Cally's full name revealed!

Source: Battlestar Wiki

"At Comic-Con, I asked the writer Bradley Thompson what Cally's first name is and he said, "Cally is her first name. Her last name is Henderson." He said he didn't think her last name was ever used in the first two seasons, but he's pretty sure it comes up in Season 3." - Can you confirm this? -The Merovingian (C - E) 15:38, 24 July 2006 (CDT)

I'm not sure when we established Cally's surname as Henderson, but it's been in and out of several scripts. I know we originally had it in a line during the webisodes, but it vanished during a later draft. The art department has been using it to label her clothing, lockers, etc, since Ron christened her. She took Tyrol as her last name when she married the chief. - Ngarenn 15:43, 26 July 2006 (CDT)

Thanks! Yes, the BSGverse is very gender-neutral, and although Caroline Adama, etc. established that many women do take the surname of their husband, I wasn't entirely sure how far the gender-neutrality of everything extended (Indeed, Ron apparently has even toyed with the idea of saying that Admiral Cain's colony, Tauron, was matriarchal). But this is excellent news. --The Merovingian (C - E) 16:33, 26 July 2006 (CDT)

I guess this would make her (as of season 3) "Cally Henderson Tyrol"? Actress Nicki Clyne always felt "Cally" was her first name too. How is this reconciled with how at some points in the series (I'd have to look hard to find them) people have called her "Specialist Cally", as if that were her last name (by including rank)....come to think of it, there is a possibility that no one ever actually called her "Specialist Cally" in dialogue. I will check. (Btw, while I'm on the subject, who is this "Mexichick": she's one of the regulars in Terry Moore's thread on the Scifi board, and seems to have contact with several cast or crew members).

I must say, Cally is one of the best characters on the show. She won Best Supporting Actress in our large-scale online fan awards supported by Ron himself, beating out Dualla, Racetrack, Kat, and Ellen Tigh (it was a landslide victory). Sorry to get so excited, but I'm a card-carrying member of the Nicki Clyne fansite. You see I've actually been watching Trek from Next Gen, through DS9, and then the Voyager and Enterprise years, and I really feal that "lets get ratings fast by inserting Seven of Nine! Put T'Pol in a blatant shower scene!" stuff was a big blow to scifi genre tv, as it took out a lot of seriousness and believability. I viewed Cally as the "Anti-Seven of Nine" and living embodiement of Ron's essay on Naturalistic science fiction: instead of one Lara Croft-esque supersoldier Hot Space Babe [TM] main character surrounded by redshirts, on BSG Cally is a *third tier character* and a *female* who gets incredible development and characterization (note: I AM a male aged 18 to 25, it's just that even WE got sick of 7 of 9 and T'Pol).

A few of use on the messageboards in early 2005 just said "hey, that girl from the Miniseries was cool, we hope we see her more"...then came "Bastille Day" and her popularity exploded. She's the girl next door. And it just became a treat to see she was in and episode, like "Six Degrees of Separation", or "Flight of the Phoenix", or Fragged and Resistance (her standout episodes). It's the same reason we like Kat and Racetrack: they're well rounded, secondary female characters; and like Tyrol and Helo, minor characters can *actually die* in a given episode, increasing the tension. (I.e. Starbuck wouldn't die in Scar, but Kat might have, so I was actually invested in her fate).

And Cally just gradually grew into this really popular character online, from the grassroots up. Some people think it's a joke, but it's because we seriously like the actress and character and think it's one of the elements of scifi genre tv that BSG has fixed.

Btw, have you decided what colony she is from yet? (That is, will it be mentioned in Season 3?)--The Merovingian (C - E) 15:55, 24 July 2006 (CDT)

Not yet. Hasn't been relevant so far in 3, but we've got seven more shows to break. - Ngarenn 15:43, 26 July 2006 (CDT)


Thanks to The Merovingian for the heads up