Warning! Spoiler Alert!

Last Week: Someone to Watch Over Me

• The Chief helps Boomer escape from the Brig.
• Boomer beats up Athena, has sex with a clueless Helo, kidnaps Hera and jumps away from Galactica. (The Chief had no idea Boomer was planning this)
• The jump tears a hole into an already crumbling Galactica.

This Week: “Islanded in a Stream of Stars.”
Cylons and humans are working hard to fix Galactica but newer, larger cracks keep appearing before their eyes. Eventually a huge hole tears into one side of the ship killing tens of humans and cylons.

Starbuck and Ellen are trying to convince Adama to search for Hera but Adama refuses. Tigh convinces Adama to send a small recon mission to a place known as “the colony” – this is where the Five and the centurions retreated to after the first human/cylon war. The recon mission goes to the last known spot for the colony but returns with no signs of the place. Cavil must have moved it before the cylon civil war.

Ellen wants Tigh to do more to search for Hera but Tigh refuses. He doesn’t want to think of himself as a cylon. Ellen tells him that everything they did in the past was to prevent war and that Hera is their last hope. Tigh appears to be unconvinced.

Athena and Helo are, understandably, going through a rough patch. Athena won’t talk to him. She keeps having the same visions she used to have of Hera running away from her into the arms of Caprica-Six and Gaius. Roslin starts having the vision as well. Helo begs Adama to let him and Athena take a raptor to go and search for Hera. Adama refuses and tells Helo about the fruitless recon mission already conducted.

The cylons on the baseship are telling Adama that Galactica is a lost cause and that they should transfer onto the baseship. Both Adama and Tigh refuse.

Starbuck listens to Gaius on the radio. He’s talking about his belief in angels (he continues to see a vision of Caprica-Six and believe she’s his angel). Once he finishes his broadcast he spots the actual Caprica-Six trading with some of the people from his cult. He gives her his condolences and offers his help. She says she doesn’t want it, that he hasn’t changed but she has. He seems hurt. He later meets Starbuck in the bathroom. She tells him about her situation and gives him the dog tags she got off of her dead body on Earth, hoping he can find out what she is.

Anders is hooked up to Galactica’s main power grid, almost like a hybrid. He’s rambling. Kara can’t stand to see him like this so she takes out her gun to shoot him. He grabs her arm and starts saying some more stuff and calls her the harbinger of death. She releases his grip on her arm. Throughout the whole thing there are power fluctuations on Galactica. Tigh later has Anders unhooked – though it doesn’t seem like Tigh knew what happened.

They hold a funeral for the people who died while rebuilding Galactica. Once the ceremony is over Gaius grabs everyone’s attention and tells them that death isn’t the end. As long as you embrace death you will cross over. Then he tells everyone about Starbuck and says that the blood off of the dog tags she gave him is from a dead body and that the DNA matches Starbuck’s. Adama starts yelling at him to shut up but he goes on. Kara slaps him and walks away.

Boomer is on the raptor with Hera. Hera is crying and asking for Athena. Boomer threatens to tranquilize her but instead projects her dream house. She’s surprised to see Hera there with her. Hera goes to the room that Boomer imagined her daughter to be. Boomer later lands the raptor in the Colony – a HUGE purplish ship that makes a baseship seem insignificant in comparison. Cavil takes Hera but Boomer seems hesitant. Hera screams for Boomer. Boomer just stands there crying.

Lee meets Starbuck at the wall of pictures. He tells her it doesn’t matter what she is. She smiles, watches Lee walk away and then puts her own picture up on the wall. She goes back to Anders and tells him she needs his help figuring out the pattern that’s in the sheet music Hera drew her. She plugs him back in.

Adama walks around Galactica, and sees the construction crew working hard to repair the ship. Realizing it’s a lost cause he goes to his quarters and cries. He later calls Tigh and tells him to get ready to transfer onto the baseship.

Quote of the Week: “We’re abandoning ship, Tigh.” – Adama

Opinion: It’s sad to see Galactica in the state it’s in, but it’s clear that they need to get off of it before it tears in half. I still can’t figure out if Gaius is serious about his beliefs. Was he trying to exploit Kara’s situation to bring more people into his cult?

Next Week: Caprica-Six says that humanity’s final chapter is about to be written. The hangar deck on Galactica is filled with people. Adama is standing in front of a raptor and says that no one should feel obligated to join this mission; it’s likely a one way trip. Tigh, Ellen and Starbuck walk towards him.

Adama spends most of this episode looking after Galactica as it gets repaired by cylon workmen with cylon technology. He’s depressed about the whole thing.

