BSG The Plan

If this is to be the very last word about Battlestar Galactica then I can’t help but feel it’s left a few things unsaid, and what it did say it perhaps might have said a little better. This straight-to-DVD feature-length special, The Plan centred around the original intentions the Cylons had for their assault on humans right up to the sudden shift in Cylon agenda that occurred at the end of Season 2.

The Plan began with a scene that slotted chronologically at the end of Season 2, with the two Cavil’s being taken to be flushed out of the airlock, and one Cavil telling the other why there had been a change in tactic. As a framing device it worked well enough, and it wasn’t shortly after that we were seeing the attack against the colonies from the viewpoint of the Final Five as well as the Cylon base ships.

The effects, whilst hardly blockbuster standard, were mostly impressive. The first hints that there was some greater force in the universe shaping events was present in such moments as Tory’s survival from the blast, crawling out of her car when everyone else around her appeared to have been wiped out. Ellen Tigh, also, survived in such a way like she did back on the original Earth. These were neat touches but, like most of the show, would probably be lost on everyone but proper BSG fans.

The manner by which the film skimmed along certain episodes from the first and second series was another narrative device that would have been bewildering to all non-BSG watchers. And yet here, in this conceit of filling in the gaps of episodes, is where my biggest complaint about The Plan arises. For every good fill-in there were some massive omissions.

A good one? Boomer’s ‘awakening’, dripping wet, having planted the charges in the water supply. We find out that Cavil was interacting with her, using an elephant as a recall tool to trigger her Cylon consciousness. It was nicely done and worked. And I like that we found out who Six turned to talk to in the miniseries after she had been with Baltar. Again, that was Cavil, and it was nice to have those moments revisited. Again, with Six, as the agent that tried to discredit Baltar - that was an odd episode that got a behind-the-scenes exposition.

But the omissions? The point that the Cylons kept attacking the fleet every thirty-three minutes. I presume this was because the Cylons were tracking them, and this was how long it took for the base ships to calculate their next jump? (Seems really slow, when you consider the Hybrid’s speed at jumping in later seasons.) But then the ship that had apparently been tracking them, the one Apollo and Starbuck shot down, it had appeared empty in that first episode. What had been going on there? The Plan felt like the perfect chance to answer that mystery, and it missed it.

Same goes for Starbuck’s internment in The Farm, where she received a scar. The Plan actually touched on this very subject, actually went there and showed pieces of it, and yet didn’t bother to explain why Starbuck had been given the scar. It was such a frustrating overlook that I really don’t know how to justify.

The Cylon plan itself did seem somewhat petty. That the Cylons were all hanging around the Final Five, and had inserted themselves within the fleet to mop up any survivors didn’t seem like the most machine-like and efficient way of achieving their goals. The suggestion was that the other Cylon models, aside from Cavil, were not so wholeheartedly bent on destroying humans. It’s really the only way of considering the Boomer/Helo on Caprica sideplot from Season One – that the Cylons wanted to know if the humans could love them and so, potentially, redeem themselves.

There were some interesting depths of the Cylon psyche mined. The Simon model, having a wife and family with humans, served as a direct counterpoint to the cold Cavil and the murder of the child at the finish (a fine BSG moment of ruthlessness). And Leoben’s drawing of the mandalas, and his intuition apparently drawn from future visions of Starbuck, all helped embroider his character’s actions. There was good stuff in The Plan, but the patchwork quality of the narrative didn’t help it all flow along enjoyably.

The only real tangible ‘plot’ was Anders and his Pyramid ball team’s survival and resistance on Caprica. Again, it was a nice touch that he was watched over by a Cylon model (Simon, again) but I didn’t really feel like I got into their plot as much as I could have. Perhaps the whole thing was blighted by the fact that it was a rehash and fill-in piece; the audience knew where everything was headed, who lived and who died, and how certain things had to play out so there was an inherent lack of drama. A similar problem inhibited the Razor special episode but that one did, at least, function as a standalone story. The Plan can’t make the same claim.

As a swansong then, it wasn’t the most graceful of exits. If this is the last word, perhaps there were some things that were better left unsaid and instead left for us to talk about amongst ourselves.

4.20 Daybreak - Part 2

So this was it. The big one. The grand finale. The last ever episode of Battlestar Galactica. I can state right at the top I was extremely satisfied with it. I believe the show delivered the required answers, left just enough to interpretation, kicked up some surprises and didn’t skimp on the emotions.

The flashbacks were still in evidence in this episode, and by the end they made more sense. They gave us more of a grasp of what our key characters were as people, with real lives, that made the final ‘modern day Earth’ have more resonance. Without the flashbacks that kind of ending might have just felt a little jarring. It already felt a touch jarring, but the flashbacks helped lessen the blow and justify the ‘everything has happened before and will happen again’ mantra. Referencing our Earth as being similar to Kobol, or Caprica, or wherever, was cheeky and could have flopped over as gimmicky, yet somehow the show kept a nice balance of pessimism and optimism in it's final kiss off.

