dee was was hands down the finest. It's sad to see that out of 42,000 and some odd people to have survived Caprica, there are no blacks that remain. As a black person who loves Sci-fi and BSG this is sad to see. RIP Dee.

Dualla was never a popular character. I don't blame Kandyse the actress for this. But she was originally meant to be paired with Billy as the "everyman couple" in the fleet. Then Billy left the show. ***Ron Moore has openly admitted that the Apollo/Dualla relationship was a mistake that sounded better on paper. Its inclusion was the result of Scifi Channel's season 3 meddling in season 3 to make more Soap Opera. Then Apollo/Dualla ended at the end of season 3. ***Did Dualla do ANYTHING of substance that anyone remembers, from season 4.0?

The character was a dead weight so they had her randomly commit suicide. Dude, Cally's death had more meaning than this.

That said, it was very well directed and very well acted in this episode, and it DID fit the general theme that "surely, people in the Fleet must be committing suicide in despair at there being no Earth"

still, they chose to have it be Dualla (as opposed to say, Seelix) because Dualla does NOTHING on the show. Heck, even Mr. Hoshi, Pegasus' radio guy....once he joined the show, Dualla became redundant. And just as easily she was replaced by Hoshi in the same episode

Ironic, that now, the "radio person" on Galactica itself is named "Hoshi" just like on Star Trek Enterprise.

That said, Dualla was just a mistake like Boxey was. I don't blame Kandyse for this, and she always acted her material very well. I look forward to seeing her in other vancouver-area shows.

But the writers really dropped the ball with Dualla. Seriously, Cally's death was more important to the overall storyline and had an entire episode devoted to it.

Do you realize that since I started really hating Dualla in season 2.5, I've JOKINGLY been suggesting for the past 2 years, "why don't the writers just randomly have Dualla shoot herself in the head or something?"

and then it happened

seriously, it was very shocking in terms of direction, but I was BEGGING for them to get rid of such a useless and underdeveloped character; the next Hari Kim or Mayweather.

Good luck to Kandyse, though.

Seriously, scifi; you have so many problems updating your website, then make the frontpage storyline a major spoiler then DON'T put it after-the-Jump?

Let's see how long your little io9-wannabe blog lasts.

something like 51% of BSG viewers watch it DVR +7

as for the "racial issues" of the "only prominent black character" getting killed......look that is simply tied in with the previous "there aren't many major black characters" thing. The fact that she got killed off isn't "racism"; in the miniseries they thought Dualla would turn into a major character on-par with Boomer, and she just never did. Blame the writers for underdeveloping the character; but actually killing her off in the final 10 episodes I don't see as "racism" at all. The character was really not going anywhere, so she was removed. As for "multiculturalism"; well there's Sharon who's asian and the *lead male* is hispanic. Simply, it was *luck of the draw* that Dualla is black and didn't become a more prominent character....I mean by that logic, was Billy killed off at random because he was white? No.

At any rate, there's always a few who praise every character; the trick is to gauge general fan reaction beyond the dozen or two answering blog posts directly and go to the forums; but Dualla was NEVER a popular character. Remember in season 2 when we fans on the boards officially voted "Apollo/Dualla relationship" to be the "Worst Plot Blunder" of season 2?

(sigh)

I'm happy they killed off a useless "attractive female character" who was little more than a plot speedbump to provide tension for Apollo. It went nowhere; I know it, you know it, the writers know it.

--- V

"Dualla was never a popular character. I...

...I'm happy they killed off a useless "attractive female character" who was little more than a plot speedbump to provide tension for Apollo. It went nowhere; I know it, you know it, the writers know it.

--- V"

How come it's always the one who writes the most, that says the least?

Love Dee, my fav

Tim

I never got Dualla after the whole billy and lee thing. But none the less Kandyse McClure's final act the despire of earth and the final decsion to just be happy and how she achived it for the character is one of the best scenes in Galactica History and thats a tough line up to be on. as for "last nail in the coffin" no wrap party no real farwell to an actor employee who has been there from the start ...I only have to say Eick and Moore bad form.

Despite all that has been said about Kandyse McClure (Dualla)...just before she killed herself...when she was all dressed up after her date...did anyone else notice that she has a slight resembelnce to singer Rihanna?

I'm not even going to join the spoiler/minority characters rants (no, my group never gets included, either, but I love the plotlines developed in this series so I'm fine with it) because I'd simply rather discuss the show.

I was wondering if the Ellen reveal actually foreshadows Starbuck. Can Cylons age? If so, could Ellen be an aged version of the same model as Starbuck - they do have basic facial similarities, but this could be only coincidence based on the actors cast? Both of them "died" before the resurrection process was ended, and it seems like a story-arc twist the writers might use.

To Wizzie,

To someone who considers themselves so well traveled and educated, you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Don’t try to chastise Black people for stating the obvious. We live our Black lives, not you. So stop trying to tell us to see things your way. Your hysterical post doesn’t change my mind in the least about the goings on at Battlestar Galactica. I’ve felt for a long time this show was primarily all about White people, and Black people had little to nothing to say, or do on the show. I’ll go even further and say, even for a science fiction show it’s unrealistic, to think Black people, or any minority, would just sit around, contributing nothing to the debate regarding saving the human race. As far as I’m concerned this show has been racist in it’s lack of Black participation since it came back on air. The old Battestar Galactica was more racially diverse then this modern version. Dee was sacrificed so that Kara and Apollo could ultimately get back together. That’s why I didn’t like it when Dee and Apollo got married because I knew then she’d signed her own death warrant. I don’t think Battalestar Galactic is a very progressive show at all. I think in race relations, its way behind the times.

As much as I Iove the show, I think the way the writers have treated the character of Dee has been a complete disaster. Kandyse was with the show from the miniseries, you'd think over the course of the show she'd get a chance to shine at some point but the writers never gave her anything to work with. Just a ridiculous triangle that made everyone turn on her character, then she practically disappears from the show only to return... and commit suicide. So stupid, Kandyse really deserved better after being on the show for so long.

This whole discussion is ridiculous. Shows how far our country has gone, which isn't very far, but some people just can't get beyond their race. I'll say this straight out - some of you black people are more prejidiced than the white folks you complain about so much. Let me ask you this: where is my White Entertainment Network? You don't see me getting all pissed off that I don't have that do you?

Honestly, its a travesty that you think the only reason this actress got her job was because she was black. What a terrific person she seems like. Who the heck cares what color you are? We are all people and we all need to realize that.

If you have been watching this show maybe you would realize one of the biggest underlying topics is racism and how foolish it is. Lucille, I seriously doubt you even watched it!

As far as the episode goes, it was fantastic. I was shocked and almost in tears when Dee shot herself. To see such a beautiful person who was truly the spirit of the Galactica end this way was very sad. I can only pray that some people survive this brutal story at the end.

Lucille,
Only a racist would say that she lives her "black" life...Life is life no matter what color or race you are. People like you are the reason minorities are looked upon badly. Your race was wronged almost 140 years ago and that officially ended almost 30 years ago or more! You have the same if not more opportunity than I do as a caucasion. Other people of "color" have made respectable people out of themselves. You don't hear our new president complaining about living a "black" life do you? As long as you continue to taut a "black" life, people will look at you as "black" instead of a human being.

Now then, Dee was a wonderful character...even for someone secondary on the cast (I for one don't consider her secondary). I was shocked to see that scene and it really put home just how desperate and tired some of the colonials are to find peace at any cost.

I agree with some comments and disagree with other comments. Yes, I was truly shocked and saddened by Dee's death, but I agree the writers did it to literally add more tragedy to the already tragic finding of Earth. As a person of color, I seriously don't think this is a case of 'killing off the lone black'!! But rather as others have pointed out, just the statement that anyone can fall into such despair to even commit suicide, even Dee who was 'the heart and soul' of the ship itself! Depression is a problem that can be as mysterious as it is serious as 'uberscribbler' pointed out with his/her grandfather. But in Dee's case there was no mystery at all. The woman lost her family to the Cylon attacks, including her estranged father whom she didn't get to make peace with. She lost her first boyfriend Billy, and then her husband (Lee) long before her marriage since his heart is with someone else, and NOW the final destination that she and others have been praying for-- Earth is a nuked ruin! Earth was perhaps the ONLY thing that kept her going since the attacks on the Colonies, the one true hope she had and now that's shattered. When she uncovered those jacks, it made her think of the children that lost their lives on that planet and well it was all downhill from there. Her date with Lee was a way of getting back what happiness she had left and to look old photos and reminisce over her family and childhood. She said to Gaeta that she wanted to hold on to this happiness for as long as she could but she knew she couldn't for long and well we all know the rest. All notions of Hollywood racism aside (and I don't doubt it still exists), this was not the case at all! By the way, the idea that Africans were sold as slaves to whites by other Africans for profit is a misconception. Africans were sold as slaves in exchange for guns and thus protection NOT profit and unfortunately it was all part of a ploy that Europeans to create conflict and conquer the African nations.

Anyway, Dee's character will be missed greatly. And I give props to Kandyse McClure in doing an excellent job in bringing this character to life and unfortunately to death both.

Absolutely disgraceful. Shame on the producers. Shame on them.
As an African-American literary female I'm really very offended.
And what a waste of a beautiful and very talented Black actress! Way to go in support ! Despicable.
I'm done with this stupid, dreary, show....!

to Lucille:

there are less than 40,000 humans left in the fleet; do you really think that the cylons stopped and said to themselves 'let's make sure that the people who survive this holocaust are racially equal in numbers.' It just frakkin happened! And can you really be so dull as to categorize every black person from every nation the same? Is the culture in Haiti the same as it is in Kenya, Nigeria, Liberia, or Sudan? The answer is no. So don't be so stuck up as to place all of us Caucasian people in the same category. I do not refer to myself as 'white', I refer to myself as an American.

Great ep! More jaw-on-the-floor moments per episode than any other show in the history of tv, and Dualla's death was as shocking as any BSG revelation I've seen.

To those people giving the RDM and Eick a hard time about the wrap party, Kandyse said she missed, not that she wasn't allowed to go. People read too much into things and then go and say nasty things about others. Shame on you!

One last theory - man I have so many of those about this show - Could Ellen be an older versoin of Caprica 6 and not Starbuck and I read in this thread? Afterall, Saul kept seeing Ellen's face when he was interrogating that 6 that was a POW on Galactica.

Can't wait for next week's ep!

"As much as I Iove the show, I think the way the writers have treated the character of Dee has been a complete disaster. Kandyse was with the show from the miniseries, you'd think over the course of the show she'd get a chance to shine at some point but the writers never gave her anything to work with. Just a ridiculous triangle that made everyone turn on her character, then she practically disappears from the show only to return... and commit suicide. So stupid, Kandyse really deserved better after being on the show for so long."

--posted by Ebas

Ebas you summed up the entire situation better than I did. I'm now falling in line behind your analysis of things.

in last night's episode dualla put a gun to her head blood all over freaked me out.

I, for one was a bit disappointed in the way it was handled. I can live with her committing suicide but the only real explanation just came in this interview, not in the show.

I'll miss her. Otherwise, a great episode!

Just a guess on Starbuck.... remember an egg was taken from her way back when. The Starbuck in the show right now is the original Starbuck's "daughter." The Cylons cloned (or whatever) a new Starbuck from the egg and sent her back to the fleet. That does not explain her having memories, but it is scifi. Maybe the Cylons can implant genetic memory.

Not convinced shes dead. When it happened, I said "shes the final cyclon and her programming kicked in! She will resurrect somewhere else nearby and come back to lead them to the new non-destroyed earth. were the jacks Appollo took out of her bag the same jacks she found on the beach, or did she have jacks of her own and then the jacks she found tripped her programming? At least I ws thinking all of this until Saul implicated Ellen as the final Cylon? or is she? personally, I think they are all cyclons, humans, created cyclons, cyclons created humans, humans created Cyclons. and endless circle thats happened before and will happen again.

swhe was Black?
I didn't notice.

swhe was Black?
I didn't notice.

Dee was Black.... WOW, Ihadn't noticed

Dee's death was a shocker but inevitable. If you really paid attention to the episode itself, you will see that she contemplated it the whole time. Also, certain scenes made it appear that she could have been that 5th Cylon they are looking for. Look at her reaction when she found the jacks and ball knowing kids were there. She began to show despair there. Then, look at her obvious regret when she went to baby-sit Boomer's and Helo's daughter, the voice of regret. When she encourages Lee to go out and follow his heart. He asks her out. She excepts. Kisses: remembrance and regret. Then look at what was going on once everyone found out the truth of Earth: the anger, the despair, the regrets. They were fighting each other, thinking along the same lines as Dee.
Her exit is only a shadow of things to come. I think we need to continue to watch Roslyn's reactions little more closely as well as Tom Zarek, Apollo himself, or even old man Adama. What did Saul see when he went into the water? Ellen, his wife correct?
Noticed that when they were getting remains and stuff they found one of the original Cylon masks? I thought that was a really great feature. I hope they do show lots more from the original BSG series from the late 70s early 80s in these last episodes...

Kandyse actually is Canadian. Why is color a factor?

With their faith in those old Pythian prophesies crumbling I think we should logically expect Baltar's religion to pick up some real steam and for Baltar to become a much more powerful character.

My blog post on the episode.

WARNING!!! possible spoiler
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0565973/filmoseries#tt0407362

some things not adding up in show and some of the things said in above interview

1 is this would be episode 11 and from interview she did 13 so shes got 2 more
2 from imdb shes in all of the last 10 episodes could be flashback material
3 not convinced Saul's wife is the final cylon
4 something weird is happening with earth people/cylons there just dont want to stay dead..the 4 cylons that were revealed, dee (the jacks thing wasnt a coincidence she knew exactly where to look), starbuck, helen

I was SHOCKED that Dee killed herself. She actually seemed happy.... maybe she wanted to end her life on a positive not where so much of the last few years had been negative? I wonder. I have some theories about what's going on, but don't want to spoil it for anyone.

I feel the writers at Battlestar Galactica are great. They keep me coming back and still wanting more. However, I was disappointed to see Dee go, like with Stargate Atlantis and Lost.To Wizzie you are very presumptuous. Lucille was just expressing her feelings which alot of people will never understand. Looking forward to the next show.

one of the above comments above said they got rid of the black person ,well she was of a mixed marriage which makes her not white or black. my comment is this , the action by dee shows the true dark character of the writers which do not realise that actions like this can influence the minds of real people in there every day life . those who are depressed will see this as a ok act to end there pain . having lost a child to this same way 8 years ago i find it a very bad way to tell a story and end a characters life. there are many other heroic ways dee could have died . i doubt if i will watch any more of the shows of battlestar galactica..

I'm new at this. It should be, 'and Lucille'. I'm the one wizzie was trying to chastise.
Looking forward to the next show.

I love Dualla & i'm very sad that she went out like that. She should've been around til the end. At the same time I understand what she did and why the sscript was written like that. But that doesn't mean i have to like it. :-D

One of the reasons I like sci-fi is that most of the shows/books don’t consider race/species an “issue;” society has shifted from an internal view to (typically) “humans vs. ___” (fill in the blank).

I don’t think the subject of race came up at all during any of the episodes and it never crossed my mind that an African-American character was now off of the show until reading this blog. Yes I’m sad to see her off the show and yes I’m very happy the writers are making the show worth my while with plot twists like this versus the other slop that is typically dished out on TV these days.

On the subject of race, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. If you want policies and programs that foster/affirm a racial divide (i.e. affirmative action, EEOC, Black Entertainment Television, Al Sharpton/Jesse Jackson) then race will continue to be an issue. If you are going to take away money/opportunities from others because of atrocities of the past then fine but don’t expect people to be happy with it when the result is that more than six times the number of African Americans are in U.S. prisons per 100,000 African Americans compared to Caucasians, 40% of people on welfare are African American even though they are only 14% of the population and African Americans have triple the teen pregnancy rate versus Caucasians. Start proving that the sacrifices myself and my kids (of which neither generation was alive during segregation) are making are worth it.

OMG!!!! My 16 year old son and I were watching this together and when Dualla shot herself....all we could do was stare at each other and then the screen.....AWESOME WRITING AND AN AWESOME TELEVISION SHOW!!! We will really really miss Battlestar Galactica!!!!

As a black person it is very important (for me at least) to see other black folks in important, relevant, non stereotypical roles in the media. It is psychological. The idea for me is that it is cool that a person who is likely to have had a similar background as me, having an important role in whatever is going on (even in science fiction). Thats why it is a little more poignant (again for me at least) when the things like this happen to the only black character. I feel the same way for gay characters too. Yeah Im gay too. I would have been egually saddened to see Gaeta die. The unfortunate truth is that although we are all Americans, most of us -including me-see people around us as "other". I look for pieces of "self" in popular media. It helps me relate and become psychologically involved. Why watch a show that you cant relate to because you see every one as "other"? Not that simple but you get my point.

