Over the course of 4 seasons, we've seen our beloved characters go through so many trials, wondering if they would ever come out on the other side. We've cheered for them, yelled at them, felt sorrow for them, and yes, even cried for them. I can't begin to tell you how deeply this show has affected me on multiple levels. I forgave it in its missteps for the larger glory that the creators were blessing us with on a weekly basis. There were moments where I would lay back in exhaustion after certain episodes and marvel that I was watching what amounted to a miniaturized blockbuster movie on the frakkin Scifi Channel. Pardon me, Syfy Channel (Ahem. They can call it whatever they want now, 'cause I'm not going to be around that often until "Caprica" airs). Having this thing end is like watching a dear friend go off to some remote country where you'll never see or hear from them again. "Caprica" may placate us, but it will never fill the hole that has been left behind.

So it was with a heavy heart that I sat down with RDM-approved liquor several weeks ago and began the walk that would eventually lead to this sad farewell. It's with a heavy heart that I write this after the finale has aired, knowing that I'll never write another regular season recap for Battlestar Galactica ever again.

Daybreak - Part 1

It's a shame that this episode was aired by its lonesome. Ronald D. Moore intended for the final 3 acts to be seen as a cohesive whole. Breaking this first section off is the equivalent of ripping out the first 40 minutes of The Matrix and showing it to everyone before the actual release of the movie. It's no wonder the fan-base was thoroughly confused, or couldn't put into context what they were seeing.

Which leads to the opener. In a Lost-style twist, we flash back to Caprica before the Fall. Bill Adama is talking about his military career with someone we don't know, and he's hesitant to go through with something. We don't learn what that something is until much later.

Next we cut to Baltar and Caprica-6 flirting in the back of a limo in the pre-betray-the-human-race days, when Baltar receives a mysterious phone call.

Laura Roslin is seen after hosting a baby shower for her sister.

Kara Thrace is cooking when her doorbell rings and Lee Adama is at the door with flowers. She invites him in, and when Zak appears we suddenly realize that this is during the time that Kara and Zack dated, and that this is her first introduction to Lee. Man, the bittersweetness this induces!

Cut back to Baltar, and we see that he's at his father's house who is old and has been under supervision, and he's now running off the third worker after stabbing her. Baltar lays into his father, and we are reminded (by something Baltar's father says about his fake accent) that Baltar is embarrassed by his actual origin as a dairy farmer's son on Aerelon.

When we return to Roslin, police officers arrive at her home and inform her that her father and two sisters were killed by a drunk driver the night before. She wades out into a local fountain and lets the water rush over her body in a sort of baptism.

I have to say, it was shocking to see these back-stories, not so much because of what happened, but because, at first, it reminded me of the stark contrast between the world of pre-Fall Caprica and the dark claustrophobia-inducing hallways of Galactica that these characters had to endure. Of course, things are never as rosy as they appear, and as we see more flashbacks we come to understand the choices that are made that propelled our favorite characters to where they are today.

Back in the "present" on Galactica, we move from the dripping water in the fountain to Laura's IV drip in sick bay (how fitting). On the hangar deck, Lee is overseeing the dispersal of Galactica's guts to other ships on the fleet. Admiral Adama is packing. The Galactica is looking more and more barren. Helo confronts Tyrol in the brig over his betrayal in allowing Boomer to escape with Hera. Tyrol tries to remind Helo that the Eights are nothing more than machines - he knows, he was one of their creators.

Flashing back to the past, Baltar arrives home with a woman we've never seen before, obviously a lover, to find Caprica-6 in his home. Interestingly, as he is escorting her out, Caprica-6 informs Baltar that she has moved his father to a full-time care facility, where his father "seems happy."

Back in the present aboard The Colony, Cavil and Simon discuss what they're going to do with Hera. Boomer tries to argue for the girl's comfort, but Cavil insists she is nothing more than a hybrid machine to be studied for clues on how to enable the survival of their race.

Adama runs into Hotdog in the Memorial Hallway, where Hotdog is taking away some of the pilot photos so they're not left behind. There are a bunch of photos still left in the hall, and Adama takes the one of Athena and Hera that he notices still stuck to the wall.

Adama later converses with Starbuck in the newly created hybrid room for Anders. She's puzzled as to what the notes mean, and informs Adama that she still hasn't found an answer. With his prompting, she goes on to tell him that she had found her own charred remains on "Earth," and doesn't know who she is. In a fatherly moment, Adama tells her that she is daughter (he has always considered her to be essentially his daughter). He asks to speak to Anders, but when Anders is plugged in he speaks a bunch of nonsense in the tradition of hybrids.

Apparently this causes a flashback for Anders, for now we're back on pre-Fall Caprica, with Anders in a hot tub surrounded by reporters. You'll remember that Anders was a hotshot Pyramid player during his days on "Earth." In a surprisingly revealing moment, he informs the reporter that he is much more interested in the pursuit of perfection than any single component of his career.

In the first step of a Baltar transformation, Baltar confronts Lee over giving his people a part in the new government that will surely arise soon. When Lee admits that he doesn't trust any request from Baltar as anything more than a way to get something for himself, Baltar seems genuinely taken aback, and admits that he wouldn't trust himself either. It's as if it took these extreme circumstances to cause Baltar to finally realize the games he has been playing all this time.

In the closing moments of this first section we get one of those incredibly sentimental moments that this show plays so well on the small screen - Adama draws a line in the sand, quite literally, and asks for volunteers to stay behind on Galactica for one final mission. He has decided to rescue Hera after all, but he's not going to force anyone into what he considers a suicide mission. Everyone takes their sides (was it a surprise to anyone that Baltar and his followers were apparently staying behind?), with Adama having to reject Cottle since the fleet would need all the doctors they can get. The crowning moment, however, occurred when Roslin shuffled across the line, barely able to make it without the aide of Adama. I was already weepy from the beginning, but this sent me over the edge. And did it touch anyone else that Adama would still call her Madame President in that situation?

Before Part 1 is over, we witness a few more pre-Fall Caprica scenes. Lee Adama returns home rather inebriated and ends up trying to chase a pigeon out of his room. Roslin has apparently been a recluse for months after her family's deaths. Speaking on the phone to an unknown caller, she promises to go out with a man named "Shawn" if they will stop trying to convince her to join Adar's campaign.

In the closing moments, a Raptor piloted by Racetrack and Skulls happens upon the The Colony nestled in a singularity. Once Adama gets the data he calls a briefing, where they discuss how narrow a margin they have to jump near The Colony. Adama tells them, "Let's get to work."

Daybreak - Parts 2 and 3

When we next flash back to pre-Fall Caprica, we join Adama and Tigh in a strip club, discussing over booze whether Adama should take the civilian job or command an old Battlestar. He eventually decides on the former, even though Tigh never answers his question on whether Tigh would take a civilian job. Later, outside the club, Adama vomits on himself in the street, and then gazes longingly into the stars.

Over dinner with Kara and Zak, we get a glimpse of how much Lee despised his father through a revelation from Zak. As the night wears on, they all get staggeringly drunk, eventually having to drag Zak to the couch where he passes out. Kara teases Lee with an offer of shots.

We also jump forward in Roslin's life to the point where she is greeting the man she promised to go out with, who turns out to be a former student. What's interesting is that Laura doesn't shun him when she finds out this news.

Back in present day Galactica, everything is winding down towards the mission. Baltar sits alone in his once-harem, pondering his fate. Head-6 tells him to trust in God's plan for him.

In the sick bay, Cottle doles out enough medicine to Roslin to last her 48 hours. Finally we get to see Cottle's rough exterior break down when Roslin tells him how much she's appreciated his care. The performances delivered by these incredible actors broke me down. In this moment, I think I finally realized that we as viewers were not going to have much time left with Laura Roslin.

Elsewhere aboard Galactica, everyone is getting ready for the mission. I can't tell you how much my blood was beginning to simmer, knowing that this was to be the last space battle I'd see from BSG, as well as the last mission for Galactica, along with worrying about who might die. After all, the show has never pulled any punches in regards to killing characters off. Now that the end was nigh (and after hearing the actors talk about how dark the end of the show was), my nerves were on edge as to who would survive this seemingly impossible mission.

When the Final 5 decide to bring Anders onto the bridge to use him to disrupt the enemy hybrids, the scene aboard CIC is almost one straight out of the Cylon base ship. I felt at this point that the merging of the humans and Cylons was complete. Although a scene did get cut out of the finale where Adama goes off when he sees Anders installed in CIC, I felt the way the final version played out, with merely his irritation over the circumstance, served his character better at this point in time when he had pretty much succumbed to the fact of human / Cylon cooperation anyway.

With the Admiralty handed over to Yoshi, and the Presidency handed over to Lampkin, the stage is set for Galactica's jump into the unknown. Before that occurs, however, Baltar makes a stunning reversal - he decides to stay behind with the fleet. Apparently Lee's admonishment conjoined with Head-6's encouragement has done him in. This is yet another step toward the final transformation of his character.

And this leads into one of the most epic scenes ever shown on television - the penultimate space battle to end all space battles. You can harp on the pacing of the last few episodes all you want (I won't be one of those people), but the space sequences presented here are not only the most dazzling I've ever seen on TV, but I'd contend that they are among the best on any medium, including movies. When Adama tells Tigh to go around the horn, I was literally (and I'm not exaggerating) sitting on the edge of my seat, leaning forward, bristling with excitement and fear all at once - and I stayed that way through the entire sequence. If this show has taught us anything, it's that no one is safe. And the Galactica was about to jump into the impossible.

I won't go into the attack blow-by-blow, but here are some of the highlights for me at least:

- Raptors jumping from inside the starboard launch pod into a flanking position to the Colony? One of those OH MY GOD moments akin to Galactica jumping straight to the planet's surface during the New Caprica rescue.

- Seeing the opposing Centurion models fighting each other was classic!

- It's unfortunate that the Boomer flashback scene got so pared down (RDM mentioned that the scene was longer before time cuts had to be made), because the brevity of the scene made it feel semi-tacked on. It sure would have played better if the flashback scene had actually happened earlier in the series.

- When Lee asked Starbuck what took her so long, her line, "Stopped for coffee," almost made me do a spit take.

- Baltar re-connecting with Caprica 6 was perfectly played by James Callis, who managed to work in the typical Baltar questioning himself on his own motives while beginning to redeem himself as a person.

Once Hera is rescued and enters the ship, the culmination of many plot strands from the entire series occurs. Roslin's Opera House vision returns, and instantly she knows that Hera is aboard and leaves sick bay to find her. The vision itself - of Roslin and Athena chasing Hera through the halls of the Opera House - coincides with the same scenario aboard Galactica, with Hera running into the arms of Baltar and Caprica 6, who are also experiencing their own visions, which is leading them somewhere unknown. They make their way to CIC, and the spiritual underpinnings of the show reach their apex - there are the Final 5, standing on the "stage" in the same pose as the Opera House. CIC has just been invaded by Cavil, but Adama and the rest of the crew appear to have repelled the assault. Cavil is being held at gunpoint, but when an explosion turns CIC into chaos, Cavil uses the opportunity to escape, grab Hera, and hold her as a hostage at gunpoint.

Baltar steps forward and, in a defining moment for his character, begs for the release of Hera because she is humanity's hope as well. The visions he has been seeing - Head 6, the Opera House, the Final 5 - leading him to this exact moment in time, has finally broken through the wall Baltar has constructed around his own life. He now understands that something larger than all of them is at work here, and what he calls "angels" are further evidence of it. From the bridge, Tigh offers to teach Cavil resurrection tech as a peace offering. Even though Cavil entertains the idea of a "God," I believe he ultimately agrees to the truce because of the resurrection technology more than anything else. Both sides order a cease-fire.

Since each of the Final 5 have pieces of the knowledge about resurrection tech, they have to combine their knowledge by reaching into the Cylon data "stream" of liquid surrounding Anders. And here is where Ron Moore pulls a plot card out to play that I thought would never see the light of day again (in fact, I had actually forgotten about it a little) - Chief is about to find out about Tory's murder of Cally! After Tory nervously warns them that when they enter the stream they may see things the others did in the past, and to let bygones be bygones, the Final 5 put their hands into the liquid around Anders and immediately their memories become collective knowledge. The revelation of Cally's murder disturbs Tyrol so much that he forcibly ejects himself from the stream to choke Tory, eventually snapping her neck.

This sets off a sequence of events that I never fathomed would happen. When Tyrol breaks the bond, the resurrection knowledge being uploaded to Cavil's hybrids is severed, and Cavil's band immediately thinks they've been set up. Chaos erupts in CIC as the Cylons open fire, with the crew of Galactica finally taking out everyone but Cavil. Realizing the gig is up, Cavil puts the barrel of his gun into his mouth and commits suicide.

The enemy Raiders from The Colony begin their assault on Galactica anew. In nearby space we see Racetrack's damaged Raptor get hit by a hurtling space rock, which causes her lifeless hand to hit the firing button for the nukes. The missiles impact The Colony and severely damage it, sending it toward the singularity (where it will presumably be eaten by the black hole).

Back in CIC, Adama instructs Starbuck to jump the ship anywhere since they're taking heavy damage. In a half-prophetic state, all of the puzzle pieces we'd been given as to Starbuck's father, his composition, the "song", Hera's drawing - all merge in Starbuck's mind to cause her to realize their meaning - she has been given jump coordinates by the higher power that has been orchestrating all of the events. She enters them into the console and Galactica jumps into the unknown.

When she arrives, Galactica is in rough shape, and in fact barely appears to be holding together. It is obvious this is her last jump.

As Galactica floats through space, what is it that we see in the distance? Yep, that's a very Earth-like planet isn't it? They've found a lush planet to live on! Holy frak!

Twelve hours later the rest of the fleet arrives, and we jump to the planet's surface as Adama, Tigh, Cottle, Baltar, and Hoshi lie on a hill and look through binoculars into the distance - where they see a group of primitives traversing the landscape! They've arrived in this Earth's distant past!