The assault on Cavill’s fleet was always going to be the grandstanding action sequence, and it was good they incorporated everyone into different capacities to keep them in the mix. Even Gaius had a change of heart and decided to go along! The action itself was never as exciting as, say, the Gaeta mutiny or the Exodus Part 2 episode, but it was more than climactic enough. That as many of them actually made it was perhaps the biggest surprise – that Galactica actually survived to bring them out of it even bigger! No way did I think the old girl was coming back, especially when it was locked into the jaws of Cavill's base! (Was it just me that viewed the Battlestar crunching into Cavill's ship as symbolically comparable with a penis entering a vagina!? I can't work out what meaning ought to be drawn from that, but it did seem too blatant to be accidental!)

Galactica and some of its crew surviving was a welcome surprise, but that didn't come before a succession of ace revelations. The handling of the ‘Opera House’ and the glowing Final Five turning out to be CIC on Galactica, with the Final Five all in place on the upper area, was just a joy to see unfold. The moment it hit the screen it felt absolutely right. CIC was the Opera House. Of course it was!

Evidently there was a ‘higher power’ at work, one that existed in between Cylon rebirth (as Deanna discovered), call it an afterlife, or a place between life and death, existing around the fabric of the known universe, one that could send Angel agents (Head Six and Head Gaius) to guide life along. That the show didn’t attempt to wrap everything up with a masterplan ending was the right move. It was ultimately a simple explanation for much of the mystery, and yet it’s probably the best: something more elaborate and convoluted would have robbed the show its magic and wonder.

Cavill certainly seemed transfixed by the notion of this world beyond the known world - enough to lay down his arms to know more. I liked that Cavil wasn't reduced to pure evil villain, and instead retained his own thirst for knowledge and power that drove his own interests. The moment the Final Five elected to share the secrets of resurrection, and Tory herself realised that her dark secret regarding the murder of Callie was going to become known, it was a terrific build-up. I didn’t expect Tyrol to react so violently though. That was a shocker. (Though I did like Tigh’s admission later on that he would have done the same thing if it had been Ellen!)

Of course that then kicked off Cavill to consider a trick was being played and the whole peaceful moment went to hell. I expected it was going to be Starbuck that was going to turn up and ruin everything, mind, with her being the harbinger of death. It’s Starbuck that has perhaps been the hardest to qualify and even now I feel that her presence is very interpretative, and so have had to reach my own conclusion.

I figured that Starbuck really did die when she went into the swirling maelstrom. Somehow that storm was perhaps a wormhole directly to Earth where she was sucked to, her already dead body dumped on that barren planet. The Starbuck that returned, with a new ship, was a similarly angelic form from this higher power, like Head Gaius or Six with physical form – but perhaps from a certain point of view to be considered an angel of death.

That certain point of view, I feel, has to be the Cylon one. By the end of the episode they were a doomed race – or at least the human skinjob versions were. It was a nice touch that the Centurions were left to their own freewill, leaving that open-ended feeling that they would repeat the process all over again by themselves, building skinjobs and seeking revenge for the end of their race and perform an attack on a modern day Earth. All of this has happened before, etc.

Starbuck vanished when Apollo informed her of what he was going to do with the rest of his life. Her purpose had been fulfilled. It was sad, and without fuss, especially when echoed against her and Apollo’s relationship – one of romance that never quite happened successfully; in the first instance because of Apollo’s drunken brother reminding them of his presence and informing them that they were wrong to be getting it on.

They were always wrong to be getting it on.

I did feel that a lack of punch regarding Starbuck being the ‘harbinger of death’ was perhaps the only disappointment in the whole episode. Yes, she did get them to new Earth (using the song – evidently some kind of product of a higher power that pervades into our real life with Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix!) but, no matter what, it still felt like she saved everyone rather than brought about their end. Maybe there’s understanding about that I am missing but she didn't feel like a harbinger of death to me.

The music in this episode was brilliant. It has been through the whole show, courtesy of Bear McReary, but this finale delivered the goods. From the use of the Watchtower Cylon theme, to Adama’s and Laura’s themes, and the gloriously poignant reprise of the Colonial Theme – the original Battlestar theme – over the images of Galactica and the fleets’ ships gliding towards the sun - bittersweet with the emphasis on the sweet.

It was Adama and Roslyn that really brought home the emotional goods. Whilst it was heartwarming to see Helo actually survived to be with Athena and Hera on Earth (the idea that the fleet bestowed primitive humanity with language and progression is, perhaps, a tad Scientological to be intruding on Battlestar Galactica, but I can’t deny that it fits like a glove (and was a heck of a surprise to boot)) it was the Admiral and the ex-President that wrought out the tears.

Seeing the old man carry the dying leader to the Raptor to give her a better look at the flourishing life on their new home was beautiful. And the look on Adama’s face, in his eyes, when he realise Laura had quietly slipped away simply defied words. Edward James Olmos performance has been commanding from the start but it was this last submission into dignified sadness that totally choked me up. Watching him, by Laura’s grave, talk of building that cabin as the sun set, at daybreak no less, was as befitting a lasting image as any fan of the show could have asked for.

The show has been an absolute triumph, and this finale (against what felt like impossible odds) carried off the show’s finish in style. Praise for all concerned. That’s what I say and, naturally, so say we all.

