The first episode of the final Battlestar Galactica season (I’m pretty sure it’s the final season this time) aired on Friday. Let’s get to it!

Warning: Spoiler Alert! If you haven’t seen the season premiere yet, stop reading now!

Season 4 recap:

Tyrol in “Sometimes a Great Notion”. Photo courtesy of en.battlestarwiki.org

• Galactica’s crew teamed up with D’Anna and the rest of the rebel cylons (eight, sixes and twos). They plan to find Earth together.
• D’Anna says only four of the five are currently on the fleet.
• The whole fleet finds out that Tigh, Anders, Tyrol and Tory are four of the final five.
• D’Anna refuses to reveal the fifth cylon until she’s safely reached Earth.
• Galactica and the cylons make it to Earth only to find that it’s a nuclear wasteland.

Sometimes a Great Notion
Dualla is on Earth picking through the low-radiation rubble left on Earth. As she’s looking for any sign of life, she finds a set of charred jacks. She realizes that Earth was a hopeless dream and has a breakdown in front of Helo. When we next see her, she’s in a better mood — going as far as comforting Lee and persuading him to take control of the situation and boost the fleet’s morale. She later goes out on a date with him and is even more cheerful. She kisses him goodnight and goes into her room where she meets Gaeta and reminisces about her childhood with him. As soon as Gaeta steps out of the room she grabs a gun and shoots herself in the head.

Lee is desperately trying to keep the government running despite the obvious depressed attitude of the fleet. However, he can’t convince Roslin to publicly address anyone about Earth. After Dualla convinces him to address the fleet, he tells the press that the fleet is finally free of the prophecy. He goes out with Dualla, kisses her goodnight and 45 minutes later finds out she killed herself. He can’t comprehend why she did it.

With the help of Leoben, Starbuck searches for the colonial signal which led them to Earth. When she eventually finds the source, she also finds a piece of a viper wing. Leoben points out that “757 NC” is painted on the wing and then a shocked Starbuck tells him that her viper’s registry was “8757 NC.” Eventually Starbuck finds the rest of the viper and finds the body of the pilot inside. The dog tags for the pilot read “K. Thrace”. She freaks out, wondering how she got back to the fleet if her body and viper are strewn on Earth. She tells Leoben about the cylon hybrid’s warning of her being the harbinger of death and Leoben flips out and runs away. Later, Starbuck burns the body and meets Lee on one of the fleet’s ships. She’s about to tell him everything, but when she learns about Dualla’s death, she ends up saying nothing.

Roslin realizes all hope for life on Earth was nuked 2,000 years ago. She gives up on the prophecy that has been guiding her life for the past few years. She refuses to address the press and to be treated for her cancer.

Adama is triply depressed. Not only was Earth nuked 2,000 years ago, but it turns out that the members of the 13th tribe that founded Earth were actually cylons, not humans. He learns that Dualla killed herself and he is unable to convince Roslin to continue her cancer treatment. The morale on Galactica is the lowest it has ever been. The crew is either fighting each other, or is content to lie in the corridors. Unable to take all of this pressure, Adama turns to the bottle. Drunk and depressed, he tries to pick a fight with Tigh in hopes that Tigh might shoot him. Instead, he gets a pep talk and both Adama and Tigh go back to the being Captain and XO.

Tyrol wanders around Earth until he comes upon a ruined wall with a human shadow on it. As he approaches the shadow, he hears voices and the music that four of the final five have been hearing. As his hands touch the shadow formed on the wall he has a flashback of himself wandering in a food market filled with people. He walks around the market when suddenly there’s a flash of light and a nuclear bomb goes off. He has just remembered his past life as a cylon on Earth 2,000 years ago.

Anders is also wandering around the nuclear wasteland that is Earth. He too is drawn to a particular spot by the same song that Tyrol heard. He picks up the charred fingerboard of a guitar and his fingers run across it as if to play the song he has been hearing. He remembers playing that song to a woman (though we don’t see the flashback). Anders and Tyrol share their memories when Tory wanders in and says she remembers Anders playing that song for everyone, not just for Ander’s woman.

After having a heart-to-heart/fight with Adama, Tigh wanders around Earth. He too has a flashback and remembers digging through rubble looking for Ellen. When he finds her she tells him everything will be okay and that they will have a second life together. Tigh concludes that Ellen is the fifth cylon.

Quote of the Week: Ellen?! Ellen?! You’re the fifth?! -Tigh