The Last Supper

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The Last Supper being depicted using characters from Battlestar Galactica.

"The Last Supper" is the unofficial name of a promotional picture concocted by the SciFi Channel to promote the Re-imagined Series. It is one of the first promotional photos from the fourth season to be released to the general public, first making print in Entertainment Weekly with brief comments by series producer Ron Moore. It deliberately mirrors Leonardo's famous painting.

1 The "Clues"
2 Dismissal
3 Defense
4 Updates to Image
5 Full Image
6 References

The "Clues"

Attached to the photo were comments from Moore, who provided descriptions of each character's pose and position in the picture, while claiming that each pose is significant and holds insights into upcoming events of Season 4. From left to right:

President Roslin lights a fire: "She's burning something of importance that has to do with a plot turn midseason."

Natalie stands in commanding pose: "She assumes a leadership position for a group of Cylons [that have] a separate agenda from the rest of them."

Saul Tigh, missing eye turned towards the camera: "You might literally take that composition in terms of Tigh turning a blind eye."

The empty space at the table: "We have not yet revealed the final [unknown] Cylon." Does that mean the people already at the table aren't the final Cylon? Moore laughs. "You ferreted that out pretty slyly. I didn't really want to give that away."

Lee Adama in civilian clothes: "He does not return to flight status."

Gaius Baltar looks up to his Virtual Six, who stands in the center of the picture: "Baltar's Six has proclaimed that she is delivering the gospel of the [Cylons'] one true God, so it seems natural to place her at the center of the photo.

Kara Thrace and Samuel Anders in a sensual embrace: "[Note] that the only one embracing Starbuck is Anders."

Galen Tyrol, knife in hand, glares angrily: "The Chief does not have a pleasant time of it this season." His child with fellow grunt Cally would seem to be the second human-Cylon hybrid, and hints Moore, "one should consider the knife in his hand in that context."

Sharon and Karl Agathon cast a worried glance across the table: "The person they're looking at is definitely reacting."

Admiral Adama sits on the end of the table, as far as possible from President Roslin: "They're also turned toward each other."

Dismissal

In light of massive fan speculation, Aaron Douglas (Tyrol) publicly dismissed the importance of the photo via his LiveJournal.

According to Douglas, Ron Moore was not present at the photo shoot, which was part of SciFi Channel's promotional material production phase. The actors were given general directions by the photographer and SciFi Channel staff, but interpreted their characters as they saw fit. This indicates that the photograph was created for marketing purposes, as multiple different versions of the shot were produced. It was likely meant to fuel speculation, and thus there is probably no deep meaning behind its composition. Douglas added that neither he nor any of the cast believe there is any significance to the photo. He further notes that none of the fan speculation based on the photo matches the story lines or events in the 13 hours^[1] that were filmed.^[2]

Further, attempts to analyze the photo have been met with incredulity from Katee Sackhoff, who said: "It's interesting that everyone thinks there is something hidden in that Last Supper photo, like if you look hard enough, you can find a hidden message in it. To be honest, I think we [the cast] would have had to be in on it to create a hidden message, and we were all just there having a photo shoot."^[3]

Defense

In light of the aforementioned comments, Ron Moore and Co-Executive Producer David Weddle came to the photo's defense.

From an 2 April 2008 interview that Maureen Ryan had with Moore:

Maureen Ryan: You have to know that the EW “Last Supper” photo of the Season 4 cast has been analyzed to death.

RDM: I know. As soon as they said that’s what they wanted to do, I said, “Oh, that’s genius.” I was on the phone, “Let’s put him here, her here,” I spun out all these things. It was a lot of fun.

MR: That was one question I had – you were the maestro orchestrating where people were and what they were doing, right? Everything in the photo is intentional, right?

RDM: Mostly. I wasn’t on the set. They pitched me the idea on the phone, and asked if I had any ideas of what to do. I said, OK, yeah, let’s do this. I spun out the basic format and I think they embroidered a little on that when they were on the set.

MR: Are there significant new characters this season?

RDM: Nothing that comes to mind. [Mo here: Hmmm. But according to the EW “Last Supper” photo, there’s a new No. 6 model called Natalie. She assumes a leadership role for a group of Cylons with “a separate agenda,” Moore told the magazine.]

MR: Just so I understand what I think you told EW for the story that went with the photo, none of the people in that photo is the final Cylon, right?

RDM: Yeah. I said that. I probably shouldn’t have said that [laughs] but I have said that. So, yeah [that is the case, the final Cylon is not any of the people in the photo].^[4]

A further exchange with Maureen Ryan had her confirm that the text in brackets above was written by her, to summarize her view of what Moore was saying. However, she wrote Moore to confirm it, and he OKed her release of the following statement: ""Ron Moore confirmed to me that the final Cylon is not any of the people in the Last Supper photo."^[5]

Additionally, a recent interview, Weddle added that: "You already know the answer to these questions [on who the "Last Cylon" is, the nature of Kara Thrace, etc.]. It's all right there [in the show]. Just examine every episode closely and the truth will emerge. Or break out a magnifying glass and go over that Last Supper photo one more time. Ron Moore laid it all out for you."^[6]

Updates to Image

After the initial posting, minor changes have begun to appear.

The glass of water in front of Anders was half full. It switched at least by early May to a full glass.
The flaming chalice in front of Roslin disappeared in early May. Roslin, though, still holds the lit match.^[7]
Virtual Six's position has moved to the right slightly. There is no longer an overlap between Virtual Six and Baltar.^[8]