"Fragged" Reactions

New episode poll at right. What'd you think of Helo et al.'s absence in the episode?

No new Helo pics as there were no new Helo scenes, sadly. But you can hop over to Northern Lights to see some Tahmoh images if you're in withdrawal.

Convince me I'm wrong? I wasn't thrilled with "Fragged."

My reaction:

I love the series, but this is the first ep where I actually glanced at the clock.
My chief complaint is that the first half of the episode seemed to retread alot of ground we've covered before or even repeated itself (I guess for dramatic effect?).

It just seemed very slow and didn't seem to accomplish much (possibly in part due to the frenetic pace of the past two eps). They set up the confrontations for later in the episode, sure, but I felt they could have sped it up a bit, esp. as the last half seemed rushed. And it's not like I only like action on the show; I watch it for the characters not the battles, but I just felt we didn't gain much in terms of characterization:

Tigh drinks. Well, yes. He drinks some more. He gives bad orders under the influence of alcohol. Ellen Tigh schemes and is a bitch. The chief stands up to Crashdown. Six and Baltar have increasingly strange exchanges about humanity. Crash is a bad commander.

GOOD:
- Tigh revealing the prez's religious mission and inciting religious conflict. Heh. Now he has a political conflict and a religious one.

- The prez. recovering enough to give her statement.

- The backstory on Geminon.

- Baltar standing up to Six.

- The raptor blowing away the cylons.

BAD:
- retreading and repeating characterizations and storylines (as discussed above) to an excessive extent, esp. in light of the extensive use of "previously on Galactica." I often felt like they were beating a dead horse.

- I wasn't thrilled they made the prez go through withdrawal from the chamalla. I know it makes sense, but it just seemed too T'Pol Enterprise Season 2. The way the strong women on the show have been treated of late (and future spoilers) make me rather nervous. Starbuck and Boomer have been beaten to a bloody pulp and now the prez is going through withdrawal?

- Tigh's sudden declaration of martial law at the end of the ep, when he'd protested he wouldn't and seemed to realize what a mess he'd made. Did he just decide he'd already de facto declared martial law by not yielding to anyone's demands? Other than making his day less annoying, what does he really gain by doing this? I mean I guess it just fits in with his character, but I wish they'd transitioned that a bit more.

- Where's Boomer? Doesn't it seem odd no one has checked on her since the cylon attack?

- Helo/Starbuck? I know they can only devote so much time to each storyline and I wouldn't have minded ignoring them except that I felt so little happened in the first part of the ep they might as well have checked in with H/S.

In the final analysis, I probably wasn't thrilled with the ep as it foregrounded my least favorite characters and storylines: Kobol and Tigh in command. So maybe it was inevitable.

What was good about the ep that I'm overlooking? Or can you cast some of these elements in a different light?

I want to like the ep, but I was disappointed.

Tahmoh calls into S2D radio show

Though Helo sadly didn't appear in "Fragged" last night (see POLL at right), Tahmoh did briefly appear on Subject 2 Discussion (a radio show) this Wednesday, calling in from Gatecon.

Thanks to Blade Runner over at Galactica Station, if you missed it, you can listen in.

Tahmoh, Aaron Douglas (Tyrol) & Paul Campbell (Billy) on S2D [Please right-click-save.]

Tahmoh's segment is about 16 minutes in.

Also be sure to check out the other BSG audio interviews from S2D (including a much longer show with Tahmoh) that are available on Galactica Station.

Tons of Tahmoh Sci-Fi Party Photos

Sci-Fi had a post Comic-Con party for its stars apparently. You can Tahmoh and the rest of the stars over at Wireimage.com. The photos are hot, hot, hot.

Photos by Ortega and Van Wagoner.
You can see and discuss all the Tahmoh pics here.

Photo by Sandy Huffaker.
Getty Images has some watermarked, but larger, pics from the party, a couple of which you can also see here.

If anyone has a Wireimage account, please comment or email me. :)

BSG Season One DVD available for pre-order

Amazon.com has now listed the first season of Galactica for pre-order for $41.99. The 5 disc set (including the miniseries, deleted scenes and 9 commentary tracks) will be available on September 20th.

I've started a new countdown in the left sidebar to the DVD release date.

You can read more about the box set and see the cover art here.

TV Guide loves "Valley of Darkness"

Galactica again earned a favorable review from TV Guide's Watercooler.