My wife and I had to rewind the event (we have it DVR'ed) to make sure it was real. When we realized it was it made it twice as heart breaking.

Any chance you think this is a big smokescreen?

Starbuck proves there are more than 11 Cylons. And if the entire planet was inhabited by Cylons we know there were millions. Perhaps just 11 figured into the Cylon prophecies. On the beach I think Dee had hew own flashback. Then decided to pull the trigger to go home. There much be a resurrection facility and a plan orchestrated by the true 11th. There must be a faction we have not met as of yet.

Those are my speculations.

The whole episode I was thinking "When are they going to kill her off?" I was still surprised it happened so quickly.

I have a social life on Fridays and missed the episode. Which means instead of browsing around forums on Saturday, I put everything on hold and watched the fraking episode! Nobody has a right to complain about spoilers now.

A characters suicide in a quick violent way was necessary to "sell" how the crews of the fleet were feeling. It was done very well!!

Enough You are pathetic and an idiot!! If I was to take you and and drop off on Mars. I wonder how long it would to take you to pull the human race up to improve the economy on Mars. You are a moron!! So what if there is a Black Entertainment Television, Jesse Jackson, or even an Al Sharpton; do you know how long African-Americans have waited to see a representation of themselves on television? And I don't even like Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson! I am sure you were not complaining when there was a Hee Haw or Leave IT to Beaver on. Black people are not bringing this country down, it's the lack of education, I love my country; I have fought for my country, Don't you ever say that my people represent the worst of this country when you and I both know that is not true. There has been one race that cause nothing but heartache a nd pain since the begining of time. One race that has pillaged and destroyed all that it has come across. One race that has darkened this world and still continues to till this very day. One race that has contributed nothing but death and destruction. And if I have to hear one more time that just because we have a black President we should shut up. One black President compared to 43 white. So frakking what!!! It's people like you that are what's wrong with this world today. Do me a favor Enough, Wizzie, and the rest: Go straight to hell!!!! Because we all know that's where you come from.

Well for one thing, I'm an original Battlestar Galactica viewer/fan, I watch the original series back in the 70's, and even managed to see Battlestar Galactica 1980. I have to say I never really cared for this New series of Battlestar Galactica, and to make matters worse Richard Hatch played a Bad guy on this series. Shame on him for what its worth!!! The one reason I even watched this program was because of Edward James Olmos, one hell of and actor. It's a shame that Scifi could keep more with the story line and the characters, but the one thing I've noticed about the Scifi Channel is they take something that doesn't need fixing, and try to fix it. Now thats not so with all the shows they have aquired, for instance, SG-1, they kept that pretty much the same, and did a good job with it to it's conclusion, They have also had good originall series like Sliders, Farscape, and maybe some others, but most of what they produce is CRAP!!! To make matters worse, they can't even run a show on the same time line, they keep changing there program line-up. Then theres Firefly, which was one of the best shows they ever produced, it didn't even run one season!!! Anyway, This thing with Dee Blowing her brains out is to me indicative of this countrys way of ridding a white man from having a long lasting relationship with a black women!! Thank GOD we now have a Black President!!! Besides we as Scifi lovers desiver some quality in the shows that the networks produce!!

Well for one thing, I'm an original Battlestar Galactica viewer/fan, I watch the original series back in the 70's, and even managed to see Battlestar Galactica 1980. I have to say I never really cared for this New series of Battlestar Galactica, and to make matters worse Richard Hatch played a Bad guy on this series. Shame on him for what its worth!!! The one reason I even watched this program was because of Edward James Olmos, one hell of and actor. It's a shame that Scifi could keep more with the story line and the characters, but the one thing I've noticed about the Scifi Channel is they take something that doesn't need fixing, and try to fix it. Now thats not so with all the shows they have aquired, for instance, SG-1, they kept that pretty much the same, and did a good job with it to it's conclusion, They have also had good originall series like Sliders, Farscape, and maybe some others, but most of what they produce is CRAP!!! To make matters worse, they can't even run a show on the same time line, they keep changing there program line-up. Then theres Firefly, which was one of the best shows they ever produced, it didn't even run one season!!! Anyway, This thing with Dee Blowing her brains out is to me indicative of this countrys way of ridding a white man from having a long lasting relationship with a black women!! Thank GOD we now have a Black President!!! Besides we as Scifi lovers desiver some quality in the shows that the networks produce!!

basshorn2:

If you want to go off, at least try and vent in the right direction. SciFi didn't produce, or decide to cancel 'Firefly'. Get angry at Fox.

@basshorn2...I sure hope our "black" president ups the budget to fight illiteracy...how in the hell did this thread debauch into a "black" vs. white? Apparently the show and others like it in the Sci-Fi world have not left the mark I hoped they had. At least the show delved into Lee and Dee having a marriage and breaking the barrier..she didn't kill herself because she was distraught about her white husband. She killed herself because she was mentally unstable over the extreme loss she suffered over the past 4 years. Her family, planet, husband and the fact that the last and biggest hope she had, a new home, was wasted! You know why racism won't die? Because people like you and Lucille won't let it go...you're afraid that if you do you won't have something to gripe about. In a round about way you're already spitting on your new presidents legacy! Be human...don't be a color!

When I heard that gunshot, I cried so hard I had to gasp for breath. A long time afterwards, I think I got where they were going with that.

I think the best thing about BSG is that I have heroized, villianized, and identified with nearly every major character at some point in the series.

When I heard that gunshot, I cried so hard I had to gasp for breath. A long time afterwards, I think I got where they were going with that.

I think the best thing about BSG is that I have heroized, villianized, and identified with nearly every major character at some point in the series.

Let me first say this as a Christian, second as a black individual, I have no problem among the races, I like the show, I was around for the first BattleStar(70's) they replaced the 2 black actors, Tye, Boomer(I like the female Boomer better-smile-) but the only main black character commits suicide? i personally thought it was out of taste, still very interesting show. oh and I also like the female StarBuck!! Again good show...dark....but well written.

So, the earth human race are all cylons and they believe in one god.

So that makes the humans on BSG alien slime who enslaved and tried to committ genocide on my ancestors.

Hmmmm I hope the BSG "Humans" DO get blown up!!!!

The Good Guys are now evil pagans!!!

I was very shocked by Dee's suicide. Never saw it coming until I saw the blood spatter on the wall.

oh, and for those who seem to think Barrack Obama is 'black', do some more research. His father was from Kenya, but his mother was a Caucasian American. Furthermore, you don't here him preaching about equal rights or reparations. He talks about moving forward and change. And I support him 100%.

one more thing,

to xavier34

You can take your words and shove them up your ass. 'one race that has caused death and destruction from the beginning of time'? Every race has good, as well as bad. So stop thinking you can categorize people by the color of their skin. Because that makes you a racist. I never owned a slave, or tortured anyone, or labeled someone inferior to me before meeting them-so don't you dare think that you can label me that way.

to Enough

That goes for you as well, Enough. You throw out figures like that, you get what you ask for. You are just stirring up trouble for no reason. And frankly, I'm sick of hearing from people like you.

In the words of the Admiral: 'No one is asking anyone to forget, or to forgive. But we have to look to the future."

I am just at an awe of how many of you do not get that Kandyse's (Dee) leaving the show was a decision of the writers. It has nothing to with her race. One reason: SHE IS NOT AFRO-AMERICAN!!!! She is Canadian!!! When the most of you see this you will not make these comments. I believe that for the most part that they writers could not find true purpose for her character so they had developed this scenario to get you to think about the possibilities of who else would be worthless to the show's ending. And by the way, although she was the only main "black" character, there were other characters who were "black" on the show. The spiritual leader who was supposed to be helping Laura and a one of the Cylon models was black. So, we cannot say that Kandyse was the ONLY black on the show.

1) Slavery continued to be legal, and to exist, until sufficient states' ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment on December 18, 1865.
2) After the 13th amendment abolished slavery in America, racial discrimination became regulated by the so called Jim Crow laws, which mandated strict segregation of the races.
3) By 1968 all forms of segregation had been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and by 1970, support for formal legal segregation had dissolved.

That means it took over 100 years for allegedly free blacks to gain the right to prosper and not have their inventions, property and gains "legally stolen" from them.

That was just 39 years ago. How does a country make up for over 100 years of of financial inequality , no access to 40 acres & a mule, race based wrongful imprisonment. Affirmative action was not the answer. Is there an answer ? They did offer to pay the Japanese-Americans for their wrongful detenetion during WW2. The blankets they gave the Indians only made them die. Who are "they" ? Who are their decendents ? Who are the heirs of those who got rich off of the exclusion of blacks from 1865 to 1970 ?

And what does this info has to do with a character who was offed a ficticious show? Slavery was what it was. It is a part of history been going even since the Hebrews were enslaved by the Egyptians. "There is nothing new under the sun that hasn't happened before".

We all have been tricked! Dee is not dead because she is the Fifth. Ellen is not the fifth, that would be TOO easy. ...............i'm hopeing Dee will be back and her interview was to throw us off. ..please.....

What the Frak! Personally I've had enough of the forces of depression and the dark side. Yeah, the fleets in trouble, there's been a big let down but damn it. Human beings also smile, they overcome, they celebrate and live a life in the face of adversity. Damn I'm glad the screwed up writing crew didn't write the outcome of flight 1549 this week. They'd have 155 bodies floating in the Hudon face down. Sometimes people get lucky. Can't there be a script with some of that in there. I'm tired of watching the zombies on the screen. There has got to be some human spirit in there somewhere.

I am classified as an african american although I am obviously of mixed blood as are many here in america. I am retired military. I will not even try to answer the many issues reguarding the "race thing" but I will say that although I really have enjoyed this show from the beginning(especially RAZOR) ,I often feel bittersweet that although I can really relate to many of the charecters(especially ADAMA) there is no one that looks like me in a recurring role. what happened to "BULLDOG"?

I am white and I have been disappointed in the lack of black characters on this show as well. I am not saying it is racist or anything like that. But I would still would have liked to have seen at least 1 regular character that was black.

I just looked at that site IMDb that was given in a previous post and I just see where Kandyse had maybe been previously set for all episodes. We will just have to look and see what will happen.

People, this thread is suppose to be about the farewell of McClure's character Dualla, NOT about social issues of race! If you want to go there, then okay what? Black Entertainment Television was created as a TV network to cater to the African American community the same way Telemundo caters to the hispanic community (which I hardly ever hear complaints considering it is a non-English speaking network), whereas all other networks by and large cater to and for the delectation of white audiences. Also only 33% of welfare recipients are black but the 61% majority are WHITES! Yes, despite stereotypes, there are way more whites on welfare than blacks. Oh and as for "taking away money/opportunities" via affirmative action, this too is another lie since the vast majority of people who benefit from affirmative action are WHITE WOMEN, who aren't technically even a minority at all! The point is money and opportunities aren't taken from the white community at all but on the contrary continue to flow there while blacks in America (yes even today with Obama about to be sworn in) still have a much more difficult time getting job opportunities. Statistically a white man with a criminal record still has a higher chance of getting a job than a black man without one. So you can take all your stereotypes of 'indolent black social parasites,' burn in your meth pipe and stuff it not in your mouth but in another orfice of your body...

Getting back to the actual topic at hand, please!

I understand how some blacks are disappointed with having one of the few black characters on the show being killed off in the way that it happened, but again there was nothing racist behind it. I DO agree with what Ebas said in that her character could have gone places in the show if the writers had brighter ideas for her. Her suicide now is nothing short of a major tragedy on the show and I agree with comments from the producers that the effects of her death will continue to be felt in the remaining episodes especially for the Adamas-- both father and son!

It's a complicated universe!!!!!
BSG is by far one of the best SCI-FI stories.
I have been reading all the comments from the SCI-FI channel as well as many other sites/blogs etc. This series has brought together so many people, all with so many ideas of plots and how BSG will end. Who the Cylons are? Is it 12 or 13? Who or what is Kara? Are we to read into the Greek/BSG mythology to get the answers the writers are telling us? Is our Earth really the same as BSG Earth. Are there many Earths? Just a symbol?
What of the two children? What is the significance of their characters? How is Boltar not a Cylon? Is there a meaning to, how and why Dualla ? How characters relate to our real lives? Is the writers/producers views or just by chance? Should we analyze every thread of every show ever set on the airwaves? What are the actors points of views? When can I go to a convention and listen to a panel? Lets fast forward and reflect on the whole series and not just one segment of time. Are we all ready to learn the truth? Do we really want the show to end? Are we ready?

What is there left to watch currently that has the drama, story lines, effects, and so much more that has drawn so many viewers from all walks of life?

The human mind is so darting and so complicated. Like the Matrix. Are we all just puppets that someone else is holding the strings? And about time? Time as we have already found in science is all relevant. We already know that time exists differently in so many dimensions. It is all conjecture like so much is. Look how we humans are already progressing as the humans in BSG. We are trying to live forever. We have mechanical knuckles already! Let’s get that knee replaced too. Robots that clean and work. Computers that are so tiny and can hold so much information in such a small space. Look at cell phone technology. So to think of 2000 years that these people died from a nuclear blast is very plausible given the technology they had. Who is to say that we are not close to the BSG reality?
And Ellen, I never thought. That was well hidden. Just makes it more compelling to own every episode to watch over and over. BSG marathon anyone? We do Dr Who marathons all the time. If I could only stay awake.
You have not seen an episode until you have watched a podcast and listened to the commentary from the executive producer as the episode unfolds.

What a great universe we all live in. Now if we can only stop the wars and let’s just enjoy life and live in peace.
We are all humans on this earth. Life is so exciting! Can you imagine!

Frak you! Getting rid of the most cool and the most calm character on the show the way they did, just didn't make any sense.This is why the episode was so shocking.

Dee is not a cylon. If she was D'anna would have recognized her because the 5th cylon is the one she actually spoke to. So that means that the 5th cylon is someone who is not around.

Now if they would of did it right, they should of had Felix Gaeta go crazy and go to his post on the bridge and blow his brains out in front of everybody. All over the consoles instruments that displayed the 13th colony signature.

People please don't argue about race. Black people, I know she was the lone black character, but it is just a TV show and most of you never were slaves. And white people please do not try to rebuttal, because you don't make sense, because you don't know how to put yourself in other people shoes. Especially if you believe the earth evolves around you.

I can't figure out why they didn't have her at the wrap up party. I mean they should have had everyone from the show there. Everyone...

Dualla - the actress that portrayed her was excellent. I hope we see a lot more of her in the future. Oh and please don't ruin your image by doing any nude scenes please. Thanks.

This is not a black & white issue. I loved the fictional character of "Dee" or Dualla. Her suicide in this episode was both shocking and disturbing but made the episode into one of the finest in the series. As was said earlier, Dualla was the "heart and soul" of Battlestar Gallactica. If she can succumb to suicide from the despair of finding a devastated Earth after all the searching, think of what this does psychologically for the humans and cylons still living. I love to hate the character of Baltar. Both of these characters are a credit to the writers of the show. The actor who plays Baltar is great at his job, portraying a sniveling, conniving, wimp of a man who sold out the human race both at the beginning of this journey and at New Caprica. I have been drawn in to this series because it is so much better than the original. I have theories as to what's going on but I'm sure they are way off base. It's just very entertaining. That's what is so good about this show. It is a real and human drama.

I was a huge fan of the original series in the 70's. I was a young boy in grade school and there was this really great show in space with a clear "bad guy" and "good guy". Looking at any of those episodes now is painful because it was childishly predictable. As an adult I appreciate the "re-imagined" series so much more. It is an adult show. It is entertainment. There is nothing beyond that. Characters are actors playing out their fictitious lives as the writers see fit.

What would you do? Would you blow your brains out as Dualla did? Or would you stay and find a way to survive and possibly make lemonade out of lemons. This is what is being shown. Human nature. I have no doubt that Dualla is a symbol of the good in humans that gets overwhelmed by despair. There's no fight left in her because she doesn't feel there is any hope. There is always hope. Even if every character dies at the end. The hope is that this will never happen to us. Because we are seeing it played out and it will change us to become better for it.

Peace

Love the writing of the new series. My only beef with the changes in the show were that the original had 2 black characters in prominent roles. And here in the re-imagined version the prominent black character is just a Petty Officer, and not a major character until later. And now she is gone. I was totally cool with the Boomer change, I wan not very cool with Thigh (parson the spelling) He could have very easily still been a brother and filled the role. I'm happy they've added 2 characters from other backgrounds Bill Adama and Boomer, but the cast is still pretty lilly white. Just 2 cents.

This is ridiculous! There is only ONE race on this planet - the HUMAN race (or the Cylon race as it may be). Our diverse cultural backgrounds (and yes, we ALL have them, not just people with specific skin color) should serve to bring the world together; to give us all a greater understanding of Humanity and our purpose in the universe.

