"I Kill Everybody"

So said the Grim Reaper...

Galactica Quorum scores a rare interview this week, episode #92, with Battlestar and Caprica veteran director Michael Nankin. This is only the second time I know of that he's been interviewed at length about his episodes. A previous interview at Galactica.TV was conducted prior to the Nankin directed Battlestar season 4.5 premiere Sometimes a Great Notion and the phenomenal Someone to Watch Over Me. At that time, there were still many locked doors in Battlestar's castle, where of course he did not wish to go.

Nankin earned the on set nickname "Grim Reaper" due to the luck of the hire for directing those episodes where characters died. Until the point came where if Nankin was known to be directing an episode, fans and actors alike expected somebody to get killed off. The streak of character death that wasn't broken until his last BSG episode and now while directing Caprica. Michael Rymer's direction and creative contribution to the series, especially with the defining miniseries, has long received the lion's share of recognition. However over the course of the series, the heavy hitter team of Nankin directed episodes written by the duo Thompson and Weddle (now writing for CSI) represent some of the very best episodes the series has to offer, starting a "third act" signature shift in Battlestar's darkening tone beginning with Maelstrom. And I think it should be self evident this creative trio was indeed tapped for many of Battlestar's most difficult episodes, where the death of a character often represented much of that difficulty.

In Galactica Quorum's interview Nankin is more forthcoming about what happened to Starbuck, in his own directorial opinion and the opinions from on set, what would have happened to Cally's baby Nicky if Sci Fi hadn't objected, the shocking afterglow of Helo and Boomer sex that Sci Fi also objected to, a very slight spoiler for next half season of Caprica, and more. I dare not spoil further, have a listen for yourself.

The last two episodes, The Heavens Will Rise and Here Be Dragons, prior to Caprica's first season cliffhanger are directed by Michael Nankin and should air sometime around late November or early December.

"Rymer gets the crane and Nankin gets the pain!"

-ThP