Down on Caprica, Starbuck's laying into Helo. "Your girlfriend's from a lovely family," she says of Cylon Boomer. "Good people. Great values." Oh, c'mon. She's gonna give the guy crap when she already knows he's been on the run for months, one of only two humans (as far as he knew) on the entire planet? Well, yeah — apparently she is....

But who figured Starbuck for a painter, and not a bad one at that? Nice scene where she listens to the recording of her father playing classical piano, too. "Everyone I know is fighting to get back what they had," she says. "I'm fighting 'cause I don't know how to do anything else." Like I said, nice...

Read the rest and vote for "Valley of Darkness" as the best TV show of the weekend! (It's currently in second).

"Valley of Darkness" Reactions

New episode poll at right. Vote for your favorite Helo line from the ep.

Screen caps from the ep have been posted to Northern Lights.


My reaction:

Now THAT's the Galactica I remember.

Wow. Simply wow. That was really fabulous. Lots of action, but it was all about the characters.

The rest of my rambling response is behind the spoiler cut.

Loved Helo and Starbuck going over to her place. That was so chill. It accomplished almost nothing plot-wise but was all about the characters. Nice to get to see Helo sit down and relax a bit. Katee and Tahmoh were amazing in those scenes. Can you believe there were 3 of them! So much Caprica time.

And how awesome is it that Ron Moore calls the Kara/Helo apt scene one of his favorite of the series and one of his most proud achievements in the podcast?

Apparently Katee and Tahmoh did most of the painting? I'd love to have one of those.

Also the scene where Kara called Helo stupid was an extra scene that was shot later. Yah, extra Helo scenes.

Loved all the Dualla/Billy scenes. Minor character moments, but they had heart.

I still find Tyrol vaguely annoying. I think he's being slightly overplayed, but I did get all choked up over Socinus's death.

The Six/Baltar bit was very interesting. Human sacrifice huh?

And what's with the prez being impervious to bullets?

Nice they introduced a new deck crew person since they've been dropping like flies on Kobol. Or have we seen him before? Is he the ass that said "now it's every man for himself?"

"Valley of Darkness" on Sci-Fi Tonight!

The excitement of "Scattered" is continued in tonight's ep. Moore promised us more Caprica scenes in the podcast, so I'll be watching for them. I especially want to know how is Helo going to react when he realizes that Starbuck arrived in a cylon raider.

Col. Tigh must work with Lee Adama to stop a Cylon boarding party before it cripples the Galactica and destroys the fleet.

Ron Moore's podcast, when available, will be here.

UPDATE: There's a special sneak peak video on TVGuide's site of tonight's episode. You can see it next to their comment about Galactica on their "Hot List." Just scroll down.

Thanks to Sci-Fi for the heads up!

Spoilerific Helo Episode Promo Photos

Dark-Thoughts.net has posted tons more promotional photos for upcoming Season 2 eps. At left is a spoiler-free teaser.

The images at the site feature HEAVY SPOILERS.

204: Resistance

205: The Farm

206: Home

I bring you just the Helo pics behind the cut.

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

Images thanks to Dark-Thoughts.net!

BSG Season 1 DVD to be released Sept. 20

Universal Studios has announced new details and new cover art for the US release of Season One:

Battlestar Galactica (2004): Season One

Release Date: 09/20/2005

Added Value: 1 of 3 DVD Exclusive Trading Cards

See technical information and disc contents here.

The set will include the miniseries and 4 new commentary tracks by Eick and Moore on "33", "Bastille Day," "Act of Contrition" and "You Can't Go Home Again."

The rest of the commentary tracks have been previously released. Personally I was hoping for a cast commentary on at least one episode, but the current set is all Moore and Eick all the time.

I wonder what "Behind the Scenes" will mean. The video featurettes already on the Sci-Fi website? Here's hoping for a bit of new material.

TV Shows on DVD has screen shots and had this to say:

Universal has announced their "all retailers" release this morning, and as you can see on the left, the cover is noticably different than the box which Best Buy has been depicting. The release is set for September 20th, and the SRP is $59.98 (which means you'll be able to purchase it anywhere from $40 to $55, after retail discounts are applied). The running time is 757 minutes for a 5-DVD package (one more than the Best Buy set), including the 2003 mini-series on the first disc, and there are many extras.

For those who don't want to wait for the new bonus features and different cover art, Best Buy is releasing the UK version of the Season 1 set on July 26th.