Later, as they try to determine how to lay out a future city, Lee has a moment of revelation - in order to break the cycle of war, he believes they need to do away with their technology, keep only the basic supplies and start anew. After convincing his father to at least ask the rest of the fleet, most of the Colonials agree that they need to put aside their old ways to avert disaster in the future. Adama communicates the plan - they will spread out across the globe to the various continents and split the supplies evenly. As for the Cylons, the 2's, 6's, and 8's decide to remain on Earth. They will give the baseship to the Centurions whom they feel have earned their freedom. Once everyone is off the fleet and supplies have been distributed, Anders will lead the fleet into the sun.

One final time in the Galactica hangar, we see Adama saying a silent farewell to his old ship. He climbs into the Viper that Tyrol and company rebuilt for him as a retirement gift back in the mini-series. As he launches for his final flight around Galactica, he flashes back to his pre-holocaust days, when he goes in for the interview for his civilian position. During the interview they hook him to a lie detector and subject him to a series of offensive questions such as "Are you a Cylon" and "Have you ever stolen money?" Adama storms out of the interview, making clear his military choice, and thus setting him on the path that led to the mini-series.

The fleet, led by Anders, navigates for the sun. Anders, in his hybrid state, flashes back to his sports interview, where he talks about touching the mathematical perfection that he is now connected to as a hybrid.

On the planet, which Adama decrees will be called "Earth" in honor of the ruined one they initially found, we see that Roslin is in the final stage of her life. Adama wants to show her something, and picks her up and carries her to a Viper Raptor. Lee and Starbuck see them off, and Adama takes off to show Roslin where he plans to build their cabin they talked about back on New Caprica.

Back at the launch point, Lee realizes that his father is not coming back. Starbuck tells him she's not coming back either, that her journey is complete.

Flash back to the pre-Fall days again, this time continuing their dinner night with Zack passed out on the couch. Both Lee and Starbuck are incredibly drunk, and with both of their inhibitions down, it naturally leads them to sex on the dinner table. But before things can go too far, Starbuck knocks a wine glass off the table, waking Zack up momentarily who says, "Something's broken." Something is broken indeed! Lee decides to leave, and he and Starbuck shake hands like two people having woken up to what they were about to do.

Back in present day, as Lee talks he turns away, and when he turns back Starbuck has disappeared. Referencing the flashback where Starbuck had voiced her greatest fear of being forgotten, Lee says to the air, "Goodbye Kara, you won't be forgotten." In a flashback, we see Lee in his apartment. The dove pigeon from one of the earlier flashbacks, when we saw Lee chasing it with a broom, looks at him and then flies out of his window. Ron Moore has said he had this image of a man chasing a dove pigeon from a room and wanted to work it in somehow, but didn't really know what it meant. I'll take it to represent the elusive nature of Lee and Kara's relationship, with her flying away without him in the end.

In a Roslin flashback, we see her make the decision to send her date home, telling him essentially that they will not be seeing each other again. When he leaves, she smokes a cigarette (cancer, anyone?), and then calls someone on the phone and tells them that she would indeed be joining Mayor Adar's campaign, a decision that sets her down the road to eventually becoming President of the Colonies.

Back on "Earth," Adama is flying out to the spot where he plans to build the cabin. During the journey, Roslin passes, and Adama sweetly takes her hand and places his wedding ring on her finger, barely holding back his anguish. As for me, I was utterly devastated, drenched in tears, during this scene.

Later we see people on the planet going their separate ways. Perhaps the most poignant was Baltar and Caprica-6, who run into their "angels" one last time. Caprica-6 wonders if saving Hera was all that God wanted from them, and Head-6 tells them that God's plan is never complete. Head-Baltar, however, quips that their lives should be less eventful now.

When Baltar tells Caprica-6 that he knows a bit about farming, we finally witness the last piece of his transformation clicking into place - he has now come around to accepting who he really is and his place in the world.

Flash 150,000 years into the future...

Head-6 and Head-Baltar, who we now know as some form of agents of God, are discussing mankind in the middle of a bustling city. Head-6 is reading National Geographic over Ron Moore's shoulder, where the alleged discovery of mitochondrial Eve's bones has been reported. The 2 "angels" reveal that the bones are Hera's.

As they walk among the people, they discuss whether mankind will make the same mistakes again. Head-6 says she believes this time they will be the anomaly, and that it is God's plan for them to break the cycle this time around.

We end with a montage of modern-day robots (and might I add, ones that actually exist), played off by the actual Hendrix version of "All Along the Watchtower," firmly cementing the setting as "our" Earth.

--

When the credits rolled, I sat back in my seat, utterly floored. I was mentally exhausted. Ron Moore and company delivered everything we could ever want as fans, and managed not to really screw us over like, say, the Sopranos did. We got our epic space battle. We got our character resolutions. Somehow we managed to get out with minimal death of our beloveds. And in the end, we got an actual uplifting ending to a series that looked like it was just going to continue down the depression path until the very end.

We also got a very real warning. If you haven't been paying attention to tech news lately, soon we are going to be faced with these very decisions. Development in robotics and computer AI is moving along at a brisk pace - will we meet the same kind of fate? Hopefully we can keep our intellects about us as we create these things, and not engineer a doomsday scenario (or a Matrix - yikes!).

All said, to say I was satisfied with this finale is a gross understatement. I was moved. I was on pins and needles. I cried. I was affected to the point where I went in my son's room and kissed him on the head in his sleep, wishing him a hopeful future.

And now, I'm ready to see how it all began in "Caprica."

Thank you all for being with me through this, for reading my simple (but hopefully impassioned) thoughts, my hyperbolic twitters, and for just being a great community.

God bless, and I'll see you on the Caprica-side.

And by the way, I'm considering skipping this Friday's episode. Scifi is going to air all 3 parts of the finale back-to-back the week after, and I'm thinking it will make a more fitting - and more epic - resolution to the series if I take it all in at once. Will I have the willpower? I'm not sure. I'll notify you via Twitter @bsgfodder if I do.

Now, on to the key points!

Aside: the title of this episode, according to the Battlestar Wiki, comes from "...the book The Outermost House, by Henry Beston, where he chronicles his time spent living on an isolated beach in Cape Cod. In the chapter "Night on the Great Beach" he wrote, 'For a moment of night we have a glimpse of ourselves and of our world islanded in its stream of stars-- pilgrims of mortality, voyaging between horizons across eternal seas of space and time.' Wow, that nicely summarizes the mood of this episode, no?

Hera's Projection?

In the teaser, we open to a vision(?) of Hera playing with a model of the Galactica in the War Room. In this vision, she crashes the Galactica into a Cylon Baseship. Since we later learn that Hera can Cylon Project, is this a projection of Hera's, or an actual vision of events to come? Will the representation of Galactica colliding with a baseship be Adama's plan, as he says later, to "send her out in style"?

The Colony

Remember how Ellen explained that they offered the Centurions of the Colonies Resurrection technology if they would stop the First Cylon War, and then the Centurions just up and disappeared for 40 years before returning with "skin jobs" and decimating humanity? According to Ellen in this episode, they were living at The Colony during that time.

Ellen believes that the kidnapped Hera is being taken to The Colony so that Cavil can "study" her to determine how Cylon / Human procreation succeeded. Since Cavil earlier threatened to open Ellen's head, this does not bode well for the child.

We later learn that Boomer is indeed taking Hera to The Colony (which looked rather bad-ass, did it not?). When she reluctantly hands the child over to Cavil, what does Cavil mean when he says that she will soon have many playmates? Does he plan on cloning her? Creating more Cylons based on her DNA?

Unfortunately for the crew of Galactica, their scouting party does not locate The Colony since Cavil apparently moved it to another location.

The Opera House returns

The shared vision of the Opera House that has been absent for so long returns in this episode. What's striking is that Roslin confronted Caprica-6 only a few episodes ago, and they both said they had not had the vision in quite some time.

I have to imagine that this is going to be one of the important centerpieces of the finale. You'll remember that the images of the Opera House that we are seeing are the way it looked thousands of years ago in its prime on Kobol. Way back in Season 1's finale (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II), remember when Baltar's Head-6 took him to the dilapidated remains of the Opera House on Kobol, where they shared a vision (a projection?) of a baby in a crib? Head-6 tells Baltar that the child is "first of the new generation of God's children," and that Baltar is to be their protector.

When a #3 (D'Anna) has her vision of the Final 5 in the Temple (accompanied by Baltar, no less), she sees them on the stage of the Opera House.

When the fleet neared the Ionian Nebula where Starbuck "died," Caprica-6 has a vision - accompanied by Baltar again, and carrying Hera - where she sees the robed Final 5 in the Opera House.

President Roslin is even later told by the rebel Cylon hybrid that the "dying leader shall know the truth of the Opera House."

Given that the structure is called the "Opera" House, and that the Final 5 were seen on its stage, and that the Final 5 were "triggered" aboard Galactica by a musical piece, and that Starbuck's father was a composer who taught her the song, and that Hera somehow drew out the notes to the song (shew, that was a lot of and's!), I believe we have the makings of a finale that will coalesce around the Opera House somehow, and could be that all-important location that ties all the remaining questions together for us.

And on a tangential note, will that allow Bear McCreary to reprise his "Battlestar Operatica" composition from the Season 1 soundtrack?

The Death of Galactica (and the series)

Ron Moore felt that it would be fitting to have Galactica going to pieces around the crew as a symbolic gesture that the series was coming to a close as well. As if the heartbreak was't bad enough from the individual character stories, the constantly blinking lights, power outages, and collapsing hull press in upon our subconscious and remind us of the finality of the show.

The new Quorum hasn't changed much, has it? It's typical humanity at play here, already negotiating which pieces of Galactica they will take when the Battlestar goes under. It's rather fitting that the new Cylon delegate, a #6, gets wrangled into the debate as well. It serves to put an exclamation mark on the point that the mingling of humanity and Cylon culture is not going to create some kind of paradise for both sides.

And how precious are those scenes between Adama and Roslin? We know that Roslin will die, and Bill is also forced to confront the fact that both of his "girls" are dying. Roslin's line to him that he'll need to abandon the ship or risk losing both of them at once is truly one of the most heart-breaking lines in recent memory. As much as he doesn't want to let go (to either of them), he knows he must listen to her.

Roslin's stern advice could apply to us as well. Like Adama, we the viewers will need to make our peace with the loss of Galactica when this is all over. Will we melt down, as Adama does when he tries to re-paint the wall of his chambers, and sit around looping the DVDs over and over with tears streaming down our face? Will we sit on our couches, scotch in hand, staring vacantly at the television as the credits close, like Adama and Tigh at the end of the episode? Or will we ultimately come to terms with the loss, and let the old girl float out of our lives gracefully? Roslin may as well be Ron Moore saying a gentle goodbye, taking our hand and saying that everything is going to be ok. Come to terms with the loss. Enjoy the journey, instead of the destination.

And with that, I present you with a preview of Part 1 of that catharsis:

Be sure to tell us how you're feeling as we head into the final hours of BSG!

I want to deny it.
I want to pretend it isn't happening.
But it is.

The best series on television is about to end, and it doesn't look pretty.

Starbuck's Revelation

Before this week's episode, I posted a little pre-reading as food for thought:

"Remember when Starbuck and Helo were stranded on Caprica in Valley of Darkness, and Starbuck found her old apartment? Helo (and the rest of us) were surprised to find that she was into poetry and painting. Indeed, one of the paintings on her wall is similar to the iconic image we later learn is the Eye of Jupiter, which eventually, in the form of a nebula, is the path of her destruction and resurrection. It is here that we also learn that her father was a pianist. When she finds a battery-powered radio and plays her father's music, it is his dramatic piano piece we hear throughout the scenes on Caprica."

While we didn't get the answer to who Starbuck is this week, we may have been presented with just as important a clue to her identity as the charred remains of herself she found on Earth. The way the emotional turmoil slowly played itself out, as Kara worked out her feelings of her father's abandonment, was a testament to how good the writers are at pacing character reveals so that they don't feel too rushed. We needed that mystical, plodding pace for Kara to get back to that emotional vulnerability where she could even be in front of the piano again.

I'm not sure what to make of the final musical reveal. With the sudden revelation that Kara's father possibly created the Galactica universe's version of "All Along The Watchtower," we now have a connection between Kara, her father, Hera, and the Final 5 Cylons. Apparently we will have to wait for it all to play out, however.

We're also left with the question of Kara's vision of "Slick" the piano player, who in the end turns out to be a representation of her father. I say "representation" because we don't know yet what kind of vision she has had. Is this one similar to the Head-6 and Head-Baltar visions that others on the show have experienced? Are these also tied to the visions of people that came as a warning to the Final 5 when Earth was nuked? Is there some greater power at work here? In an interview, Ron Moore has stated that the Baltar visions of 6 and the visions of others will get explained by season end, so this is another one we will have to wait for.

(BTW, some people have been suggesting that her father is / was Daniel. I don't see this happening, but I could be totally wrong. It just doesn't make sense with what we know so far).

Boomer's Treachery

So let's make a laundry list, shall we, of the reasons why Tyrol should not have trusted Boomer and her wily projections:

• She shot Adama (ok, so she did it when she was 'activated', but still)
• When Sharon Agathon commited suicide to download and get Hera, it is obvious that Boomer resented her for the life she used to have aboard Galactica.
• As a result of the events on New Caprica, she no longer believed that humans and Cylons could coexist.
• She voted to lobotomize the Raiders, going against the rest of her models' vote and siding with Cavil.
• She became lovers with Cavil - eww!