4.19 Daybreak - Part 1

I hope Ron D. Moore knows what he’s doing! He took over the reins for this episode and the last, the double-episode finale, and then that will be it for BSG! So I don’t think it was unreasonable of me to expect this would be an episode where things got moving. And yet, what happened? It went into FLASHBACK!

Frak me.

I didn’t think the flashbacks were bad. Indeed, seeing Gaius with his father (and how Six worked her way into his life, winning his favour and securing his time with her) and Starbuck meeting Apollo (with Zach there! I wonder if that’s the same actor we saw in the photo all those seasons ago!) and, perhaps most affectingly, Laura with her sisters before tragedy hit her family. . . It was all good stuff. And yet it felt utterly out of place.

For one thing I didn’t get the reason for it. I couldn’t understand WHY I was being shown these histories. I couldn’t understand what the relevance for it was. I presume there was one, I just didn’t see it. The closest I got to any kind of revelation of character was a drunk Apollo trying to chase a bird out of the room. That felt significant somehow, some way, but I can’t quite put my finger on why. Anders’ flashback was the most revealing, with him discussing time and motion and perfection clearly part of his Cylon psyche – of mathematics and music – working away.

(I guess we have to presume the musical notes did represent the co-ordinates to where the Colony was. I don’t recall that being made explicit. Potentially it got edited out of the finl cut; I got the feeling quite a lot got cut from this episode, like Adama’s flashback story for one thing.)

The real gripe, of course, is not that the flashbacks were bad it’s that they were unwelcome! There’s so much to be getting on with – about the Opera House and Starbuck’s true nature and Head Six and Head Gaius – that dawdling around in the past felt so intrusive. I just sincerely hope Ron D. Moore knows what he’s doing – that he has got it all laid out beautifully for the finale episode.

Fingers crossed.

In the meantime, then, the stage was otherwise set for a whopper of a confrontation. All our heroes (except, bizarrely, Gaius – whose choice wasn’t made explicit so far as I could tell) are set to join Adama on his rescue mission of Hera. That they have one small attack approach on the Colony creates a classic against-all-odds scenario for Galactica’s last hurrah. I thought it was interesting that the Final Five were all convinced they had to be together, and had to go. There’s meaning for that, I am sure.

With it being the last episode the odds of who will live and die are out of the window. I have to assume a few of them will make it back, probably in a Raptor, with Hera. But Galactica won’t make it, and the very frail-looking Laura I fear will die with a resigned Adama. . . That’ll be a heartbreaking end, for sure. But maybe it’s in death that the secrets of the Opera House and other mysteries may find their resolution?

It’s exciting and worrying and pushed for time. All the hallmarks of great Battlestar Galactica episodes, of course, but this last one is the one that really counts above all the rest. Oh I really hope Ron D. Moore knows what he is doing!

4.18 Islanded In A Stream Of Stars

I was aware before this episode started that the last remaining episodes, one single and one double-header, had all been written by Ron D. Moore. I got the impression that those 2 hours (of running time) were all his to wrap up the whole show. As such, I also expected this episode to have something of a filler feel to it and be used purely to get the pieces arranged on the board ready for the grand finale.

I would say that was a fairly good assessment of what this episode was about.

There wasn’t much of a central plot thrust, rather lots of little scenes with all the main characters to get us up to speed with where they were at. If there was a spine to the episode it was ultimately about the end of the Battlestar Galactica. Hera moved the toy Galactica towards the Cylon Base Ship at the start of the episode, perhaps indicative of the move that Adama would eventually be forced to use.

Adama’s explanation for it was the best there could have been. As he explained to Tigh, Galactica had never let them down and so he wanted to honour her with the dignity of letting her go now, rather than see her taken down and destroyed by dragging her on further. Cue a little bit of Adama’s theme as the two men were left to reflect to themselves and it was a perfect ending moment captured.

But that was the ending. And there are plenty of other issues going on with the other characters. Apollo and Baltar have been the two characters that have most notably been left on the fringe of things of late, Apollo especially. Whilst Apollo may not be the most interesting person at present, he is a good character and I hope the finale gives him something crucial. Baltar, meantime, tried to use Starbuck as a sign that angels were amongst them, eulogising of a life after death. Given Head Six, and the weird place between life and death that Deanna explored a while back, it’s hard not to imagine it’s a notion that holds a place in the Battlestar Galactica universe.

Helo’s reaction was very powerful, his performance in practically begging Adama for a Raptor to go and look for his daughter incredibly well-delivered. Adama was fairly tough, I thought – equating Hera with his own dead son was not quite a fair comparison; Hera was still alive! Although everyone seems fairly assured that she definitely is the most important child around so her remaining in Cavil’s clutches is surely a matter to be resolved for the finale.

Good to see the opera house dream sequences being revisited. Clearly an area that needs more focus, and paves the way for Laura’s role in the big send-off to be laid out. And Boomer, also, having handed Hera over appears to have formed a bond with her (ironically, Hera used the same ‘projection’ trick Boomer used on Tyrol to get into her affections) and might just once more turn traitorous, against Cavil this time. I’d put nothing past that crazy Cylon!

I presume the place we saw Hera delivered to was the Colony, and the tantalising glimpse of that place probably didn’t give us anything like the full story about what that place holds. I would expect there to be ‘tanks’ for the Final Five should they need to download – and it has occurred to me that it may be the logical and tactical plan to have that happen - kill them so they can wake up at the Colony - in order for them to locate and infiltrate Cavil's HQ. . .

Lastly was Starbuck. She delivered the episode’s biggest shock moment when she almost shot Anders. (Again, begs the question about where he would have woken up!) He was linked into Galactica like a Hybrid, clearly fusing the line between human and Cylon in ways we could not have imagined a Season or two ago. The moment of finding out the truth about Kara Thrace, harbinger of death or angel, Cylon or human, is close at hand.

Perhaps Hera’s movement of the Galactica to the Base Ship is pre-empting a last strike attempt by Galactica on Cavil. If Anders can be used to run the systems like a Hybrid then it can almost be like a kamikaze mission – with the “harbinger of death” leading the charge? Is that what this term indicates? It seems like a tantalising proposition.

4.17 Someone To Watch Over Me

The episode started with a somewhat whimsical feel for the first third, which made me wonder if this was going to be one of those introspective types of affairs rather than a more progressive occasion. Introspection is fine, sure, but at this stage in the season you’d hope things were moving!

Turns out they were definitely moving in this fundamentally two-pronged episode chiefly concerning Starbuck and Tyrol.

Starbuck’s was the least surprising and yet the more compelling plot. The piano player she met in the bar it seemed, to me reasonably early, was purely someone she could only see and hear. No one else acknowledged what was happening at all, but the encounter seemed to possess that vibe anyway so I don’t think the programme-makers were trying to pull it off as any major surprise.

By the end of the episode it seemed certain that the piano player was a manifestation of Starbuck’s father – whether he looked identical to him we can’t know, but in the way he talked, and the warm-up tune he used, and the cigarettes he was smoking, and particularly towards the end in how Starbuck was flashbacking to her own childhood with him then the parallel was striking. Is it significant? Is her longing for a father-figure somehow linked to that crazy idea I had a couple of episodes back, about how Starbuck is somehow an offspring, or a conversion, of the ‘lost’ Cylon model Daniel?

What’s intriguing is what it means about Starbuck. She’s been in a tailspin ever since she saw her own body. And in this episode we witnessed Boomer displaying the powers of projection we’ve heard Cylons mention before (nice to see old-plotting brought back to the fore), creating fantasy worlds to take her mind out of the present. Was this encounter with the piano player a form of projection from Starbuck, further cementing her as one of their kind?

Or was it a ‘passed on’ projection, from Hera to Starbuck, via the small communication they had where Hera passed her the notes to The Song? That one seems a little off – but there was a brief mention of a higher power that controls everyone. . . Maybe Starbuck’s part of that? As ever, it’s more glimpses without a full view of the whole thing. Although the moment the piano player/Starbuck struck out The Song fully on the piano was a thrilling moment, excellently edited against the climax of the plot playing out between Boomer and Tyrol.

Anders the musician needs to wake the hell up and spill what he knows!

Boomer managed to squirrel her way into Tyrol’s affections by projecting the life they dreamed of having together. When she left him at the end she made an unnecessary declaration that she genuinely did love him – and I believe she means it. But then her model is one that gets taken by shiny things, so the fact that she even meant it then doesn’t mean it’s a feeling that will last!

So it seems her secret agenda for returning Ellen to the fleet was so she could engineer the kidnap of Hera – and it was nicely done. The scene with Helo in particular, with the beaten and bound Athena forced to watch them together, emphasising what a poisoning element in their midst she was. And Boomer left leaving more than a distraught Athena behind, jumping next to the fragile hull of the Galactica and doing untold damage.

Roslyn’s reaction, with Helo and Tyrol and Athena also, suggest this kidnap is not something that is going to be allowed to stand. The Cylons, also, consider Hera a symbol of their futures. Doing nothing us surely unthinkable. Ellen may know where Cavill is (or perhaps the ‘stars’ Hera draw serve as a kind of map!) but the Galactica doesn’t seem to be in much fit state to plunge into battle. Desperate times, and the end is closing in, which further impresses the feeling that this net is tightening inexorably.

4.16 Deadlock

After the thrills and information deluge of the previous few episodes I guess it was to be expected that a ‘duller’ episode was going to present itself. For me, this episode had the feel of one of the first season shows – though maybe that was just due to Ellen Tigh being in it, and not only being in it but being manipulative and annoying.

It felt a little jarring how Ellen had lost her serenity and wisdom from her ‘awakening’ as a Cylon in the last episode. The moment she was back with Tigh and heard he was with Caprica Six petty jealousy – of the type she had condemned Cavil over in the previous episode – informed her behaviour and caused her to make some drastic actions. Notably: to force Tigh to choose between humanity and his Cylon kind, knowing it was no choice he would ever make.

It was hard to know whether Ellen was genuinely remorseful over how her actions ultimately caused the death of Caprica’s unborn baby. I am leaning towards the idea she was sorry, purely having been blinded by her pursuit of spite towards Tigh. Whatever the way of it, the baby is now dead and this, in effect, cancels out any discussions about the Cylons breaking away from the fleet, and also switches the focus back on Hera as being the most important child around.

This is welcome. After all the time and focus there has been on Hera, to have her crown of importance snatched off her by this unborn latecomer would have been an anti-climax. It still seems Hera is the key to a union of human and Cylon - the Cylons can't reproduce without them and the humans need their firepower and resources - and we may yet learn of the secrets of the opera house and the shared dreams Laura, Caprica and Athena had. It was heartening this did get a brief mention, assuring me that the writers haven’t forgotten about it.

Same goes for Gaius and his head visions of Six, who made a return this episode, too. Again, like in season one, Gaius here was a bit of a snivelling ball of insecurity – though there was a slight redemption in that he genuinely claimed to have enjoyed giving the food out. That his resolution of his leadership problems has handed large arms to his people, most notably Paula, then I can’t help but wonder if there is still a revolution on the cards. Paula had the look of a freedom fighter about her. . .

Adama meanwhile is looking more and more like a man losing the grip of power. By the end of the episode he has come to the realisation that the integration of Cylons has taken hold in more ways than just the use of their goop material to repair structural integrity – they have posted pictures of their dead in the remembrance corridors. The talks over drinks Adama shared with Tigh, usually the source of relaxed respite in previous seasons, here had an edge. Adama’s little speech about how his ship may look the same on the outside but would be markedly changed on the inside was, clearly, about more than just his ship!

Still, this episode was spinning its wheels slightly. Anders woke up. Gaius was back with his flock. Caprica’s baby was dead and Hera was the main focus. The fleet was all together, including Ellen, and they don’t have much direction. The stage for the grand finale, it seems, is primed – and there’s still so much to resolve!

4.15 No Exit

Whoa. Now this was the kind of episode where you really needed to be paying attention, where the show just dumps a heck of a lot of answers all in your lap, all at once, and expects you to swallow them up. So, let me see if I got it straight. . .

The Final Five were on Earth 3,000 years ago when the place started to go nuke crazy. However, these five had been involved in making resurrection technology. (A technology that had existed previously, but whilst on Kobol the Cylons had turned their backs on it before they parted ways with the humans for their respective colonies.)

So Tyrol, shacked up with Tory, along with Ellen and Tigh, and Anders seemingly along for the ride, all got nuked but then resurrected in their ship orbiting Earth. The sole survivors of their planet, they then set off to the colonies, for the other 12 tribes they parted from on Kobol, to try and inform the humans they needed to look after the Cylons they were destined to re-create. Unfortunately they didn’t have FTL drives so they travelled in such a way that meant they didn’t age, but 3,000 years passed. Good old relativity. They got to the colonies in time for the first Cylon war, which they intervened on and made the Cylons withdraw.

40 years passed, where the Final Five taught the Cylons (who had already been experimenting with human incarnations with their Hybrid) how to produce human models of Cylon. Ellen was apparently the chief designer, and imbued her creations with human emotions. She apparently made 8 models in all. ‘John’ Cavill was one of these, but rejected the body he had been given and turned on his creators.

Cavill killed the Final Five, and boxed up one of the models known as Daniel as he believed this was Ellen’s favourite. Then he orchestrated the attack on the colonies after resurrecting the Final Five, as human counterparts that had no memory of what they were, and inserting them into the human world. Apparently Cavill put the Final Five in positions where they would not be wiped out, or ensured their survival, and so continued the hunt of the human race after the attack as some twisted means of making the Final Five pay for what they did.

It’s a hell of a story.

Cavill knowing the Final Five all along was a shocking revelation, but one that works in hindsight. Peculiarly he has been present in most of their lives – whether it be counselling Tyrol, rescuing Anders from Earth, frakking Ellen. . . He was also the one that took Tigh’s eye! The only one he seems to have missed out is Tory. Still, this new information about Cavill sits just fine with previous episodes, enlightening his character and motivations regarding human and Cylon alike that we have seen since Season 2. Especially nice is the Boomer model that he involved in his ploy – we saw them together in earlier seasons and this episode emphasised the bond they had created between them.

It was also a nice payoff that this Boomer, ever the traitorous, impulsive model, was the one that whisked Ellen away at the end of the episode. I also really liked Ellen’s moment of awakening – from the shrieking human, to the calm serenity of the Final Five creator.

Daniel is an interesting one. I have to conclude that Starbuck is/was Daniel. Cavill apparently messed with the Daniel model – that liked to paint, like Starbuck – and perhaps that means he changed the sex of the model. Starbuck has always had masculine qualities (she originally WAS a man in the first Battlestar series so that works on a whole other level!). Quite what became of the Daniel boxed line, and if it is Starbuck how she was inserted onto Earth, or how she died and came back despite her ship and body being on Earth I don’t know. But this is the strongest plotline I think we’ve ever had to base conclusions on about her ever since she died and came back. (She’s still the harbinger of death, though, right!?)

Anders delivered much of the information due to the bullet in his brain he received in the last episode. I had the feeling he was not going to be around for much longer than this episode purely for the fact that he knew too much. (Liked how Tory was kicking herself for never asking him about “that song”!) By the end of the episode he was apparently brain dead – and with the resurrection ship destroyed it would at first seem he was doomed. But then Cavill did mention that Ellen had facilities somewhere, where she perhaps re-designed the resurrection technology during the 40 year armistice, so there’s a shot that Anders may resurrect in that facility.

If all that wasn’t enough, Apollo was officially appointed president and Adama conceded to allowing Tyrol the use of Cylon technology to save his knackered Galactica. Thematically I interpreted this as the integration of humans and Cylons being essential if they were going to survive – and I think Galactica’s got at least one last battle left to face in the shape of Cavill, whenever he catches up with them, so the old girl is going to need all the repairs she can get. . .

Unbelievably, we're now down to the Final Five episodes!

4.14 Blood On The Scales

It was a shame I had a week to wait in between this episode and the previous one – all of the momentum and emotion had kind of dissipated a lot more from my initial reaction. So whilst this episode did present the 'payoff' that the previous one had set up, it wasn’t quite the climax I would have had were I to have seen the two back-to-back.

That’s not to say it wasn’t a great episode, though.

The major portion of the show was concerned with Adama and Roslyn. Adama had been captured and was being forced into a trial that was little more than a sham. As he eloquently put it, when they rolled out Rollo Lamkin, they needed a pimp. I had no doubts that they were not going to be successful in executing the old man, but it was enjoyable to see his steely-eyed glare staring down those that intended to. Adama is just not a man to cross!

Roslyn, meantime, displayed some new-found allegiance from her Cylon Renegades. At first they were all too willing to abandon the fleet to save themselves, but she convinced them that being on the wrong side of Adama would not be a smart move and they had to show some courage and stand by. And then she delivered that terrific threatening speech about using every gun and bullet; there’s fire in her belly now! I can’t help but think that she, over the course of these two episodes, has not only reclaimed her thirst to lead the fleet, but also acquired the power to lead the Cylons, also. (At present the Cylons just seem to be kind of standing around. . . What are they doing?)

Less interesting, but pivotal, was that Gaius found his conscience. Even when a brunette Six was hellbent on screwing him, New Gaius was dismissive of it and wanted to return to the flock of his people; not because he liked them, purely out of a sense of obligation. That’s a major turnaround for him, and he needs something – at present his character is in a no man’s land with no real sense of purpose. With so few episodes remaining I am sure Gaius is going to be instrumental, but I can’t see how.

Apollo and Starbuck rescued the prisoners on Galactica and then they all marched off to rescue Adama from the firing squad just in time. Seeing Gaeta and Zarek get their just desserts wasn’t as satisfying as it could have been, perhaps deliberately. They didn’t seem sorry for what they had done – just accepted their actions had failed. There’s no doubt that Zarek’s slaughter of the quorum was probably one of BSG’s coldest moments, so he definitely had it coming.

That we never saw what happened with Anders, dragged away by Starbuck and Lamkin (for once he proved to be an enjoyable and worthy part of the episode rather than the irritation I’ve found him to be previously), makes me assume he’s going to be OK. Unless all the next episode is going to be about him on his death-bed! I’d hope not. But what was interesting was Starbuck showing she still cared enough about the guy; between her kiss of Apollo last episode, and this saving grace here, she’s clearly a woman with a mind to make up!

Lastly, there was that curious moment with Tyrol, having shut down the FTL drive. He gazed upon the opened fissures in the side of the ship. At first I couldn’t understand what the significance of this was – whether it meant some new crisis was emerging, or it betrayed knowledge of something that had gone on that I wasn’t seeing. Now I just think it’s Tyrol’s eyes being opened to how battered the ship has become over the years – and perhaps it’s an indication that it’s not set to last much longer.

Battlestar Galactica is breaking up, and the human race will need to find somewhere else to call home before too long. . .

4.13 The Oath

I don’t have anything intelligent to say about this episode. My reaction is not an intellectual one. This episode stirred up pure emotional and physical response that I don’t recall a TV show firing up in a long time. For almost the entire episode I was on edge, and getting angrier, and more tense.

Gaeta and Zarek’s coup attempt got under way, big time. With Zarek over on Colonial One, he was poised to assume the presidency just as soon as Gaeta had seized control of Galactica and its firepower (no doubt to use as a means to subdue unrest in the fleet – so much for democracy!). From the moment Zarek hit, and killed, that poor engineer (had his family taken from him by Kane and Pegasus, survived New Caprica and got finished off by treachery – poor engineer indeed) it was clear that there were to be no half measures.

The coup was going for the throat in its attempt to succeed. And it all happened alarmingly quickly.

The fake fire alarm moved people away from the arms lockers, Gaeta could filter communications and traffic in the CIC and, as stated, Zarek had Colonial One. Things were looking bleak. The moment the crunch came, and Adama narrowly-avoided taking a bullet, his unmasked fury at Gaeta and promise of no mercy was as terrifying as it was necessary.