BSG's success recounted by Reuters

Several BSG sites have been reporting the good news about the Season 2 premiere's ratings, but I just came across a report on Reuters as well:

Sci Fi Channel soars with 'Battlestar Galactica'

"Battlestar Galactica" looked especially strong at 10 p.m., opening its second season to its highest ratings ever, just more than 3 million total viewers. It also notched the No. 1-rated show in all of television in the male 18-49 and 25-54 demographic for the hour.

You can read more over at the SyFy Portal.

Yah! that means lots more Battlestar for us.

New Tahmoh Video Interview!

It keeps getting better and better. Comic-Con panel pics, behind-the-scenes Comic-Con photos and now... a video interview!

IGN Film Force has posted a 4-minute video interview with Tahmoh at Comic-Con, which you can view on their website.

Go watch the video!

Tahmoh talks about getting the role of Helo, his memories of the original Battlestar Galactica and what's in store for Helo in Season 2 (in very general terms).

Be warned the audio is really spotty. You have to turn the interviewer down and Tahmoh way up in order to hear...

IGN also posted interviews with Grace Park and James Callis to the same page.

Thanks to Sci-fi for the heads up!

Tahmoh behind-the-scenes at Comic-Con 2005

Thanks to Kevin Barrow for allowing us to post these great photos of Tahmoh from San Diego.

Go see the rest of his Comic-Con Day 2 photos
(including another one of Tahmoh, as well as Grace Park and James Callis!).

Gotta love the sunglasses! I'm just glad Tahmoh has better fashion sense than *ahem* other male members of the cast.

If you click on the photos, you'll be able to see huge versions. All I have to say is "Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu," who knew?

TVGuide raves about BSG Premiere

The folks over at the "Watercooler" were, not surprisingly, impressed with "Scattered." Here's what they had to say:

Battlestar Galactica — MP
Man, how jazzed are we to have Season 2 going, Galactica fans? (OK, so maybe it's just me, then — but I'm in ultrageek mode, so sue me.) It's going strong right off the bat, as we knew it would since we saw Adama shot at the end of last season. Of course the writers immediately up the stakes by having the Galactica jump away, leaving the entire fleet — and the doctor who can save Adama — behind. Oops.

But I'm already confused. How is it possible for Baltar to conceive a child with Number Six if she exists only in his own head? I mean, there's the reality of self-love, but I'm talking simple biology here. And I don't feel so bad since he's a genius and he doesn't get it, either. And what's with Tigh's wife? Aside from the drinking and slutting about, I mean. Trying to get him to make a power grab while his boss lies bleeding? Cylon, or aspiring Lady Macbeth? You make the call.

Meanwhile, planetside, I'm thinking the odds for the wounded guy on the stretcher aren't good considering I don't recall Chief or anyone else ever saying his name, which makes him the redshirt. Elsewhere, Starbuck screams about how stupid men are when Helo tells her Cylon Boomer's pregnant with his child... just before Cylon Boomer makes off with Starbuck's ride. D'oh. I think both genders are getting bopped with the dumb-dumb stick here.

But back to Chief, where it appears there's another redshirt, the poor shot-up bastard who Chief keeps insisting is going to be all right. "It's not that bad," he says. I hate to be Nelly Negative here, but yeah, it is (and sure enough, he dies as I'm typing that). Nice "s--t, I'm still in Saigon" moment during Tigh's flashback, too. But I do want to call an excessive-cliffhanger-use foul here. We waited how long for this season to start, and now they're hitting us with another unresolved crisis? Aaah, who am I kidding? Hurt me more.

So many new Tahmoh photos... so little time

It seems lots of lucky Galactica fans made it to Comic-Con 2005 in San Diego. All I can say is I'm jealous. It looks like it was a really fun event.

themonkeycabal has written up a long report on the BSG panel, for those interested. Here's the bit on Tahmoh:

Tahmoh, who'd been very, very quiet during the rest of the panel, had his turn next. I think he was enjoying just watching the panel, honestly. Asshat asked him about Helo and about Helo's being in love with a Cylon situation.

Tahmoh said that, obviously, Helo's a very generous sort of person. He gave up his seat to Baltar in the mini-series, after all. And, yes, he's also in love with a Cylon, so part of it for him is trying to understand how to empathize with that. "The woman I'm in love with is a Cylon. Can you imagine?"