Of course, Tyrol knows practically none of this information that we the viewers do, and so it is ever easier for him to be duped by Boomer's Cylon projections of the life they could have had. Her own admission that her feelings for Tyrol are genuine - just before she darts off Galactica with Hera - make the closing sequences of Tyrol searching their empty home in the virtual world all the more agonizing. While you have to wonder what would happen to Chief once his betrayal was discovered, from the coming preview it appears that there may be no time left aboard Galactica to deal with him.

I also wonder about the master stroke of strategy enacted by John / Cavil, having Boomer escort Ellen back to Galactica under the guise of wanting to help Ellen escape. Does John plan on using Hera as some sort of bargaining chip, or does he have more nefarious plans for the child (perhaps tapping into her brain for the secrets of human / Cylon procreation?)

And the closing moments of Roslin falling to her death(?) - well, even though it has been a long time coming I can't say that I was looking forward to this moment. We're still not sure if she is dead, but the fact that the marine feels her pulse and starts yelling could either signal the end, or could just be an attempt by the writers to mess with us. It's interesting, this feeling I have of not wanting Roslin to die - the reason: I don't want her to die because I hate to see what it does to our man Adama.

Ugh, I don't think I'm going to be able to take the next few weeks folks.

With that, here's the preview for "Islanded In a Stream of Stars":

And some of you are a little confused with how many episodes we have left, so here's the remaining schedule:

- March 6: "Islanded in a Stream of Stars"

- March 13: "Daybreak" Part 1

- March 20: "Daybreak" Parts 2 & 3

That's all I've got! Leave your comments below!

One thing that did stand out to me, however, is how scenes seemed to be missing. I had no foundation for this until Mike Murphy of Press Democrat pointed out the following:

"...Apparently a fairly important plot element was cut from last week's "Battlestar Galactica," a development that would have added a whole lot to the confusing and disappointing episode. Writer Jane Espenson mentions it in this interview, and so have online commenters on Television Without Pity.

The whole deal with Baltar and his cult giving out food and getting guns confused me. It lacked context. Turns out, in the episode's original cut, all was explained. But that cut was 11 minutes long, so it had to be trimmed for TV. Here's what I've been able to cobble together of what ended up on the editing room floor:

In the wake of three years of war and a failed mutiny, there are no longer enough Marines on Galactica to maintain order. Sensing a riot over food distribution, the outnumbered Marines retreat from Dogtown and the Sons of Ares swoop in with their guns and take over the abandoned food supply. But the Baltar-less cult manages to secure a stash of food, effectively letting them be self-sufficient.

Meanwhile, Adama and Roslin debate the merits of bringing Cylon centurions on board to provide security and patrol civilian areas. (Wow, huuuuge plot point there.) Adama's staunchly against it, even though his ship is slowly becoming assimilated with the Cylons.

...Effectively, the question for Adama is, allow a criminal gang to control the food supply, or allow Baltar's crazy cultists to control it. And Baltar's group, now armed to the teeth, would also serve as a civilian security force, which Adama figures is better than using centurions. In the end, the Baltar's militia is the lesser of two evils.

That would have been nice to know..."

Hopefully this is footage we'll get on the season 4.5 DVD set. I for one can't wait to watch the entire DVD series from start to finish with my wife (who saw some of season 1 but that's it). I think seeing the entire series with extended episodes is going to greatly enhance the pacing and narrative flow of the show.

But that's enough blabbing - let's get recappin'!

The Beginning of the End?

Even though it may not have been the best structured episode, I believe the big takeaway from "Deadlock" is how much intermingling of Cylon and Human culture is going on. First we have Galactica being injected with Cylon goo, and since the stuff is alive who knows what the ship will become. Then we have Cylons actually flying formation with Galactica pilots. At the episode's end, we see that the Cylons are also placing pictures of their fallen comrades on the memorial hallway.

As much as Adama is trying to resist having Cylons and Centurions onboard, he knows as well as the others that Galactica needs their help. The number of enlisted people aboard Galactica has dramatically dwindled, so they need to recruit from somewhere, and what better place than a ship filled with essentially cloned robots? I think the real question remains whether this mixture of Cylon and human will work in the end. Is Ron Moore going to deliver us an epiphany that causes both sides to realize they need each other to survive, or will the relationship devolve into more violence?

Baltar is Back to His Theatrics

Having read the quote about the missing scenes at the top of this article, it makes sense now why Baltar's storyline seemed so disjointed this week. We have so few moments with the Dogtown plotline that we really never got why Baltar was trying to use it to his advantage.

Without the missing scenes, Adama's order to equip Baltar and his followers with high-grade military weaponry seems a bit foolish. This will definitely be one to rewatch on DVD, but that doesn't discount the fact that Scifi is screwing its live viewers by shorting all the episodes.

The Return of Ellen

With Ellen's introduction from last week, we expected to see another side of her when she returns to Galactica and into the embrace of Tigh and the other Cylons she helped create. But alas, it appears her programming is tainted by human hands as well - inserted into familiar company, Ellen reverts to her old catty self, and it is only when the hope of the Cylon race (Tigh's baby) is in danger that she manages to put down her pettiness for a moment. Her emotional reversal is a tad late however, since Tigh and Caprica 6's baby dies.

While I first wondered what had happened to the cool, calm, collected Ellen we had seen the week before, after some thought it really makes sense to me now. Flawed humans create flawed machines that can't rise above their innate programming. I think we're going to see more of these kinds of themes explored in the prequel series "Caprica," as the human colonies create the first Cylons out of grief (which sounds like a bad idea).

So, did Tigh truly not love Caprica 6, which is why the baby died? Is all the Cylon mumbo jumbo about love being what leads to Cylon procreational success going to be handled in a mystical fashion, or explained by some sort of software embedded in their brains? What will be the true nature of survival for both sides? We only have 5 episodes to find out (the two hour finale counts for 2 of these)!

Here is a preview for the next episode, which is all about Starbuck:

That's all I've got! What did you think? Leave us your comments below!

I have to hand it to the writers (yeah, that's He of The Velvety Mane over to the right) - plot lines are beginning to tie together in very interesting - and in my opinion, pretty brilliant - ways. The more research and pondering I do over the reveals that this episode brings, the more I am wowed.

Amidst an episode that played out like a royal info-dump, we learn a brain-numbing amount of information. Rather than try to write it all out in prose, I think the best thing I can do for all of us is to bullet point the reveals given to us in Anders' section, and then cover Ellen's section separately. At the end, I'll post some references for further reading that analyze these revelations and paint a more coherent picture of the whole.

For now, I'll avoid the whole Tyrol / Adama plotline that discovers Galactica's crumbling "skeleton," since I think that is going to play out in interesting ways further down the line.

To kick things off, they delivered upon us a new intro sequence:

- This has all happened before, and it will happen again
- The Cylons were created by man
- They rebelled
- Then they vanished
- Forty years later they came back
- They evolved
- 50,298 human survivors, hunted by the Cylons
- Eleven models are known
- One was sacrificed

With that, here is a list of all the things we learn, broken down by the person delivering, also broken down by order of reveal:

The bullet to Anders' head triggers his suppressed memories

During his surgery, Anders babbles the following:

• "Among the bright stars I'm lost" and "There's a new tide. All the forgotten faces, all the forgotten children, we seek the forgotten language..."
• "The colony never forgets."
• "The mind is its own place."
• "...and a Hell of Heaven."
• "He whose guile (with a flash of Cavil), stirred with revenge, deceived the mother of mankind."
• "And all the forgotten faces, we seek..."
• "We'd been to that beach too. Yes, we'd been to that beach. Sometimes Ellen would be there too, because she loved the water. She loved the water."

When he's more coherent, he tells the others:

• They all worked in the same research facility on Earth
• Tigh and Ellen were married then
• Tyrol and Tory lived together, were madly in love, and planned on getting married
• When Tigh pulled Ellen out of the rubble (from his vision on Earth), Ellen said they would be reborn
• They were reborn on a ship they placed in orbit around the planet
• They knew the end was coming, for they had been warned
• Cylons on Earth could have children
• They didn't invent resurrection, they re-invented it
• Organic memory transfer came from Kobol, along with the 13th tribe
• It fell out of use after the Earth Cylons learned how to procreate
• They worked night and day to rebuild it
• Tyrol's work on it was "amazing"
• Ellen was the one that made the intuitive leap to bring the system back online
• The Final 5 went to the 12 colonies to warn them
• They knew the colonies would continue to create artificial life
• They needed to tell the colonies to treat the artificial life well, keep them close.
• By the time the 5 got to the colonies they were already at war with the Centurions
• The Holocaust on Earth happened thousands of years before
• The 5 had not developed jump drives
• They traveled at relativistic but subluminal speed
• Time slowed down for them, but thousands of years had passed
• Anders doesn't know anything about Kara
• The Centurions were already trying to make flesh bodies
• They created the hybrids, but nothing that lived on its own
• The 5 made a deal with the Centurions - stop the war and they would help them
• The 5 developed 8 humanoid models and gave them resurrection
• Tigh wonders if they will be blamed for showing the Centurions how to build skin jobs and then give them resurrection, and thus causing the destruction of the 12 colonies
• Tyrol says they ended the First Cylon War, buying time for humanity
• Tory points out that the humans on Kobol made them, so if you go back far enough it's always "them" (the humans)
• Anders reveals that Cavil (John) was the first one the Final 5 created
• John helped build the others
• Tyrol questions why they didn't see that as a bad idea, creating Cylons after they'd already seen the cycle
• Anders says the Centurions had a single loving God, and that Ellen said it changed everything.
• Ellen said if the Cylons embraced love and mercy then the cycle of violence could end (so this makes me wonder if the show's remaining humans and Cylons will continue the cycle at the end of the show, or stop it by embracing love and mercy...)
• Cavil / John rejected mercy; he had a twisted idea of morality
• John turned on the Final 5, and trapped them in a "compartment", cutting out the oxygen, and killed them.
• When the Final 5 downloaded into new bodies, John blocked access to their memories and then implanted them with false ones.
• John boxed the Final 5 for a while, and then introduced Saul Tigh first not long after the war, and then Ellen.
• Back on Earth, the warning signs the Final 5 received looked different to each of them.
• Anders saw a woman, Tory a man - no one else could see them
• Anders says, "Galen, you thought you had a chip in your head."
• Cylon #7, named Daniel, died.
• Anders tells Tigh to stay with the fleet, that it's "all about to happen," that it's "the miracle," and that it's "a gift from the angels."

Anders then goes under the knife, so we'll likely get no more from him if he recovers.

Ellen's Resurrection

• Ellen resurrected immediately after Saul killed her.
• She speaks to the Centurion attending her tank as if she knows its programming.
• Ellen calls Cavil "John," her original name for him when she created him, a name which Cavil hates.
• We learn that she made "John" in her father's image
• John (Cavil) deleted his own "sleep" programming 20 years ago
• John wants justice for the Centurions being slaves of humanity
• When Boomer-8 arrives, Ellen wonders if there is a ship full of her children out beyond "the guards"
• John reveals that Ellen made the 8's as well (and as we know from Anders the Final 5 created all 8 humanoid models that were given to the Centurions)
• Ellen calls the Temple of the Final 5 "The Temple of Hopes"
• The Temple of Hopes was built by the 13th tribe 3,000 years ago when they left Kobol
• The 13th tribe stopped and prayed for guidance there and then God showed them the way to Earth.
• John says it is now a temple to their vanity, The Temple of the Final 5
• Boxing a line of Cylons isn't permanent (as we've seen)
• John says the Final 5 planted a "carnival trick" to reveal their faces in the Temple
• Ellen says they didn't plant anything - they backtracked the path of their ancestors and found their temple, and the "one true God" must have orchestrated those events
• John's pissed that they were created to emulate humans
• The 5 designed them to be as human as possible
• Ellen tells Boomer that she feels no remorse because they didn't limit the 8 humanoid models in their creation - they gave them the wonderful gifts of free will, creativity, compassion, and love
• Boomer ponders who she could possibly love
• John worries about extinction once the Resurrection hub is destroyed
• John says they can't procreate biologically, so they need to find a way to rebuild resurrection
• John says - "They destroyed the Hub, but they don't even know about "The Colony."
• John reminds Ellen that all of her "equipment" is still at The Colony
• Ellen says she only knows part of the system and it would take all 5 to rebuild
• John threatens to cut open Ellen's head to look for the resurrection data
• John sent The Final 5 among the 12 colonies so they would see what they're like "up close and personal."
• John hoped they would be killed in the holocaust, but they didn't.
• Ellen recounts all the things John did on New Caprica to the Final 5.
• Ellen believes that John was waiting for them to be killed so that when they downloaded they'd admit to John that they were wrong and thank him for the suffering.
• Daniel, the #7 Cylon, was an artist
• John felt that Ellen was playing favorites toward Daniel
• Someone (i.e. John) contaminated the amniotic fluid in which they were maturing all the Daniel copies, and then corrupted the genetic formula.
• When Boomer comes to take her to surgery, Ellen says, "You should have brought a tumbrel." Watching it live, I didn't know exactly what she said, but figured it to be some throwaway tech line. Luckily, the BSG Wiki did some digging, and now I don't know if it was such a throwaway line after all:

"A tumbrel is a two-wheeled cart used to carry various loads, particularly on a farm. For the viewing audience, this is a cultural reference to the French Revolution in the 1780's, when many condemned prisoners were carried to the guillotine in tumbrels. In the show's universe, she may be referring to parallel events on Kobol and/or the Thirteen Colonies." - BSG Wiki

Now I may be reading too much into this, but could she be making a reference to our Earth timeline here? Or did things happen on Earth similarly to our own events, like some sort of parallel universe theory? There are a lot of references throughout the history of the show that are inspired by our version of Earthly culture, but I guess only time will tell if they are direct references or some sort of cultural bleed-over between parallel universes.

Anyway, now that you have all the pieces (and good lord there were a crap-ton), below are a few links to articles on the BSG Wiki that do an amazing job of summarizing events or analysis:

- The Thirteen Cylon Models - This article over at the BSG Wiki is part of a larger article about humanoid Cylons. This particular section is great in that it puts everything we've learned in context.

