Why Paul Campbell's Billy Left Battlestar Galactica

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Billy Keikeya was a supporting character in the hit TV series Battlestar Galactica, played by Paul Campbell until his character was killed off in season 2. There can be multiple reasons for a character to leave a show before it ends, especially in supporting roles on TV productions, but with Billy, there seemed to be reasons beyond scheduling or creative differences. The character had a respectful send-off, with an emotionally satisfying arc to his character, but there's more to Campbell's departure from the show than storytelling reasons.

Battlestar ran for 76 episodes from 2004 to 2009 across 4 seasons, following the last human survivors in a convoy as they attempt to evade their Cylon pursuers. Billy was the personal assistant to President Laura Roslin, spying on the military, and later becoming her liaison. Billy forms a mentor relationship with Roslin that later develops into a pseudo-maternal one, giving his death more emotional weight. He forms a romantic attachment to Dee Dualla, an officer aboard Galactica, and proposes to her on the very episode he is written out of. However, a love triangle with Lee «Apollo» Adama, has Dee reject his offer in favor of the leading character. This leads Billy to compare himself to Lee, and the trait he chooses to encapsulate is heroism. The main plot, or the Cylon's plan to destroy humanity, created a hysteria that motivated the act of terrorism behind Lee, Billy, and Dee becoming Hostages. Billy dies in the attempt to rescue Dee, taking a fatal shot to the chest.

Related: Battlestar Galactica's Original Plan Could've Killed The Show

This was as good of a sendoff as any supporting cast member could ask for. Billy was layered well into the many plot layers of the show, his social