Podcast:Blowback

"Podcast for "Blowback" from Syfy.com" Podcast
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Transcribed by:	Whisper & Gemini LLMs
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Length of Podcast:	42:57
Speaker(s)
Ronald D. Moore	Ronald D. Moore
	Terry Dresbach
	Tom Lieber
Magda Apanowicz	Magda Apanowicz
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In the official Syfy.com podcast for "Blowback", Universal Cable Productions executive Tom Lieber and actress Magda Apanowicz (Lacy Rand) offer a behind-the-scenes look at the fourteenth episode of Caprica. They discuss the episode's intense, Battlestar Galactica-inspired tone, the introduction of new characters on Gemenon, and the filming of the space travel sequences. Apanowicz shares her experiences working with director Omar Madha and the emotional challenges of portraying Lacy Rand's harrowing STO test. The commentary also reveals key plot decisions, such as the identity of the STO mole inside the GDD, and culminates with a discussion of the shocking final scene revealing the STO's use of a Cylon as an enforcer.

Tom Lieber: Hi, this is the podcast for Caprica episode 114. This is Tom Lieber. I'm director of development at Universal Cable Productions, a studio that produces Caprica. And I am joined by Miss Lacy Rand herself.

Magda Apanowicz: Hi, Magda Apanowicz. And we are sitting here watching Caprica episode 14 with you.

Tom Lieber: We're going to do the commentary because David Eick has the flu, so he couldn't be here for it. Okay, and so now we are into the episode right now.

Magda Apanowicz: You know the thing about this episode is when I was reading the script, there were so many special effects, so I could only somewhat imagine what it was going to look like, and I'm very excited to see what it actually ends up being like.

Tom Lieber: Yeah, so this is the spaceport on Gemenon. Lacy has now arrived on Gemenon. She's getting a connecting flight to Oranu, where the STO training camp is. And this is a new character we're introducing, Odin, played by Ryan Kennedy.

Magda Apanowicz: Who is a very good Vancouver actor.

Tom Lieber: He actually was in an episode of Psych.

Magda Apanowicz: Was he?

Tom Lieber: Yeah, he was in Psych. He played like a spoiled rich guy.

Magda Apanowicz: I think he's on Hellcats too right now.

Tom Lieber: Oh, is he?

Magda Apanowicz: So yeah, when I heard we cast him, I'm like, oh, I know that guy. And this is a man that I love so much. One of the greatest men I've ever been on screen with, I feel like. Ryan Robbins.

Tom Lieber: Yeah, Ryan Robbins is the best. Ryan Robbins is basically on every show I've ever worked on. He played two roles on Battlestar. He was the old man at the very beginning that Number Six kisses. He was in a lot of makeup. He was Connor. He was on Psych as a janitor. He was on... Was he on Bionic Woman? I can't remember if he did...

Magda Apanowicz: You were.

Tom Lieber: I was.

Magda Apanowicz: You were Heaven Von Fleet.

Tom Lieber: Yeah.

Magda Apanowicz: Canadian. Rich Canadian girl. My character was actually Canadian. I was like, yeah.

Tom Lieber: This is another kid I love that he's going to have this great scene coming up. Calum Worthy.

Magda Apanowicz: Uh-huh. I'm absolutely in love with him. I think he's an amazing actor.

Tom Lieber: Which one does he play?

Magda Apanowicz: He's the redhead. Ginger, he is so ridiculously talented. That kid has an amazing future. And then what was that girl character's name? Devandra? [sic] It was a really cool name.

Tom Lieber: I forget what her character's name was, though.

Magda Apanowicz: She's a great actress, too. Everyone in this episode is very great.

Tom Lieber: Yeah, I remember when Kevin Murphy pitched us this episode, we were kind of floored by it. Because it really is evocative of Battlestar in all the best ways. You know, there's great tension. There's space battles.

Magda Apanowicz: I mean, honestly, weren't you guys a little worried about it, though? Were you worried about it?

Tom Lieber: No, we were always really excited about this episode.

Magda Apanowicz: Were you?

Tom Lieber: Yeah. I mean, I think there's, you know, Lacy is, what, 16, 17? So there is something about children in trouble, but it's dealt with in a way in which the underdogs, you know, really kind of empower themselves. That we were always really excited about this episode. We were excited about introducing a new love interest for Lacy because, you know, Keon died a couple episodes ago. And, you know.

Magda Apanowicz: And this is a different kind of love, like a more grown up kind of, I think, like interest in someone. The other one, I think, was very like schoolyard crush. Yeah. And this one seems a little older, more dangerous for her. Yeah. Oh, that's cool. See, because when I was looking up, I was looking up into nothing. Imagining what that might look like in the future.

Tom Lieber: Yeah, there are the pirates. Lacy can see them coming.

Magda Apanowicz: It does remind me a lot of BSG.

Tom Lieber: And I remember Omar, Omar Madha directed this episode. And he is amazing.

Magda Apanowicz: Love Omar. He's really great.

Tom Lieber: And he employed a lot of old school Star Trek techniques in this.

Magda Apanowicz: Awesome.

Tom Lieber: Where it was like one, two, three, everybody shake. And everyone would shake to the left. And then everyone would shake to the right. And, you know, the classic ways work. And mixing that with the CGI kind of gives it a really cool, scary vibe.

