With Battlestar Galactica's final episodes beginning to air on January 16th, the cast, like the fans, are saying goodbye to their characters. On a show filled with drama, the story of Kara "Starbuck" Thrace is one of the most notable, as the character has dealt with some huge emotional upheavals – including her apparent death and return.

Katee Sackhoff, who plays Kara, spoke about her experience as production came to an end.

Q: What was it for you shooting the last couple of days?

Sackhoff: Exhausting, I gotta tell you. At the very end, I was ready to be done. We were supposed to be done on the 27th of June and we didn't wrap until the 10th of July, so every day got longer. And then we wouldn't finish a scene, and then it would get pushed to the next day, and then it was like three in the morning and then firing guns at 3:30. For anyone that's fired even a fake gun, you don't fire fake guns when you're exhausted. It doesn't work very well. You're tired! So I was ready to be done. There's a picture of me asleep on a moving blanket the sound guys use. I'm asleep on one with a machine gun, like this [curls up]. I'm asleep, in all this SWAT gear and it's 3:30 in the morning and I'm literally tear stained on my face, because I'm so tired and I just wanna go home. So it was a sad way for the show to end. I always wanted to end on a day where you end at 8:00 and everyone drinks and you're like, "Yay! Champagne! Woo!!" But instead, I was in a car, eating a cookie, because I hadn't eaten since 11:00. It was 4:30 in the morning, driving to the hotel… so tired that my boyfriend was trying to keep me awake. And I heard over the radio, "And that's a wrap, ladies and gentlemen." And I was like, "Alright…"

Question: Kara's been through so much psychologically. What direction is left for her to go?

Katee Sackhoff: To hell! [Laughs] You know, I always wanted Kara to have peace. That was my biggest thing. She didn't need closure. I just wanted her to… She's never been at peace, the entire time. She's always been struggling with something. And I wanted her, for just one moment, to see nothing but just utter peace. And my biggest fear is that they were gonna wrap it up and put it in a little box with a little bow on top of it and have Kara and Apollo walk into the sunset holding hands. It's not what happened! In Ron Moore fashion, s**t blows up and people die.

Q: You've said before you think she should be alone at the end.

Sackhoff: She should be alone. I can't tell you anything, but Kara should be alone. She's happiest on her own. But what's interesting, in my opinion, at the end of this… I'm trying to figure out what I can say. She's not alone. That's the only way I can say that.

Q: But you weren't disappointed?

Sackhoff: No, I wasn't. I wasn't disappointed. It was a fantastic end for her, and the only way I think it could have happened.

Q: What were you given to take home with you at the end of the show? You'd always threatened to drive home to LA from Vancouver in your flight suit.

Sackhoff: [smiles] My flight suit is at home. Along with my gun belt, sans guns. I didn't want to do that crossing the border. And my dog tags. And I can tell you this – at the end of the season on her dog tag… For anyone that's been a fan of the show, we know that she had Zak's ring on her thumb and put it on her necklace. She gave a dog tag to Anders. So on her dog tag for the past year, she's had a ring and a dog tag. She ends the series with a ring, a dog tag and a bullet… which was my doing, but I figured it was fitting. She has her necklace o' death. That's what I like to call it.

Q: Do you think she's changed her mind on the Cylons? Does she hate them less?

Sackhoff: You know, I think the question she's been asking herself now is that if you found out that the person you were married to and the person that you loved was a machine, would it make your feelings for them any less. Especially when you don't know really, who you are or what you are. So I think that Kara's questions about herself have opened a lot of doors for the Cylons and for her compassion.

Q: What's the hardest thing to leave behind about this series?

Sackhoff: Well, I'm going to miss pretending like I'm really that tough, because I'm not. I'm such a baby! I cry all the time. So I'll miss that.

Battlestar Galactica's final episodes begin Friday, January 16th at 10:00pm ET/PT on SCI FI Channel.