Here's a nice photo taken by Jul (thevaliumsofalj) and posted by themonkeycabal. (And another from Galactica Station).



See the rest of Jul's Comic-Con photos and themonkeycabal's hilarious captions!

Galactica Station has also posted a ton of Comic Con photos, including lots of Tahmoh (too many to post here). Here are some of my favorites:

Grace and Tahmoh watch in horror? hide?

Check out the rest of the Galactica Station Comic Con Gallery!

Thanks to Jul and Galactica Station for the photos!

New spoiler Helo photo

The ever resourceful Sci-Fi sent this spoiler Helo pic my way and said I could pass it on to you.

It's from an unknown future episode and is very interesting...

Again though, spoiler-phobes beware.

Any guesses as to the episode it appears in?

Thanks to Sci-Fi!

Poll Results: When we first see Helo...

I asked people last week what they thought Helo would be doing when we first see him in "Scattered." The majority thought he'd:

- still be trying to stop Starbuck from killing Boomer. (71%)

And you were right:


Some romantics hoped that he'd be "making up with Boomer." But sadly that didn't happen, though he did defend her admirably. Here's hoping that faith isn't misplaced.

Results graph:
Cap thanks to Northern Lights.

SITE UPDATE: During the season, I'm probably only going to be posting poll results, not about the existence of a new poll. I'm going to try to have an episode related poll each week. So check back often!

More Tahmoh Comic-Con 2005 photos

Wireimage has posted small thumbnails of Tahmoh and the rest of the cast at Comic-Con 2005.

If anyone has a Wireimage account, please let me know.

See the rest of the Comic-Con photos here.

"Scattered" Reactions

The episode went by so quickly, especially the time on Caprica. I learned from Moore's podcast that there is in fact another scene on Caprica, but it got moved to "Valley of Darkness" for reasons of time.

Protective!Helo wasn't too surprising, but the long history between Kara and "Karl" was a bit. Starbuck called Helo, "Karl." I swear it's the first time his first name has been used on the show. Kara also implied that Helo's been in love with Boomer for a long while...

I've added a new poll at right for people to weigh in on how they feel about Helo's behavior in the ep.

I wonder if Boomer took off in order to distract the other cylons? Otherwise I don't see why she stole the ship after sticking with Helo for so long.

Thanks to Northern Lights for the cap!

See the rest of the Helo "Scattered" caps over at Northern Lights.

I warn you that if you go read the "Scattered" ep description over at Sci-fi.com it reflects a different version of the script or perhaps the events of "Valley of Darkness."

Photos of Tahmoh at Comic-Con 2005

My everlasting thanks to Galacticaa.net for sending these photos of Tahmoh from Comic-Con today. It's an awesome site, which you should definitely check out. (Use Firefox for now, but he should have the IE kinks worked out soon).

Real-time post about the Galactica Panel at Comic-Con.

Galacticaa's photos from the panel on Flickr.

UPDATE: Another photo (this time by Joits) of Grace Park and Tahmoh on Flickr.

All photos thanks to Galacticaa.net!

Tahmoh at Comic-Con!

I feel like such a bad fan girl. Tahmoh attended Comic-Con in San Diego today and was on the BSG panel and I knew nothing about it.

Thanks to Galacticaa.net, we have this brief insight into the panel:

3:13 pm — Mary McDonnell (the President), James Callis (Baltar), Grace Park (Boomer), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo) are all on stage!

3:39 pm — Question for Tahmoh Penikett (Helo) “Coming to the realization that the woman you’ve fallen in love with a robot.” Moderator says “been there, done that.” Big laugh.

Read the rest of the real-time blog of the panel!
(To see the site, you need to be running Firefox).

In my defense, he's not listed on the comic-con website's panel description:

3:00-4:00 SCI-FI: Battlestar Galactica— Their only goal is survival. Their only hope is each other. Moderated by Michael Davis, senior editor, TV Guide.

Panelists include actors Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin), James Callis (Dr. Gaius Baltar), Katee Sackhoff (LT. Kara Thrace—Starbuck), Jamie Bamber (Capt. Lee Adama—Apollo), and Grace Park (LT. Sharon Valerii— Boomer) and executive producers David Eick and Ron Moore.

If you have any more news of the panel or photos of the event, please contact me!

BSG Season 2 Premiere, "Scattered," Tonight!

