Inside Battlestar's "Astonishing" Midseason Finale

Brace yourselves, Galactica fans. Executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick are promising big things for the mid-season finale of the series' fourth and final year (airing Friday, June 13, at 10 pm/ET). Eick teases the cliff-hanger "definitely rivals the Season 2 'one year later' shock," but he's otherwise playing it coy.
What we know for sure is 1) ailing Laura Roslin is abducted by the Cylon rebels and, according to Moore, 2) suspected toaster Kara Thrace "is going to make an important discovery [and] all hell's going to break loose." Eick says he's drawn to this plot because "the struggles Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) faces on her own ship call into question the nature of who these people are."
For Moore, "the Adama-Roslin relationship [is paramount]. I really like how it's matured. It moves me." President Roslin herself, Mary McDonnell, tells us the midseason finale "is an astonishing piece of work that will be really gratifying for the fans. It's brilliantly done because it isn't the end and it doesn't give away the end, but it creates the beginning of the end, and that will be very, very powerful."
McDonnell promises that BSG enthusiasts will come away from the episode feeling "very jazzed," due in large part to its final moments. All she will say about the big cliff-hanger - one that fans will be left to ponder, discuss and debate until at least January 2009 - is that "it is a step we've never taken." Sounds frakkin' awesome. - G.J. Donnelly with additional reporting by Anna Dimond and Matt Mitovich
Related:
" What the Frak? No New Battlestar Until 2009
" Battlestar Galactica: "The Hub" Burning Questions Answered
" Video Q&As with Rehka Sharma, Michael Trucco and Michael Hogan