The greatest thing about Battlestar (and many other SciFi shows) is the ability to look past these petty bickerings and towards a better future - one of a united Humanity; one with united goals that overrule any pathetic small issues that would disappear as soon as the Human race decides to move forward. Unfortunately, that day looks to be far away - thank you racism for ruining what should be a wonderful tribute to an underappreciated, strong character who, in her final moments, spoke volumes with few words and brought tears to many an eye.

Shame on all of you who see skin color as a divide and use it to oppress ANYONE, whether through apparent means, or hidden ones. Shame on all of you who hold this world back with your immaturity.

Monan wrote:
I wan not very cool with Thigh (parson the spelling) He could have very easily still been a brother and filled the role...

I reply:
And nobody would be finding some racist slant in "brother" being cast as a barely functional acloholic, who gets in a drunken fist-fight with a woman over a card game about ten minutes into the pilot? Yeah right, and I've got the Brooklyn Bridge over here, fifty percent off...

Kandyse McClure said this about the wrap party: "I ended up missing the wrap party as well,...". I'm sure it wasn't because "they" didn't want her there. She may very well have been working on another project. Reading comprehension is key people. Point is that another fine actress has been discovered due to this show. There are many great careers that are made from shows like BSG. We will see her again of that I am certain. Whether in BSG or somewhere else that is yet to be seen.

I agree with ViperStrike's comment above. We've got to get past this "race issue". We're all the same color on the inside. Everyone bleeds the same color too.

"Freedom isn't free."

I was sad to see her character go... it was a shock but at the same time, not entirely unexpected. you could almost hear the of what was left of her emotional stability on the ruined Earth. I wish we had seen more of her character throughout the series – to this day I think there was much more to Dualla than any of us knew – one of the main reasons I enjoy the scifi and fantasy genres is for their character development and she never got enough.

I do think that there is something wrong in old Hollywoodland. Be it that black actors and actresses agents' are not encouraging them to go up for these roles or the actors/actresses are choosing not to go for sci-fi (BIG mistake - Avery Brooks had to be one of the best, not to mention sexiest Trek captains EVER!!). Conversely, though, African-Americans can’t expect that black actors and actresses will necessarily reflect the > (and thereby, themselves) in sci-fi and fantasy roles – does this make sense? Sometimes I wonder if the actors/actresses and agents don’t go up for these roles because they aren’t “African-American” enough. Now THAT would be a huge shame and waste of talent. I haven’t really noticed as much of a dearth of diversity in sci-fi/fantasy shows from the BBC and other euro broadcasting.

grr stupid scifi wire strips out things with carats around them..

that should have been the "snap" of what was left of her emotional stability

and: can't expect that black actors and actresses will necessary reflect the "African-American experience" and thereby themselves...

smileyginger great points. As well as others of you.

However I think the sci-fi fantasy shows/organizations are not seeking out the actors. Trust me if you tell an actor that is not working, "Hey I have this show for you to be a part of," they will probably take the job. Work is work and will pay the bills. How hard do you really think it would have been to find a black actor to play the Tigh role? Not very. Star Trek was very good and deliberate about this. And I don't care where a black actor is from. Thandie Newton is a great actress, has done Sci-fi (Chronicles of Riddick), and is no where near American. And it is very easy to say from a white person's perspective that actors' races don't matter when the vast majority of actors are white. Trust me, from a non-white perspective it is huge. Nichelle Nichols has always been a huge hero for black folks and I'm sure George was to Asians.

I still think the show is well written. just giving the guys constructive chriticism (with spelling errors) ;)

*snicker* Am I the only one that noticed that most of the people that are bitching about the spoiler alert have already SEEN the episode? I mean, wow. Seriously?

"But, but, but...it's the PRINCIPLE of the thing!"

So very, very sad.

I, for one, was shocked by Dee's suicide. I believe that "Holy S..." was the first thing in my mind. But it does fit the tone of the episode. Everything they had in the past, gone. Everything they've worked for over their years traveling to Earth, gone. No clear goal anymore. No idea what to do next. As was mentioned by other characters in this episode, "why continue to fight?"

The episode left many questions though. Is Ellen Tigh still around somewhere? What's up with Starbuck? Who was in the crashed Viper? How did the final 5 come to end up in the Colonies if they had lived on Earth 2000 years ago? Were the other 7 Cylon models also on Earth? What are Baltar and Gaeta hiding? What are Cavil's plans now? And if history is repeating, how did it end before?

And one I've been pondering...supposedly there are 12 models of Cylons. Upon leaving Kobol, there were 12 tribes of humans. Legend spoke of a "hidden" 13th tribe. That 13th tribe is found to have existed. Could there be a "hidden" 13th Cylon?

I am sorry to see Dualla die. I think of all the characters she was the most normal, best balanced and had the least flawed personality. I think it was so out of character for her to do this that made the scene so impactful. I don't think race had anything to do with it other than as a minority person she was the most stable and level headed of the major characters.

I am suprized how the military is handeled so badly. Rules and requlations that would have prevented many of the problems that later popped up in the story were just glossed over. Boomer and Chief should have been buster to broom pushers in season 1.0. I thought the episode 33 was the best for the whole show in showing how professional military would handle the pressure. It was like the british in the Battle of Britton time went on and there were fewer and fewer of them. But they fought on a professionals and that professionalism kept them focused and able to function. I thought that was going to be the theme of the show with the humans losing irreplacable skill people and the Cylons happy to make the exchange.

Dicipline on Galactica has been terrible and any Captain woth 2 cents would keep the crew focused on some thing even if it was painting buldheads rather than allow the crew to fall into periodic funks. Apallo and Starbuck never ever would be allowed to get away with what they did, I should superglue Starbuck to a Viper Seat since that is the ONLY place where she was functional. The XO would have been locked in a Jail Cell until he dried out then he would be on antibuse (or what ever itis called)

Other points - Who are the Old Cylons in Razor and the highbred that talked to Starbuck? Is there a third Cylon group. Old verions still kicking around. Didn;t they hint that in Razor?

Also, Anders was on Cobol fighting Mechs several seasons ago. Howcome the Cylons only now recogize him as one of the five?

How Come if Chief and XO and XO wife are finial five and the Mechs seem to be able to sense them they did not figure that out on New Capricia?

XO a Cylon having a Baby with a 6 a Cylon? How is that possible?

Moran wrote:
However I think the sci-fi fantasy shows/organizations are not seeking out the actors. Trust me if you tell an actor that is not working, "Hey I have this show for you to be a part of," they will probably take the job.

I reply:
Really? Eddie and Mary were on 'The View' recently, and both said (so I don't think you can put a racial/gender angle on it) they took some convincing to even open the script for BSG. Fairly on not, I still think there's a lot of actors out there who buy into genre snobbery. If they do Sci-Fi, they're going to end up getting typecast and spend their careers buried under prosthetics, reciting technobabble between invocations of Grabthar's Hammer. :)

And since someone brought up Avery Brooks -- and I'm a passionate Niner -- how soon we forget how much criticism he got for slumming with Trek -- just like Patrick Stewart, come to that. Aren't real actors supposed to be doing Shakespeare, or August Wilson or something more than b.s. for fan boys who need to move out of their parents' basement and start meeting real, live girls?

Can we please get off the recial thing. I can't read minds so I have no idea if the Dirictors/writers/casters did this on purpose or not. It is a shame that in 2009 everyone's sensitivity is still so high that slights are taken when none was intended. I think Dualla was the most normal - leat flawed person on the whole brigde crew. The rest of the main characters are so screwed up that it whould not have had the same impact. That the IMPACT Character was black is a tribute to the great character she protrayed and that writers created.

I do sympthaize that for vicarious enjoyment it is a ahme that some minority viewers feel detached. I don't think anyone planned it that way.

Fixed spelling (sorry)

Can we please get off the racial thing. I can't read minds so I have no idea if the Dirictors/writers/casters did this on purpose or not. It is a shame that in 2009 everyone's sensitivity is still so high that slights are taken when none was intended. I think Dualla was the most normal - least flawed person on the whole brigde crew. The rest of the main characters are so screwed up that it would not have had the same impact. That the IMPACT Character was black is a tribute to the great character she protrayed and that writers created.

I do sympthaize that for vicarious enjoyment it is a shame that some minority viewers feel detached. I don't think anyone planned it that way.

Just a thought, In any crisis someone steps up. A leader comes from somewhere, A pilot or a ships captain - someone would show themselves to be a capable leader. This show has kept the same flawed and not very likeable group and they seem to be kings for life! A ship the size of Glactica whoud have 5 or 6 officers of the same rank as the XO. There would be dozens of majors and captains. Someone should be groomed for leadership. Appolo should be airlocked for all the crap he pulled. Who is the King Apperant?

I guess I am missing something and will probably have to watch this episode online again, but I was not convinced that the earth they found was un-inhabitable. It was VERY rough around the edges and slightly radioactive but with the technological and physical capabilities of the remaining (over 39,000) beings , they could have made a new home. I find it impossible to understand the depth of their collective depression.
Disappointment - sure , but these people seemed to have lost all hope. Dee's exit would have made more sense if the story had first made it "Very Clear" that there was "NO WAY" to make that planet or parts of it habitable.

While I am at it. How did Chief (a Cylon) father a baby with Calie? XO a Cylon having a Baby with a 6 a Cylon? How is that possible? I thought Cylon Males were sterile?

armyforlife:

Well, if you assume the Final Five are the same as the other Seven you're on the button. But pretty much from the moment Athena got pregnant in season one, I think it's been safe to assume the Cylons don't know as much about themselves -- or pretty much everything else -- as they like to think.

Boooooooo

Why Dee? I think she was on of the nicest characters on the series as well as one of the hottest with her eyes. I thought maybe for a minute than she was a Cylon and killed herself in some kind on Rebirth on Earth with some sort of Resurrection facility based there from the Earth Cylons. Making Ty's Wife the final cylon is stupid. I never liked her from the beginning and was happy as hell when she died. Its just dumb to me to have her back into the mix.

Finally whats the deal with Starbuck being dead. Are you going to tell me that she's some kind of ghost or cylon too. This can get a little draining mentally.

Hope the rest of this season is better.

once again childern lets play nice so Dee was played by a black actress and her charector was killed off not the actress for all the blacks out there maybe more black actors should have tried for a part im sure the staff at BSG didnt say in a seceret meeting lets make everyone white but one we'll kill off shouldn't fans be talking about the story of the show THE 13TH TRIBE WAS CYLON AND ON EARTH 2000 YEARS AGO and the final four lived there then did anyone see that coming i was betting on the other cylons followed kara back and destroyed earth as a HA HA to the fleet but really its JUST A TV SHOW CANT WE ALL JUST GET ALONG

once again childern lets play nice so Dee was played by a black actress and Dee was killed off not the actress for all the blacks out there maybe more black actors should have tried for a part im sure the staff at BSG didnt say in a seceret meeting lets make everyone white but one we'll kill off shouldn't fans be talking about the story of the show THE 13TH TRIBE WAS CYLON AND ON EARTH 2000 YEARS AGO and the final four lived there then did anyone see that coming i was betting on the other cylons followed kara back and destroyed earth as a HA HA to the fleet but really its JUST A TV SHOW CANT WE ALL JUST GET ALONG

-KangaYou brings up a good point that I had noticed myself. Dee had no reason to kill herself. It is not as if Earth was a molten lava slab. There was oxygen to breath, water to drink, and plants to eat - why the hell would the most collective person on the ship kill herself. Why the hell did they land in Greenland, when they could of landed somewhere near the equator; Hawaii maybe. This is why I did not care for the end of season 2(or season 3)- when they land on that other planet; landed and decided to set up shop in what seem to me as the worst spot on the planet.

When they landed, their despair was so over dramatized that I thought they landed on hell. But this is how its been since second season started. Its like the writers have nothing else to right about but over exaggerated drama.

Personally I was not thrilled with her suicide. It seemed trite...Banal. Almost like an afterthought. I guess they couldn't have had her go out in a blaze of glory confronting her exhusband or anyone else she had a beef with. Personally I am glad to see this nightmare of a show go. I want nothing good for these people and I am glad they found Earth a nuclear wasteland. Let them go frak another planet for life and stay away from Earth, we have enough problems without them bringing theirs.

Dee's death was terribly sad but I think it was necessary.

When they got to earth and found that it had been nuked it was the last straw for alot of them. She just couldn't deal anymore. And while alot of us would think this is the coward's way out but we haven't had to deal with our entire race being nearlyl wiped out. only to have 2 people that we love get killed or be in love with another person.

She was a character I didn't know I was going to miss until she was gone.

It was a shock seeing her off herself. She's a great actress, and I hope to see her in other shows/movies in the future.

Good GOD, read the title of the article before whining about having it spoiled for you!

Um folks, while I'm sure the fine citizens of Vancouver and British Columbia welcome all the film and television production money they can get, I suspect they draw the line at thermonuclear weapons being being as extreme set dressing for purposes of realism. (Which might explain why Cylon Occupied Caprica wasn't a sterile wasteland in the grip of nuclear winter, and I was willing to let that slide too.)

As for folks saying that Dee's suicide was "over the top" -- you do realize that, by definition, suicidal people aren't exactly in the most rational head space to begin with? And I don't think most of us exactly have the RW frame of reference that exists in this show -- everyone and everything you once took for granted has been wiped out. You family and friends; every place you ever knew and loved. You survived all that by pure chance, and for the last three years you've been on the run under constant threat, and the one hope you've been clinging to (however irrationally) has just been pulled out from under you. And what do you have to go back to? Where is there to move forward to?

And just a RW hint from someone who has a history of severe depression: Don't tell someone like Dee to just cheer up because things aren't really that bad. Because that might be perfectly true from your POV, but it's not from the other side.

Sher really nailed the scene - very well done. I knew exactly why she did it, you could see it in her eyes when she looked at the picture of herself as a kid. Great writing - great acting.

I'm a fan from the silly OS. If anyone remembers, the premis of the God Apollo/Lee, was that he was unlucky in love. So if you look at all the women Lee has been romantic with they've all met a terrible doom. His pregnant ex girlfriend went kaboom with the destruction of the colonies,the hooker went bang with the Rising Star,Starbuck drilled herself into a Nebula.and finally he blew Dee's mind with bi-polarism and infidelity and she blew hers out with a pistol. Once again this is all about Lee,oh those pretty crocodile tears and Adama getting drunk was no way to honor her. I was also thinking back to all of her clips that ended up on the cutting room floor. In one she hinted that maybe she should have died with the colonies and in the 'Why Dee married Lee' clip she said "I want to ive everyday as if it were my last" Maybe she's been suicidal from the start. I guess that's how they threw everyone by cutting out most of her scenes until this. I thought they might do something to refire the Lee/Kara thing but they didn't have to do this. She could have resigned and disappeared into the fleet with another guy and  try to start a family or something. If you remember her character was only 19 when their journey began so at 22 RIP Annie. She could have died a noble death like sacrificing her life for someone else even a Cylon but suicide was too much for me to care about the rest of this series. I've got better things to do. If they were trying to show us the anguish of the fleet by killing a strong character like Dee, they only showed us the dispair of waisting our time watching this show.

Cylons can have babies if love is involved with their sexual acts. That is how one of the Boomer models was impregnated, same for Callie. The nr 6 is a curious one, considering that Ellen is the final Cylon and they did have love in their dysfunctional marriage, why did they not have kids? Maybe they did not intend to have any which some couples do. Maybe her model's initial age was past the child bearing age? Don't know but those are two reasons to possibly explain the inconsistency of Ellen's lack of pregnancy and nr 6's pregnancy. Cylon males are not sterile.

Back to the state of acting. You might think it's sad, but it is reality. I'nm sure Ed and Mary had issues with the script, but they've had a number of acting jobs and will continue to have acting jobs. I still think of Ed as Castillo from "Miami Vice." And no matter what he does on BSG or other projects will change that. James Earl Jones slummed it big time doing Star Wars. LOL! Anyway, my point is there are many striving actors who would have jumped at a chance to do this project or any work. And I believe that the creaters, producers, and casters could have done a better job. I think Dee was offed for budgetary reasons, i.e. read her comments from above, and in trying to make the removal part of the story. Live I've said before the reimagined BSG has some great writers and making the removal seemless is well inside their skill set from what I've seen from their work.

WOW, rascist writers? Dee a dead end character, Obama ..OH MY....you guys think to much or trying for a psych phd. this site is about the actress Kandyse Mclure and her departure from the show..so get of your soapboxes and celerbrate an actress and a moment that she took a scene and made it here own and when out with some of the best acting (even just facial expresions in the mirror those amazing eyes) that would give Olmos and Mcdonald a run for there collective money. 10 out of 10 Miss McClure!!!