- Episode Analysis for "No Exit" - BSG Wiki also has an incredible analysis of this episode, which manages to relate some of the facts we hear to the giant canvas the BSG writers are painting for the entire series. Reading some of this made me reflect on previous seasons and come to the realization that Ron Moore and company are doing some pretty brilliant things beyond just a "cool" scifi show.

UPDATE: - BSG WIKI's Timeline: This is also an excellent read that tries to encapsulate all the events that have been revealed so far.

Needless to say, i can't wait for Friday night!

To whet your appetite, here is the preview for "Deadlock":

Info-dump your thoughts into the comments below!

Here is a snippet of Maureen Ryan's interview with Michael Angeli, writer of this episode:

In response to the title "Blood on the Scales":

"I'm sure I was influenced by the title of Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks" album and the whole "Watchtower" tie-in. But thematically, it was an oblique signature of Gaeta's fate and his conundrum. He starts out as the good soldier/idealist, becomes disillusioned (even stabs his hero, Baltar, with a pen), then the loss of his leg colors his perception of Kara and the Cylons. His embitterment eventually grows its own limb - the mutiny. He wants to do the right thing but the, er, scales of justice are tipped not only by the bloodshed of innocent people, but by Gaeta unable to silence his own humanity (his love for Adama), the blood running through his veins, etc."

You'd be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't read Ryan's weekly interviews. Great stuff indeed!

Enough setup, let's get to the episode key points!

- Previously, on Battlestar Galactica

Last week, after the mutiny was in full swing, Roslin and Baltar escaped in a Raptor, and Gaeta orders the Raptor destroyed. This week's episode picks up right where we left off, with Viper pilots Narcho and Hot Dog flying in hot pursuit of the Raptor.

What interests me about this section is that Hot Dog apparently still has a conscience (is Daddy-hood getting to him?), for he won't open fire on the Raptor since it's not identifying itself. Narcho, however, has no such qualms. He moves in ahead of Hot Dog and at Gaeta's order fires missiles at the Raptor, which a #8, piloting the ship, manages to avoid. The Raptor lands safely aboard the Cylon base ship.

- Cylon Down! Cylon Down!

In this episode, we get to see where Starbuck and Lee headed after leaving Tigh and Adama behind to protect the launch of Roslin's Raptor - off to the Cylon holding cell. Once inside (after a classic moment where Lee tosses a dead grenade and fails to inform Starbuck about it), they discover Tigh and learn, to Lee's chagrin, that Adama is not with them. In the ensuing rescue, Anders gets shot, and the wound looks pretty severe. Starbuck is going to have to take him to Cottle.

The entrance of Lampkin at this point (how he got there we'll get into in a moment) makes for an interesting twist in that he first refused to help, but feels compelled for some reason and turns to give Starbuck a hand. And don't worry, Lampkin lovers (myself included) - he retrieved his sunglasses from the guard he took out!

As seen in the previews for next week, Anders' wound is not happenstance, as we've come to expect from this show. Apparently the injury is going to lead to more revelations - but we'll have to wait until the next episode to find out what those are!

- Mutiny Undone

And here we get to see the tragic downfall of someone who trusted too much in his effort to try and bring about the things he believed in - Felix Gaeta. We all smelled a rat when Zarek became the leader of the mutiny. Even though his aims have always supposedly been for "the people," we know that Zarek is in it for himself. And that's why it became all the more frustrating to see Gaeta blinded by his own righteousness in looking for a leader of the rebellion.

Zarek's execution of the Quorum was startling. I figured he would move around any pawns that he needed for his chess match, but I never figured he would destroy them altogether. It is at this point, with Gaeta's discovery of Zarek's horrible deed, that Gaeta finally realizes he is in too far over his head.

Indeed, later in the confrontation with the Cylon base ship, with Zarek spouting off orders left and right, no one responds, all having realized how deep they've gone down the rabbit hole. Gaeta's remembrance of Adama's words - "One day soon there's going to be a reckoning" - signals the end of the mutiny before Adama and his men even storm the CIC.

And how about the return of our favorite lawyer, Romo Lampkin? Actor Mark Sheppard's portrayal of this character can go toe-to-toe with Olmos, and his entrance to the show reminds us of the trial in which he participated with Adama as judge, and now the twist on those events having now to defend Adama in bringing about Gaeta and Zarek's brand of "justice." His refusal to cooperate appears to get him sentenced to execution himself, but he kills his guard with a poetic twist - the pen is mightier than the sword, indeed - and then turns to help Starbuck with the wounded Anders.

I felt myself at odds with the executions at the end. While I could certainly see why they deserved it (especially Zarek), I found it unfortunate that Gaeta had to die. Adama is certainly always true to his word, but I found myself wishing that he would have discovered at least a little sympathy given that the human race is quickly dwindling in numbers.

And finally, the revelation of where Tyrol was crawling the entire episode was great dramatic form. Since we'd never really seen the engine room before, watching Tyrol render the FTL useless was exciting in more ways than one. The structural damage Tyrol witnesses does not bode well for coming weeks - but do we expect anything less from our belovedly brooding show?

And with that we come to the preview for "No Exit":

Leave us your comments below!

As I have been want to do this season before kicking off my review, here's a quote from Mark Verheiden on his final written episode for BSG (from Maureen Ryan's excellent interview):

Regarding the necessity of Gaeta's violent mutiny:

"Gaeta tried to raise objections, but he was summarily shut down in the previous episode. Basically, his back was against the wall. What intrigued me when writing this episode was the idea that Gaeta and Zarek were, in fact, "right." Looking at the situation from the outside, the alliance with the Cylons was crazy and dangerous. And the revelation of the "final four" didn't help. Adama's best friend and first officer was a Cylon, Roslin's aide was a Cylon, Chief Tyrol, Starbuck's husband Anders, suddenly it was clear the entire command structure on Galactica had been infiltrated. On top of that, no one in authority was taking time to explain how this alliance was going to help the crew or the fleet. Gaeta's motivations were pure, he was trying to save the human race, and that's the real tragedy of the story.

Of course all that begs a larger question, which is whether mutiny is ever justified. I remember impassioned discussions about this, because while mutiny is the stuff of many dramas, in "real life" it's an enormous step to take, especially for a loyal officer like Gaeta. But it certainly seemed to me that after all this time on the run in space, in the wake of the disappointment (to say the least) of Earth, mutiny might just happen."

Now that the tone is set, let's look at this week's key points:

- The Mutiny

I have to admit, Gaeta's plan was pretty clever. Stir up enough crap and confusion on board, cut off the lines of communication, get all of your followers organized with weapons, take out the key players - brilliant planning, plain and simple. Even the fact that he got Zarek released and back to Colonial One without setting off alarms was a master stroke, allowing Zarek to sow seeds of doubt into Lee's head under the pretense of an official release by the Admiral.
The biggest stick in my eye regarding this whole ordeal is the relationship between Gaeta and Zarek. I can't help but feel that Zarek is merely pulling Gaeta's strings for his own agenda, and will give up his "partner" in mutiny at the drop of a de-cornered hat.

Acting in pure righteousness or not, Gaeta has now turned a dark corner from which there is no return. The epitome of this is on display in the show's final moments, as he orders CAP to destroy the fleeing Raptor.

- The President's Hesitant Return

Thankfully for all of us (oh, and the fleet, too, ahem), Roslin's iron resolve resurfaced in the wake of hearing that Zarek was responsible for the mutiny. In fact, many of the Colonials, wandering adrift in previous episodes due to the shattering of their dreams of Earth, were given new purpose - a call to action in the face of violence.

Roslin's move to hit the airwaves over Baltar's pirate radio was a clever move, but you have to think that it was too little too late at this point. She and Adama should have addressed the fleet much earlier to assuage their fears over an alliance.

- Starbuck is back - and she's kicking ass!

It did my heart good to see Starbuck walk into that hangar deck with guns ablazin' - I've missed the old girl! Seeing her and Lee moving deck to deck covering each other as gunfire rattled around the halls not only made my blood pump, but recalled Starbuck's former glory as a character with chutzpah imbued with life! There's no telling how long this will last (she still has to discover what she is, after all), but I'll eat it up as long as the writers will give it to us.

Don't forget that Lee, Tyrol, and Starbuck are still aboard Galactica. Who knows what the hell they're going to do with such chaos, but we know it will at least be entertaining.

- Adama is...Adama!

Holy crap. Remind me never to cross Adama - not even in a game of Go Fish. The man scares me. When he turned to Gaeta and said "You'll die with nothing," my bones tried to creep right out of my body. Zarek is right - you've got to take Adama out of the picture, because if you give that man an inch he is going to make sure to hit back so hard your parents will feel it.

That said, Adama and Tigh wielding guns was possibly my highest testosterone moment of the show. And you've got to love Tigh, unwavering in his loyalty and support. Whatever he may be, I don't have an inch of doubt concerning his friendship with Bill having stood the test of all these years. The previews for next week better be misleading us in his regard.

And if you thought this week was crazy, get a load of what composer Bear McCreary said on his blog:

"Believe it or not, The Oath is actually smaller and less action-packed than next week's Blood on the Scales."

Um, what?! Good lord, time to get my scotch ready - I don't know if my nerves can take it!

Here's a hint of things to come:

Just as an FYI, I'll be traveling for business this Friday, so unfortunately I won't be able to watch the new episode until Saturday night. You'll know when I start watching - my twitter updates will suddenly be fueled with faux-profanity!

What did you think? Leave your comments below!

"I found it really, really rewarding. There's something great about knowing exactly what the intent of the scene was, what the lines meant, what this show was supposed to be about. So I always had an answer to questions, if an actor or the [director of photography] or someone in the crew asked me, "Why are we doing this?" or "What does that mean?" I had an answer. That made it a lot easier and I just found it great. I enjoyed it."

And to set us up for the intent of this episode, i think it's appropriate to post a quote Moore gave earlier in the week as a preview:

"It's a character piece. It's a smaller show; I designed it deliberately to be that way. I wanted to take a breath after the events, the shocking events, of the past couple of episodes. Things were happening huge. Revelations were coming one on top of another. And now I wanted to do a smaller piece that was just about people on the ship and where they are in their lives before the next giant arc just sort of pulls them along into even bigger events."

Although "Disquiet" was certainly a smaller show - more about intimate moments with the characters and the politics unfolding around the fleet - there were still some shockers that will resonate to the end, so let's get to the key points!

- Tigh and Caprica 6 are acting all domesticated

As I twittered during the episode, the "parental" moment between Tigh and Caprica 6 weirded me out. Yes, I understand they they've created the first successful Cylon-Cylon baby, but has Tigh already forgotten about his revelation that Ellen is the 5th, and probably still alive in some form? Or does he feel differently about their relationship at this point? I guess we'll have to wait and see when Ellen reappears. By the way, Cottle offering Tigh a cigarette is an instant classic.

- The Rebel Cylons want to become part of the fleet

Tyrol announces to Adama (in a funny they-we-i-we moment) that the Cylons will give their jump drive technology to the fleet - only if they are allowed to become part of the fleet! The fact that Adama even gives it a thought will inform events later in the episode, which I'll get into in just a bit.

- Tyrol is not Nicky's real father

In a surprising turn of events, we learn via Nicky's admittance to the sick bay that Tyrol is not his true father, and thus Nicky is fully human. The real father is Hot Dog, and after coming to fisticuffs initially, Tyrol eventually simmers down and begrudgingly instructs Hot Dog on the particulars of child-rearing.

If your'e wondering why the plot even went in this direction, here's Ron Moore from more of that Chicago Tribune interview:

"Why did you need to establish that Nicky is not the Chief's baby?

Well, we're starting to sort of resolve some of the plot threads and provide answers to things and one of the questions was, "Is Hera the only hybrid, the only Cylon-human child, or not?" If Nicky was a Cylon-human child, what does that mean? Now there's two of them. It was important to the mythology of the show that only Hera be the only one. We had always sort of said that.

So you had to sort of retrofit...

Yeah, we had to retrofit that. We knew that was going to be a problem back when we decided that Tyrol was a Cylon. We said, "OK, how are we going to deal with that?" And [someone] said, "Well, maybe at some point we just find out Tyrol's not the father." And we all kind of laughed. And then we said, "Actually, that's a very elegant solution to it." We just say, "Tyrol's not the father," and we move on.

And that's kind of how the show is. We take these gambles, then we take time to make sure it fits in with what we've got. Or we try to at least address it and make it fit into what we've got, so the mosaic is still consistent.

Does that meant that Cally cheated on the Chief? Were they together when she had her fling with Hot Dog?

I think Cottle says [the child was conceived] before they got married. I think she had some kind of relationship with Hot Dog, before she and Chief got married. But that all kind of falls into that missing year of time in between the end of Season 2 and the beginning of Season 3.

You know what, honestly, I would feel bad if, retroactively, Cally was a cheater. She went through enough.

I don't think she was cheating. The intention was not that she was cheating on Tyrol. It was that she had some kind of relationship with Hot Dog, you know, before or concurrent with, as she and Tyrol were getting together. In my mind, Tyrol, like, in a moment, proposed to her. And she was stunned and said yes, but she had probably slept with Hot Dog three weeks before or something like that. It was one of those kinds of circumstances."

- Roslin is facing her death head-on

In this episode we see Roslin make some painful decisions as she faces the fact of her death. She throws all of her pills in the trash, she continues to avoid her doloxan treatments, and when Adama confronts her about returning to duty we see that she has decided to find happiness in the remainder of her days now that the prophecy and the dreams of Earth have been devastated. Finally, we get to see a moment of joy in the closing scene - as well as a confirmation that their relationship is not some veiled friendship - as Adama and Roslin lie together in bed oblivious, for the moment, of the events going on around them.