Jealous much? Ellen shows a more human side. Photo courtesy of the SciFi network.

Caprica-Six gets attacked while passing through the lower deck of Galactica – Dogsville – where New Caprica’s refugees reside. She beats up her attackers but is worried about her baby. Cottle tells her the baby is fine, but throughout the episode she experiences pain. While wandering through the ship, she’s approached by Roslin who congratulates her on the baby and asks her if she’s had any visions. She hasn’t had any since she got pregnant.

Gaius tries to join his cult again but finds that they’re being led by Paulla now. They’ve got their own guns and food. Later, while the cult passes through Dogsville, he sees the poor and declares that he will give them his cult’s food. Paulla is pissed but Gaius hands out the food anyway. Soon the Sons of Aries come and take the food away. Gaius is afraid that Paulla will take away his spot as leader of the cult and sees Virtual Six again. She feeds him lines for a speech and he becomes the cult’s leader again. Gaius goes to Adama and tells him about the unstable conditions in Dogsville and convinces him to give the cult even bigger guns.

Ellen and Boomer board Galactica. Tigh and Ellen kiss and Boomer is taken to the brig. Ellen tells Adama, Roslin, Lee and Tigh about Cavil’s desire to create another resurrection ship. She requests to see the rest of the five and Roslin, Adama and Lee go to discuss the situation. In the meantime Ellen and Tigh have sex. Tigh later tells her he’s been with Caprica-Six. Ellen is furious.

She later visits Tory, the Chief and an unconscious Anders in the hospital. She’s still upset about Caprica-Six and Tigh having sex and grows even angrier when she finds out Caprica-Six is pregnant. Tory brings up the idea that all of the cylons should jump away and recreate the 13th tribe. Tory and the Chief vote yes, Tigh and Anders vote no (they assume Anders would say no based on what he said in the last episode). The deciding vote is Ellen’s – if she votes yes everyone must go, if she votes no they will all stay with Galactica. But she can’t decide at the moment.

Ellen goes to Tigh’s and Caprica-Six’s quarters. She inspects the room and informs Caprica-Six that she had sex with Tigh. She’s jealous that Caprica-Six is pregnant – Ellen and Tigh tried in their previous life but never succeeded. She assumes it’s because Tigh didn’t love her. Ellen mentions that Simon would be interested in the baby. Caprica-Six takes this as a threat.

Tigh and Ellen later get into an argument about how much he loves Caprica-Six. Ellen feels replaced. She meets with the five and Caprica-Six and tells them they will all leave Galactica. Tigh refuses to go with them but Ellen slyly tells him it’ll be better for Caprica-Six and the baby to live with other cylons. Tigh still refuses and tells Caprica-Six to go with the rest of them. Caprica-Six looks worried and Ellen tells her she’ll always be second to the Adama and Galactica. Tigh and Ellen get into another argument but they stop when Caprica-Six collapses.

Caprica-Six is in the hospital. The baby’s heart rate is low. Ellen seems genuinely sorry and says she only wanted to hurt Tigh. She ensures Caprica-Six that Tigh really does love her and she promises her she’ll go away with the rest of the cylons and leave her alone. Caprica-Six begs Cottle to cut the baby out, but Cottle tells her it won’t survive – it doesn’t. A sobbing Tigh is comforted by Adama.

In the hospital, Anders’ brain shows signs of activity.

Quote of the Week: “I’m gone for three minutes and you’re lapping up Paulla’s pragmatism.” – Gaius

Opinion: How did Boomer know where Galactica was? It was interesting to see a jealous side of Ellen – especially after seeing how caring she was towards Cavil. I don’t really understand why she was so upset with Tigh. It’s not as if he knew Ellen was still alive (and that he was her thousand-year husband) when he slept with Six.

Next Week: Starbuck is wondering what she is. She sees a vision of a little blonde girl playing the piano all alone in the hangar deck. They want to try Boomer for treason. The Chief begs them not to kill her. A ship blows up and there’s a scene of Boomer crying.

Cavil and Ellen argue about the pros and cons of being human. Photo courtesy of the SciFi network.

Correction Appended

The mutiny only left 39,556 survivors. Is Anders one of those survivors? Let’s find out! Here’s what happened on this week’s episode of Battlestar Galactica: “No Exit.”

Warning! Spoiler Alert!

Before I start, I must warn you that parts of this episode were semi-confusing, making the summary that much harder to write. I strongly encourage readers’ input on parts I may have missed/didn’t understand.