ColdSun: The reason there isn't a "White Entertainment Television" is because almost all television is "White Entertainment Television." Lets take a look at Beverly Hills 90210, Friends, Sienfeld, The Wonder Years, Cheers, Frazier and probably any 3-4 more highly rated TV shows. Can you tell me any of the black characters in major roles in those shows? BET was created because if you look at the shows listed 2 sentences ago none of them included a black actor in a major role, and must times not even in any roles. It's sad that BET even exists because it is telling about how producers and casting agents do a poor job getting a diverse group to play the roles. One person made an excellent point that it is amazing how in a group of 450k (or what ever is the number) people there are no black characters weighing in.

And FrakkinA: honestly there is a "black life" in the USA. Slavery went on for 400 years and ended in the 1860's. Why did it take another 100 years and a major civil rights movement (and MLK's death) for people to be allowed to "safely" vote in the same voting booths. It's still going to be many years before 400 years of slavery culture (on all sides) in America is completly reversed. We should revel in the tremendous achievement that the USA can elect someone that is not completly caucasion to the office of president, but the fact that Democratic strong holds in the bible belt voted in droves for the Republican candidate speaks volumes that racism is alive and well in USA.

*deep breath* I think I speak for may of the complainers in the forum, that although the new BSG has done a decent job in increasing diversity (more female major characters, a Pacific Asian, a south Asian, and a Hispanic) it has gone backward in roles for blacks (note I am not saying African Americans, they could cast a black brit for all I care). In the original BSG 2 black actors played prominent roles XO and major pilot, now the major black actor is a petty officer who is later promoted to an officer and finally killed off. And as many of you said the priestess was killed off early, and the only black cylon shows his head long enough to get killed resurection in later episodes. I and I believe we find it hard to believe that it is so easy to find white actors yet so hard to find black actors to fill many of the roles that many of you have stated don't have racial tags to them. I think the only people we are missing are Arab actors (the 5 cylon lady is Indian aka South Asian), unless you want to include Dr. Baltar with his middle eastern (Jewish) ancestory. Anyway food for thought. It's not hate or spite. It's more pity and sadness that in this day and age BSG seemingly has gone backwards in some ways.

monan:

I'm really going to disengage from this conversation, because you're determined to write some racist angle into every casting decision. But I notice you're really quick to put racial identifiers on people based on appearance -- you are aware that Tahmoh Penikett and Alessandro Juliani are of mixed-race heritage, but I guess they "look" white to you. And this is where it starts getting really stupid.

Do you have any idea what the demographic profile of working unionised actors in Canada is before you make wild claims about black actors being excluded from BSG?

Have you considered that Rick Worthy might not have been available, rather than been written out because the man has some problem with a brother being a Cylon?

You might also want to take note that there isn't some culturally homogeneous race called "Asians" either. Grace Park is very proud of her Korean heritage, and you might want to consider what your misleading and simplistic labels say about your own racial prejudices and ignorance.

re: monan

"Craig Ranapia" elegantly rebutted your attitude. Funny how race card waver like monan ignored all the non-black characters on the show. I guess "monan" thinks Adama is played by a white actor, since only white people can be in lead roles, as in his thinking.

Basically, race card waver like "monan" came from the old school of Jesse Jackson/Sharpon's race card politics, dividing people up. If Obama had followed your line of backward finger-pointing attitude, he wouldn't have won.

I suggest you join us in the 21st century. And throw your race card to the trash.

a reply to scotty454 'Kandyse McClure said this about the wrap party: "I ended up missing the wrap party as well,...". I'm sure it wasn't because "they" didn't want her there. She may very well have been working on another project. Reading comprehension is key people", the full statment was " I ended up missing the wrap party as well, which was kind of the last nail in the coffin for me." that to me sounds like she got a snub..maybe you should fully read and comprehend the statement made by the actor herself instead doing an edit like a third rate tabloid! Peace!!! (wake me up when the killing starts)

I loved the character Dee and feel that she was under used. I'm sorry to see her passing but can see how her death is part of the story. Seeing Dee and Lee together one last time made see how good they could have been together.

Bottom line: Lee Adam screwed up. Dee could have been his Michelle Obama or Nancy Reagan. The loving, smart wife-partner.

----

It is fair to criticize Galactica for not having a black character as a regular cast member. Everyone wants to see others like him/herself on TV.

Dismissing concerns of people about issues of race with a glib we are all one race does a disservice to the concerns of people who raise the issue. Just because we are biologically one race does not mean that we are treated and seen as equal.

Tahmoh Pennikett may have Native Canadian ancestry but he does not read as such. He reads as white. Therefore, a brown-skinned Native person can't readily see herself in Tahmoh anymore so than a black person can easily see herself in Heather Locklear, who has African ancestry.

The questions that people have about seeing others like themselves is not about them being racist or hyper-sensitive, it's about wanting to feel included. If you haven't been in the position of being an outsider, chances are that you won't understand this.

Look at how excited gay people have been after learning that Felix Gaeta is bisexual. Someone like them was on a science fiction show. That meant something to them.

Similarly, why were so many women excited to see Starbuck presented as a strong, sexually confident woman? Starbuck provided them with a role model unlike the typical hot-chick-in-spandex that is part and parcel of much science fiction.

Why not be honest at how successful BSG has been at presenting women (of various backgrounds) in different roles like heroine and villain.

(Flipside, how many men were upset when they learned Starbuck would be a woman? )

In our world, why do you think many older white women, in particular, were ecstatic about the idea of Hillary Clinton as president? They wanted to see someone who had gone through their struggles as president.

Race matters in our society just as do gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, color, and religion. They all have an impact on how people identify themselves.

Unfortunately, science fiction does not have a great record on portraying people of color. There are great exceptions, Sisko, Tory, Worf, Adama, Sharon Agathon, Uhuru, Alison and Henry, and a few others.

What we do see are stereotypes. The selection of Michael Dorn as Worf was great. But the creation of Worf mutated into a new sci-fi stereotype, the noble warrior/savage. Look at Ronan and Teal'c of Stargate. Neither character is valued for his intellect. They are noble, good men but their brains are not put on display.

Bless you RAFE !!!

Rafe,

Thank you. Best rationale for this debate. Thanks for the kind of insight that rejects the fatalism of the "oppressed race" argument, but instead, focuses on the identity, representational aspect of "minorities" in entertainment.

It really does matter if one has a certain perspective to understand another's racial context, but people of color tend to be challenged in expressing their disappointment without resolving to an emotional harangue. Because, as it was witnessed here, emotion begets emotion to such a point that people begin to make no sense. Both sides accuse the other of "racism" or "ignorance".

That said, if I can come back to topic, I saw Dualla as something akin to normalcy and stability on the bridge. To analogize (if thats a word), she was like a prominent fixture in your home that tells you in so many ways that you are where you are supposed to be; this is home; everything is ok and proceed on with living your life; without saying a word.

For a character that did not have the kind of airtime as her costars, she signified (to me) the message of "standard operating procedures"; a presence of normalcy. Without Dualla at her station with all hands at the ready, someone insignificant to others bellows a tremendous feeling of something is missing, at least to me...

Thanks Kandyse.

If you didn't watch the episode, don't read my post. You've been warned.

We've all been duped. There are more than 12 cylon models. Dee is one of them. She found the locket and the jacks in the dirt on "Earth" and started crying. Just before she kills herself she looks at the same locket (only this one is clean and newer). Later in the episode Lee is going through her personal effects and it contains a bag of jacks. She was a little girl on "Earth" when it was nuked, and finding her things triggered her personal flashback (like Tirol's and Tigh's).

Also in the article she says that she's in 13 episodes. Since this was only episode 11, she'll be in two more. Most likely the last two when we find out that there are many more cylons.

Since I'm on my "more that 12 cylon models tirade." Just to prove another point, who is the blonde woman in Tirol's flashback since we know that all 250,000 bodies belong to cylons?

Ellen will turn out not to be the 5th. She's a cylon, but not one of the five. Starbuck is also obviously a cylon.

Dee was a great character. I am sorry the writers thought the Lee/Dee marriage was a mistake. I thought they were a great couple. It would have given Dee's character A LOT more show time if it lasted.

Anyone hoping that Dee is the 5th Cylon or is a Cylon is going to be disappointed ( IMO).
1) she doesn't have a flashback while on the planet like the other 4 cylons. Her finding the jacks on the beach was luck/ fate, not her remembering to look there.
2) She did not hear the music on BSG like the other 4 did. Having Helen be the 5th is very plausable because her character wasn't on the ship at the time. Her character was dead. Dee was on the ship. She should have heard the music if she was a cylon. So..... Dee is not the 5th cylon.

Also going back to other points on this blog. It wasn't the metal cylon's who recognized the final 5. it was a raider. I would speculate that walking toasters can't tell the difference between final 5 cylons and human, but the raiders somehow can.

The metal cylon found on the beach was not a cylon like the one's from the Razor movie, or the 1970's show. similar but different.

As far as sterile cylons. The original 7 cylons are sterile to each other. that is why they were harvesting eggs. apparently, the final 5 cylons can conceive with the original 7 cylons ( Saul/ Six)

Now, Kara Thrace apparently finding her body....that is interesting. Also she was not on BSG when the final 4 cylons were hearing the music so she could be the 5th cylon too. Also she claimed to be finding Earth be hearing / feeling something.... makes you wonder. When we find out what really happened to Kara during her missing months, then we will understand it all.

My feeling is that the whole event of Dualla's suicide was telegraphed throughout the show, if not the series, as suggested earlier in this thread citing her reaction to babysitting Hera.

In the Raptor back from "Earth" (and I say it in quotes because I'm not sure this is the Earth of Myth which they sought), she lost it and strained to keep from coming unravelled, stating "keep it together, Dualla". I wonder if the calm demeanor we see in the series from her isn't just some tightly-wound facade she had been keeping up her whole life to deal with years of tragedy? Was the discovery of this planet and what it wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back?

Note that the disappointment they all felt is not because Earth is barren, but because there is no human life there... nor evidence that there EVER WAS (they were all deemed cylon)!! The grief seems to me to be due to the excessive hope and faith in humanity that all were guilty of possessing and finding out that to be human means to be mortal and make mistakes and be consumed by greed. It wouldn't make sense to expect a Utopia or that somehow all the troubles of the Universe (including some pissed-off Cylons) would just go away, but I believe many did.

So, why did Dualla do it? Recapturing that moment with Hera and subsequently Lee, reminded her of the good things about humanity, and that's what she wanted to remember. Her life was a constant strugle fighting the current, showing a brave face while inside she was as frightened as the rest. Instead, she took the moment of peace and surrendered to it, ceasing to fight what she felt was a futile struggle, allowing the current to take her, like the fox, out to the sea.

I hadn't noticed Kandyse McClure was black, but she's wicked hot. Who cares what colour people are? We are all exactly the same. If you identify with someone because they are the same colour as you, then you could end up NOT identifying with someone because they are a different colour than you.

The secret to life is just this: never look for the differences, only the similarities; never look for the dark, only seek the light - because whatever you are looking for, that is what you will find.

>Also in the article she says that she's in 13 episodes. Since this was only episode 11, she'll be in two more. Most likely the last two when we find out that there are many more cylons.

You're forgetting Razor, which as far as the contracts are concerned were the first two episodes of the season. (Razor's production numbers were 401/402.)

Phillymore,

I think the grief shown on Galactica reflected the impact of Dee's death on her crewmates.

During a few of the episodes that featured Dee and Lee and the feelings that Lee had for Kara, the characters explained how much they felt infidelity was against their beliefs. I wonder if Dee's death will weigh heavily on Lee because of an earned grief over his realization that he married Dee at the wrong time and that had he resolved his feelings for Kara not only would he have been able to spared Dee pain but he would have found a soul mate in her.

Of course, we don't know where the story will end. Will Lee forgive himself and find happiness with Kara? One can hope.
----

I disagree with you, Phillymore, when you bring up the issue of oppression. The reality is that acting is a tough profession. Few actors are able to make a living as full time actors. But, it is more difficult for actors of color to find roles, and part of that is because of bigotry, either deliberatly or unconsciously so.

There are some roles for which actors of color are not given the opportunity to audition. Recognizing that there is discrimination is important.

Although there are a handful of successful actors of color, they are the exception to the rule especially for women, who are quickly pigeon-holed based on racial/ethnic archetypes. How often do you see women of color as the best girl friend of the lead protagonist white woman?

On the other hand, it is important to recognize how well BSG has positioned Grace Park and Rekha Sharma. Neither has been exocticized. Sharma's character stepped up from the assistant/best friend role into a key character. Thus both actresses have made strong contributions to the show in handling complex characters. In particular, Rekha Sharma is one of the few dark skinned women who have been able to play smart, sexual beings who have been both heroic and villainous in TV. (This is a question of colorism and racism. Irony is that if you have watched a few Bollywood pictures, you would see how few darker skinned South Asian women are lead actresses. The same could be said for Grace Park. As a Korean Woman with brownish skin, she would find it more difficult to succeed in Korean cinema vs. lighter skinned women.)

For that, I give much credit to the BSG producers for giving Rekha Sharma such a chance.

Kandyse McClure has also took Dualla through a similar but less prominet arc of character development.

Finally, I want to thank Kandyse McClure for her portrayal of Anastasia Dualla. For all of the talk of race, I hope people to appreciate that Kandyse has followed in the steps of Nichelle Nicholas, Whoopi Goldberg, Salli Richardson, and Gina Torres in creating a new memorable black female character in science fiction regardless of her tragic end. Recognizing this is important.

I hope that Kandyse is able to find another gig that allows her the opportunity to succeed. As much as people want to believe that we live in a post

(P.S.
Sanctuary has no actors of color in its cast or as recurring characters. Major bummer.)

Rafe,

I was simply appreciating the track in which you posed your argument. The tone you argued is the type of dialogue that both sides should try to strive for. My point is that certain subjects are hard to dissasociate one's self from because of the emotion tied to it. And because race is such a hot topic, few people struggle to debate it with civility.

Otherwise, I think you're spot on in terms of color, class and gender; especially with regard to how, we (African-American here) are portrayed on the screen and what roles are afforded. However, one question I have is, do we argue for equal representation when the program is really bad? Or do we only make the case when TV and film programs become hugely successful?

Btw, so, so, so, so out of left field and nothing to do with this blog (forgiveness please), but if anyone is interested in one aspect (out of millions) of the history of race and class, I highly recommend a book called All Souls Rising by Madison Smartt Bell.

Rafe:

You've put forward your point of view, and done so thoughtfully and civilly which I respect. But I think some people on this thread need to give some respect as well -- where I come from, racism is a serious charge and the attitude that the producers of BSG are presumed guilty isn't acceptable. Also, don't presume to speak for all black people -- I find something just a little arrogant (and, yes, racist) in treating any minority group as some kind of Borg collective that all thinks the same on any topic.

Finally, as someone of mixed-race heritage, I respectfully suggest your comment about Tahmoh Pennikett "reading white" -- like similar discourse around Obama -- says way too much, and nothing pleasant, about the way the ideology of racial and cultural purity is still strong, and that we still "read" our prejudices (not only racial, but gender, class and sexuality) by projecting them on other people's faces.

Monkeybot: Great Post! I'll have to watch again and see how she looks at the items closer and what the items have in them. All the 4 identified final 5 were pretty distrought about finging out that they were, maybe with the exception of Tory. the talk about a 13th cylon and Ellen being an older 6 or Starbuck makes a lot of sense too. We shall see.

rafe: Excellent post! I'm amazed that I have yet to call anyone associated with the show nor any of the posters racist. However when I provide some insight and constructive criticism I'm called a racist. Pray tell what in my posts was racist? I made no comment about Tahmoh because I didn't know and Ed Olmos also qualifies as a native north american (Canada is not another continent) Mexicans are spaniards that mixed with native north americans. I think that it's great that the show has 2 Native americans (Tahmoh and Ed). I have been saying that diversity is good and the new BSG has improved on this, however they have slid backwards in other areas of diversity. And if Saul was a drunken, depressed cylon I would have been cool. I think Dee killing herself has been in keeping with the storyline and good writing of the show. I just question the casting of the show.

I'd think the identity of the final Cylon would have been known since the death on New Caprica- should have already been resurrected, and thus known to the Cylons.

Phillymoe: great question and I believe from the actors' perspectives they want to work. Hopefully a show they work on is successful, but if they get work that is another listing to put on their resume and more money to put food on the table. And I'd have to agree with that perspective. The more you see a diverse cast the more you will see a diverse cast in the future. Rafe I agree with the typecasting problem, however as the typcasting continues casting agent and producers will see the leap of putting an actor of color in the lead is a smaller and smaller leap of faith in the potential success of their fledgling show.

Folks please read my posts in full an stop assuming I'm saying something I'm not. I still have yet to call the show or any posters racist.