- Viva La Revolucion!

The meat of this episode is going to lead to explosive events in the weeks to come, as can be witnessed in the preview video at the end of this article.

Tom Zarek is coming into his own as a character (as well as an actor). He is now in the perfect position to throw the government into chaos. As Vice President to a fleet where the President has suddenly gone missing, Quorum members start looking to him for leadership. And lead he does. In a stirring speech to the Quorum, Zarek highlights the corruption of power from their "leaders," which incidentally has led them nowhere. Fueled by Lee, who is just trying to settle the room, Zarek calls for a Quorum vote to empower each ship's captain to make the decision on whether Cylon technology be allowed aboard their ship. The Quorum, of course, votes in Zarek's favor.

Later, Zarek convinces the sole tylium refinery ship to mutiny and jump away from the fleet. Adama has him arrested and thrown in the brig aboard Galactica. With a classic Adama manuever, the Admiral bluffs his way into forcing Zarek to reveal the tylium ship's jump coordinates, leading to the ship's recovery by force.

In the final moments of the show, Zarek is talking with someone in his cell (out of sight of the audience), and we come to learn that Felix Gaeta has become Zarek's collaborator. You see, Gaeta has become more and more bitter towards the Cylon acceptance aboard Galactica, even after all the pain and suffering they've caused. His experience in the stranded shuttle during the webisodes (now more important than ever to go back and watch if you didn't) didn't help matters. We even see him rallying some troops together to his cause (after a hilarious confrontation with Starbuck). In the end, shaking hands with Zarek, he's finally decided to do something about what he believes is a gross injustice to the remaining humans, and plans to give Zarek his full support in resisting the Cylon alliance.

And that, my friends, makes the following preview for next week that much more exhilarating:

Let's discuss below!

"As we began outlining Episode 13, Brad and I felt very strongly that the show should focus almost exclusively on the emotional fall-out from the fleet's discovery that Earth was a radioactive cinder. During the outlining process, the staff - as we always did - kicked around other possibilities. Should the fleet find a ray of hope by the episode's end? Another piece of prophecy in Pythia, a vision, or a clue among the ruins that would send them on another leg of their journey?

Brad and I did not want to do that. We wanted to take the time to examine what happens to people when their dreams are shattered, when everything they held as true turns out to be an illusion. After a blow like that, how do you pick yourself up from the floor and go on? Are you able to pick yourself up at all?

This is perhaps the most universal theme you can explore. For the people of the ragtag fleet, the dream was Earth. For those of us here on Earth, the dream could be many other things. It may be the house you saved all your life for but now can no longer afford to make payments on. The career you fantasized about since high school, went to college to prepare for, finally landed and loved, then lost when your company downsized. The woman or man you met who seemed to be everything you ever wanted to find in a lover, who betrayed your trust or left you or died. The flood waters that swept your entire neighborhood away. The war in a far away land that took your son or daughter or husband or wife. The spot on an X-ray that now wants to eat you alive."

Now that you can see that the show creators aren't just being dark for dark's sake, let's take a look at the key events from this week's incredible, and gut-wrenching, premiere:

- There's apparently no life left on Earth

Near the beginning of the episode, as everyone stumbles around in a daze of agony, Helo reports to Adama that no signs of life have been found on the entire planet, and D'Anna confirms it from the Cylons as well. The destruction is global. From measurements taken, it appears the planet was nuked over 2,000 years ago. I'll get into how this fits into the history of the colonies in just a moment.

- Discoveries about the Thirteenth Tribe

Caprica-6 makes a startling discovery on Earth among the bones they've been digging up - an old-style Centurion mask buried in the dirt. While the Centurion helmet is similar, it's a model she's never seen. Later #6 reveals that more helmets were discovered from 4 other similar sites around the planet, buried with over 250 skeletons that they excavated. Roslin theorizes that the 13th Tribe must have created their own versions of the Centurions, which rebelled against their masters in a very similar manner to the 12 Colonies' history. Baltar also notes that they tested the skeletons as well, which turned out to be humanoid Cylons - this means that the entire 13th Tribe was humanoid Cylon! Producer Ron Moore has since confirmed that these would have been all separate models as various in number as humanity, not just 12 models as we know them today.

I think a little historical context is in order here. From what we've learned so far, we know that in the beginning, all 13 of the tribes lived on Kobol (at least, that's as far back as we've been told). Around 4,000 years ago, The 13th Tribe (now known to be all Cylons), left Kobol - for reasons unknown as of yet - and eventually found and colonized Earth. It is evident that at least some of them returned to Kobol at some undetermined point, since we have evidence of their influence (the Tomb of Athena on Kobol that gives Roslin and the others a starmap to Earth, the flags of the other 12 colonies have Earthly signs of the zodiac, the colonies original names, etc.). As of this episode we now know that while on Earth the 13th Tribe, entirely Cylon, created their own versions of robot Centurions that ended up rising up against them, eventually leading to nuclear holocaust around 2,000 years ago. From the flashbacks of Tyrol, Anders, Tory, and Tigh, it appears that the Final 5 were living on Earth during this time period, since most of their flashbacks involve the moment of nuclear attacks commencing.

Also around 2,000 years ago, the other 12 Tribes - supposedly made up of humans - leave Kobol due to some sort of unnamed calamity (another nuclear fallout possibly? All this has happened before, all this will happen again?). They eventually colonize 12 planets that are in the same star system a good distance away from Kobol. The 12 Colonies produce their own versions of Cylons, the early models of which rebel against their masters, leading to what we know of as the First Cylon War. At the end of this war (around 40 years ago), the Colonial Cylons went off to establish a world of their own. They return 40 years later as humanoid Cylons and nuke the 12 colonies.

Questions remaining from these discoveries:

- Were all of the 13th Tribe - humanoid or Centurion - destroyed in the nuclear attacks on Earth, or did some escape?

- So, are the Final 5 originally from the 13th Tribe? It would seem so, but how do they end up in the 12 Colonies 2,000 years after their deaths, their memories wiped?

- Is there any link between the 13th Tribe Cylons and the Colonial Cylons?

- I also wonder how the 13th Tribe, with their origins on Kobol living amongst the other 12 tribes of humanity, came to be in existence in the first place, but I'm not sure that question will ever be answered since it's ancient history.

- Kara Thrace Finds Herself

In yet another major revelation of this episode, Starbuck finds the waning beacon that has signaled their way to Earth, only to find what appears to be a corpse of herself in a burnt up and destroyed Viper (which also has the same markings of the ship she returned in). For the first time Leoben looks scared of her, and now even he is unsure of himself, not knowing what any of this means. Starbuck ends up burning the corpse, yet keeps the dog tags and wedding ring she found around the corpse's neck. She tells no one of her discovery.

Now our question about Starbuck has turned from "How did she survive her ship's explosion?" to "Why are there two copies of Starbuck?" Is she a surviving member of the 13th Tribe? For some reason that just doesn't feel right. Is she Aurora reincarnate? Is this the fulfillment of The Hybrid's prophecy, that she would lead the fleet to their doom? Only time will tell - I have a feeling they are going to let this one play out unanswered for a little while.

- Dualla Meets Her End

In a more surprising twist than the final Cylon reveal, Dualla offs herself after what is seemingly the beginning of a reunion with Lee. Alas, it is merely the final night out of someone who has been rocked so severely by the discovery of a scorched Earth that she can't bear life any longer, and had already decided in the shuttle flight off the planet that she was going to do it. The testing of character that Weddle mentioned at the beginning of this post has claimed its first victim.

- And Finally...the Last of the Final 5 is Revealed

I've seen quite a few complaints over the interwebs that the reveal of Ellen Tigh as the 5th Cylon was underwhelming. I for one am glad that the producers and writers didn't go for the "AHA! Gotcha!" shocker-type reveal, and instead went with what felt more natural to the storyline. If you think about it, it makes the most sense. And in typical Ron Moore fashion, it is going to add a new layer of complexity to the already fragmented relationships aboard Galactica. Indeed, Ron Moore has since confirmed that Ellen was the one D'Anna was speaking to in the Temple of 5 when she apologized.

So, questions that are born from this reveal:

- Was Ellen in the dark about her nature like the others? It appears so, upon recollection, but we'll not know for sure until the show gives us further back story.

- Did Ellen resurrect after Tigh killed her back on New Caprica?

- Will she be angry with Tigh when she returns?

It is definitely going to be a harrowing ride over the next few weeks, as I'm sure we will witness more of the fallout from our beloved Capricans' shattered dreams. Who will rise to the occasion, pull themselves up by their boot straps, and try to grab onto some hope in this despair? Admiral Adama appears to be on that road after descending into his own pit of darkness. Roslin, after burning what is essentially her Bible, clings to a fragment of plant-life from the barren planet. Who will be shattered, and who will prevail? It will be painful to watch, my friends, but riveting television nonetheless.

Tell us what you thought in the comments!

It's almost BSG-Friday again folks. We've been through a long journey, you and I, much like our beloved Capricans, and entering into the final leg of this journey has filled me with a mix of jubilee and sorrow.

This is not going to be a recap - I'm saving that for the premiere - but rather my thoughts on key elements of the webisodes, and what kind of impact they could have on the following episodes of the series finale.

Without further ado, let's dig right in:

- The episode begins 6 days after they find the scorched Earth.

- Tigh seems to be back in charge of CIC again, and orders Gaeta off the bridge for a little R&R. The question is - is Tigh still drinking?

- So Gaeta is gay (or bi?). Hmm. Interesting. On podcast commentary Ron Moore talked about being asked why they didn't have homosexuality on the show. Moore responded that they just hadn't for some reason. This feels like the writers trying to force something into the show that wasn't there to begin with. It's not a huge deal logically to me, but I guess we'll see where this goes.

- Whilst on the shuttle to R&R (where two 8's board as well), Cylons jump into range and cause the fleet to jump away. Gaeta's shuttle jumps into unknown space with the fleet nowhere to be seen. Whoops.

- Possibly the most techno-babble for the entire series on this one episode. Period.

- An 8 says, "Felix, don't you remember me?" Via a flashback we see that Gaeta has a history with her from New Caprica.

- One of the 8's onboard the shuttle dies from shock trying to repair the shuttle. Foul play?

- OK, someone explain this to my idiot mind - if they only had 20 hours of air on board the shuttle, didn't that go out the door when they threw the #8 overboard?

- Wait, so Gaeta got it on with an 8 back on New Caprica? Now she has gone psycho and killed all the shuttle party. Talk about your crazy ex-girlfriends!

- Now we know that Baltar knew about Gaeta and his 8. This should make for an interesting reunion between Batlar and Gaeta when the series resumes.

- What exactly is Gaeta going to tell Adama? Thoughts, anyone? I guess we'll find out soon enough.

All in all I was pretty astounded by these webisodes. Usually networks saddle viewers with a bunch of lame crap that can be avoided (see Heroes for an example). But these felt like an actual seasonal episode broken into chunks, with weighty developments that will inform the rest of the season. Good on you, Mr. Moore.

Now, BRING ON THE PREMIERE!

Here's Scifi's plot outline for the webisode series:

""The Face of the Enemy" follows the action and suspense inside a stranded Raptor carrying a group of passengers, including Lt. Felix Gaeta (Alessandro Juliani) and a Number 8 Cylon (Grace Park). When passengers suddenly start dying in alarming ways, fear, panic and chaos erupt within the confines of the small ship as suspicion grows that there is a killer among them. Michael Hogan (Col. Tigh) and Brad Dryborough (Lt. Hoshi) also star."

And here's the scheduled broadcast dates on the web:

Dec. 12: Chapter 1
Dec. 15: Chapter 2
Dec. 17: Chapter 3
Dec. 22: Chapter 4
Dec. 24: Chapter 5
Dec. 29: Chapter 6
Dec. 31: Chapter 7
Jan. 5: Chapter 8
Jan. 7: Chapter 9
Jan. 12: Chapter 10

Head over to Scifi.com to see the webisodes at 12 pm EST on the dates shown above, and stay tuned right here at Battlestar Fodder for your enthralling episode recaps!

"A promotional trailer for SCI FI Channel's upcoming prequel movie Caprica has gone live on SCIFI.COM. The trailer is the footage screened to the Television Critics Association press tour on July 20 and sets up the universe of the prequel to SCI FI Channel's original series Battlestar Galactica."

I have to say, it's looking pretty sweet folks! Let's hope they release some HD video soon!

Click here to see the tiny vid

The stage was set - the mood around the Frak Party this past Friday eve was of a palpable, barely suppressed jubilee. You might think it was the single-malt whiskey being passed around (thanks to all of RDM's podcast suggestions), but our joy was not one you could find in a bottle. Having been witness to season-ending plot-twists the likes of which had us jumping up, clutching our heads, and yelling, "Holy Frak!" - we could only stand around and guess at what Ron Moore and company had in store for us this go round, especially with the series ender looming in the far-distance.

But you could bet, between the sips of whiskey and the chain drags of the Baltar-sized cigars, that we had smiles on our faces as we analyzed every plot strand and wondered at the fate of our favorite characters on television. The crystal-clear night under the stars, with the BSG soundtrack blaring in the background, seemed ripe for grand revelations indeed.

And boy did our beloved writers, actors, and directors ever deliver on the promises that had been developing over the course of the season - and the series!

Journey with me on an in-depth review of this perfect episode, and maybe, just maybe, we can push back the wait for episode 10 (officially #12) just a little bit longer.

(Throughout the recap we'll be linking to the Battlestar Wiki, an incredible repository of factual information about the show. Do yourself a favor and immerse yourself in the rabbit hole that wiki leads you down. We'll also reference our own previous recaps to refresh your memory on key points.)

LET IT BEGIN!

The lights dim, everyone takes their places in the room, and in his best Admiral Adama impersonation our host yells "Nobody better say a frakking word for the next hour!" which elicits a chuckle from the crowd.