18 months ago: Ellen resurrects. She freaks out but calms down within a couple of seconds. She meets with Cavil and calls him John. They bicker for a while but Ellen is happy the entire time saying that John is the same petulant boy she loved and had high hopes for long ago.

12 months ago: Ellen tries to convince John it was a good thing that she gave the humanoid cylon models human traits and the centurion belief in a one true God. John is still pissed. He wants to kills humans for enslaving the centurions. He leaves and tells Boomer to have a heart to heart with Ellen.

10 months ago: John shows Ellen pictures of the supernova near the Temple of Hopes. She remembers that the temple was built 3,000 years ago by the 13th tribe when they left Kobol and found Earth. John informs Ellen that De’Anna uncovered the trick in the temple that revealed the final five and so he boxed her. Ellen tells him the trick must have been the work of God. John gets angry and goes on another rant about he hates being human and storms off. Ellen explains to Boomer that she created her children (the humanoid cylons) to be like humans so they could have free will and the ability to love.

4 months ago: John tells Ellen the resurrection hub was blown up. He wants her to help them rebuild it but she says she can’t do it alone – she needs the rest of the five. John doesn’t believe her and decides he’s going to cut her head open and poke around in her brain until he stimulates the right memory. Ellen tears up.

Two days ago: Ellen is sketching Tigh when John informs her that the Simons are prepping for her surgery. She gets into an argument with John and calls him a sadist and a murderer because he killed “seven.” John reminds her it’s her fault for creating a mistake. Ellen tells him he’s not a mistake and that she still loves him, but John leaves for the surgical room. Boomer tells Ellen she’s taking her to the surgical room but actually takes her to a raptor. Ellen jumps away from the baseship.

Present day: Tyrol shows Adama the cracks in the ship and tells him they won’t be able to jump without the ship exploding. Adama makes Tyrol the Chief again and tells him to fix Galactica. The Chief discovers that there are hairline fractures in the entire ship and tells Adama that he can fix it – if he uses cylon technology. Adama refuses to use it. He later changes his mind when he sees a huge crack in one of the beams in his room and he fully realizes/acknowledges the severity of the problem.

Roslin is on Colonial One looking at pictures of the dead quorum members. Lee tells her a new quorum should be based on the ships that are part of the fleet rather than the former colonies. Roslin likes the idea and tells Lee that she’s only going to be president in name – Lee will take care of all the rest.

Anders is in the hospital. He is mumbling incoherently and is having flashbacks of his former life. When he regains consciousness he tells Starbuck, Tigh, Tory and the Chief everything he remembers. But he passes out during the middle of his history lesson.

It turns out the bullet is in a critical part of Anders’ brain and caused a seizure. The doctors want to operate immediately but Anders is afraid he’ll lose his memory. In the end Starbuck decides for him and tells the doctors to operate. Anders is taken away for surgery begging Starbuck to change her mind. He tells Tigh, Tory and the Chief to stay with the fleet. Once the surgery is over Starbuck she quietly reassures an unconscious Anders. One of the nurses tells her it’s useless – there are no signs of any brain activity.

Quote of the Week: I’m a machine and I can know much more but I’m trapped in this absurd body and why? Because my five creators thought that God wanted it that way. – John “Cavil”

Opinion: Great episode, great writing… but like I said, I was a little confused about a few parts concerning the history of the five.

Next Week: Ellen lands on Galactica. She’s talking to Six, Tory and Athena. Six and Tory want to jump away from fleet and be like the original 13th tribe. They take a vote.

When originally published, this blog incorrectly identified the title of the episode as “Not Exit” instead of “No Exit” and misspelled “Kobol” as “Cobalt.” Thanks again to Bald Jason for the corrections.

Adama regains control of Galactica. Photo courtesy of the Sci-Fi network.

Last week Gaeta and Zarek took over Galactica, Roslin was on the run and Adama and Tigh were fighting to the death. Here’s what happened in this week’s episode of Battlestar Galactica, “Blood on the Scales.”

Warning! Spoiler Alert!

Gaeta’s troops capture Tigh and Adama while Roslin and Baltar escape to the baseship. Starbuck and Lee are running around the ship trying to get to the brig while Tyrol is crawling through Galactica’s nooks and crannies trying to gather ammunition.

Zarek clearly wants to kill Adama and be president of the entire fleet, but Gaeta wants to put Adama on trial. When Zarek meets with the quorum, he realizes that they aren’t willing to leave Roslin’s side so he has them killed.

Adama is put on trial with Lampkin as his lawyer, Gaeta as the prosecutor and Zarek as the judge. He is found guilty and Gaeta plans to have him executed.

Aaron Kelly catches Tyrol crawling through the ship but lets him go – ever since he helped kill the quorum he’s been having trouble being part of the mutiny. Starbuck and Lee break everyone out of the brig. During the jailbreak Anders is shot in the neck. Lee leaves Starbuck with Anders and searches for his father.

While searching for Adama, Lee, Tigh and Athena find a distraught Aaron. Aaron was supposed to be part of the firing squad but couldn’t stand to watch Adama die. He partners up with Lee to help find Adama.

Starbuck drags Anders to Doctor Cottle even though it’s pretty obvious that he’s is going to die. She runs into Lampkin and he very hesitantly agrees to help her. Back on the baseship, Baltar feels guilty about leaving his followers behind on Galactica and he decides to go back. Roslin threatens Zarek and tells him to give up. He counters her threat by telling her that both Tigh and Adama are dead. Rather than surrendering, Roslin gets pissed off and tells Zarek she’s coming for him.

Adama is freed and convinces the firing squad to help him take over the ship. Adama and his crew hurry toward the command room with random people popping out from nowhere and joining his side.

In the command room, Zarek tells his crew and the rest of the fleet to jump. During the countdown, Tyrol finally reaches his destination and tries to prevent the jump by clawing into the FTL drive. His hands are bloody… 3, 2… he finally unplugs it. He turns around and sees a huge stress fracture in the ship – had they jumped, the ship probably would’ve fallen apart.

Zarek freaks out when the FTL doesn’t work and tells the crew to attack the baseship but no one listens. Gaeta seems lost in thought and says something about the day of reckoning. All of sudden Adama bursts in and his crew overpowers Zarek’s. Adama assures Roslin that he’s alive and he takes over command of Galactica.

Gaeta and Zarek are in the airlock. Standing in front of them is a firing squad. They look at each other and smile. Adama orders the execution. Gaeta looks down at his leg stump (it’s been paining him this entire season) and says, “It stopped.” We hear gunshots.

Quote of the Week: “The truth is told by whoever’s left standing.” – Tom Zarek

Opinion: I know I’ve always complained about Gaeta, but I’m shocked that he’s dead. I never thought Adama would actually have him killed. Zarek is one thing, but (minus that stint on New Caprica) Gaeta’s been by Adama’s side since the beginning of the series. I have a feeling that Anders will die, but I’m hoping he’ll somehow be resurrected.

Next week: There are captions spliced in between scenes of Ellen. Murdered by her husband and having lost 18 months of her life, the final Cylon returns. She was resurrected and knows the truth.

February 9, 2009, 10:16 a.m.: When originally posted, this blog incorrectly cited the character “Ellen” as “Helen.” Thanks to commenter Bald Jason for the correction.

Warning! Spoiler Alert!

Tyrol and Lee take their stand against the revolution.
Photo courtesy of en.battlestarwiki.org

0620 hours A couple of fleet ships are refusing to accept cylon FTL technology.

0623 hours Gaeta springs Zarek from jail with the help of several Galactica crew members. Zarek leaves for Colonial One to convince the quorum not to allow an alliance with the cylons and in the process kills one person. A member of Baltar’s religious group witnesses the whole thing.

0741 hours On Colonial One, Lee is trying to convince the quorum to agree with the alliance. Zarek walks in and shocked Lee realizes he’s fighting a losing battle. Back on Galactica, Anders is alone with Diana Seelix. She distracts him and two crew members jump him.

0809 hours Gaeta tells Adama there’s a fire on Deck C and that the deck should be evacuated.

0812 hours Starbuck is on Deck C and hears the evacuation announcement. She grows suspicious and sees a bunch of civilians and crew members grabbing guns and ammunition from the evacuated area. Starbuck arms herself and calls the command room to warn Adama but Gaeta hangs up on her. On Colonial One, Zarek tells Lee that Adama let him go because he’s planning to bring the fleet under military control. Angered by this news, Lee flies to Galactica.

0902 hours As soon as Lee boards Galactica he’s attacked by Gaeta’s crew. They’re about to kill him but Starbuck comes out of nowhere, kills one guy and shoots another. She escapes with Lee. Sharon, Helo and their baby are attacked in their quarters and are held in the Brig with Anders and Six.

0922 hours One of Adama’s crew members come back from Deck C saying that the sensors have been rigged. Gaeta quickly calls for the Marines and without an order from Gaeta they start shooting at Tigh and Adama. Gaeta is surprised and quickly tells them to stand-down. Tigh and Adama are placed under arrest.

0925 hours Lee and Starbuck find Roslin and catch her up on everything.

0934 hours Gaeta has taken over the command room. Tyrol is with Balatar’s group and is leading the fight against Gaeta’s crew. He tells Lee and Starbuck to bring Adama to him in one hour so that Adama can escape Galactica with Baltar and Roslin.

0947 hours Adama and Tigh overpower their guards. Adama kills one guard and takes the other as a hostage.

1012 hours The rest of the fleet is worried about why Galactica hasn’t been responding to their hails. Gaeta calls Zarek to see what he should do and Zarek is surprised to learn that Gaeta let Adama live. Their conversation is interrupted by Roslin. She’s using Baltar’s wireless to try and convince the fleet to accept the alliance. Gaeta cuts off the transmission, but not before the rest of the fleet hears some of Roslin’s speech.

1017 hours Lee and Starbuck run into Tigh and Adama.

1027 hours Tyrol, Roslin, Baltar, Lee, Starbuck, Tigh and Adama are all in a forgotten hangar deck waiting for their ride. In the command room, Gaeta notices a raptor coming towards Galactica from the cylon baseship. Once he realizes what’s happening, he sends a rebel crew to the not-so-forgotten hangar deck to see what’s going on. The raptor leaves with Roslin, Baltar and Tigh. Lee and Starbuck leave the hangar deck planning to fight somewhere else. Tigh and Adama are all alone waiting for the rebel crew to come.

1041 hours Gaeta sees the raptor trying to escape and orders Galactica’s vipers to engage and destroy it. Meanwhile, the rebel crew throws a grenade into the hangar deck where Tigh and Adama are making their last stand. It goes off… To be continued.

Quote of the Week: “If you do this, there will be no forgiveness or amnesty!” – Adama’s last warning to Gaeta.

Opinion: There were some annoying parts (Starbuck kissed Lee after rescuing him) but I loved seeing Adama and Tigh that close again. I couldn’t include it in this super-long summary but Michael Hogan did some fantastic monocular acting and Baltar’s conversation with his followers was hilarious.

Next Week: The shift in power is beginning. Roslin is on the cylon baseship and Gaeta is telling them to give up. He says Tigh died while fighting and that Adama was captured, tried and found guilty. There’s a shot of him in the airlock about to get sucked out. Roslin warns Gaeta she’ll never give up and that she’s coming for him.

Warning! Spoiler Alert!

Tyrol learns a well-kept secret.
Photo courtesy of en.battlestarwiki.org

Tigh and Caprica-Six channel Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart as they see the ultrasound of their baby. This is the first time two cylons have been able to reproduce. Caprica-Six is happy because this means that the cylon race can survive sans downloading into a new body, otherwise known as resurrecting. This is especially great for the rebels who are cut off from all the resurrection ships.

Admiral Adama is pushing the fleet to accept the human-cylon alliance as morale continues to drop. The alliance promises to bring the fleet a vital upgrade: cylon-infused FTL drives. The catch? The cylons want a seat on the quorum, voting rights in the fleet, and the promise of the military’s protection. Gaeta objects and asks how the Admiral could be considering such a thing, but the Admiral says every option is on the table. Later, Adama is met with resistance from Zarek (see below).

Roslin has totally given up on her cancer treatments and being President. She hasn’t held a press conference since they found Earth and she doesn’t plan to have one. She convinces Adama to just let her enjoy her last days.

Tyrol finds out that his son, Nicky, has acute renal failure which can lead to chronic renal failure without treatment. He offers to give blood for Nicky, and when Doctor Cottle refuses his cylon blood the truth is revealed: Nicky is not Tyrol’s son. Cally was pregnant a little while before she married Tyrol and didn’t do a paternity test until after Nicky was born. Cottle refuses to tell Tyrol who the biological father is. When pressed by Tyrol, the doctor says the biological father has no idea he’s a father, and Cottle wants to tell him first.

Gaius holds a radio broadcast and basically blames God for letting the entire human race down. He tells everyone that God should come down to them and apologize. All of these fighting words cause his followers to get rowdy.

During the raucous radio broadcast Tyrol spies Hot Dog. They share a knowing look and Tyrol realizes that Hot Dog is the baby’s biological father. Tyrol get’s into a fight with Hot Dog while Gaius just looks on indifferently. Later Hot Dog is in the hospital room with his son and it’s clear that he does not like the idea of being a father. Tyrol tells Hot Dog he needs to stay with his son because that’s what parents do and then he walks out.

Gaeta is completely disenchanted with the idea of alliance with the cylons. He reflects the way the majority of the fleet feels. The fleet is a mess, suicide rates are up and Roslin is M.I.A. He gets into an argument with Starbuck (see below) and then holds a private meeting with some fleet members. His story is continued with Zarek’s.

Starbuck is verbally attacked by Gaeta in the mess hall. The whole fight was basically Gaeta taking out all of his frustrations with the cylons onto Starbuck. He implies that her past associations with cylons are as bad as being a cylon. She’s not taking any crap and tells him to leave her alone because she won’t hesitate to hurt him.

Lee is still trying to keep the government running as it should. Distracted by all of this, during a press conference he accidentally explains to the public that Earth does not have the fifth cylon. When pressed further he lets slip the gender as he explains they believe the fifth to be dead, but then ends the press conference.

Zarek doesn’t want an alliance with the cylons and is fighting Adama’s authority. Against Lee’s wishes, Zarek and the quorum pass a measure that gives individual fleet ships the authority to refuse cylon technology (effectively refuting any order given by Adama). The ships also retain the right to refuse cylons from boarding. The fleet begins to fall apart – 10 ships refuse cylon technology and 12 ships won’t even respond to Adama’s communication attempts. Later, a small mutiny breaks out on a fuel ship and a few cylons are killed in the process. The rebel ship refuses to listen to Adama’s orders and jumps away with the entire fleet’s fuel supply. Adama learns the ship was in communication with Zarek for advice and has Zarek jailed. Adama threatens to reveal Zarek as a corrupt Vice President who has been selling his position for the past year. Zarek gives Adama the coordinates of the fuel ship and Adama has the ship brought back. It turns out that the “evidence” Adama had against Zarek was fake (a folder with Zarek’s name on was filled with laundry orders). Gaeta visits Zarek in his cell and convinces him to lead a revolution against Adama and Roslin’s tyranny. Zarek agrees and Gaeta is now his partner in revolution.

Opinion: Adama is definitely tyrannical, but I think the alliance is a good idea. Lee needs a vacation and Roslin just needs to go. As annoying as Gaeta is, I can’t wait to see how his alliance with Zarek will hold up against the Adama/Cylon alliance.

Quote of the week: “Every revolution beings with one small act of courage. But I hope you know how serious this is. I hope you understand that this will have consequences — deadly consequences.” – Zarek talking to Gaeta.

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

Warning: Spoiler Alert!

The fleet can wait. Adama’s crazy in love.Photo courtesy of the Sci-Fi network.

Natalie dies after being shot by Sharon-Athena. Moments before Natalie dies on the operating table she recites prayers continually saying, “Heavenly Father.” All of the government officials are freaking out because President Roslin and Baltar were on the baseship that jumped away and because Adama isn’t supporting Zarek’s presidency. Everyone believes that the baseship jumped away because Sharon-Athena killed Natalie. Sharon-Athena is scolded by Adama and is put in the brig for murdering an unarmed woman and putting the entire fleet in danger. She’s not allowed to have Hera in there with her until the end of the episode.

Adama is flipping out because the basestar jumped away with most of the colonial fleet’s pilots (including Helo) and more importantly with Roslin. No one knows where the basestar or the resurrection hub they were supposed to destroy jumped to. What’s worse is that Zarek has taken over as President. To top things off Adama finds out Tigh has been sleeping with Caprica-Six and that she’s pregnant with Tigh’s baby. (Chyeah, that’s right). Adama and Tigh get into fisticuffs over it but they work it out.

Lee doesn’t accept Zarek’s presidency either and teams up with Romo Lampkin to search for a proper war-time replacement president. A cynical Lampkin keeps telling Lee to accept Zarek as president but Lee refuses. After considering 47 people they still come up empty-handed. Predictably Lampkin soon realizes Lee is the only viable replacement, and accuses Lee of manufacturing the search. Less predictably Lampkin then holds Lee at gunpoint and threatens to kill him. It turns out Lampkin’s depressed about his wife’s dead cat. The cat was the last reminder Lampkin had of his family that died during the original cylon attack on the colonies. Lampkin thinks humans should accept their fate and that Lee shouldn’t be president because he would only give the fleet more useless hope. Lee convinces Lampkin that he would be a good president and so Lampkin doesn’t kill him. Lee is sworn in as president and a very pissed of Zarek takes his Vice President position again.

