After last night’s post on
Battlestar Galactica alternatives, I finished up by watching the latest
episode here. Read no more, if you’re behind. Read on if you want to know more
about Billy’s interesting twist on last night’s show.
OK,
Billy gets it. I was pretty sad. I liked the character, plus we’d had that
statement a few episodes before where Roslin had said she saw him as a future
president. It felt like he was being set up for something big. I also especially
enjoyed the dynamic of him dealing with the civilian issues contrasted against
Dualla
living the military side of things. It was nice to see the relationship between
them grow, too — until that confusing turn that put Dualla with Apollo.
But kill him off? That was pretty dramatic. And when doing last night’s post,
I’d see something reference to his departure from the show, when doing some
searches. Damn. So I kind of knew what was coming, but why? Did they not like
the character? Or was this plot twist because of an actor issue.
Turns out, the latter. MediaBlvd has an excellent interview with actor Paul
Campbell:
Battlestar Galactica’s Paul Campbell: Life after Billy. They wanted to sign
him to a five year contract, he stalled around in committing, so they killed him
off.
Bummer. I hate when shows have to change because of actor issues, rather than
because that’s where the plot needs to go. But then again, sometimes it can
help, as well.
Apparently there’s some speculation he might return as a Cylon, that he was a
sleeper. He pretty much downplays the idea but says he’s open to it.