And to be fair, in my last I wrote: "and that we still "read" our prejudices (not only racial, but gender, class and sexuality) by projecting them on other people's faces." I don't exempt myself from that critique by any means -- but at least I try to be a little self-critical about my own stereotypical and superficial thinking.

And the little irony about this thread is that Kandyse McClure was born -- and spent much of her childhood -- in apartheid-era South Africa, a nation where racism and exclusion was not only all-pervasive but enshrined in law.

I don't live in a perfect world, by any stretch of the imagination; but at least I've never lived in a country where I was a second-class citizen from the moment of my birth, and my parent's marriage was illegal.

Last week's episode was truly shocking...Dualla's suicide caught me by surprise. But, to be honest, I never could stand the character, and NEVER FOR ONE MOMENT believed her relationship with Apollo. Kandyse and Jamie never had any chemistry, and their relationship felt forced. Her suicide was really just a way of cleaning up a bad decision by the writers to put her and Apollo together in the first place.

rbaker227, I disagree about Dee and Lee not having any chemistry. Ironically, most of the chemistry that was shown between them was when Dee was still involved with Billy Kekeiya and just after Billy died. To me, it's just that the writers didn't do a good job balancing the chemistry between Dee and Lee and that between Lee and Kara. Those with a soap mentality would have done a better job at this.

Also, why are some folks bringing up other questions that have nothing to do with this thread? That's why we have the BSG forum. Anders was not detected as a member of the 5 until the nebula because he wasn't activated yet.

Getting back to Dee, one thing I noticed is that Dee was the person who, during certain crises, would be calm and collective and hold things together for OTHERS. Maybe that was the problem. She was so busy being strong and cool for others, she didn't know how to do it for herself. Thus, her suicide. Perhaps if she gave any indication of how she really felt, even told someone, someone could have counseled her and helped her. Maybe even Lee himself, but no instead she chose to keep her pain to herself. A big mistake for someone who suffers from depression. Even some suicidal depressives would confess their feelings, but apparently and unfortunately she wasn't one of them.

Oh and to Rath, you are exactly right. Racial oppression comes in many forms and the media is a huge part of that. It was only in recent times that blacks were actually portrayed as intelligent beings in the media and especially on scifi. No doubt the character of Anastasia Dualla was in someway a tribute to Gene Roddenberry's character Uhura on Star Trek. Like Uhura, she was involved with communications networking on the ship. The thing is Battlstar Galactica is NO starship enterprise, with all the tragedies and unhappy endings and such. And RDM is no Roddenberry.

rbaker227, I disagree about Dee and Lee not having any chemistry. Ironically, most of the chemistry that was shown between them was when Dee was still involved with Billy Kekeiya and just after Billy died. To me, it's just that the writers didn't do a good job balancing the chemistry between Dee and Lee and that between Lee and Kara. Those with a soap mentality would have done a better job at this.

Also, why are some folks bringing up other questions that have nothing to do with this thread? That's why we have the BSG forum. Anders was not detected as a member of the 5 until the nebula because he wasn't activated yet.

Getting back to Dee, one thing I noticed is that Dee was the person who, during certain crises, would be calm and collective and hold things together for OTHERS. Maybe that was the problem. She was so busy being strong and cool for others, she didn't know how to do it for herself. Thus, her suicide. Perhaps if she gave any indication of how she really felt, even told someone, someone could have counseled her and helped her. Maybe even Lee himself, but no instead she chose to keep her pain to herself. A big mistake for someone who suffers from depression. Even some suicidal depressives would confess their feelings, but apparently and unfortunately she wasn't one of them.

Oh and to Rafe, you are exactly right. Racial oppression comes in many forms and the media is a huge part of that. It was only in recent times that blacks were actually portrayed as intelligent beings in the media and especially on scifi. No doubt the character of Anastasia Dualla was in someway a tribute to Gene Roddenberry's character Uhura on Star Trek. Like Uhura, she was involved with communications networking on the ship. The thing is Battlstar Galactica is NO starship enterprise, with all the tragedies and unhappy endings and such. And RDM is no Roddenberry.

I agree with some of the comments above. I believe Dee is a cylon. The scene on the beach with the jacks; she may of had a flashback and we the audience did see it yet. I believed those jacks belonged to her or her child. Also when she looked at the photo of herself as a child, she said it's almost hard to believe that it is her. She was mumbling to herself on the flight back to Galactica. If my suspicions are true it would be totally cool. I think that some of that interview is bogus. They are setting us up for a gotcha.

DO you really think she fraking killed herself? Hmm, I wonder. Someone else was there.

I have to say thank you to those who change the "tone" of the posts. I am enjoying these last commentaries into the series. Yes, I still hold on to the metal head they found was the original Centurion from the original series. I remember those metal jobs. Did not in the beginning of this series they spoke of a war similar to this one? How many years before the attack on Caprica did it happen and if this"Earth" was where that war happened?

I quit reading comments after the fifth "it's all about race" posting.

Nobody seems to have addressed a couple of RELEVANT issues.

1) The outing of Gaeda in the "Face of the Enemy" webisodes feels like an afterthought. More obvious PC meddling, IMO. Every series MUST have a gay character now. I'm waiting to find out who it will be on Sanctuary and Eureka.

2) The last episode blew the Galactica mythos completely apart. Go back and listen to the opening voiceovers in Season 1 again. Humans created Cylons, Cylons rebelled, 40 years ago (not 2,000) there was a war between humans and Cylons, then no contact at all, and sometime during the interim the human form Cylons were created. That's what we've been told since the beginning of the series.

Now we are to believe suddenly that human form Cylons have been around for thousands of years and were a 13th tribe of humanity when Kobol was populated. Huh?

As for Dee's suicide - Kandyse McClure deserves an Emmy for that performance.

I got so worked up over issues 1 and 2 above that I completely forgot to mention the third...

3) Why do we keep hearing about Hera as THE human-Cylon hybrid child? Tyrol and Callie had a son, remember? As soon as Tyrol was revealed as one of the 4 "Fleet Cylons" I said out loud, "There's another hybrid baby!" This startled my cats as they were the only ones present at the time.

That was an excellent first episode. I didn't see Dee's death coming at all BUT I'm still confused...

1. Isn't Starbuck a silon?
2. Aren't they ALL silons?

Dee found jacks in the sand and a pocket watch. I think she had a flashback like the rest of the others and couldn't take that she was a silon. Later Lee found jacks in her belongings.

They're all SILONS.

I knew what was going to happen as soon as she walked into the officers' quarters, I could just feel it. When Gaeta said that she was "glowing" is when it really hit me. Dee wanted to end her life on a high note, with feeling the last bit of happiness she had, realizing that the hope she once had was no more, she found her great escape. I suppose fer her it was to either end her life being happy or slowly wait to die in a world that was growing ever darker. I felt sad at the loss of her, but I also think it was a very poetic and sentimental way to go. Very ironic, as she was always a symbol of strength. Excellent job, Kandyse.

The writers are probably white.

That's why most of the black (non-white, non-Asian) male characters on BSG and ALL the Stargate series including Universe are cast as fearsome savages. (Teal'c, Ford, and now Greer on Universe).

It's because the nerdy white writers are afraid of black men. They are. It's true. Don't deny it. Probably happened in school.

That's why they write in black women as love toys for white male heroes. It's the Tarzan syndrome. The Me-Love-You-Long-Time thing.

That's ok.

Black people just need to get into writing more and dominate like they do with sports, elections and genetics.

So far the only black written fiction I've seen is romance novels.

I'm a nerdy white guy and my wife is black.

And folks. YES she's BLACK. Canadian maybe. White? NO. And telling black people to get over it because Obama is the President is very naive. And don't say white people are evil. It's not a race that drives evil.

Its religion.

;-)

LOL

Now back to Ms. McClure... I hope her career sky rockets!

The best thing that could happen to this show is if they use the This has all happened before and will happen again premise. That way whoever is imagining all of this happenning can go back to the start and try to change this outcome. They could have fooled everyone by starting the show from the beginning. Oh, I guess that would be the new series Caprica. I thought that Cylons couldn't self terminate otherwise why all of the hype when Athena begged Helo to shoot her. I still think Ms McClure got a raw deal and that suicide was not a good choice for her characters ending. Why not a tragic shuttle accident or something? I think Moore and Eick are pushing the extremes of sci-fi by bringing really raw issues into the otherwise happy ending steril world of sci-fi that proceeded Galactica. However, like the Bionic Woman, with some shows people just have too fond of memeries of to be hit with a negative remake.If this will happen again I hopes it's with new writers and producers Sci-Fi Channel. Let's not forget who the stars of the show are and I guess it was getting difficult for them to hide the natural acting glow and following of a star as bright as Ms McClures. What a waste of a positive role model for young women on how to keep cool,level headed and to stay positive and hard working in such a negative world.

Yow. Here I thought we watched the show for the great stories and the characters that overcome the greatest of obstacles.

Now I know that most of us watch because they believe in black supremacy and white inferiority while others are looking for the line to use that handgun.

I'll keep watching to get some measure of excitement from the twists and turns this series is known for, but I'll be sure to listen to the news to see who is out there hating one another for some made up reason or another.

Wow. Skin color. Ain't we all just so advanced these days?

Worf and Teal'c were never presented as dumbasses on their respective shows. Teal'c was certainly a heckuva lot smarter than General O'Neill, who certainly wasn't a brilliant guy by any means.

Ronon might not have been the brain trust McKay was, but neither were too many other white folk on Atlantis.

As for the Dee/racism angle, I think there is some sense posted by V earlier...

"as for the "racial issues" of the "only prominent black character" getting killed......look that is simply tied in with the previous "there aren't many major black characters" thing. The fact that she got killed off isn't "racism"; in the miniseries they thought Dualla would turn into a major character on-par with Boomer, and she just never did. Blame the writers for underdeveloping the character; but actually killing her off in the final 10 episodes I don't see as "racism" at all. The character was really not going anywhere, so she was removed. As for "multiculturalism"; well there's Sharon who's asian and the *lead male* is hispanic. Simply, it was *luck of the draw* that Dualla is black and didn't become a more prominent character....I mean by that logic, was Billy killed off at random because he was white? No."

I'm white (not American though), and it was quite early on in the beginning that I thought "hang on, there are an awful high percentage of white Americans in the survivors across 12 colonies". That white/American ethnocentrism is a valid criticism of the show, and reflects much broader issues. There are many shows which fall into this category, as well as there being very few gay characters in popular TV shows/film and a high proportion of two dimensional female roles who also happen to be beautiful, and lets not even get on to representation of people with disabilities! BG has been relatively good at writing roles for women, not so good at the others.

However, it doesn't seem to me that Dee was killed off because she was black, but because she was the best character to be killed off at the time, i.e. the optimist (to make the blow larger), the supporter of some of the more major characters, and one who wasn't particularly tied in to any of the story arcs at the time. That she was the main black character tied back to the earlier criticism about white ethnocentrism. In some ways, to keep her alive *because* of the colour of her skin is surely problematic in itself. Also she wasn't the first established character to die in series 4 - in the last 10 that was Callie, wasn't it?

Having said that, some of the "well, you have a black president, equal laws and your own TV channel so stop whinging" comments have made me sick. I'm not BME but I am female, and I know that laws and pure social change don't happen to come across side by side. Prejudice survives long after it is meant to. Demographic centrism is one of those. I wonder how many of those comments come from white, American straight and non impoverished men?

Lastly, has Gaeter actually been revealed as gay or is this just an assumption people have been making? Because I don't actually see where it's coming from, apart from him being a more quiet sensitive type who hasn't been seen with a lady. And assuming he's gay from that seems a bit, well, prejudiced. ;-p

@ tsheva

"Dee found jacks in the sand and a pocket watch. I think she had a flashback like the rest of the others and couldn't take that she was a silon. Later Lee found jacks in her belongings."

Tbh, up until the revelation of Ellen being a cylon at the end, I thought that Dee had looked in the locket that I thought she found on the beach, saw herself or someone she cared for greatly, realised they were a cylon and then killed herself. However, from reading a few articles this morning I now suspect I was wrong.

@ xavier34

"One race that has pillaged and destroyed all that it has come across. One race that has darkened this world and still continues to till this very day. One race that has contributed nothing but death and destruction."

Yep. That's the human race, innit!

Different countries/nationalities/tribes/"races" have risen and fallen throughout our history on this planet, and it seems to me that the ones who have done that at any time period have been the dominant ones at that time. In fact it hasn't even always been about one group attacking and oppressing another, plenty of people in power attack those less powerful in their own group.

The Jews have surely been one of the most shat upon groups throughout history - their history is one oppression after another. But one of the unfortunate things about Israel's current actions is that even some Jews, despite that history, can take that oppressor role on themselves, with awful consequences. :-(

And going back to that message about humanity - that is one thing that BSG, for all it's flaws, manages to get across so very, very well. We're capable of great things but also of total destruction, and the potential for "evil" rests within us all.

@ nitussi

"KangaYou brings up a good point that I had noticed myself. Dee had no reason to kill herself. It is not as if Earth was a molten lava slab. There was oxygen to breath, water to drink, and plants to eat - why the hell would the most collective person on the ship kill herself."

I think that is one of the saddest things about suicide. Often it is an act of despair, one that is taken before the realisation that life might get better again is discovered. :-(

It's not usually rational, just desperate and tragic.

OK, last post for now :-o

@ Dave

Only just got down to the end of the comments, so thanks Dave for answering (in advance - clever that!) my question about Gaeta's outing. Thank will teach me to jump in! But as I missed the web episode in question, at least now I know.

Also...

"Why do we keep hearing about Hera as THE human-Cylon hybrid child? Tyrol and Callie had a son, remember? As soon as Tyrol was revealed as one of the 4 "Fleet Cylons" I said out loud, "There's another hybrid baby!" This startled my cats as they were the only ones present at the time."

Well, give them time. The final 5 have only been known by the majority for two episodes!

Well, very last point (I hate not being able to edit posts on blogs!), I'd just like to agree that rafe made some very good comments.

Good comments,

To Dave; I feel Scychaya is correct in identifying the theme of 'history repeating itself' and the notion that, if we don't change, the same tragedies and mistakes which we thought we had put far behind us will befall us again over and over, ad infinitum. I'd hate to make a "matrix" analogy; but it's kinda the main example of existentialism and non-linearity other than say, the Fountain, that comes to mind. In it, the same cycle which had occurred 7 times before and would have gone on forever, was interrupted by a choice. I think the human/cylon alliance is this choice in BSG.

And to tsheva, you may just be right in saying 'aren't they ALL Cylons?' As a show with deep spiritual undertones and ramifications, the crew may be headed to the epiphany that humans and cylons are not different, and that all Humans are Cylon and all Cylons are Human, perhaps even sharing a common ancestry. How else could they make babies?! (the criterion for two animals to be considered the same species is the ability to produce fertile offspring, however I don't imagine Hera will be getting knocked up any time soon). So with this being an underlying theme of the show, It makes me sad to see people debating race as some sort of factor in this. Stop looking at people's faces; there is no white, there is no black, there is no asian, there is only Human. If you had watched BSG from the start as a completely blind person; would we be having this discussion?

@ Luciente. Gaeta's sexuality was exposed in the webisodes 'Face of the Enemy' where he is involved with Mr. Hoshi. That said, the webisodes seem to suggest him as being more 'bisexual' with the fact that he had an affair with one of the eights on New Caprica.

Anyway, the point is there was nothing racist about Dee's death, and that it's true there happens to be a lack of black characters on the show.

top characters lost:
Dualla!
Cally out the airlock (I hope Tory Gets it!)
Ellen (Good Death, Dramatic, will she come back?)
KAT
Admiral Kane

I refuse to accept that Starbuck is dead!!!

by the way, what happened to Boxey and
Bulldog. Bulldog was a good character.

(Barrack Obama is now the 44th president and I am so proud to be an American at this moment. Just wanted to say that......)

To the Fans:

I had stopped caring about a great number of characters (Apollo, Starbuck, Sharon, Helo, Roslin, Adama, Caprica Six, Baltar, etc.).

BSG had bled every ounce of emotion and made me immuned to these characters' personal struggles. I simply FORGOT to care!

But last Friday, that all changed.

Dualla's shocking suicide DROVE me to tears. For the first time, in a long time, I cried when she pulled the trigger and sat stunned as her body rested, motionless, on the floor.

She was happy and beautiful, and possibly the most sweetest little thing on the ship; and then she was gone. And for some strange reason, the loss of a fictional character felt so palpable, so real, that I couldn't contain my grieve.

So I thank RDM and Kandyse McClure for giving me a reason to care AGAIN. Thank you!

To Kandyse McClure:

You are a wonderful actress. I hope I am fortunate enough to you again, in the near future. G'luck, Misses, and shoot for the stars.