Then the familiar stuttered keyboard strands of the BSG intro blare from the stereo - "bum - bum, bum, bum - bum, bum - bum, bum, bum," and a hush immediately settles over the basement entertainment room.

In the official recap, the producers pepper us with key moments that set up the brilliance of this episode: Tyrol and crew marvel at Starbuck's mint condition Viper after her return; Roslin, having made her way to the rebel Cylon base ship, orders the hybrid to be plugged in, which immediately jumps them from the fleet; Zarek informs the Quorum that Roslin and Baltar were aboard the Cylon ship that jumped away; Lee questions his father's plan to wait behind for Roslin, as we see Bill drift in space alone aboard a Raptor because "...[he] can't live without her"; Helo and Sharon escape The Hub with D'Anna and order the nukes to fly, which destroy The Hub in a fiery explosion; Roslin informs D'Anna that she knows the Final 5 are supposed to know the way to Earth, and D'Anna states that she has to protect herself and will not reveal the Final 5 until Roslin takes her back to the fleet; Bill Adama is reading "The Searider Falcon" when the rebel ship jumps back to the rendezvous point, and Roslin and Adama are reunited in a teary union born of the revelation of the love they have for one another.

As the episode begins, Lee is in his father's quarters, flipping through the Sacred Scrolls (specifically, the Book of Pythia). He stops on a 2-page illustration of an ancient city, but it's not until Starbuck walks in that we learn what Lee is looking at - The Temple of Aurora. Lee remarks that Pythia, the ancient oracle, says in her writings that the temple is on Earth, but he doesn't look too certain about it. Starbuck reassures Lee that they'll get there and walk the halls together, but Lee is still in doubt that they'll ever get there.

You'll remember that the Aurora reference holds special significance to Starbuck. During "Maelstrom," she picks up the Aurora figurine for the first time when she visits the local oracle, who tells her to keep it until she figures out who it should be given to. Before the final flight that leads to her death, she gives it to Admiral Adama, someone producer Ron Moore has always said is a father figure to Starbuck. Adama places Aurora on his model ship as a figurehead when he learns of Starbuck's death. Given other prophecies of Starbuck's destiny as the one that will lead the humans to their end, only time will tell if Starbuck is a literal or figurative representation of Aurora, possibly one of the Lords of Kobol, as the Galactica's figurehead leading them toward Earth.

Starbuck quickly changes the subject away from Lee's doubt, remarking on the strangeness of Roslin and Adama not being present. Lee says that no one sits in his father's chair; in fact, Tigh won't even look at it. As we pan to the empty chair, Lee says that the scariest thing his mom used to tell him was that his father was waiting for him in the study. He would knock on the door and make the long walk across the room to the actual desk that now sits in the Admiral's Galactica chambers.

Starbuck, oddly enough, brings up a quote that Leoben once said to her while she was in captivity on New Caprica - "Children are born to replace their parents. For children to reach their full potential their parents have to die." This foreshadowing makes later scenes of the Admiral's break-down all the more harrowing.

On the rebel Cylon base ship, Leoben informs Roslin and the others that they will rejoin the fleet in less than an hour. Roslin states that she'll return the Final 5 to the Cylons, but D'Anna cuts her off by telling her that there are only 4 on the human fleet! Wait, what? Is D'Anna playing some kind of game here, based on her knowledge of seeing the final 5? Or is she speaking the truth? If she is speaking the truth, where is the 5th Cylon? Are they on the Cylon base ship? Currently, Roslin, Adama, Helo, Baltar, and the Galactica pilots and crew are the only supposed humans aboard the Cylon base ship. Or is the 5th Cylon somewhere else that we haven't thought of? At this point, while we are certainly interested in who the 5th is, the finale of this episode put that curiosity on the back-burner. More on that later.

Roslin asks where the 5th is located, but D'Anna is still holding her cards tight to her chest. She reiterates that she wants the 4 Cylons aboard the human fleet. Adama states that it'd be easier if she would just tell them who the 4 are, but D'Anna dismisses the possibility since the humans could just turn around and kill the 4. Roslin tries to assuage D'Anna's paranoia by reminding her that the humans need the 4 since they know the way to Earth, and Leoben agrees. He tries to coax D'Anna into cooperation, but the reborn D'Anna remembers all too well what happened when they cooperated on New Caprica (although, to me, that point is debatable). She declares that the humans aboard the base ship are to be held hostage until the 4 are safely aboard the ship, motioning to the Centurions to hold them at gun-point. Helo and the marines jump to action, pointing their guns at D'Anna and the other Cylons. Adama even draws his pistol and points it straight at her face. These days, pointing a gun at a Cylon is an actual threat now that The Hub is gone, but D'Anna doesn't seem to be too concerned. Roslin eventually intercedes and asks Adama to trust her and order a stand down. Adama complies reluctantly.

D'Anna, clearly in control, informs them that 8 has had a Raptor prepared for departure for when they arrive at the rendezvous point, and that Adama will be going along for the ride. Adama, reluctant to leave Roslin, at first refuses, but when Roslin hugs him she whispers in his ear that if the Cylons get the 4 they get Earth, so if that happens he must destroy the Cylon base ship, even with them all on board.

Back on Galactica, we witness the fallout of Gaeta being back in CIC with his amputated leg, trying to helm his old position. He doesn't look so good, and when he accidentally knocks his pain pills off the console, he has such a hard time recovering them that Dualla retrieves the pills for him. Tigh, still acting Admiral of the Galactica, asks Gaeta if he wishes to be relieved, but Gaeta says that he is "good to go" and turns awkwardly back to his radar - when the CIC warning bells go off! We've got Dradis contact! It is, of course, the Cylon base ship and a Raptor, bearing for the Galactica.

When the Raptor lands in the Galactica hangar bay, a squadron of marines and officers greet the ship's landing. The Sleeper 4 are in attendance, surely eager to find out how D'Anna's arrival is going to play out. Tigh and Tory are down on the hangar floor as part of the official delegate, while Anders and Tyrol watch from the balcony. Anders whispers, "Maybe she won't be able to identify us," but Tyrol just stares at him like it is an unlikely scenario.

Lee embraces his father as Adama and D'Anna exit the Raptor, welcoming him home. D'Anna stares at Tigh with a knowing smirk, then at Tory, and then presumably at Tyrol and Anders who are off screen. She stands before the BSG crew with an 8 and informs Lee that Roslin and the others are alive and well. Trying to wrestle some control back from D'Anna, Adama tells Lee that she wants the 4 Cylons that are on the fleet and will hold the humans hostage until she gets them.

D'Anna tells Lee that they actually don't need to do anything - she's already in contact with them, so BSG just needs to stay out of the way. D'Anna, obviously laying not-so-subtle orders for the Sleeper 4 in the room, states that now that the 4 know they are safe that they should find their own way over to the base ship. She requests that Galactica does not interfere with any shuttle traffic in the fleet.

Lee balks - that would give the Cylons the 4 who know the way to Earth, leaving the humans behind, but D'Anna says that it's up to the 4. Lee concedes, Adama agrees, and D'Anna prepares to depart and await the return of the 4 on the base ship.

At this moment Tory makes possibly the smartest move she has made all series. She approaches Lee and tells him that Roslin needs her medicine and Tory wants to be the one that takes it to her. Tigh, realizing that one of his Cylon conspirators is about to jump ship, tries to stop her by telling Bill Adama that they can't give the Cylons any more hostages. Even though Lee agrees, Adama says that another hostage is not going to change the equation (and, he no doubt wants Roslin to get her medicine), so he permits Tory to leave. The other Sleeper 4 look on in shock.

Back in Adama's quarters, Lee, Starbuck, Tigh, and Bill plot future plans. Lee's next step is to have Starbuck put together a mission to get Roslin and company back by force. Adama lets them in on Roslin's last request, that if they can't stop the Sleeper 4 from reaching the base ship she wants it destroyed, but he leaves the decision in Lee's hands since he is acting President. Lee watches his father put the Admiral pips back on his uniform, and then agrees with Roslin that if they lose those 4 they lose Earth. If everything goes south, he'll destroy the base ship and everyone on it. The camera closes on Tigh, who is obviously distraught over the turmoil he's feeling inside.

I'd like to pause for a second here and point out the magnificence of director Michael Rymer, whose deft camera work during D'Anna's unspoken communication with the Sleeper 4, with quick shots to the various Sleeper 4 to add emotional resonance to the scene. Rymer's work is always exemplary on BSG, and his skilled hand is readily apparent during this entire perfectly sculpted episode.

When we return to Galactica, BSG Sharon Agathon is in the situation room briefing Lee, Admiral Adama, Tigh, Starbuck, and Dualla on the prisoner situation aboard the Cylon base ship. Since D'Anna will probably have surmised that BSG Sharon has informed the Galactica of the prisoner hold, Sharon suggests that D'Anna may have moved the prisoners, which would mean a compartment by compartment fight. Lee cautions that the Cylons could open fire on the civilian fleet while they're boarding, and Tigh finishes the thought that they'd wipe out the human race instantly. When Starbuck states that's why the Raptors need to be on standby, ready to launch nukes, Tigh says that there has to be other options, to which Starbuck sarcastically replies that the 4 could just give themselves up. Little does she know that she's planted that seed in the head of the only Cylon in the room, Colonel Tigh.

Arriving on the rebel base ship, Tory is led through the hallways, and she doesn't yet look comfortable in her surroundings. When they get to the Cylon bridge, D'Anna announces that one of their lost siblings has arrived, ushering Tory into the room. What's intriguing is that the Twos, Sixes, and Eights that greet her do not even sense whether Tory is one of the final 5 or not. Leoben even asks D'Anna if she is one of the Final 5. D'Anna says that she saw Tory in her vision of the 5 (the faces of which we never saw). Tory smiles uncertainly. Are Tory and the others actually Cylons, actually part of the Final 5? Are they not recognized because they are different than the others? We've seen a captive #6 on Galactica sense the final 5 on board the fleet, so why do the Cylons on the rebel ship (which include 6's) not immediately, absolutely know that Tory is one of the 5? Again, only time will tell.

In another part of the base ship, Roslin is dressing Baltar's wound. Baltar feels compelled to thank Roslin for not murdering him. He knows that it wasn't an easy decision to make, but he loves living and wants to thank her for saving his life. After a moment where Roslin looks genuinely apologetic, she explains that his thanks might be misguided since she has ordered Adama to blow up the base ship should D'Anna not back down. Baltar looks incredulous, and is about to follow-up, but is interrupted by Tory's escort into the room.

Even as she is puzzled over Tory's appearance, you can tell that Roslin is relieved to see her at the same time, which makes the coming moments such a stab to the heart. After telling Roslin to sit down, she gives Roslin her medication. When Roslin inquires how she brought this about, Tory informs her that she came back with D'Anna - to be with her people! Amazingly enough, Baltar immediately pegs her as one of the Final 5, and a #6 confirms that D'Anna saw it in a vision (notice again that the 6 doesn't say she knows it herself, but is relying on D'Anna's vision).

Baltar says he knew it, maybe not on a conscious level, but he always knew there was something odd about Tory. As Roslin looks on with surprise still etched on her face, Tory asks her if she ever knew. Roslin confirms that she had no clue, to which Tory replies, "It might be worth pondering what else you've been wrong about." Ooh, I just want to poke her in the eye!

As Tory is walking out, Roslin quickly gathers her wits about her and admits that it is true, she was wrong, and since Tory is indeed one of the Final 5, and since the other Cylons will listen to the Final 5 she asks Tory to convince D'Anna to release all the hostages. Tory quips, "I'm done taking orders from you." Ouch!

In the vacuum of space, we see a humanoid figure being tossed out of the Cylon base ship's airlock. On the Galactica intercom, D'Anna informs Lee that there has been a change of plans - she has just executed the first of the Colonial hostages, and another will follow every hour until the other Cylons come home. Tigh is visibly distressed by the news, and I think this is the actual reason for D'Anna's gambit, opposed to what she is telling Lee - she knows that the Sleeper 4 will have feelings for the people aboard the human fleet, so by executing hostages she is trying to force their hand and make them finally head back to the base ship (especially after she witnessed Tigh try and stop Tory). This is why she terminates the transmission, even as Lee is pleading that they have been cooperating. Having no other choice, he gives Admiral Adama the go-ahead for the rescue mission, and failing that, destroy the base ship.

Down in the Galactica hangar, the pilots urgently ready their Vipers for the mission. Tyrol, for the first time since that mind-frakking Season 3 finale, hears the buzz and distorted hum of the music that triggered his revelation as a Cylon. In the pilot ready-room, as Starbuck and BSG Sharon brief the pilots on the mission, Anders is assaulted by the same buzzing in his head. In CIC, Tigh hears the sound as well, and aboard the Cylon base ship Tory nearly faints from the effect the sound has on her mind.

Later, the Sleeper 3 meet at Starbuck's pristine Viper, unsure of why they've all been summoned there. Tyrol senses that something has changed, but he doesn't know what it is. Anders suggests that Starbuck might be able to help. Tigh tells him to talk to her, but do so quickly because a lot of good people are about to die. He marches resolutely away from the hangar.

As Tigh walks through Galactica's corridors, we can tell he's moving with a purpose. He ends up in Adama's quarters, immediately telling Bill to scrub the mission. Adama, curious as to why Tigh is away from CIC, questions his presence. Tigh goes on to say that the Cylons will kill every hostage before they can even step foot aboard the base ship. He knows that Laura Roslin will be the next to die. Adama turns off the comm and says that he is open for options.

And here we go - the outing of Saul Tigh, somehow dedicated to the end, Cylon nature be damned. With all he has been through - the drunkenness, the loss of his eye, killing his wife (which has stayed with him since), the discovery that he is a Cylon and what effect that will have on his long-time friendship with Adama - is it any wonder he offers himself up as a hostage and a probable death sentence? Here is Tigh's chance for release from all his pain. There is no resurrection from death anymore. His last great act can be to save the path to Earth for his long-time comrades.