At last, BSG premieres tonight. Look for screen caps and commentary after the ep.

With Adama mortally wounded and President Roslin in the brig, Col. Tigh must endure the crucible of command.

Not that I advise listening to it before the ep airs, but Moore's podcast commentary on "Scattered" is now up on Sci-Fi.com.

UPDATE: Not surprisingly, "Scattered" tops TVGuide's "Hot List" for the night. You can watch a preview and read their promo here.

Premiere day articles abound

Too many to keep up with really. Here's one I haven't seen linked to much:

This article over at The Stranger cracked me up. In many respects, I have to agree. I've been enjoying the adult take on sexuality in Galactica. And for all the complaining about Six and Baltar, they've only had one real sex scene and that was in the miniseries!

I ♥ Television: Things Are Sexier in Space

"While most space operas feature sexless drips and four-eyed nerds hopping around the cosmos, Battlestar Galactica keeps it dirty, real, and most importantly, SEXY..."

This effusive article in USA Today by Robert Bianco made me really happy, so I imagine you'd enjoy it too:

'Galactica' back, better than ever

But like all great science fiction, Galactica is less about outer space than inner lives. Producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick created a fully realized, extraterrestrial world of their own and use it to explore and explain ours.

I'd also check out Maureen Ryan's excellent interviews with Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell and Katee Sackhoff.

On Starbuck's story arc in the beginning of Season 2] Caprica is not a big story arc at first, there are more pressing things happening. We see Starbuck more at the forefront for episode five [onward]. She doesn't know what to think, she's put in this situation [of being stranded with a Cylon version of her friend, Sharon 'Boomer' Valerii].

She was one of the people championing the killing of Cylons. To find out one of her best friends is a Cylon, on one hand she wants to kill here, but how can she say to herself that the last seven years were a lie? Even if [Boomer] was a Cylon, those moments were real. What do you do? She doesn't know.

So it sounds like we won't be seeing much of Helo et al. early on...

Maureen Ryan's article in the Chicago Tribune is also worthwhile (and less spoilery than the interviews).

'Galactica' promise isn't lost in space

"The realistic basis of this [show] -- that's what makes it different," Olmos said from the show's Vancouver set. "You can relate to it on a visceral level. It just feels gritty. It feels like it's happening right now. That's what really made it come alive for a lot of people."

For TONS of additional articles on BSG, visit:

- Galactica Station
- BSG Pre-Flight Briefing
- Unofficial Battlestar Blog

I'll post Tahmoh-related bits as I find them.

Site changes and update

So you may have noticed that I've been tinkering around with the site over the past few days. I thought some changes might be due in time for the BSG Season 2 Premiere.

I taught myself CSS and added a right sidebar. Yah! It proved more difficult than I'd imagined, but I like the result. Who knew the pretty background dots would nearly be my undoing?

The coolest new feature, I think, is site search by google. You can find it in the left sidebar above the archive links. It'll search all the posts to the site, if you're ever looking for specific information about Tahmoh.

I moved the poll to the right sidebar to give it more visibility and cut down the length of the left sidebar. I eliminated the "recent posts" section to save space and because you can see them all on the main page anyway.

I also eliminated the "about me" section. If you want to know about me, email me. :)

I've made a host of other small changes that I doubt anyone but me will notice, but I hope you find the site as useful and appealling as before.

As always, if you have any suggestions or have any questions, feel free to contact me.

New David Eick Season 2 Video Blog

Executive Producer of BSG, David Eick, has posted another video blog of his on set experiences.

It's a cast read through of episode 207, "Home, Part 2" with most of the cast, including Tahmoh (and EJO on speakerphone). EJO is easy to understand, but I was having difficulty making out what everyone else was saying. It's a fun behind-the-scenes look, nonetheless.

Watch now!

Northern Lights has posted several screen caps of Tahmoh for your viewing pleasure, including this one:


UPDATE: Having now listened closely to the read-through, I realized there are some pretty significant spoilers. I suppose this isn't surprising as it's from ep. 207, but be wary. Some interesting Helo-related developments...

Sci-Fi Inside BSG clips now online

In case you didn't catch Sci-Fi's special, several sites have posted the BSG clips to the web for your viewing pleasure.

The special was alot of fun, so if you missed it, I'd definitely check it out.

You can find clips at these sites:

DarkThoughts.net

Galactica Station

Ragnor Anchorage

You can also find screen caps and a cute video with Tahmoh over at Northern Lights.