Magda Apanowicz: I thought he was a really good director. He had an interesting life. He's from England. He's done a lot of episodes of British TV.

Tom Lieber: And I think this was his first episode of US TV.

Magda Apanowicz: I think so, yeah. The thing I liked working with him, because it was such an intense episode, that I don't know, he was one of those directors that make me feel so safe just losing my shit. You know what I mean?

Tom Lieber: But you have to lose your shit in this episode.

Magda Apanowicz: Yeah, and that's such a rare thing to find such safety in a director.

Tom Lieber: And now by this point we're deep into Amanda's arc where she's now been accepted into Clarice's home with all of her husbands and wives. But she's still spying on her and trying to find that smoking gun to connect her to the STO so that Durham can bring them all down. But unfortunately, you know, Mar-Beth here is very suspicious and Mar-Beth is very sharp.

Magda Apanowicz: Luckily, Amanda is a good liar.

Tom Lieber: And she knows that Mar-Beth is probably suspicious of Clarice as well, and so she plays on Mar-Beth's insecurities about Clarice's drug use.

Magda Apanowicz: Sneaky, sneaky.

Tom Lieber: Shit's got caught. Amanda knows she got away with it.

Magda Apanowicz: That'd be really scary. You're really deep down in the rabbit hole in that situation.

Tom Lieber: And Clarice is on the phone with her handler from the STO. We eventually find out who the handler is, right? Find out right now. Do you remember who it is?

Magda Apanowicz: I think I do. I think I do. I don't want to say until we see.

Tom Lieber: Who do you think it is?

Magda Apanowicz: Is it Durham's boss?

Tom Lieber: Yes, it is. It is Gara Singh from the Global Defense Department, which explains why he's been so against Durham investigating Clarice.

Magda Apanowicz: Right. What is his... Why is he on this side? What's his motive?

Tom Lieber: He's a monotheist. He's a terrorist. And he's under, you know, deep undercover with the GDD. You know the gag reel that we did for Caprica?

Magda Apanowicz: Yeah, when he can't get it out of the bag. Yeah, that's every time I see that, he couldn't get it out of the bag.

Tom Lieber: You know, originally when Jane Espenson had pitched the season, the mole was originally going to be Youngblood, the partner, the blonde woman, the really tall blonde woman.

Magda Apanowicz: Oh, but...

Tom Lieber: And they decided that, I think it was Ron or David, thought that was too obvious that it would be the partner. So they changed it very early on from Youngblood to Singh. So if you go back and re-watch those first ten episodes, there are some visual clues there that Singh, you know, is serving another master.

Magda Apanowicz: I love this kind of sequence. That you go back and you're like, ah.

Magda Apanowicz: Woo! I feel like I'm on a rollercoaster ride.

Tom Lieber: That's the end of the act.

Magda Apanowicz: Woo-hoo.

Tom Lieber: And we're back. And we're back on Gemenon. That is Gemenon.

Magda Apanowicz: That's a really good... Oh, hey, what up?

Tom Lieber: And here we are at the banquet hall on Gemenon. This was all entirely green screen except for, obviously, the floor and those two posts in the railing. Everything else is fake.

Magda Apanowicz: They were green. And the fire was real. Oh, whoa, that's so cool.

Tom Lieber: And Lacy is kind of quickly becoming a rising star because of her actions on that plane. They've taken notice of her. Which is both a good thing and a bad thing, that they've taken notice of her. The brightest and best are always the most likely to cause problems.

Magda Apanowicz: Or, you know, the person that has the most power, usually people let them rise, and then they want to break them down.

Tom Lieber: Well, and as they said a couple episodes ago, when Clarice was Lacy ten years ago, Clarice was the brightest and best. And now she's quite the renegade. So Lacy has quite a lot to overcome here on Gemenon.

Magda Apanowicz: Yeah, she does, but she doesn't know it. She doesn't know it. And she does, luckily she has a new buddy. Ooh, I like this part.

Tom Lieber: This is my favorite scene in this episode, I have to say, just because of the cool reveal that happens.

Magda Apanowicz: It is.

Tom Lieber: And Odin really knows that something's up. And wants to teach Lacy about the real world. And about who these people are.

Magda Apanowicz: Open your eyes a little more. Yeah. Don't be so naive about things. Just because something looks great doesn't mean it is.

Tom Lieber: It's everyone who failed the test. Including your red-headed guy.

Magda Apanowicz: Man, kill him. See? No. No. It's like, who's shooting him? Who was shooting him? Diego? Is it the mother? Is it Reikle? Who? Who? Who was it? How do you need to know? Lacy needs to know too. Yeah, she does. That's why she stuck around. What? It's a Cylon. That's awesome.

Tom Lieber: And that's the end of the episode.

Magda Apanowicz: That was really cool.

Tom Lieber: My assistant Daniel is in here, and he's gasping because he's so horrified by that ending in a good way. Did you like it, Daniel? He's got a lot of questions. So don't worry. Sasha's coming in. We're going to watch the next one. So then it'll answer some of them. That was episode 14. Thank you guys so much for joining us.

Magda Apanowicz: That was so fun.

Tom Lieber: Sorry about the fire drill. The stop and go.

Magda Apanowicz: Stop and go. Stop and go.

Tom Lieber: But it's a great season, and it continues to get better from here.