This scene, which we've been dreading all season long, is as painful as we'd feared. Tigh reveals that he's been activated and is one of the 5, and Adama reacts exactly like we the audience did the first time we learned that Tigh was a Cylon - how the frak could Adama's friend of 30 years be a Cylon? Adama, in fact, makes an excellent point - when he met Tigh the man had hair. He's never heard of a Cylon aging before.

Tigh, however, insists that the fact doesn't mean they don't exist. Before the attack on the colonies they didn't even know that the skin-jobs existed. As this sinks in, Adama is clearly unraveling. Tears threaten to spill. With more hope than certainty he tells Tigh that while in captivity the Cylons must have done something to him, like an implant or post-hypnotic suggestion. He's ready to take Tigh to see Doc Cottle.

Tigh grabs Adama and makes him listen, forcefully stating again that he is a Cylon and has fooled Bill for months. He didn't want to but he did. Adama tells Tigh to get his hands off him.

Tigh continues on, now bold in his declarations. He tells Adama that if he'd had the guts to airlock himself when he first found out they wouldn't be in this mess, but that's the way out not this suicidal attack. With the elation of release he declares again that he is one of the Final 5, and that D'Anna will back down if Adama threatens to flush Tigh out of an airlock. Adama - tears, anger, and confusion in his eyes - is shocked into silence.

In one of the most heart-wrenching, hard-to-watch, yet incredible scenes, Tigh is escorted away from Adama's chambers by marines, angst riddling his features. Adama, alone in his room, doesn't know how to let out the horrible range of emotions that have been bottling up inside, so he lets out a primal yell that raised the hair on my arms. Anger rises up as he destroys the contents of his desktop, grimaces at himself in the mirror, and resorts to drinking straight from the bottle - never a good sign for our beloved Admiral. But can you blame him? Seething anger lashes out again as he punches his mirror, leaving streaks of blood on the glass. Meanwhile, Tigh is taken straight to the airlock where he is watched at gunpoint.

Lee finds his father in the bathroom in a ruined state, completely drunk, lying on the floor. He cradles his father in his arms as Bill totally melts down into heavy sobs. It is said that a man will not cry until he is completely shattered, and I imagine this is ever more so the case with Bill Adama, whose steely resolve has seen him through more than a few trials. Here we see Bill Adama broken entirely, placated by his son. In this moment we're reminded of Starbuck's opening quote, "Children are born to replace their parents. For children to reach their full potential their parents have to die." We cried tears of pain with and for Bill Adama, and we feared for his self-preservation.

When the Admiral agonizes over what he has done to the fleet, Lee tries to reassure him by saying that he did it for Earth, but elder Adama is having none of it, spitting out the words, "It's a frakking joke. there is no Earth." It is in these moments that we begin to see the culmination of Lee's transformation into true statehood, into a leader that everyone can follow. In essence, we see him become his father. Lee grabs his father's face in his hands and tells him to pull it together, but Bill is too far gone in drink and sorrow to pull out of it just yet. When the Admiral says that he can't kill Tigh, Lee soothes him with the words, "It's going to be ok. I'll take care of it." And we believe him. Lee IS President now, in mind-set as well as function.

Lee marches straight to the launch tube where Tigh stands tall and belts one across Tigh's face, to the Colonel's surprise. Lee wants to know who the other Cylons are, but Tigh wants to know where Adama is. Lee snarls, "Right where you put him."

The engagement is broken by Dualla in the comm room - she's got a message from CIC that D'Anna is on the line. Lee takes the comm, and when D'Anna informs him that he's running out of time, Lee says that it's her turn to listen. He then threatens to launch Tigh out of the launch tube if they so much as give any of the hostages on the base ship a black eye. D'Anna stoically announces that she has no wish for further bloodshed, and when she requests the Admiral, Lee denies her request and says that she'll have to deal with him. He delivers an ultimatum in splendid Adama fashion - release the hostages within 10 minutes or kiss one of the precious final 5 good-bye. He hangs up the comm with finality.

Turning to Tigh, Lee tells the colonel that if he wants to save the fleet that he needs the others, and he needs them now. Aw, look who's all grown up now! Was it just me, or did he sound like Roslin when he demanded the other Cylon names?

Meanwhile, Anders has succeeded in getting Starbuck to look at her Viper again, but Starbuck isn't in tune with the signal that the Sleeper 4 have been receiving and wonders how they know that something's different. Anders plays his reaction well (not that it matters, he's about to get busted!), saying that it's just a feeling he has. Starbuck, sarcastic as ever, remarks that she has a feeling too - that they're out of their frakking minds. Anders and Tyrol play the trust card - they trusted her "feeling" for the pathway to Earth. Before we can find out Starbuck's reaction - in come the marines, here to bust the newly-outed Cylons.

As the marine squadron leader asks Anders and Tyrol to raise their hands and put them against the viper, Tyrol smiles and shakes his head with amusement as Anders looks on with worry. Starbuck asks the marines what the hell is going on, and the leader informs her that Anders and Tyrol are Cylons, just like the XO. Starbuck's reaction is rather priceless, and played perfectly by Sackhoff. We watch as a myriad of emotions play out across her face, much the same as Admiral Adama - bewilderment, shock, anger - before she turns and questions Anders by calling his name with confusion. Anders glances questioningly at Tyrol, who says, "Go ahead." Anders can barely look at her when he says, "It's true, Kara." As he's pulled away by the marines, Anders pleads with her that something has changed with the Viper, and that she has to find it. Starbuck can only stare in shock as he's led out of the room.

Aboard the Cylon base ship, things are coming to a head. #8 drafts a pair of Centurions as they hustle the hostage pilots to another area of the ship.

Back on Galactica, Anders and Tyrol join Tigh in the launch tube where Lee looks on with steely determination. Anders, in an unusually humorous moment for his character, turns to Tigh and says, "This is a wild guess, but...you told him?" Tigh nods his head and says that they should have done it day one.

Lee asks Dualla to get the base ship on the horn (I wondered briefly how Dualla now feels about the new and improved Lee - does she still resent him? Have her feelings resurfaced? We may never find out.) Dualla orders communications to hail the rebel ship.

In the hangar, Starbuck climbs into her Viper in slow motion, no doubt trying to suppress the crushing emotional weight of the recent revelation in order to figure out what the hell Anders was referring to. Can she feel it too, that something is not quite as it seems here?

In Roslin and Baltar's room aboard the Cylon base ship, they hear the pilots being herded, and Leoben rushes into the room to inform them that D'Anna is about to start executing more hostages. Roslin starts to leave, asking Leoben to take her to D'Anna, but Baltar says that D'Anna won't listen to her. He was the one in the temple with her when she had the vision, so he asks Leoben to take him instead. Roslin agrees, so Leoben and Baltar rush to get to D'Anna before any more executions can take place.

In the Cylon control room, D'Anna - now in contact with Lee - asks the President if he's ready to come to his senses. Lee responds with, "Anders and Tyrol have just joined Tigh in the airlock. They're in line for an express ride into a vacuum. You want them alive - stand down." It's interesting to note the expression of one of the #6's in this scene, who's worried face shows that she, as well as Leoben, are not complicit in the methods D'Anna is using to get the Sleeper 4.

In Galactica's hangar, Kara powers up the Viper, clicking on computer and communications systems one at a time.

Aboard the base ship, Tory says, "I know Lee. Press him and he'll back down." D'Anna orders a #8 to target their nuclear weapons on the civilian fleet. Baltar appears on the scene supported by a Leoben and calls her name.

In her Viper, Kara fiddles with the panels, turning on one of the comm instruments. Playing with the controls, she's able to tune in a mysterious signal.

On the base ship, Baltar informs D'Anna that coercion won't work with Lee, since he's too similar to his father. Tory still thinks Lee is bluffing, but Baltar's convinced that Lee now doesn't give a damn about the 3 Cylon hostages. If Lee's pushed, he will kill them. D'Anna, rather incredulously, states that the entire human race would die with them.

Starbuck races through the halls of Galactica as the Cylon base ship's nuclear launchers take their aim at the fleet, a fact of which Dualla informs Lee. They work out that if any of the fleet were to spool up their FTL's that they wouldn't have time to jump before the Cylons opened fire. Lee orders marine Sgt. Harder to clear the tube of everyone but Tigh.

Baltar, meanwhile, still continues to try and talk D'Anna down, asking her if she thinks this is what God brought her out of the darkness for. Maybe, he adds, God brought her back for a different purpose, to end this peacefully. D'Anna says that the humans will never forgive them for what they did to the twelve colonies, and orders 8 to proceed.

As Tigh is sealed into the launch tube by himself, Starbuck continues to race through the halls of Galactica. She knows that time is running short on revealing her discovery before another battle ensues.

On the rebel ship, Baltar reminds D'Anna that force didn't work on New Caprica nor on the algae planet, so why would it work this time?

In the launch tube comm room, Lee begins the sequence to open the launch tube. Lee, ready with the key, looks out on Tigh who is standing resolute to accept his death.

#8 informs D'Anna (rather coldly) that they have weapons lock on the human ships. D'Anna appears that she may, indeed, be having doubts.

Lee hesitates to turn the key. Tigh turns to Lee and says, "What are you waiting for Apollo? Do it." Just as he's about to, Starbuck bursts into the room and yells for Lee to stop. Out of breath, she says, "Those 3 frakkin Cylons just gave us Earth."

If you couldn't tell from that barrage of short sentences, the BSG editors out-did themselves with splicing these interweaving scenes together in dramatic excellence. Coupled with Bear McCreary's incredible score (with operatic voices!), RDM and company had many of us quite literally on the edge of our seats.

When we return from break, Lee is sitting in Starbuck's Viper examining the strange signal Starbuck discovered. He identifies it as a Colonial emergency locator signal. He asks Starbuck to confirm that no other wireless in the fleet is picking it up. Starbuck attests that Gaeta confirms that the channel is empty except for this Viper. She states that it has to be a signal from Earth. Lee, for once, thinks that Starbuck is reaching. Starbuck asks him to add it up - she vanishes into a storm, rides this Viper to Earth, coming back she gets a vision that leads her to the base ship, the hybrid of which tells her that the Final 5 have been to Earth but they need the missing 3 to bring them out into the open.

Lee says, "And now we're starting to get messages from the beyond, " with a touch of sarcasm.

She reminds him he heard the signal, that the Cylons led her to it, and that if it's Earth, they've given them the home of the 13th tribe, just the way the hybrid said it would happen. She tells him that like it or not, something is orchestrating this for a purpose. Lee wonders skeptically, "A higher power?" Kara says call it whatever you want, but it seems to want us to find Earth with the Cylons.

Next thing we know, the Cylons are coming aboard (you could call it "Guess What's coming to Dinner, Part Deux"), obviously at the invite of Lee. #8 examines the signal in the Viper, confirming something to D'Anna. D'Anna says, "One tiny needle in the whole fleet. Well you're right, it's wafer thin." Lee, a smirk planted firmly on his lips, says it's the best he could do at short notice.

D'Anna then polls the Final 4, asking them if they think it's the way to Earth. Tigh confirms it's a stretch, but it's the best they've got. Lee turns the statement in his favor, letting D'Anna know that they shared the info with the Cylons rather than jump away and leave them behind, which would have led to another confrontation.

D'Anna says, "All this has happened before..."

Lee quickly adds, "But it doesn't have to happen again. Not if we make up our minds and change. Take a different path - right here, right now. You were afraid we would kill these 4, yet here they are, standing right behind you, free to go, or stay - I've granted them an amnesty. So the question is, where do we go from here?"

D'Anna, apparently sensing that Lee's change of heart is genuine, agrees to release the hostages and join the humans in heading to Earth. Lee puts out his hand, and D'Anna willingly shakes it.

Back in Admiral Adama's quarters, Lee points to a map where the projected course toward the signal lies - destination Earth. With a smile on his face, he asks for the Admiral's orders. Bill, with a bandaged hand and still dressed in a robe, doesn't appear ready to be giving any orders, which prompts Lee to ask him if he's ready to lead the fleet to their new home.

Bill, obviously still in a state, responds that he doesn't know. And then a sweet voice to Bill's ears says, "You don't know what?" and then Roslin enters the room, fresh off the base ship. She brings a light to Bill's face, and he acknowledges that it's good to see her as she sits next to him. Roslin reminds him that this is it - this is everything they've been working for. She wants to see him pick up that first fistful of Earth (man does that sentence hurt given the final moments of the episode). Leave it to a woman you love to get you motivated - Bill says he'll be right back, and steps away from the two.

In his absence, Roslin remarks to Lee that she now sees Bill's state of mind (we can only presume that Lee had informed her of his father's depression before she came into the room). Lee thanks her, and then says that he's glad to see her again, calling her Madame President. He also mentions that the Quorum is happy too, and that he has just completed the shortest Presidency in colonial history.

Roslin tells him not to look so relieved, because he was dealt a crisis and knew exactly what to do, and faced it boldly. Gazing at him in that way that only Roslin can, she tells him that the fleet is going to need that leadership in the days to come (boy will they ever), so he's not off the hook just yet.

Just as Lee is getting emotional, Adama appears out of nowhere fully dressed in his military uniform, and says, "You guys gonna sit here and keep flapping your lips or are we gonna go find Earth?" The Frak Party room busted out in laughter and cheers at that one. Our Admiral was back!

Lee informs the Admiral that he and Kara have been working on a recon mission. The Admiral says it's the end of the line, that they've got nowhere else to go. If they give the alliance too much time it will fall apart again. He says they're going to roll the hard six and all go together as fast as they can. Lee says, "Yes sir, " with a smile on his face, glad to have his father back in more ways than one.