Meanwhile, Adama frantically searches for the missing basestar. A damaged raptor jumps back to the fleet’s position, after securing it they learn it is the same raptor that took Roslin and Baltar to the basestar. Adama has the Galactica jump to the raptor’s last coordinates (which were determined using its flight data recorder), leaving the fleet to be defended by the few pilots left under Starbuck’s command. It appears that the hub was destroyed but at the cost of several Galactica pilots. Adama still doesn’t believe that Roslin is dead and commands several fighters to search the debris field for clues of where the basestar jumped to – further straining Starbuck’s defense system. As the search continues Adama gets lectured by Tigh and then Starbuck on its futility, but it’s only when Lampkin talks to him that Adama comes to his senses. Lampkin does this by helping Adama realize he cannot live without Roslin, “Sine Qua Non,” and thus has lost his objectivity. With this epiphany, Adama gives command of the fleet to Tigh (who did some fantastic monocular acting) and flies out in a lone raptor while the fleet jumps away. Adama sits in his raptor reading Searider Falcon waiting for Roslin.

Quote of the Week: “You know how many times I’ve had to repair this thing?” –Adama referring to a model ship that was crushed during his fight with Tigh.

Next Week: D’Anna is unboxed by Cavil and boomer. She chokes him out. Later she’s seen telling someone that they are the final five. President Roslin looks shocked.

“Great Hera!” Athena’s about to bust a cap or two on a Six. Photo courtesy of the Sci-Fi network.

Warning! Spoiler Alert!

The Demetrius and the basestar agree to jump back to Galactica together to ensure that the basestar doesn’t get attacked. The Demetrius fails to jump because of technical problems so all Galactica sees is a huge basestar in front of them. Adama sends vipers out to attack the basestar but Colonel Tigh orders to hold fire. Demetrius finally jumps and Helo convinces Galactica that the crew on board the basestar is friendly.

Natalie-Six and the rest of the rebel cylons offer the humans an alliance. As part of the alliance Natalie gives the humans the coordinates to the resurrection hub for all cylons. The plan is:
1. Un-box D’Anna so she can reveal the final five.
2. Blow up the resurrection hub so that no cylon can ever resurrect again.
3. Have the final five join the rebel cylons.

Fearing he may be discovered, Tigh tries to convince President Roslin to blow up the resurrection hub without finding out who the final five are. Instead, Roslin plans to have the final five accompany the humans to Earth and then hand them over to the rebel cylons. Natalie and the rest of the rebels don’t trust the humans and decide that after the hub is destroyed, they’ll have the centurions hold any humans on board the basestar hostage until the final five are given to the rebels. Meanwhile, the 12 representatives of the government are cheesed off that Roslin agreed to an alliance without their approval. With Roslin’s approval Natalie attends a meeting with the 12 representatives to convince them the agreement is sound. After the meeting, Natalie realizes her hostage plan will only increase distrust between humans and cylons. Natalie tells Leoben to try and convince the centurions not to take the humans hostage while she goes to Adama to stall the jump to the resurrection hub.

Roslin finds out Tory has been sleeping with Baltar and uses her to try and convince Baltar not to broadcast rumors that Roslin’s been sharing visions with Caprica-Six and Athena. Roslin soon has a shared dream with Athena and Caprica-Six. In the dream, both Roslin and Athena chase after Hera as she runs to Six. Six picks her up and walks into a room with Baltar as two doors shut behind her. Athena wakes up to find Hera by her bedside saying, “bye bye.” Starbuck visits Roslin after the dream and tells her about the hybrid’s prophecy about the dying leader and the opera house. Roslin takes Baltar onto the basestar with her to talk to the hybrid. As soon as the hybrid is plugged back in it yells, “Jump!” and the basestar jumps away to some unknown place. Meanwhile on Galactica, Hera has been drawing images of Six. She runs away and Athena runs around Galactica looking for her. Hera finds Natalie as Natalie is being escorted to see Adama. Remembering her dream of Hera being taken by Six in an opera house, Athena takes out her gun, tells Tyrol to escort Hera away from Natalie and then shoots Natalie in the chest twice.

Gaeta’s leg is too far gone to save and is amputated. He comforts himself by constantly singing (good voice too). Anders (who has killed plenty of cylons on Caprica) is having an incredibly hard time dealing with the fact that he injured Gaeta so badly.

Opinion: Good stuff. I really wish Athena hadn’t shot Natalie. Also, as annoying as Gaeta is, I wish he didn’t have to lose his leg.