Flurry of BSG articles and interviews in the press

With the premiere tomorrow night, a tremendous flurry of articles have begun to appear in the press. I can't promise to post them all, but here are a few:

This Newsday article appeared a couple days ago and is an interesting read:

Sci-fi seeks critical mass

Those in the genre say it encompasses more than space and special effects and deserves critics' respect and Emmy consideration

As a follow-up, BSG received 2 Emmy nominations today, none for acting:

- Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series ("33")
- Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series ("The Hand of God")

The Boston Globe had this article to offer:

'Battlestar' goes where we are now

A terrorist attack has people on the run. A computer virus threatens to undermine the survivors. Meanwhile, enemy forces are mingling undetected among the rank and file, planning genocide in the name of their god.

I find the bitter fan comment that he finds the new BSG "incredibly boring" absolutely hilarious in its absurdity.

Brian Tallerico over at The Deadbolt calls on people to watch BSG.

When the first season (after the mini-series) debuted earlier this year, I was stunned at its quality, filled with richly drawn characters, complicated themes, and incredible drama (the 10th episode, "The Hand of God" is still the tensest hour of television so far this year).

And now some SPOILERY interviews with the cast:

From Hollywood North Report:

Richard Hatch Talks Galactica Season 2!

On Tom Zarek and sci-fi’s mainstream evolution

From SyFyPortal:

A Six And A First: How Initial Reactions Prove Wrong

It's about initially bad impressions of the new "Battlestar Galactica"--and its Cylon character of Number Six in particular--and how I came to hold, and then ultimately reject, those deeply entwined negative opinions. It's also a tale of big changes afoot for Number Six in the upcoming Season Two.

Helfer Dishes On Other 'BSG' Characters

"Battlestar Galactica" star Tricia Helfer, who plays Number Six, talked about other characters viewers are likely to see--some maybe they won't--in the upcoming second season at the recent Shore Leave sci-fi convention in Hunt Valley, Maryland.

This is an older spoilery interview with Katee Sackhoff that I really enjoyed, so I thought I'd also blog it as I'm on a mad, only slightly related to Tahmoh, posting spree that:

STARBUCK WILD ‘Battlestar Galactica’ star spills all

Early Reviews of "Scattered" (ep. 201)

Early reviews of the BSG Season 2 premiere have begun to trickle in. Here are two. Read at your peril.

Quality guides 'Galactica' as second season takes off

If the season premiere is any indication, "Battlestar" fans are in for another riveting, nail-biting journey as they join the ragtag survivors searching for refuge.

I was less thrilled with this statement:

The Caprica storyline, while interesting, received very little screen time in the season premiere. As the season unfolds, the writers may need to prune extra storylines that can't be adequately serviced.

Bad reporter. Shh!

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had this to say:

It's a slam-bang hour that also serves up some "Battlestar" touchstones - religion, politics - while advancing the story a half-step and introducing another Cylon threat to the Galactica crew.

I liked what he had to say about the Caprica storyline much more... (slightly spoilery so it's behind the cut):

On Caprica, Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) clashes with Helo (Tahmoh Penikett) over his faith in the second Cylon Sharon (Park again), who claims to be carrying his child.

How to make a "Cylon shooter"

Thanks to Galacticaa.net, you too can make a "Cylon shooter," a drink invented by Grace Park that made its debut on the recent Sci-Fi Inside Special.


The ingredients include:

• “A little bit of Lichee — something exotic”
• Coconut Creme
• Lichee Juice
• Grenadine
• Vodka
• Tabasco Sauce
• Cherries

Here are the directions:

1. Blend the lichee fruit, coconut creme, and lichee juice into a nice creamy consistency.
2. Pour the mixture into the bottom half of a shot glass.
3. Next, add enough vokda to fill the shotglass to 3/4’s of its height. (More is okay, but don’t forget you’ll need some room at the top for the next step.)
4. Add a dollop of tabasco sauce “for that kick”.
5. Pour grenadine into the center of the drink, allowing it to bubble up from the bottom. (This step gives the drink its signature “Cylon red” look.)
6. Place a cherry on top.
7. Drink to the Cylons… umm… Colonials!

To view the clip (and several screencaps), check out this page at Northern Lights, a Tahmoh Penikett media archive.