Before we enter the final act (and oh what a final act it is), I just have to say that I never expected the producers to get them to Earth this early. I figured that the series finale would include reaching Earth and then whatever surprise awaited us there. But here RDM and company twist away from our expectations yet again, which is why I love watching this show. I was kind of hoping they'd give us the Final Cylon and get that out of the way, but that is not as important to me now as what the frak is going to happen on "Earth" - but I'm getting ahead of myself.

At the open of the final act, Roslin and The Adamas are in CIC waiting for all the jump preparations to finalize so they can hit the final coordinate. When Dualla informs the Admiral that the ships are ready to jump, Bill turns to Roslin (addressing her as "Madame President") and says that without her they wouldn't have made it, so she should give the order to jump. Roslin chokes up, and then gives the order - "Take us to Earth."

Zing - zing - zing - zing.....the ships jump one by one to their destination, Galactica taking center stage as it jumps in last. Gaeta announces that Dradis is clear and the fleet is checking in. When the Admiral asks for nav, Gaeta replies that he's confirming position. The Admiral tells him to take his time and get it right. We the audience have yet to see the big blue marble in the sky.

The fleet checks in, and they're all accounted for. Gaeta turns to the Admiral - and confirms that visible constellations are a match. Outside, we're shown the fleet hovering in orbit around a giant blue planet (but dammit, we can't make out any continents). The Admiral takes the comm and addresses the crew. At this time, given all that we the viewers have been through, I'm going to post the full speech as if it's addressed to us as well as the fictional crew:

"Crew of Galactica, people of the fleet, this is Admiral Adama. Three years ago I promised to lead you to a new home. We've endured a difficult journey. We've all lost. We've all suffered. And the truth is, I questioned whether this day would ever come.

But today, our journey is at an end. We have arrived...at Earth."

Adama puts down the comm and hugs Roslin as the crew erupts into joyous celebration. It feels good, doesn't it? After all we've endured with these characters, after all the emotional ups and downs, we now have a bright light to look forward to. But something doesn't sit so well with us, does it? For us, the viewers, we know that there are 10 more episodes to go. Something starts to feel sour in the pit of our stomachs. The Frak Party room has gone eerily silent with expectation. What is awaiting them, and us, down on the surface?

In the midst of the celebration we see Tyrol, still on the Galactica, taking care of his child. We see BSG Sharon kissing Helo, and wonder about the strange look on Hera's face. We see Baltar, raising hands with his followers in worship. We see Tigh, still on Galactica as well, nursing a drink (uh oh). Starbuck looks at a picture of Kat on the memorial wall and says, "We made it, kid," as Anders walks up beside her, hope written on his face. Bill hugs Lee and says, "We did it." Lee corrects him - "You did it." And the viewers - well, we're given one of the most incredible orchestral works to ever hit television, entitled "Diaspora Oratorio," the words of which McCreary revealed on his blog:

Journey’s end
Weary travellers
Approach a distant shore
Verdant peaks
Pierce the melancholy haze
The sky breaks
Like a wave
We have all suffered
We have all survived
We have arrived at Earth
Brothers and sisters
Enemies and friends
Embrace
For we have come home

Green hills await
With wind at our backs
The heavens part
As we approach

And man, is that approach ever awesome. If any FX team should win an Emmy this go around, the voters need only take a look at this scene and know which one should win. Have you ever seen actual emotion expressed in the flight of spaceships? Yeah, neither have I. The ships flying down to the surface seemed to be beaming joy in their approach.

And that's why the episode's final scene is ever the more devastating. Remember when Roslin said she wanted to see Bill pick up that first handful of sand on the planet's surface, and how it revived him out of his depressed stupor?

Here she gets her wish in the most horrifying of turns. Bill's hand picks up a fistful of dirt, and as he pulls it up, a radioactive counter is ticking off the charts! The motherfrakking soil is irradiated!

The camera pans up, and the Admiral angrily tosses the dirt to the ground. The sky behind him is an ashen gray. Beside him, without any emotion whatsoever, Roslin says, "Earth," as if she has no more room for despair. D'Anna does, however, as she walks up next to the couple and surveys the horror that has yet to be revealed to our eyes.

We see BSG Sharon and Helo walk by others - Anders, Tory, Lee, a #6, Baltar, Tyrol, Dualla, and Tigh - all standing or walking around like zombies. Caprica 6 touches Tigh's arm from behind, but the emotion dies there as Tigh doesn't respond.

The camera pans past ruined structures that could possibly be ancient buildings, but they're in too much of a state of disrepair to tell. We pass a forlorn Leoben, and finally an anguished Starbuck, before the camera pulls back and shows us a wide shot of the devastation - the entire place is destroyed, and based on the radiation in the soil, it appears to be because of war.

Welcome home.

QUESTIONS FOR THOUGHT

- Did the alliance really land on Earth? We never see any actual continents in our space-view of Earth, like we did at the end of Season 3. Is it possible that they are not actually on Earth?

- Earth or not, what caused the devastation? Is this going to be a life-lesson for our humans and Cylons? In other words, "See what devastation is wrought from war?" We can see some powerful statements being made here, and given the subtle manner in which the writers have commented on modern issues in the past, we're sure they'd handle it with aplomb.

- Who is sending the colonial emergency signal that is only being picked up by the Viper? Is this person on the planet? Are they the final Cylon to be revealed? This would jibe with what D'Anna said about there only being 4 Cylons on the fleet, but we're not entirely sure she's telling the truth.

- Is that the Brooklyn Bridge?

- Is it 1st Quarter 09 yet?

Stay tuned to this blog for news and more during the break.

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What did you think of this episode? What questions do you still have?

Chat with us in the comments!

I have a Frak Party to attend tonight, and attendees have promised to serve my cojones up on a platter if I watch the live stream, so I'm trying to restrain myself. Must. Not. Click. Link.

You guys, however, are free and clear to click on over to:

Scifi.com

Please don't post any spoilers in this thread!

But enough gloom and doom - you're here for a recap!

We spent most of last episode aboard the Galactica as Admiral Adama searched for Roslin and company, while Lee stumbled into becoming President of the fleet.

At the beginning of "The Hub," we're thankfully taken back a few days to find out what happened immediately after the hybrid jumped the rebel Cylon ship away with Roslin and friends aboard.

As the episode opens, we're with the rebel ship in the moments leading to the hybrid being reactivated and yelling "Jump!". The Cylon ship disappears with the traditional BSG spark of light - and the next we know we're on board an empty Galactica, sharing in Roslin's first "jump-vision." In the vision, Elosha appears (Roslin's former spiritual advisor that died during Home - Part 1), but before Roslin can figure out exactly what's going on, they finish the jump and Roslin is brought back into the present aboard the rebel ship. As Roslin, Baltar, a rebel #8, and Helo try to determine why the hybrid jumped, the hybrid jumps again, and we're back with Roslin in her "jump-vision."

Roslin and Elosha walk through the empty corridors of Galactica and down to the sick bay, where they witness a dying version of Roslin on her apparent death-bed, gasping for breath.

Cue the BSG sigh and opening credits!

Act 1

BAM! We finish the jump and we're back in reality aboard the Cylon base ship. As everyone ponders why the hybrid is jumping so quickly, Baltar thinks he can get information from the hybrid due to his past association with it. Whether from Baltar's pleas or no, the hybrid reveals that the #6 aboard Galactica has been killed (which is why it is panicking). #8 informs Roslin et al that it will do no good to try and tell the hybrid to jump back since it operates autonomously, and unplugging it will not work this time since the hybrid has connected itself to life-support. Baltar comedically tries to calm the hybrid, and right as it seems his words are having effect, the hybrid jumps again and we're back with Roslin's jump-vision.

This time we're in sick bay again with the dying Roslin, as Bill Adama, Lee, Starbuck, and Doc Cottle stand around comforting each other. Elosha approaches the death-bed and, speaking to the dying Roslin (although the words are obviously intended for the Roslin having the vision) admonishes the President for keeping those that obviously love her at arm's length. The finish of the jump brings us back to reality, where #8 informs Roslin that the ship is jumping to keep up with the resurrection hub, which also keeps jumping. The mission is still on.

Later, alone together, #8 and Helo plot strategy for how they'll approach the hub, attack, while #8 and Helo will infiltrate the hub and extract D'Anna. #8 attempts to console Helo's worries over the mission by massaging his shoulders, an act BSG Sharon used to do. This #8 reveals that she downloaded BSG Sharon's memories, which wigs Helo out to no end.

Helo goes to the base ship's hangar to talk to President Roslin about the mission, who continues the truce betrayal by ordering Helo to bring D'Anna straight to her if and when the #3 is returned.

Meanwhile, Boomer Sharon and Cavil have boarded the hub and resurrected D'Anna, informing her that she caused the civil war. Cavil tells D'Anna that he has brought her back to heal the Cylons and end the civil war.

Act II

Cut to - mission briefing. Helo informs his pilots that they'll be towed cold behind the Cylon pilots before being released for attack. The human pilots are none-too-happy about the arrangement. #8 reassures the human pilots that they can trust her like they did BSG Sharon.

In the hybrid chamber, Roslin and Baltar try to coax some coherence of their shared vision out of the hybrid's babble. The hybrid wakes to inform them that the #3 is online, and as Roslin realizes she means D'Anna, the hybrid jumps again.

In the jump-vision, Elosha and Roslin again walk the empty Galactica corridors. They end at sick bay again where Adama is reading "Searider Falcon" to a sick and dying version of Roslin. The finish of the jump closes the vision.

Back on the rebel Cylon ship, Baltar humorously tries to talk about God to a Centurion, as Helo and Roslin discuss final tactics, including the fact that the hybrid said a #3 was back online. Helo tries to protest bringing D'Anna solely to the President, but Roslin will not relent.

Cue sirens - they've arrived at the hub!

Act III

On the hub, #8 informs Cavil that a base ship has arrived. As Cavil tries to convince D'Anna that she needs to end this war (and D'Anna wonders why they haven't asked about the Final 5), #8 announces that heavy raiders are in route. D'Anna realizes that the Centurion inhibitors have been removed as #8 informs them that it's the rebel base ship and they're obviously planning on attacking the hub. Cavil quickly understands what destruction of the hub means and tries to use it as leverage to convince D'Anna of the need for reconciliation. D'Anna, however, kills Cavil for good by banging his head on the side of the resurrection bath.

And now it's time for 'splosions!

Vipers attack the hub as Helo and #8 attempt to get inside the hub and take D'Anna with them. Helo and #8 make their way into D'Anna's resurrection chamber where they find the newly deceased Cavil. The hub is coming apart under the attack, however, so they don't have time to take it all in. They escort D'Anna out of the ship.

Out in the heat of battle, BSG pilot Pike takes a hit and decides to jump, but just before he does a Cylon raider blasts him through the cockpit. Now we know how Pike ended up dead and floating back in Galactica-space from the previous episode.

While Baltar continues his conversion of the Centurion, he's interrupted by an explosion that destroys the Centurion and puts a deep gash in Baltar's side. Baltar is dragged into the room where Roslin is waiting for the return of Helo, where she drugs him and dresses the wound to keep the pain at bay.

High as a kite - Baltar reveals to Roslin that he was the one that gave up the access codes to the Cylons! Baltar goes on to say that God has taken away his guilt, and Roslin (rightly so) temporarily loses it and decides to remove Baltar's bandage and let him bleed to death!

Act IV

As Helo, rebel #8, and D'Anna evacuate the hub on a Raptor, the attack team sends off nukes and destroys the hub (presumably along with Cavil's pet #8). The rebel #8 tells D'Anna that it's a good thing the hub is gone, because now they're just like the humans - which makes Helo feel like a big piece of crap.

On the rebel base ship, Baltar begs for his life as Roslin prays to an unknown target (is it Baltar's one true God, or the gods?). The ship jumps and we're back in vision-ville.

Elosha is still overlooking Roslin's death bed as she tells Roslin to just love someone. Elosha disappears as we witness Bill Adama discover that the Roslin on her death-bed has passed away.

The jump completes and we're back in reality, where Roslin comes to the epiphany that Baltar deserves to live as much as anyone and covers his wound again.

Helo escorts rebel #8 and D'Anna back on board the base ship, where he informs the two that he has to take D'Anna straight to the President and nowhere else. When D'Anna states that double-dealing is very human and that rebel #8 must have missed that, Helo painfully tells rebel #8 that he's just following orders. Rebel #8 throws the word "trust" in his face and backs away with betrayal written in her features.

When Helo finally gets D'Anna to the President's chamber, Baltar has gone pale. D'Anna inspects him and informs Roslin that it appears he will live. Helo confirms that the hub has been destroyed and unhappily leaves the room.

Alone with D'Anna now, Roslin immediately inquires about the Final 5 aboard her fleet - and D'Anna says, "but you don't know you're one of them?" I have to admit, I was sold - and nearly blown away - until D'Anna laughs and makes fun of the look on Roslin's face. The music totally sold the false reveal - and I think the entire audience had a good laugh with D'Anna after all the conjecture of who the final Cylon is going to be.

D'Anna goes on to say that she's not talking until she knows she is safe. After all, she's the last #3 in the known universe. She'll tell Roslin who the 5 are when they return to the fleet (uh oh!).

As the base ship jumps its way back to Galactica, Roslin sits next to the hybrid and stares longingly into the middle-distance as she experiences the jump-visions. She tells Elosha during one of the visions that maybe something is there for her, on Galactica, her home.

We next see Bill Adama, floating alone in his Raptor, looking on incredulously as the base ship jumps into existence. The music swells, he boards the rebel ship, and he and Roslin embrace in a tear-jerker moment that culminates from all the crap these two have been through together.

Altogether, this was one hell of an episode, and reminded me yet again why this is possibly my favorite show ever. I highly anticipate / dread this Friday (although not as much as the series finale - ugh!).

Coming up - the last episode for God knows how long!