Penikett and Bamber On Second Half Of Season 2
Source SciFi Pulse
30 January 2006
Although we here in the UK have only just started viewing the 2nd Season of the controversial much loved and despised re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica our American friends are currently viewing the second half of the season. As we all know the first half of the season ended with a dramatic turn of events. In two recent interviews for the UK publication Dreamwatch magazine both Tahmoh Penikett and British Actor Jamie Bamber talked about what folk can expect to see from their respective characters in the second half of the season.
Penikett who portrays Karl C. ‘Helo’ Agathon has had quite a few experiences during the second season most of which involved him trying to re – integrate into the fleet and having to deal with a confused Deck Chief Tyrol who happened to be in love with the same model Cylon as he is. Things came to a head when Lt. Thorne attempted to sexually assault Sharon [Cylon] Boomer in order to extract information from her. Having both come to terms with the fact that they both care deeply for the Cylon both Tyrol and Helo rush in and accidentally kill Thorne. Both men are court marshalled and come close to facing the death sentence, but as the story unfolds Admiral Cain is deposed and killed and Adama is able to intervene on behalf of Tyrol and Helo by pulling rank, however according to Penikett their crimes are not necessarily forgotten.
“Those charges aren’t completely forgotten,” notes Penikett. “We get back to our ship and once more there, we are somewhat under the protective care of our Admiral. And going back to our grave situation, a lot of things are forgotten. There are only so many able – bodied men, so some things are overlooked.”
Though Helo has a reprieve due to the fact that every able man is needed he still has much to think about, with Boomer in the brig and pregnant with his child which would be the first Human/Cylon hybrid there are likely to be plenty of situations to arise as the child is born.
“We have some situations with the baby right off the bat,” Penikett reveals. “He’s gone back to trying to do his duties, mend relationships with the rest of the crew, and gain their trust. At the same time, Helo has to protect Sharon and work on the trust between her, Adama and the President. That’s his goal and he is the mediator between them.”
Both Boomer and Helo apparently do get to be parents but it may only be brief “We do but whether the baby survives or not is another question,” teases Penikett.
One of the underlying themes of Helo and Boomer’s relationship as with any is the Trust issue; she lied to him on Cylon Occupied Caprica about her true nature, yet as the story developed so did a bond of trust between them, but are there any doubts?
“We’ve gotten to the point in the second season where he has to, but there is always a doubt there,” he confirms. “How can we really emphasise with this character? It is like living in the United States, losing family in September 11, and then finding out your wife, the one you are in love with, is an Al Qaeda operative. As an actor, I made choices so that what it really comes down to is having someone you love betray you and it is even more complicated because of circumstances, like having a baby.”
Helo is not the only member of Galactica’s crew who has problems; another character with baggage is Lee [Apollo] Adama who is played by British Actor Jamie Bamber. As we all know Lee’s relationship with his Father Commander Adama was somewhat rocky during the opening season of the show, and much of that has now been resolved, but in the episode ‘Black Market’ which was shown recently in the US we learn somewhat of Lee’s past and discover yet more flaws to the Captains character, the episode brings Lee face to face with some of the less desirable qualities which he possesses while he is investigating a murder which leads to a trail of corruption within the fleet. Bamber was pretty chuffed about some of these character developments for Lee and was more than happy to talk about them.
“I was really happy because of this personal chasm that happens inside of Lee,” notes Bamber. “He is forced to re – evaluate the fleet, everybody in it, and in that comes a very dark look within himself. He realises he’s been a broken man emotionally since the mini series when the end of the world happens. Now you get a flashback to the fact that he basically jilted his fiancé when she was pregnant with his child because he didn’t want kids and couldn’t commit to them. That flashback revelation comes parallel with another story where you see Lee has been having a relationship of sorts with a woman on Cloud 9 for several episodes but we haven’t been privy to them. This woman has a young daughter so he’s making good on his own failures in the past, transposing them onto a different woman and child, which is pretty mentally and psychologically unsound.”
Though Lee has these Ghosts in the proverbial closet it is not stopping him from flirting and one major development for Lee could be a romance with Dualla that has already been hinted at.
“He’s flirting more and more with Dualla and by the end of the season, they are very much an item,” reveals Bamber. “Throughout all that, there’s an evening of drunken animal passion with Starbuck that doesn’t go as you’d expect.”
These shocking revelations aside Bamber is more than happy to tease a little more by claiming that the season two cliffhanger is very likely to be even more of a shock then last years.
“This year, it is something that I am not sure has ever been attempted in a serial drama before,” says Bamber. “I can’t really describe it. It is very different from last year in the sense it is much more of a resolution yet within the resolution, there is a whole lot of doubt about what is going on. It is a cliffhanger stylistically as well as with the content.”
You can the full versions of both these interviews with Jamie Bamber and Tahmoh Penikett in the new issue (138) of Dreamwatch, which is out now in all good news agencies throughout the UK priced £3.50.
If you would like to discuss this or any other story that you see posted at Sci Fi Pulse why not log in and register an account at our new forums, which are located here.