I was very disappointed.. and i felt that that was atypical of her personality as shown on the show. She was always a rock.. and then to just loose it to that extent.. I felt it was unrealistic.. and totally uneccesary .
Very disappointing.
I also don't think that sharks comment was "hatefilled" as some have said. Not to go off too much on the subject.. but he does have a point.. It actually would have made more sense for Felix to do that... but .. no ... he's just gay...
Shark's comments could have been more tactfully delivered.. but I do understand where they were coming from and I don't think that anyone should be offended. For me .. Ben Sisko was a breath of fresh air..
I was also disappointed at Cally's untimely departure... but at least there was a lead in to it... we kind of saw her falling apart ... and she was murdered, and she had a SHOCK in finding out that her husband was a cylon... but this thing with Dee was just.... What? What was that.. I don't know what it was.. I hope that by the end of the story we can make some kind of sense of it but for now... it is pure shock and humongous in it's WTF factor.

KangaYou:

For starters, when it came to the Japanese, they received reparations only if they had been imprisoned in one of those camps. And they didn't receive that until just a couple of decades ago. As far as I know, there are no living African Americans who had been forced to be a slave. Sure it was really tough for African Americans to get a job and make a living 100 years ago. But it isn't that way today. If my dad happened to be rich, it wouldn't mean I would end up the same way. So how does that justify what you are saying? I'm Irish. You don't see me going over to England and demanding reparations for the millenia that my ancestors were exploited, raped, or starved. Not to mention the fact that when most Irish arrived in America, natives acted racist to them as well. It wasn't until well into this century that things became easier for them. YOU have oppotunity. YOU can make a new beginning. YOU can make something of yourself. You don't have to forget the past. Just don't dwell on it. If we keep looking backward so much, we're just going to keep tripping over this issue and not realize that we can simply lift up our feet and step over it.

Folks this whole line of reasoning can take this whole thing south PDQ... Now I dont klnow about anyone else here.. but I watch BSG for entertainment... the serious politics and philosophical debates I save for another time and place.. this is certainly not that place ........ Can you folks just do all the rest of us who just want to deal with BSG here a humongous favor and shift the conversation back to BSG.. because the political debate can go on forever... and the ground that you folks are now touching on in particular can get waaaaay off track... and it has nothing to do with BSG, Kandy Mac... or any of this...

Let it go please........

Getting back to the show... I think that Dee & Lee did have chemistry.. I think that she always had a thing for him... but she was a Sagitarian.. Dont forget in the beginning she wasn't even an officer... and he not only a Caprtican... but Lee Adama.. the son of THE William Adama... I think she liked Billy but she always had a thing for Lee.... and when Billy died... and the situation with lee kind of fell into place... she just went with it.. but she made a fatal error... Never NEVER EVER grab someone on the rebound... I think it was Lee that was not true to himself... Sure he always liked Dee.. and respected her... her coolness, her abilities... and shi is a hottie.. but he was into Kara... the great untameable Starbuck... and Dee was not exciting enough... To tell the truth I always thought her & Felix would hook up...

Another thing that got me about that show was.... if the chief was on Earth 200 years ago.. then that means that the entire history as they all know it is totally frakked up... and if Tory and Sam were there also... and Ellen & Sol.... and then with the body of kara in the burned up Viper... I dunno.... the ones we know... plus Kara... plus Ellen... adds up to 13 no? So the whole 13 models notion is bogus... If Kara isnt a cylon then who was that in the Viper... and how did she get from being crushed in gas giant... to crashing on Earth... was that really a wormhole?

I guess we shall all see.... This beginning of the end raises a lot more questions than it even comes close to answering. I think they all may be cylons......

Then too... you have the issue with the 6s giving the centurions free will... Now THAT is definitely due to come back and bite everyone in the behind for sure....

McClure, I was so shocked that it ended that way.. I had to rewind several times just to watch it again!
I though someone shot you at first until they said you shot your self!

Your so gorgeous!! Best of luck in the future!

I will miss McClure's character for the rest of BSG. She was actually in my opinion the most human character there. But I do understand the timing etcetera and to the storyline I am sure its a proper fit. Neverless, Dee will be missed.

Funny I myself find these endings in BSG almost symbolic of scifi channel itself. Stargate Atlantis ended horribly.....not the show itself. The cast did a great job up to the very last second. No I mean the MGM for allowing corporate greed end it prematurely. I also hold scifi responsible as well for allowing them to do it to this fantastic show, cast, and fan base. Now BSG which we have all long known about being a short series...still doesn't make it any easier. Are the deaths and departures from BSG symbiotic with the downfall of scifi channel itself? Reminds me of one of those good old adages "Perception is reality."

Re non whites/gay in TV.
Stephanie Jacobsen from Razor is an aussie actress from a major TV show here.
ALso note SciFi from non US sources:
John Barrowman is gay actor playing gay, well bi, character - Main one by theway in Torchwood.
Naoko Mori - Japanese in Torchwood
Freema Agyeman - Doctors assistant in Doctor Who.
Both shows have many black actors as guests and include bi racial relationships on many occasions.
Anyway, I do get what many are saying. BSG did seem very white early on but I guess that was the demographic they were looking at. Purely a commercial one. If it bothers anyone then instead of whinging about it on a board do something about it. make sure that they know how much of the target audience is black, whatever and make them cater for it.

That was so of the wall . That was the last thing I thougt would go down with the D
character . She didn't have to go out like that .

Dee will be missed .

Fools, as usual the masses miss the entire point. Why did she commit suicide? Because she figured out what was happening, Mark it down

The producers have repeatedly pointed out that Razor is considered to be episode 1-2 of Season 4. From that point of view, 'Sometimes a Great Notion' was indeed the 13th and last episode for Kandyse McClure.

As to the people saying they could've stayed on earth: this is not how radiation works. Just because it's safe to walk around for a day or two doesn't mean it is safe to live there for the rest of your life, drinking the water and eating the plants. They even had Baltar say so explicitly.

I hated that she killed herself. I wish the show would go on the way it is now. It's back to an exciting human, machine show. I didn't like when the president get ill, she and Adama are so good together. I also love Kara

Anastasia Dualla

Anastasia: from the Greek word anastasis meaning "resurrection".

Dualla: can be interpreted as meaning "two", or "twice".

You figure the rest.

Regardless of what Kandyse says in her interview, expect to see her again in the upcoming episodes to finish out the series.

Did you already forget about Gina Inviere (Razor)?
Inviere: Latin meaning "resurrection"

C'mon people...it has happened before, it will happen again.

It seems evident that the message of this episode is that humanity and cylonhood are one and the same. The 13th colony was all cylon but they all had bones so they were all skin jobs. Then you have 5 or 6 other characters coming to a realization that they have memories of earth and are cylons themselves. I think if you go back and watch the scene where D is looking at the rocks on the shore you'll see evidence that she had a memory / found evidence just like the Chief, Anders, Starbuck, the XO and the ex-presidential aide chick (sorry its been too long to remember all their names! Im ashamed). I think D pulled the trigger to prove to herself what she actually was... a cylon like all the rest. After all Starbuck rezzed when she was no where near any of the rest of the known cylon fleet.... theres a rez facility of some sort on or near earth or starbuck wouldn't have come back. Wouldn't surpise me at all to see D waking up in a tank at the beginning of the next episode... "interview" notwithstanding!

Oh...why did she commit suicide? She realized she was a Cylon when she found the pocket watch and jacks on the beach. I will bet money that we will see her "flashbacks" (like Tyrol, Anders and Tigh) in episodes to come. I agree she was a rock on the show, but even rocks have their breaking points. Case in point: Adama after finding out Tigh is a Cylon...gun to his head...he didn't have the guts to pull the trigger, Dee did.

To: WeRtheLastCylon

Don't believe that Starbuck is Cylon. She is an angel...a savior, and returns through divinity. That is why she doesn't need a resurrection ship to return. Remember what the hybrid said in Razor "...and then they will join the promised land, gathered on the wings of an angel. Not an end, but a beginning."

I too think, that Dualla is Cylon. I also think, that there are a lot more Cylons than we are told. There are twelve models of skin jobs, who belong to the destroyers of the colonies. From these there are seven known.

But the other skin jobs are survivors from Earth. They are members of an different and older Cylon race. I think, Earth was destroyed by humans and these Cylons returned to the colonies and lived between humans for 2000 years - and there are many more. Maybe these Cylons are "good" people, Cylons, who are more "human" than the newer models, who have no direct family ties to them.

Let's face it - Dualla gave Kara an excuse not to be with Lee. She had to go. Will Anders be far behind? Or does her "You can't get a divorce, and we can't be together cause we're married" not apply to cylons?

To clarify, I like Dee and didn't want to see her go, but I think what I wrote above explains why she was the one to commit suicide.

I was very disappointed that Dee was killed off. It was powerful and effective, if you can remember why it is shocking she would kill herself, or why she would not ! If you got into the show recently, you would barely know who she is.

However, now that this article lays out she was only offered a 13 episode contract for season 4, it brings up more questions. RDM claims it is nothing she has done, except marry Lee and claim the enmity of all the Lee and Kara shippers. That marriage assured Dee was done. How can the writers give her like 5 lines in the entire 4.0 season before this recent episode ?

She is the only character that has been her since the MS to be treated this way. So, in some ways, it is lame and easy for them to have killed off Dee. They had her demise in mind before the start of season 4. Then they do not extend her an invitation to the wrap party.

Disgraceful !

I loved Dee but I did feel that she got the short end of the stick in the last seasons. We never got to see any of the electrified relationship that she could have had with Adama as his daughter-in-law (based on some of their conversations in season one and portraying her only as the betrayed wife was a waste of a lot of potential.

Overall it was a good ending. A shock ending. One leaving us frustrated at the lost potential of her character - very similar to a real suicide. Very effective. I'll really miss her!

Thank you for your revealing analysis about diversity in Brit scifi. Actually, while BSG only had 2 black people with substantial dialouge in the MS and season 1, Dee and Laiotia(sp?), the extras on the Galatica had a lot of blacks( and non-speaking co-pilot in the MS) ! I went back to watch it recently. That was good.

I have relatives whose relatives have served in several wars. They are disgusted with the lack of acknowledgement of black particpation in WWII in reality and as portrayed in recently popular WWII films.

So, I bought into the hype and watched Atonement. Ironically, the Brit main character that was a soldier had a black freind and fellow solider. The Brits had very few blacks in the UK at tha time, yet this film showed more black peole than "Saving Private Ryan", The Thin Red Line, and Flags of My Father. Even though US black soldiers were very much present in all those protrayed engagements.

Here is Mark's inciteful comments from above:
Re non whites/gay in TV.
Stephanie Jacobsen from Razor is an aussie actress from a major TV show here.
ALso note SciFi from non US sources:
John Barrowman is gay actor playing gay, well bi, character - Main one by theway in Torchwood.
Naoko Mori - Japanese in Torchwood
Freema Agyeman - Doctors assistant in Doctor Who.
Both shows have many black actors as guests and include bi racial relationships on many occasions.
Anyway, I do get what many are saying. BSG did seem very white early on but I guess that was the demographic they were looking at. Purely a commercial one. If it bothers anyone then instead of whinging about it on a board do something about it. make sure that they know how much of the target audience is black, whatever and make them cater...

This is such an amazing actress, but it sucks that she dies in all her good roles, (see Jerimiah on SciFi for more info); What The Frak!!?? Sorry to see it end that way for the character, but if it must be, it be......

Not to worry, she'll be in season 2 of Reaper.

This was a moment I will remember... very well done.

Hey, what if Ellen is a six that grew old?

Great acting Kandyse. Good luck in all of your future acting endeavors.

Dennis, I think you may be on to something here.....

Perhaps Ellen is simply another six which would mean that the true fifth is still out there. Ellen would replace the six in many of Saul's visions and the viewer is led to believe that he is simply replacing the six with Ellen given their relationship. Perhaps the writing is right smack in our face! She is a six! Adama noted that he saw Saul grow old with him. Perhaps Ellen is another manifestation of the sixes: a 2.0 version.

Hey, the first thing I thought when Dualla died was, "Holy crap! Why does it always have to be the black person?" First the priestess, now Dualla. If that makes me ignorant, so be it. It has happened on a lot of shows before this one, or no one would be remarking on it here.

In this case I don't think it's a racist thing; I think it's a storyline thing, one of the many "SURPRISE!!!" stunts BSG keeps pulling on viewers. Just like when Ty and Galen found out they were Cylons, which I thought was the coolest thing ever! What I want to know is, why is Adama letting him stay in command? Especially after Sharon shot him and all. I know they're a little shorthanded on staff, but come on! lol

Anyway, Dee was one of my favorite characters. Everybody knows that relationship was so bad for her. I was never in her corner on the Lee relationship, and him sending her down into that valley to save starbuck was the last straw in that relationship to me. I would have quit my job right there and told him "If you want her so bad, go get her yourself."

In this episode, the whole time I was watching her with Lee, I was going, "Stupid girl, stupid, why are you even having a conversation with him?" But her suicide to me was a complete surprise. One of the people I was watching with saw it coming. He was the only one who called it right; me and the other lady were sitting there in stunned disbelief. That just blew the rest of the episode out of the water to me.

Anyway, I will miss her being on the show. I had always hoped she would get a major storyline of her own, but no dice.

Does anybody besides me think that it's not actually Earth they landed on? Why can't it be a secondary planet built by the cylons like the one they'd been hiding on for 40 years before they attacked Caprica?

Plus, going by prophecy, a dying leader will lead them to earth, though that leader would never see earth themselves. Can't be earth, because Adama and the president (major wimp at this point) are still alive. Maybe the prophecy got it wrong.

I will miss the dutiful Dee, as well as those eyes curves and smile and devotion she had to the voyage and her family (the crew)

WOW! That came like a Mike Tyson punch in the first round with my eyes closed! I loved it, the story line around Starbuck has me feinding for the next episode! Adm. Adama and the President?! Finally!! I can't wait to see how this all comes together in the end.

Dualla, we miss and love you!
SO SAY WE ALL!!

I just read her IMDB entry and saw that she and I have the same birthday. More than a few years between us as I was out of college when she was born, but the same day at least.

That, of course, has nothing to do with this discussion line, I just had to blurt it out.

Anyway, I have to agree with the theme in some of these entries that her character could have been developed into so much more. SciFi's meddling with the scripts really did "poison" her character and its potential.

However Kandyse acted the part beautifully and did an excellent job with the scripts that she was handed. I just wish that they had taken greater advantage of her acting talent.

The interview shows a wonderful and thoughtful approach to the sucide material. She played the growing despair and eventual, final release with keen insight.

Dualla's suicide does seem to me to be a metaphoric "canary in the mine" for what will befall those who remain...

To madonnaearth (and all others like you):

Your query..."Why does it always have to be the black person?" cracks me up. You are only the umteenth to say that. Why does everyone have to drag race into it anyway? If I had to guess, over 5,000 have died since they left Caprica's solar system. There have been many killed off of the show before her as well (Kat, Billy, Cane, Cane's XO just to name a few right off the bat). All of a sudden, she dies and it is racially insensitive. Good grief. Life is insensitive. RDM pulls no punches and no one is safe on this show. Get a grip people!!!

One thing you have to do when dealing with BSG plot line is to never take anything at face value. The watch, the jacks, the photograph...Dee DOES have more of a story to tell, and it most certainly will be revealed to us before long. Perhaps, too, she didn't even kill herself out of sorrow. I think she had visions of a past life just like the 4 cylons, and while she may not be the fifth, she at the very least is the first character to stumble onto the big clincher that we're all waiting for. I think we'll see her again. I also don't believe you can trust the interviews of any actor/actress/ RDM. None of them would want you to know the truth until the end anyway.

It seems her departure is permanent after she revealed that she was no longer a part of the contract negotiations. It's funny how little screen time she had which made such a deep impact on all of us. Whether you were shippers or haters you can't deny that these last episodes without her will seem a little more empty without her, especially if it's a happy ending. I guess that was the angle they were looking for after all. She seemed to be the one that bound them together. Even Geata seemed upset as Lee walked by. He kind of looked at him like this is all your fault. Like he knew Lee was the one who could bring her such joy and pain in a single moment. I'm wondering if they are planning any movies in the future? I guess cutting the loose strings is their way of keeping budget. Dee you're missed already. Darn, it was just a tv show.

Dualla departure by suicide was a perfect ending since in a perfect future world there are no black people or blending of the races and we all know black women are weak anyway.

I am pretty sure dee is a cylon! and my notion is that ellen is the six, but much older and the Xo's love for her is not all of a sudden.

as regards the racial issue, you guys, am not from America, ad all those wicked tries to show off and making the simple discussion a racist batlle here is totally pathetic. It is so frakin american - this constant compex of inferiourity from both sides make me think that the most comfortable position to judge everyone would be an Afro American dwarf one-legged lesbian with aids - then everyone can be balmed for everything.