New Article and Photos from "Scattered" (ep. 201)

About.com has posted another high-res photo of Helo from "Scattered."


See the rest of the "Scattered" promo pics.

Julia Houston has also written an accompanying article, "Battlestar Galactica Launches Season Two with "Scattered"":

Battlestar Galactica left us with a big ole cliffhanger last season, but instead of resolving the conflicts, or even giving us a way out, the Season Two premiere, “Scattered,” just adds more cliffs....

Airing this Friday at 10 PM ET on the SCI FI Channel, Battlestar Galactica is not just “smart” TV, it’s a hell of a ride.

Read the rest of the article.

Finally, clearly Julia Houston is a huge Helo fan as both the pics she chooses to illustrate her article are of Helo... I'm just saying.

Sci-Fi Inside Special on BSG & Sci-Fi Fridays

Sci-Fi aired a great sneak-peak into BSG season 2 tonight. It was fun, interesting and entertaining, esp. as it featured a super cute scene with Tahmoh and Grace Park.

Grace made two "cylon shooter" cocktails for herself and Tahmoh in a Vancouver bar. You can watch the clip over at Northern Lights, thanks to un4scene.

Watch the vid!

Here are some screen caps:


Go see the rest of the caps!

Thanks to Northern Lights for the images and the video.

"Where no TV show has gone before"

There's a great new article praising BSG over at Salon.com by Laura Miller.

"Where no TV show has gone before"

With its hot, androgynous heroine leading the remnants of humanity against evil, God-fearing robots, "Battlestar Galactica" is boldly re-creating sci-fi TV.

It's an intelligent commentary on the show and why it works so well.

Thanks to the Battlestar Blog for the heads up!

Tahmoh Stories from Burbank BSG con

So I know the con was a while ago, but I finally got caught up on the all reports. Some Tahmoh tidbits for you:

The Monkey Cabal - BSG Con Day 2

Tahmoh and Katee were filming some rather exhausting scenes under the rain towers (Pretty Helo's Rainy hell has not left us. Yay, though, dude, sucks to be Tahmoh. I'm sure he's got mildew in the most unfortunate places), and they apparently cracked a little bit and began speaking to each other in deeply hickified southern accents, firing their guns into the air, and riding around the Arrow of Apollo as though it was a toy horse. The camera crew helpfully caught it all on film.

Sam's Sister posted a long con report with photos over at the Pegasus Galaxy Forums:

[Katee Sackhoff] went on to talk about this scene where she is with Tahmoh (she called him “Tom”) Penikett (“Helo”) and there was a “moment where we’re trying to get away from the Cylons and get to this place with guns…(they had) “Scorpions” – little machine guns – super-powerful, like the one in Men in Black and I said ‘cool!’”

Tom, huh? Hmm.

"Flight of the Phoenix" Spoilers (ep. 209)

Gateworld has posted a one sentence summary of BSG ep. 9 of Season 2. The episode promises to feature Helo prominently, it seems.

Spoilers behind the cut...

SPOILERS

Chief Tyrol throws himself into the impossible task of building a Viper from scratch, while Helo faces disdain from his shipmates because of his relationship with a Cylon.

SPOILERS

Poor Helo.

"Amazing Space" BSG article in EW

Thanks to MaryD at AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Files for posting scans of the new BSG article in this week's Entertainment Weekly.

The article is spoilery, but provides a fun look into the on-set dynamic:

As the camera crew sets up a complicated shot, half a dozen costumed cast members... form a rowdy circle beneath the damp leaves. [Grace] Park wanders toward the noise.

"What the hell is happening here?" she asks.

"We're playing the laughing game," says Tahmoh Penikett (a.k.a. strapping Lieutenant Helo).

Sackhoff lets out an impressive witchlike cackle. Jamie Bamber draws kudos for his maniacal bellowing. But Mary McDonnell trumps all with a throaty, pained impersonation of her husband.

"He laughs like he broke his rib," she giggles.

Read the rest of the article!

New Season 2 Promo Video

So anyone who watched the three eps of BSG that NBC aired last night got to see this new promo vid. I, however, missed it and thought you might have as well. It's spoilery and includes never before seen scenes (and a good bit of Helo).

The Pegasus Galaxy Forums are currently hosting the promo vid online.

You have to check it out. It rocks. (Mildly spoilery).

Here are some screen caps of Helo:


Finally, a slightly spoilery screen cap behind the cut: