Near the end of a long conversation today with James Callis, the actor who plays Gaius Baltar on Sci Fi's "Battlestar Galactica," he asked: "Do we need to talk about 'Battlestar'?"

It was suggested that we might do so — if he revealed how the show's final 10 episodes, which begin airing in January, will wrap up the show. He declined. "I don't think anything could prepare you guys for what happens at the end. We weren't prepared," he said.

Hmmm … Go on!

"It's quite — do we use the phrase "space opera"? There is something operatic about the ending of the show, only in the sense that it's like a full orchestra. Imagine very single person in the cast represents an instrument, and you've heard their theme or fugue. And then all the instruments play together. Everybody involved in this thing together — it's like the '1812 Overture.' Not only have you got all of the violins and the flutes, you've also got the flipping cannons they brought off Napoleon's ship, blowing off the roof. It's going off with a bang, this thing."

Was he perhaps setting our expectations too high?

"Honestly you can't be disappointed," he said. "I think if Adolf Hitler were back, he'd be crying in his handkerchief."

— Choire Sicha

Photo: SCI FI Channel