I studied cultural diversity as a main speciality in the uni, but tonight i understood it is all in vain - because this simplistic discussion here with statistic figures, blaming and fingerpointing (oh i'm more inferior that you! - no, i'm more inferior!) shows that being racist is easy for everyone. thats so stupid - you forgot what we are here for. we are to discuss dee's death - but you seem so overwhelmed with prejudice that it really made me sick - it's frakin hypocrasy all ove here.

please note i'm not american, i never enslaved anyone and never opressed monirities, i was etnically oppressed at one period of my life - but it is not the reason to spoil a reasonable interview.

you may now sentense me to ass kicking and stuff - so say I myself haha.

dee - you were nice, but not that interesting. too good and right to be included into the final cast. nothing to do with the race.

sorry for the spelling - i was infuriated.

I think I've found out a BIG SPOILER by accident!!! Read on if you dare...

Check out Kandyse McClure on imdb.com. Here's the link: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0565973/

She is listed as being in the LAST EPISODES OF BSG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here's what is listed:

The Oath (30 January 2009) - Lt. Anastasia Dualla
Next US airings:
Fri. Jan. 30 10:00 PM SCIFI
Sat. Jan. 31 12:01 AM SCIFI

Blood on the Scales (6 February 2009) - Lt. Anastasia Dualla
Next US airings:
Fri. Feb. 6 10:00 PM SCIFI
Sat. Feb. 7 12:00 AM SCIFI

No Exit (13 February 2009) - Lt. Anastasia Dualla
Deadlock (20 February 2009) - Lt. Anastasia Dualla
Someone to Watch Over Me (27 February 2009) - Lt. Anastasia Dualla
Islanded in a Stream of Stars (6 March 2009) - Lt. Anastasia Dualla
Daybreak: Part 1 (13 March 2009) - Lt. Anastasia Dualla
Daybreak: Part 2 (20 March 2009) - Lt. Anastasia Dualla

Now, I would have discounted this as "Oh, her name appears in the credits" but she is NOT listed in "A Disquiet Follows My Soul"

My Guess: She's not a Cylon but like Starbuck, Dualla 2.0.

I'm disappointed. It didn't make sense to me. I know what Dualla must have been thinking. I feel alienated now. The black person is often the first to go. Making her character shoot herself was even more of an insult to me as black woman. Then reading the interview and finding out that she missed the wrap party was like turning a knife in the wound. The black characters often get the worst writing for their characters. This was all bad to me. And I think this is one of the best shows on television. Now, I'm thinking twice about continuing to watch it. Nice going you guys.

The XO has seen his wifes face several times over the last year. He last saw it on a 6 in the brig on galactica! How do we know that he is not having another lapse from realitiy? I don't think she was the last Cyclon. She has been dead for over a year and would have shown up by now somewhere!

The XO has seen his wifes face several times over the last year. He last saw it on a 6 in the brig on galactica! How do we know that he is not having another lapse from realitiy? I don't think she was the last Cyclon. She has been dead for over a year and would have shown up by now somewhere!

To touvio:

Yes I saw her bio in IMDb a couple of weeks ago, and ALL 10 episodes of season 4.5 were listed with her credits. Only after 'A Disquiet Follows My Soul' aired did it disappear from the site's list of her BSG credits. And no, she isn't like Starbuck, there can only be one savior/angel of death. I believe she is a Cylon and it will come out in future episodes. Yes, I do believe Anastasia "Resurrection" Dualla is not done with just yet...don't believe everything you read!!!

SPOILER SPOILER
DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED
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Zak Adama (Tobias Mehler) comes back in the final 3 episodes.

Damn you all
Stop bringing race into EVERYTHING. Even the Disney movie has their own share of complainers. This show is reaching an end where it could leave basically ANYONE dead or suicidal. Dee was a sympathetic person who has bottled up her suffering in the inside. She broke down when she realized her last shred of hope was gone. Nothing to do with ethnicity so leave it alone!

to say that a black person was the first to go you are the one seeing only race and are forgetting about the others who already have gone. so callie was the first annoying white whiner to go, Tye's wife was the first white drunk to go, and then the presidents aide (a long time ago) was the first white sweet person to go, Oh yeah then the woman who was the CAG for awhile was the first hispanic person to go. and then kara was the first uncontrollable white person to go and then come back...........Oh my point....
it's not about race......a lot of people have gone and more will be going.

we are obvious all sorry to see her go.but I think they could have made a better end to it, because the whole feel just didnt come quite across. The fact adama was so upset just didnt fit. He is the commander, for crist sake just look at how the soldiers did in WO2, science fiction only works if you make it real all the way. Her death was pointless they should have milked it more...

The writers have also gone overboard with the mix up of cylon and humans. They did blow the human worlds to bits. They are not the same, for crist sake stop the political correctness and dont forget the succes of these series lies in the first episodes and the struggle afterwards, dont loose your self in all sorts of diversions. stick to main themes...

The writers suck. they are doing crack and let the show jump the shark.

@david: Your sentence structure tells me you really should not be criticizing anyones ability to write. People please, it was not that bad that they didn't post spoiler before the jump. I saw it immediately when I hit the link. I do this thing called reading, followed by comprehension. It is not a hard skill, just try a little bit.
As far as the "black person" being the first to go...
How many friggin people have been killed/maimed up to this point beside her? Belay that crap right now my friend. She was just another actress, and was quite good at it for the part she played. So there, now I shall let the trolls flame away. Go right ahead, I have slightly more pressing matters at hand.

Kandyse McClure Top job. Anything that you do from now on ,I will try my best to see.Barr none the hottest thing on BG.I've read all of the comments on this page. And many ive kept to look at later for further study. But the good thing is that it made us all think.Talk, interact with eachother. In short let the healing begin. Let the hate die. yes we have a long way to go and it will take a long time before the teachers of hate to grow old and die off.So that the virus of hate can stop speading to the children. but the cycle can end if and when we decide to love oneanother. As ONE People. When you lable and point. you only limmet yourself from true potental. At its core anything that is in it's basic form, that is Hate. Begets Hate. ...Love for All.. not self or a thing ,is the way to break the this has happend befor and it will happen again attitude.

great show .. I hope some children can learn from it . We dont have to follow in the notion that the future is set in stone. We can change.
For the great good of the planet.(not the good of a people or race.) Peace and love to you all.

Perfect ! just Perfect !

If you see an article/ interview with a SPECIFIC actor about LAST NIGHTS episode, thats a BLATANTLY CLEAR indication that you are not supposed to read it before you see the episode because OBVIOUSLY something happens to their character. Get a clue please.

Dee, the one personality everyone liked all seasons... too bad, but what an exit!

As far as this race issue goes may I ask of anyone out there if it had been the woman that plays Racetrack( I think). Would anyone feel different about the pairing of Lee and Dee? Put her in the same role, lines etc. and she still gets shortchanged. People like to say how much Lee has evolved into his own but I don't see that. However shocking and short-sighted her demise was I didn't see Lee crying with her picture on the wall of Forget-Me-Nots, destroying a desk, getting drunk or even reach for a jelly doughnut. He said he didn't know why she did it but when Starbuck killed herself he all but fell apart along with Bill and Anders. I think that's why we all feel kind of short changed here. He only referred to their time together on the Pegasus as the best time of their marraige. What? While he was lazy, insubordinate and getting fat and yearning for Kara? We hardly saw any of the good times just like the real reasons for the breakup. How does one deal with someone who tells you(without crying) that you are good for them(not I love you and your the best thing that's happened to me in my whole life). If you look back at the deleted proposal scene you can easily see how he couldn't look her in the eye then and the same in the All Your Worries scenes. Where were the scenes of worry when she was drugged up by the doctor? How do you continue to love someone who promises to change but never says when they're going to stop changing? Haters of Dee saw her as an aloof obstacle to Lee and Kara. Billy(the actor) leaving the show was not her fault. In Galactica time she was cozied to Lee within a week. Remeber this show has always had missing breaks in time. I'm sorry but I see the conflict has always been about Lee and doing her job to protect the civillians. I was also wondering why in that year of marraige that the possibility of children was a dead stick since she seemed to care about Hera. Breaking up with him I could understand but not her committment to the survivors of the fleet. I've always thought of how her character built up the courage and spoke for the people in guiding others to do the right thing. She was even able to look past her Cylon hatred because of the humanity of Helo. I think that may have been a turning point for both of them because he accepted and helped Sagittarans when his own Cylon wife didn't care. The defense of Baltar was not a religious belief issue for her it was a matter of him dividing and endangering the people of the fleet. I hope she does make a comeback. I really do. As what? Who cares maybe she'll be a vengeful vixen looking for some script. I apologize but can't we all just get along?

i was totally blindsided by dee's suicide! i hated to see the character go but it made for a great first episode back. i hope to see Kandyce in more stuff...i think she's great!

I'm 45 years old and black. My high school was 98% white. I've forgotten more about being judged by the color of my skin than you many of you will ever experience. And I can honestly that it never once occured to me that Dualla was killed off because she was black. Believe or not some people just don't go about their lives contemplating how what they do will effect racial relations. Life is so mcuh bigger than that. To you folks on both sides that think mainly in those terms, let those things go, or your never going to grow Don't get me wrong I think dialog about these issues is always good, but this isn't the place for it. You guys are way to deep. Lets get back to talking about the show. I was disappointed about her death mainly because I thought she was cute. But thats me, shallow Hal.

I was shocked and bumbed that she didn't get to finish or at least go on a bit. I've seen her work in other shows and movies and she's adorable. She will always be a Icon (major) one at that of the show and I'll always have a secret crush on her.
So say we all!

Dee had the sweetest personalities of all the characters. I really liked her. It is sad that all the bad stuff happens to the sweetest of people.

Didn't even think about her getting killed off because she was black...probably because that's dumb. She's not the first major character to get killed off on the show, so I think 'Shark' was just trolling to stir things up. Ehippy though, and others to follow, are just morons.

Monan, too. Way to selectively prop up your argument. Your inclusion of the shows Frasier and Wonder Years to make your point are especially laughable. Both shows centre around the perspective of two white characters and by extension their two white families--of course no major characters are black. There were basically four possible major roles between these two shows that could have been black people: in Frasier, his producer or his dad's maid; in Wonder Years, Kevin's best friend or his girlfriend. I could be equally selective and say the success of shows like In Living Color and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air among others indicates that largely black casts equals great ratings...and of course, because of my small selection, be equally dumb for saying so.

Face it. Dualla's death made great sense in the context of the episode: everyone was so elated to find what they'd been hoping for. When that hope crashed, even the most bright person as Dee feels there is nothing left to live for. The irony of her being one to commit suicide is well suited to the episode's mood.

This whole race card thing is ridiculous.

She said in the article she 'missed' the wrap party, not that she wasn't invited. For those of you who are implying she wasn't welcome, you are way off.

i was not going to respond to this forum but I have to say to Wizzie, how dare you assume the person you were responding to was uneducated and sitting on their butt. That show your true thoughts about blacks. Cold Sun..."you black people"....what is that about, sounds like you may have a issue with blacks, or just a racist. Every one has prejudice, but racism is one a different level of pure hate. I thought I was going to read about how great BSG is, but instead I am reminded how we really have not progressed in this country. We can take a fantasy television show and make it into all whites are red necked hate filled racists, and all blacks are lazy, uneducated welfare receiving white haters.

These conversations regarding race represntation are always fascinating. There are always folks who want to dismiss the whole discussion by saying "who cares what race” the characters are. Why is it a big deal, blah, blah, blah. I’m guessing that the people making these statements are mostly (if not exclusively) white. And sure why would it matter to them? They are always represented on TV. In fact they also tend to be almost exclusively the lead characters of every American or British show. Perhaps if the shoe was on the other foot and there were less white characters to gravitate towards (or none at all) on well done shows these same folks would not think that way. Or possibly they would not watch such shows at all. I’ve always felt that part of the reason for the lack of breakout popularity for Deep Space Nine was not only was there a black lead on the show, but that, as well, there wasn’t a lot of white “human” characters either, particularly white male human characters. That had to be a shock to the system for many white viewers who were accustomed to seeing a completely different racial demographic for characters of an hour long American series. And a science fiction (Trek) series to boot. Lets be honest here. For a bunch of folks race probably came into play (which would also help explain the lack of viewers for the critical darling “The Wire” too).

Yeah, yeah. I know. Here comes the “why does it always have to be about race” response. I got it. And sure some people do go overboard by blaming everything on race. But some people go to the opposite extreme too. I like to say that the only thing worst than a person who blames everything bad on racism is a person who insists racism never exists when it comes to any problems (like under representation) in our society. You know these types of folks. They are the ones who claim racism was “bad” but it is something of the past that in America only showed its ugly head during slavery and the Civil Rights struggle. Or they will claim that some racism still does exist but it has nothing to do with the issues they are currently debating. I’m willing to bet that in reality in their minds they can’t even come up with examples of the “some racism” that is still out there. Just my opinion.

When someone has the audacity to bring up black characters dying or being used very little on a show, another typical response is the one that points out how white characters have been killed too and/or that there are also white characters that don’t have big roles to play in the main storylines. But people making these points fail to see the hole in their arguments. First of all when a white character dies chances are he/she wasn’t the only white character on the show. Lastly even though there are indeed white supporting characters that don’t get much to do they are almost always balanced out by the white leading characters which the shows revolve around. Black characters? Shows don’t tend to revolve around them. Instead they tend to be supporting players at best. By the way I’ve noticed that last season and in this latest TV season black characters are being killed off or the characters are departing. CSI. Lost. Heroes. ER. All of these ensembles killed off black male characters during this time span (and Heroes also booted off almost all of the other black characters too). Friday Night Lights and Weeds got rid of their black characters/families. Now I can add Battlestar Galactica to the list to after the suicide of Dualla. And again unlike with white characters that get killed there aren’t black characters waiting in the wings or fully established to take their “place”.

Another trendy argument I come across is that black characters are overly represented on TV shows. African Americans make up around 12% of the population of the USA and some folks who claimed to have done the math state that black people make up a larger percentage of regular TV characters than their actual percentage in the American population. Now I tend to doubt that (especially these days). But lets say that is true. Okay, fine, with that in mind aren’t white characters also over represented too.? And when it comes to LEAD CHARACTERS aren’t white people really, really, really over represented? And when it comes to shows like Star Trek in which humanity has evolved, racism doesn’t exist within the Federation , and the world is now one big unified nation isn’t it funny that the crews are so dominantly white?

The best counter against the charms of racism is that a lot of these shows are increasingly using Asians, Latinos, Arabs, etc people. Without a doubt Hollywood has made progress on that front. But while Asians, Latinos, Arabs, etc get better roles, real romances, real chances to lead, etc black characters seem to be standing still in terms of their storylines, involvement and screentime. Of course white characters never seemed to suffer that fate as the shows started using other minorities.

Well, at least CSI brought in Laurence Fishburne.

Also in the future can some folks stop using Obama and BET as proof of your arguments. Its both ignorant and lame.

Getting back to Galatica I think the issue some folks have is that in terms of using black characters as a measuring stick, this current version is less “progressive” than the show that came around in the 70s. But not only that…I tune into Galactica and at times I have had a problem distinguishing one white soldier/pilot from the next. And I think to myself would it have been too hard t o cast non-white characters for more of those roles?

I was in complete shock ! It was a great begining into seeing the start of the social breakdown on Galactica.

Well NHK you said it all.
Thanks, because you saved me from having to articulate and then type all that out.

Thanks, foreverloyal. I'll admit it was late when I wrote it and I was so tired I probably should have held off a day before writing. It would have been a little more coherent. :)

But with that being said I want to go back to that last point I made. I'm going to exclude the main lead characters and the entire bridge crew as well. I will concentrate on everyone else. This show over the years have given us so many supporting characters, short lived and otherwise. So many soldiers, pilots, mechanics, medical personnel, prison guards, politicians, President assistants, everyday citizens, etc. Even if Ronald D Moore and Co were not interested in creating lead black characters or even a good number of black supporting characters with substantial leading roles, couldn’t they have at least cast much more black actors for the smaller roles? I mean after awhile the whole excuse of the show being filmed in Canada looks lame. This show, especially when it comes to its male characters, is lily white. Outside of a few notable exceptions the cast overall looks like something out of the 50s and 60s in terms of its almost exclusivity by race when it comes to casting decisions.

I can recall JMS’ Babylon 5. One thing that stood out about it was that every time you tuned in it seemed as if you had black, Hispanic and Asian actors chosen to play shop keepers, smugglers, military personnel, admirals, presidents, etc. The roles weren’t always large and many of the actors chosen to fill these small roles weren’t all that impressive (B5 didn’t have much of a budget so many of the actors, regardless of race, came across as amateurs), Still it made a difference in reminding me that though the show, for ratings reasons, was dominated by a white cast, the actual Earth represented on the show was indeed as racially diverse as it logically should be. Modern Trek was less successful at such casting but it was still way ahead of the current BSG. And I think Classic Trek was almost as diverse as BSG and that show was airing during the 1960s! Absurd. Sure BSG folks are from Caprica, not Earth but still why make the demographics so one-sided?

Seriously did Anders, Tyrol and Leoben allhave to be white? Hmm. Considering a couple of them got to sleep with Boomer and Starbuck I guess that answers my question.

"I love Battlestar Galactica but out of three repeating black characters on a show with a fairly large cast, two are killed off. The remaining is a Cylon."
And if all the cylons were white some one would complain about that.
There are several minority characters, just not all black. Diversity means everyone.

"Seriously did Anders, Tyrol and Leoben allhave to be white? Hmm. Considering a couple of them got to sleep with Boomer and Starbuck I guess that answers my question."

And Dee got with Lee. Hmm..

I don't think they killed Dee to 'get rid of the token black character' (no that's not a quote but it is well implied)
Dee's death made her so real. She tried so hard to be the positive upbeat one. She kept others going. She did that because all along she was convincing herself as well. She lost the ability to stay convinced. I think that story elevated her from add on, and just a side plot tied to Lee and made her real. If there was any talk among the writers of keeping her on for the sake of diversity I for one am glad that content won out over political correctness.

By the way DS9 sucked. Star Trek is about exploring the final frontier, not sitting in an overglorified guard shack.

Asserting that most whites will pass up good writing, because of what race the actors are is in itself a stereo type or generalization.

"There are several minority characters, just not all black. Diversity means everyone."

Laughable when so-called diversity still means 90% white (at least) and the minorities fight over the remaining 10%. Progress much? If you are white, Zarech, it just proves a point I made earlier of many white people not being able to "get it" because they are always well represented on TV in the first place. Therefore they don't see a problem and can't imagine it any other way.

"Seriously did Anders, Tyrol and Leoben allhave to be white? Hmm. Considering a couple of them got to sleep with Boomer and Starbuck I guess that answers my question."

"And Dee got with Lee. Hmm.."

In case you weren't aware white male writers and white viewers tend to be more comfortable when its the white males sleeping with the women of color, rather than the white women sleeping with non-white guys.. Understand my point better now?

"Asserting that most whites will pass up good writing, because of what race the actors are is in itself a stereo type or generalization. "

Then you better have a talk with white studio execs and white analysts who will justify casting decisions based upon the preferences of the majority white viewers. The common argument is that, for example, shows and movies with black leads, regardless of quality, tend not do well with white viewers and ticket buyers. according to their data. This is the rationale studios put out all the time.

So you see you can't have it both ways. Its one or the other. Either...

a)white viewers are more than willing to accept, say, black leads or shows and films with very few white characters (more than one film a year please) and its the white execs, producers and writers who are at fault because they are so interested in developing only white characters or...

b)white viewers, some few exceptions included, are indeed not prone to support or be truly interested in programming or films in which people who look like them are not the leads or at least the majority of the cast.

You know it could be a combination of both. But certainly at least one of those factors are true which means, yes, race stil plays a huge part in what is put on the big and small screen. Its not exacly burn a cross in the front yard type of racism but its racism nonetheless.

"white viewers, some few exceptions included, are indeed not prone to support or be truly interested in programming or films in which people who look like them are not the leads or at least the majority of the cast."

NHK, I'll give you credit for arguing more intelligently than a lot of people here. However, some of your arguments are such vague, blanket statements I'd also have to think you've made your mind up in advance. I agree in your general statement about under-representation, but I also think you're seeing more of it because you're looking for it.
I still hold to my previous statement that racism had nothing to do with Dualla getting killed off--her death made the most sense for that particular episode and for the overall story arc. That's what I'm annoyed about--how this article degenerated to such a conclusion.

Zarech4President,

"She kept others going. She did that because all along she was convincing herself as well. She lost the ability to stay convinced." Well said. Exactly what I was thinking--her death had a lot more sense to it than "she's a token black character" dismissively suggests.

“NHK, I'll give you credit for arguing more intelligently than a lot of people here. However, some of your arguments are such vague, blanket statements I'd also have to think you've made your mind up in advance. I agree in your general statement about under-representation, but I also think you're seeing more of it because you're looking for it. “
I don’t have to go looking for it. It comes looking for me. Look…for most of my life I didn’t care. But its tiring year after year to see the same old thing when it comes to dealing with non-white characters on American TV. The progress is too slow. Its 2009 for goodness sakes. And in the case of black characters….there seems to be a stagnation with what they are allowed to do and be since perhaps the 80s. If you are looking at it from a gradual progress point of view , the number of black characters on TV is less than 20 years ago! And the black characters that are around are almost exclusively supporting characters. There has been much needed improvement for females overall (particular white females). Much progress for gay characters (who are treated with depth). And as I mentioned more progress for Latinos, Asians, etc. But this isn’t the case for black characters. And obviously white characters dominate every show. Good grief can’t the networks be a little bit more open to diversifying the leads?
You claim that is looking for racism; I claim that is simply noticing the obvious. Of course if you are comfortable with the status quo, don’t pay much attention to it or if you are in total denial then maybe you won’t pick up on issues. Obviously I’m more sensitive to this particular concern. I don’t deny that.

“I still hold to my previous statement that racism had nothing to do with Dualla getting killed off--her death made the most sense for that particular episode and for the overall story arc. That's what I'm annoyed about--how this article degenerated to such a conclusion.”
Well, I do not think her death has anything to do with racism either. The character ran its course and obviously on BSG characters are expendable. My gripe is that black characters for the most part tend to be Dualla-like (except for the interracial romance). In that I mean to say that black characters tend to be inconsequential to the main storylines.

It's a late reply, but I wanted to say that I will miss Dualla also.

I was disturbed because I I honestly don't believe the suicide was in character with Dualla, even factoring in the devastating news that Earth had been nuked. There was no evidence that she ever had a kind of depressive history that would lead her to do that after she had been on a successful date with Lee!

It's certainly not the same person who finally convinced Roslin and Adama to come together in the first coup with such quiet conviction. Like Zarek, I felt like there was a lost opportunity here.

I do wish Ms. McClure the best of luck in the future.

You know what I wish? I wish she had been accidientally killed during the rebellion in front of Bill and Lee. You know, just before the escape to the base ship. I could see her saving someone else because that's how I thought of her character. Unlike the rest throughout the show she was always selfless and suicide seems like such a selfish and punishing act. I think a more powerful statement for Geata would have been "I really miss Dee, she was my best friend." That would have touched all of us and given the slightest twinge of guilt he needed for empathy.
Anyway, if you remember TOS after Apollo was brought back from the dead, he had a so called guardian angel. This angel took him a planet in the form of another person. Apollo was to form peace between these two warring factions. My thought is what if Dee was some kind of guardian angel? You know someone sent as a watcher until they reached earth and then regretfully her assignment was over. I was thinking again if all this has happened before, why not keep pushing them into all these seven deadly sin situations in order to see if they as humans have evolved. Maybe they're being tested over and over until they make the right choices. The humans on earth had to go somewhere either before or after the war on earth. Maybe Dee, Billy and certain others were a part of that higher being. I can't believe they would leave the fate of the humans in Cylon no matter how much she knows. Also remember Anders being down doesn't figure because we already know he can control the tin heads. Ponder?

Nowadays, it seems it's the one ranting about perceived racial inequality that is engaging in racism. "White people are in a united plot to destroy blacks." It's so frakking racist in itself, it's sickening -- example after example of certain pieces of history woven together either to whip white people or whip up blacks into a frenzy against whites. I say, frak you. Put back the pages of history of all the white people who sacrificed, fought and died to undo the evils of slavery and racial inequality, because I got news for you: there *was* no black power that could reverse the tide to bring equality to all. You thankless sons of men who want to group people by race and spit in the face of *all* the races who have given so much for equality: you ought really take a cold, hard look at yourselves. You make me sick with your endless posturing. Just last year you were telling anyone who'd listen how the white establishment would never elect a black president. This year, the script reads that he'll never survive. Want more news? You're living a B-movie. Wake up! You are the very problem you're raving about.

As for the rest, sorry you had to sit through that, but after doing time and being forced to listen to sociopathic lunatics spout off with the same kind of inanity almost daily, it's nice to have the right to speak without being beaten to a pulp for holding a different viewpoint. The black superiority culture is a growing monster that no one seems ready to acknowledge.

And as for my beloved BSG, I sincerely hope that when Ms McClure said, "I ended up missing the wrap party," that it was not due to lack of invitation from those planning it. She deserved to be there with the rest of the crew, no doubt about it.

cancel the show now, I don't care anymore. :)

Dualla is amazing. She is beautiful and strong. I feel that BSG does a horrible job with showing strong people of color. Most of the African americans are either marines or some sort of background character. I guess we are second class even in the 12 colonies. Come on guys...you could have done a better job overall and with Dees final act.

Dualla wasn't black... she was a Sagittaron, and a junior officer that always reflected the emotional state of the fleet.

At this late date, I'd rather think that Dualla's suicide heralded the madness that followed, culminating in (as recommended above) Gaeta's dramatic suicide-by-firing-squad... Taking Tom Zarek with him!

NO NIGGERS IN SPACE!!!!! I glad they got rid of that upitty Ho. They should get rid of Lee Adama for betraying his race by marrying the coon but at least now he can go through a purifying of his soul and maybe Starbuck will accept him. Niggers are like roaches and one or 2 may survive judgement day but we as the majority will weed the out. Hopefully they will get rid of the rest of those half castes in the show. Adama is played by a Wetback they need to get rid of him too. The Chink is ok cause she knows her place.

Dude, Casey, you like scifi? where the impossible is the everyday common occurrance? Really? into the fantastic light years of sci fi, you're trying to pass off this old and tired rhetoric? i hope God changes your heart.

I was very shocked when she shot herself. And angry at the writers! Rule numero uno: Do not kill the babes, amigo. The survival of the hottest.

Casey wrote:-

"NO NIGGERS IN SPACE!!!!! I glad they got rid of that upitty Ho. They should get rid of Lee Adama for betraying his race by marrying the coon but at least now he can go through a purifying of his soul and maybe Starbuck will accept him. Niggers are like roaches and one or 2 may survive judgement day but we as the majority will weed the out. Hopefully they will get rid of the rest of those half castes in the show. Adama is played by a Wetback they need to get rid of him too. The Chink is ok cause she knows her place."

Is this meant to be intensely heavily ironic and funny? I hope so, otherwise its intensely offensive nature is unacceptable.

In any case I am expecting Casey's post to get moderated out of this thread (and mine too, since I quoted it, I guess).

This whole "black" / "racism" discussion is baffllng and seems pointless to me. Is it a peculiarly North American anxiety?

I am in the UK and it never occurred to me. Obviously I noticed that Dualla has dark skin but then so do lots of folks. So what?

I also noticed that she was a babe and a great long-term character on the show. Losing her from it hurts.

ohh my god i cant believe she did it! i care to much for dualla and Kandyse McClure who plays her and i just couldnt watch it. i left the room went pee threw on my coat and went outside to smoke a cigg! theres no way i could watch her die!!! You Will Be Missed Kandyse (Dualla) McClure. as this show ends ill be a complete wreck if i have to watch everybody die except for the ones that explode cause thats easier to handle then seeing their blood and guts splattered all over! i hope they got another show in the works to continue the BSG Story after this show ends!!! jeremy

Dee was black??? I thought she was Indian.... anyway .... she was a fave and only her sucide would have shocked us all this much and only her sucide made this much sense... she represents probably dozens of sucides that have happened along the way ....that never got a storyline.......and the reason she choose this way out was subtle enough to make sense.

Hearing the rantings of blacks who think their race is the only race persecuted, the only race subject to slavery, the only race whose characters get "crappy parts in white shows" and get killed off is appalling and is getting old. Adama: Hispanic. Boomer: Asian. These are minority races too, Lucille. History shows the Jews were slaves for hundreds of years before ANY black was, yet they don't whine or play the persecution card constantly. There are other minorities on the show in BIG roles. Blacks don't have the corner on the market for being victims of racism or hatred or persecution so stop thinking that you do. And the original had 2 blacks, Lucille. Yeah, that's WAY more diverse, good catch there. Love, a persectued Native American (of whom their are NONE on BG). Do you hear me whining about THAT? I've got better things to do.

Hearing the rantings of blacks who think their race is the only race persecuted, the only race subject to slavery, the only race whose characters get "crappy parts in white shows" and get killed off is appalling and is getting old. Adama: Hispanic. Boomer: Asian. These are minority races too, Lucille. History shows the Jews were slaves for hundreds of years before ANY black was, yet they don't whine or play the persecution card constantly. There are other minorities on the show in BIG roles. Blacks don't have the corner on the market for being victims of racism or hatred or persecution so stop thinking that you do. And the original had 2 blacks, Lucille. Yeah, that's WAY more diverse, good catch there. Love, a persectued Native American (of whom their are NONE on BG). Do you hear me whining about THAT? I've got better things to do.

Dee was my favourite.She was a woman of substance,the heart and soul of Galatica and brought credibility to Lee.I will miss her.Besides she was the sexiest chick on the show.

I just read this interview- so the last Dee episode is past. I always looked forward to Ms. McClure both as a man and as a fan of this great reimagining of the BG concept. I for one want to say thanks, sorry you missed the wrap party, and I am looking forward to your future entertaining your fellow humans.
4 days from now and the series ends. And it shouldn't. It's bee a great ride, great story telling, great producing from a dedicated cast, crew, management and creators (and yes, that includes you too Moore, even though you have proven to this viewer in person what an uber asshole you are). Hopefully this very special show has been a great chapter in all the actors' lives and will help to propel them onto bigger and better things.
If I may borrow from another classic- may you all live long and prosper.

BP

I've lost enough in my life recently. Now I lost Dee. After that scene, I cryed for a fracking hour. Love u Kandyse.

With the revelation of Ellen Tigh as the final Cylon I just realized something. Cylons are boring. The political wranglings of "love the enemy" are not the same as "keep your enemies close to you". This series has fallen all over itself to turn people into sacrificial whimps. We have to love and understand the Cylons which is why they lost it when the Cylons came back after 40 yrs. I miss Billy, Dee,Geata and I'm sure( soon to be )Helo's characters because they always tried to show the best of humanity while everyone else fell over backwards to love and understand the enemy. Like most of us our voices are never really heard. To me the key to the real Battlestar Galactica has always been about redemption, searching for the truth and doing the right thing. Have they said just because we are human we will always make the wrong choices first. I think the Cylons are more messed up than that. Has anyone figured out what the plan was yet? They have take the 'character spine' out of this show and put it in the hands of the Cylons. This show is strong enough to be remade again. It seems to be ending as badly as Galactica 1980. I have no plans to watch more of the human conflict of "Cylons can be our friends" on the "Caprica" show either. Geata was the last chance at political correctness. Zarek deserved to die, I do believe he reached his three strike quota but Geata could have been locked up until he saw the error of his ways. It's funny how when the Cylons deceived them over and over they were invited back for drinks. A human? We'll just kill them. How many times can Adama call Starbuck his daughter? In this entire series did he ever give Dee the honor and respect she deserved for taking care of his dumb, confused son? That bugged me too. They all fell apart over Starbuck but Dee? She's out of the way After seeing how close Zac and Kara were that's totally messed up that Lee went after her. Now that I think about it though it seems that the real problem is Kara. She's trying to end the Adama bloodlines. The one real hope that's left is the Black Hole the Cavill has parked next to as a way to pull them back out of time. That way WE can re-imagine this show in the way WE want to see it  with all our favorite characters alive and well and WE can create all of the different outcomes and happy endings in our imaginations. I hope it's not left up to yet another disappointment where we have to watch Adama and Roslyn kiss or pretend to cry or die again. How about Adama and Baltar kiss for a change? If either of those things happen I vote we demand another re-imagined series.

I think they are ending the series way to early.There is so much more to this story and they are selling us short by ending it now.Way to go Sci-Fi!

While I'm sad Battlestar is ending, I'm definitely glad it gets to go out on its own terms. Well done

The last half of the full fourth season felt rushed.

It's true that BSG has never held back its punches but has continued to surprise and bemuse; and then it would pick up again and contnue to entertain and challenge us with interesting storylines.

But right at the end I could feel it was wrap-up time and the writers got extra bold and extra brutal. (Let's go out with some frakkin big bangs!)

Sure, I get the symbolism of Dee's death reflecting the loss of hope of the whole ship (her character was the soul and hope of the ship) but I did not dig it. And it was probably a pivotal event in turning Gaeta into Mr Angry. But I did not dig that either. I did not believe Gaeta would go that far. For me it was too much.

But I loved the show and I am sad that it is now done.