Quotation of the Week: We blow the hub and billions of skin jobs lose their bath privileges. – Colonel Tigh

In Two Weeks: Adama wants to leave the rest of the fleet behind and jump in search of the basestar. Lee is on another craft wondering where Galactica went. The doctor runs tests on Caprica-Six and learns something that makes Adama yell at Tigh. Adama tells Tigh he’s putting the whole ship in jeopardy because of his weakness. Tigh gets angry and punches Adama, who goes flying across the room. The fight doesn’t look like it’s over as Tigh marches towards Adama.

A trigger happy Anders puts Gaeta’s leg at risk and helps kill a Six. Photo courtesy of the Sci-Fi network.

Warning! Spoiler Alert!

On the Demetrius, Helo commands Starbuck to be jailed and tells Gaeta to have Demetrius jump back to Galactica. Anders, who’s only aim is to do what he thinks Starbuck wants, shoots Gaeta in the leg to prevent the jump. Starbuck helps patch-up Gaeta’s leg and tells Helo to have the Demetrius jump back to Galactica while she, Leoben and Athena take a viper to the cylon basestar to meet with a hybrid. Later they decide that Helo will wait 15 hours before jumping to Galactica, giving the viper crew some time to get back before the Demetrius jumps. However, Helo is put in a hard position when Gaeta says he’ll likely lose his leg if they don’t jump back to Galactica soon. Starbuck, Leoben, Athena, Anders and Barolay head out to the basestar. Amid all of the wreckage of the destroyed ships Starbuck sees the basestar streaking across a planet and realizes that the comet she had been dreaming about this whole time was actually the basestar.

Inside the basestar, Athena is approached by several Eights who consider her a hero because she was the first cylon to rebel against her programming. They want her to lead a rebellion against Six who they believe has been making crucial leadership mistakes. A disgusted Athena tells them they need to learn loyalty. Anders gets close to putting his hand in the cylon control consol but gets distracted when a Six recognizes Barolay as the person who drowned her on New Caprica. The Six beats Barolay to death and Anders threatens to shoot the Six. Natalie-Six consoles the Six and asks her why she killed Barolay. The Six explains that she couldn’t get over the fact that Barolay treated her so savagely on New Caprica. Knowing there’s no hope for resurrection, Natalie-Six kills the Six to ease tensions between the cylons and the humans. Starbuck meets with the hybrid who seems to be spewing a whole bunch of crazy. Starbuck tells an Eight to unplug the hybrid so they can fix the basestar’s jump drive but a Centurion objects and kills the Eight. Starbuck kills the centurion and the hybrid tells Starbuck a cryptic message and ends by saying that Starbuck will bring everyone to their end. The Eight lays there dying, apologizes to Athena and holds out her hand hoping Athena will comfort her. Instead, Athena stands there and watches her die while Anders holds her hand and tells her everything’s going to be fine. Natalie-Six and Leoben try and decipher the message (look at the quote of the week below) and conclude that the only way they can get to earth is through the help of the final five. They believe they need to unbox D’Anna because she’s the only one who can recognize the final five. A worried Anders sits near the dead Eight listening to the whole conversation.

On the Demetrius, the clock counts down to zero and Helo prepares to jump when suddenly the basestar, under the control of Athena, appears.

On Galactica, President Roslin is undergoing intense cancer treatment. She’s completely bald and places all her trust in Tory. While receiving her treatment, Roslin befriends another cancer patient who constantly listens to Gaius’ pirated radio broadcasts and who has come to believe in a one true God. The patient tells Roslin that she believes in God because she dreamt herself crossing a river and saw her deceased family members waiting for her on the other side. Roslin remains unwavering in her disbelief but soon after the conversation she has a dream where she’s crossing a river and sees her deceased family members on the other side. She wakes up to a radio broadcast of Gaius preaching about the river that separates the visible world from the unseen world. Roslin talks to Adama about her dream. He says that Roslin has convinced him that the search for Earth is not a fantasy.

Opinion: Yes! This is what I’ve been waiting for. I’m just so happy that I don’t even know what to write. The best scene was definitely between Natalie-Six and the other Six. The writers did a great job of showing how human cylons are and how cold humans can be (as seen through Barolay, who took pleasure in watching the Six drown and threatened to do it again).

Quote of the Week: Thus will it come to pass. The dying leader will know the truth of the opera house. The missing three will give you the five who have come from the home of the 13th. You are the harbinger of death, Kara Thrace. You will lead them all to their end. End of line. -Hybrid

Next week: The Demetrius and the basestar crew transfer onto Galactica. Athena sees that Hera has been drawing images of Six. Hera walks towards Natalie-Six while Athena runs up behind her with a gun telling Natalie-Six to get away from her daughter.