Was there anyone I hated more than Gaeta right at that precise moment? It was great to have the nerd with a cold-heart (following his leg amputation most recently, but really the seeds were sown since New Capirica) be the man responsible. You just knew that anyone could beat the hell out of him, and that escalated the sense of powerlessness Adama and Tigh were put under.

I liked that Adama and Tigh actually got themselves free and armed independently. The expectation was that Starbuck (never been cooler than when she rescued Lee) and Apollo (reminding us there’s a soldier beneath the suit) would find them and help them out, but the two old men showed they’ve still got game when they need to bring it on and it was great to see.

(Amidst all this, Starbuck and Apollo shared a kiss. Their on-off romance just got rekindled, I think.)

Old vendettas from the Pegasus crew towards Helo and Athena served to ramp up the animosity, also. That guy threatening to rape Athena before knocking Helo out stirred up all those old feelings of anger that were generated from the Pegasus episodes of Season 2 (which were, in hindsight, one of BSG’s finest moments). By the end of the episode the fate of those locked in the brig still hung in the balance.

In fact, everything hung in the balance.

Gaius and Roslin had managed to escape on a ship (potentially having forged an accord with one another, and Laura should now have fire in her belly to resume her presidency), but Gaeta had ordered Viper’s after them. I can only hope that either ‘good’ Viper pilots against the mutiny, like Hot Dog, spot what’s happening and help them out. Or maybe Gaeta will have a change of heart and cancel the strike. It seems unlikely, but Gaius did try to appeal to his guilt by reminding him of his role in the death lists that were produced on New Caprica.

(Admittedly, this reference was kept somewhat oblique – but anyone who had seen the ‘minisodes’ would have learned that Gaeta was part-collaborator in the production of the death lists (despite him convincing himself he was helping the resistance).)

So the episode ended on a crunching ‘to be continue’. Adama and Tigh appeared to be in point blank range of a grenade blast, but I seriously doubt either one are dead just yet! Still, loved them standing side by side, guns readied, soldiers to the last. We saw Starbuck and Apollo sneak off up ladders, surely putting their part of a plan into action. I expect this coup to be quashed, for the likes of Gaeta and Zarek to be put against the wall, and I relish it occurring. But what next for the fleet is of most interest. How will they re-group for this? Where do they go?

Yet forget the intellectual ponderings for now. This episode evoked a primal response, and I frakking loved it. Thrilling tension with genuine emotional heft – I can’t imagine any other show even capable of producing such action-packed, nerve-shredding heights. I loved every minute of it.

4.12 A Disquiet Follows My Soul

This episode had the hallmarks of being a more introspective ‘reset’ episode to counter the barrage of revelations and surprises from the previous season opener. And yet, quietly, this episode delivered its own share of zingers that will surely resonate for the remainder of the entire show.

First up, Tyrol is not the father of his child! Well, I guess some people might have seen that coming. The importance of Tyrol’s child (tellingly I can’t even remember his name!), when compared to the importance of Hera, has never been made a big deal of. That was fine when Tyrol was considered human, but after he was ‘outed’ then his child should have come under a lot more focus.

That spotlight has been switched off, as Hot Dog turns out to have been the father. Presumably this happened on New Caprica, during the time period we didn’t see. It’s hard to know if Callie had been unfaithful, or if she had got pregnant shortly before her and Tyrol got together. It probably doesn’t matter either way, but given Tyrol’s new-found allegiance to his Cylon heritage it might be another shove towards him rejecting humanity.

It did come as a jarring moment, that Tyrol was suddenly speaking on behalf of Cylons to the fleet, and calling them ‘his’ people. It felt like his character had undergone a major transition we had not witnessed and I’m not sure it went over altogether believably. In the same respect, Tigh has also undergone a shift that felt a little jarring. Holding hands with Six whilst they looked at their unborn child on a monitor – given the last time we saw him he was wading out to sea and learning that Ellen was the Final Cylon this was a shift too severe.

It’s obviously the way his character was headed, and Tyrol – I just think perhaps one or two scenes for both of them to be breaking in this change wouldn’t have hurt. Either it was a problem with time available, or the insinuation was that quite some time had passed since the previous episode and we’ve been left to fill in the blanks. In that sense, I suppose, it works.

Laura, meanwhile, has got over her foetal-style surrender and switched it for liberation. Gone is the burden of being the dying leader and now she has turned her attentions to her own mortality and, quite understandably, hoping to find some measure of happiness with the time she has left. Adama, also, by the end of the episode has reached the same realisation about the time he has left with Laura. The closing image of them finally together, happy and content, is tinged with a melancholy regret that it probably should have happened sooner.

It also, I think, shows Adama in a position of weakness that looks set to be exploited by Zarek and Gaeta.

The opinion of not joining up with the Cylons was a fairly-argued point, I thought. Given the Cylons had been mortal enemies of the humans, and practically obliterated their species, for the majority of the human race to want the right to distance themselves and their ships was an understandable one. These people haven’t met the Cylons like we have – they are just a faceless enemy. The right for the captains to decide whether they had their FTL drives upgraded or not was taken away, and it did make Adama appear distinctly dictatorial.

A disquiet looks set to follow, with Gaeta marshalling a faction to potentially turn mutinous and hoist Zarek as their new leader. Given Adama, at this moment, appears to be in a position of weakness then I think Apollo especially, and potentially Starbuck, will need to make themselves available to support him. Quietly, the stage is being set for something seriously dramatic.

4.11 Sometimes A Great Notion

There’s been a big break between episode 4.10 and this one, even for me who had, until this point, watched the entirety of Battlestar Galactica in one mass lump. Whilst waiting for this episode, I have since watched the whole lot – from miniseries to Season 4 – on DVD again so had the chance to reconsider The Final Cylon, and the nature of Cylon-Human mythology, and wonder what the truth about other unsolved mysteries were, such as Starbuck’s scar from whatever was done to her in The Farm in Season 2. Given the inherent mystery surrounding Starbuck, that small detail may be pertinent.

Anyway, basically, I considered myself well-versed for when this last and final block of ten episodes began. And since both human and Cylon landed on a desolate Earth at the end of the previous episode it was never looking to be an easy finish. That proved to be an understatement.

It was quickly established that Earth was dead. The planet had no signs of life. Not only that, it was clearly a charred remain from a mass nuking that had, apparently, taken place 2,000 years previous. As Laura ironically noted, they had left one nuked planet to find another. Gaius established that there was still radiation in the water, and so the planet was not habitable.

Suddenly New Caprica didn’t look so bad!

The episode, then, was ultimately concerned with the ‘fallout’ of this discovery of a dead Earth. This was still a raw learning for humans and Cylon alike. The expectant faces that greeted Laura when she returned to Galactica told as much, and the brawling and drunken disconsolate people that were briefly glimpsed afterwards relayed the effect on the fleet.

Laura instantly curled into a ball, burned up her scriptures, very much defeated. It’ll take a major revelation to get her back on her feet. It took a more personal shock to almost conquer Adama. Namely: Dualla’s suicide. It is here I have to say that I had suspected Dualla as being the prime candidate for the Final Cylon. Her name has ‘dual’ in it, one of the first times we ever saw her she spontaneously kissed Billy (which reminded me of Six and her tactile nature) and, in this episode, her reaction to finding Earth was marked.

I reach two interpretations. One, that Dualla was a symbol of mankind’s broken soul. She found a dead Earth, dug up some burned artefacts, and her spirit was finished. We saw her near cracking up on the journey back to Galactica, but then she composed herself, decided on her course of action, and rekindled happiness through Apollo so she could go out on a joyful note. Then she put a gun to her head. One last taste of happiness before she ducked out of the misery and turmoil she sensed the human race were destined for. It absolutely works on that level, and the handling of her character in this episode was successful – and also triggered Adama’s own flirtation with suicide before Tigh, of all ‘people’, made him pull himself together.

My second interpretation is the part of me that isn’t willing to let go of the idea that Dualla, upon getting to Earth, also ‘triggered’ the Final Cylon inside her – and perhaps realised that she would never be the same again and killed herself as a means of properly awakening her true nature. I hang on to it, but at the same time I feel consigned to the idea that Dualla was both red herring and symbol and has now served her function. But I’m still not counting her out completely.

Fact is, this episode threw some other whoppers at us that I am struggling to discuss here sensibly. Like the fact that the remains on Earth were of Cylon descent – skin-job and centurion alike. The conclusion reached was that the 13th tribe were Cylon all along. Were they all Cylon? It seems like a major conclusion to reach given the small skeletal remains discovered. Were Cylon and human not living on the planet together? This question appears entirely pivotal to the ‘all of this has happened before and will happen again’ mantra that has been stated a few times.

And Starbuck was fulcrum to a knockout surprise that totally put her in the frame as the Final Cylon. Her ship and corpse were apparently discovered on the planet, suggesting that she herself, and her ship, were entirely ‘reborn’. Interesting that Leoben became fearful the moment this truth came to light, especially when Starbuck told him of what the Hybrid had said about her being the harbinger of death. Between Starbuck, and Laura / Gaius / Six / Boomer / Hera in the Opera House, there’s an enormous void-like mystery at the heart of the show yet to be uncovered.

Given all this, we were lead to believe that Ellen Tigh was the Final Cylon by Tigh’s flashback at the end of the episode. Now, again, her being the Final Cylon was another major possibility I had reached. Gaius and his test in Season 1 opened that door of possibility and kept it that way, and her presence in Tigh’s thoughts, mingled with Six, always kept her alive. Add in Deanna’s remark about how the Final Cylon wasn’t in the fleet then it gathered more credence.

And then there she was on Earth, in the past, dying, but telling Tigh it was all right and they would be re-united. Tigh believed she was the Final Cylon, but that doesn’t necessarily make it so. It was his interpretation, and I personally believe that it was a misinterpretation, and we as an audience have been thrown a massive red herring. Perhaps that’s just because of the sense of anti-climax to such a big revelation that is prompting this belief.

So, it was a melancholy and introspective kickstart to the final ten episodes. It’s only afterwards, on reflection, do I realise how substantial and effective it was. Adama’s new quest is to find an alternative to Earth, but I get the feeling we’re not quite done with the planet just yet. . .