GALACTICA

Hopefully, no more weird problems. And now that I've consolidated all of my websites at a single VPS, I will be saving money and have more control over my websites.

PRE-EPISODE THOUGHTS

The title of tonight's episode suggests that we are going go find stuff out. Either that, or the characters in the show will find out stuff that we, the viewers, already know.

LIVE-BLOGGING THE EPISODE

10:13

Bummer, we don't get to find out who the fifth Cylon is. Deanna says there are only four aboard the fleet.

Deanna is holding the humans hostage aboard the base ship until she gets the four Cylons. She thinks they know the way to Earth. Do they?

Tory sure was pretty eager to join her Cylon brothers and sisters.

Poor Felix Gaeta is hobbling around the bridge without a leg. I guess he's not a Cylon after all.

Anyway, Roslin, and Bill and Lee Adama, are plotting to destroy the base ship rather then let Deanna get the four Cylons and the Way to Earth. You can't trust humans. This is the leftist writers telling us that the United States is an evil country.

10:24

I wonder if the Viper is the fifth Cylon?

Tigh may be a Cylon, but at least he's still loyal to humanity. Not like that bitch Tory.

Admiral Adama points out to Tigh that they've known each other for 30 years, how could he possibly be a Cylon? Good question, I hope it will be answered.

10:38

I'm pretty sure that the Viper is the Cylon, and Starbuck figured out that the Viper knows the way to Earth.

I'll feel pretty stupid if I turn out to be wrong about this.

Starbuck arrives just in time to stop Lee from pushing the button to throw Tigh out the airlock.

10:48

The Viper had the location to Earth, but I guess it's not the final Cylon. I feel stupid.

Lee made nice with Deanna and the humans and Cylons will go to Earth together. As someone who lives on Earth, I'm not so happy about a Cylon base ship here. The Cylons destroyed twelve planets already, what if they decide to go for number thirteen?

10:59

Everyone's at Earth now. That was quick. It looks like a planet in which everyone who used to live there was wiped out in some apocalypse. We see the ancient ruins of a city of an advanced civilization. What's going on? Is this our future, our past, or some other planet?

POST-EPISODE THOUGHTS

First I rewatched the scenes with Starbuck and the Viper. The Viper is receiving a Colonial signal that no other viper is receiving, and this signal has the coordinates of Earth. WHY is one Viper receiving a signal that no other Viper or signal receiver is receiving? My theory that the Viper is the final Cylon hasn't been disproved. Although I think it's unlikely, because such a revelation wouldn't be as shocking as finding out that Roslin or Adama is the final Cylon.

Then I rewatched the scenes of Earth. There is nothing that identifies this as the planet that we live on. You cannot see any recognizable continents in the views of this Earth from space. On the ground, the ruins are vagely reminiscent of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan, but they are NOT the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan. If someone knows of some other city on the water that matches what we saw, I'm waiting to hear about it, but that's NOT Manhattan.

Finally, I realize now that this is the final episode of the first half of the season. We won't get to find out what happened for a long time.

IT'S NOT MANHATTAN

That's not what the Brooklyn Bridge looks like. That's not what Manhattan looks like when viewed from Brooklyn. The buildings are too far away. The geography is wrong. There's no Stonehenge-like temple in Brooklyn. Sorry to disappoint everyone. The special effects people could have clearly identified this planet as our planet if they wanted too. They were obviously instructed by Ron Moore to make the planet and the ruined city look generic. It COULD be our Earth, but there are no visuals in the final minutes of the episode that confirm that.

I forgot to watch Battlestar Galactica on Friday. Imagine that. But luckily, my Tivo didn’t forget about it.

In this episode, Baltar is wounded. In his wounded state, he reveals to Roslin that he gave the access codes to the Cylons. Roslin then lets him bleed to death as punishment. But then, when the base ship jumps, Roslin has another vision in which the black woman tells her she should let Baltar live. So after he vision is over, she proceeds to administer proper first aid to Baltar.

Also, the Resurrection Hub was destroyed, and one Deanna was rescued. The Deanna told Roslin she was one of the Final Five. Then she laughed. Ha ha, just a joke. We don’t find out who the final Cylon is this episode.

In the last scene, Admiral Adama and Roslin are reunited.

10:10 PM

Tom Zarek is now in charge. Hmmm...

10:21

Romo Lampkin is back! Apollo goes to him seeking help finding a new President to replace Zarek whom the Admiral doesn't like.

I wrote off Lampkin as the final Cylon because he seemed like a minor character. But now he's back.

It also looks like Tom Zarek is suddenly becoming a more important character as well, making him more likely to be the final Cylon as well.

Number Six is look very hott tonight. I wonder how she gets makeup to put on when she's locked away in the brig?

10:32

Don't ask me what the hell that fist fight between Admiral Adama and Tigh was about. I note that Tigh didn't seem to have any super-Cylon strength like Tory had when she killed Cally.

I also don't understand what Lee Adama wants Romo Lampkin to help him with. This looks like it's leading to Lee himself being the best candidate.

10:43

Boy, was it easy to see that Lee Adama was the ideal choice for President.

But Romo Lampkin pointing a gun at him and then a break to commerical--THAT I did NOT see coming.

10:57

So now, Tigh the Cylon is Commander of the Galactica, Lee Adama is President, Bill Adama stays behind in case Roslin shows up.

Then the sneak preview of next week's episode shows that Roslin is still alive, and Deanna says "you are one of the Final Five," then a flash to Roslin. Was Deanna saying that to Roslin or someone else? I guess we will have to wait to find out.

PRE-EPISODE THOUGHTS

My guess is Cylons!

LIVE-BLOGGING THE EPISODE (Don't I have anything better to do on a Friday night? I guess not.)

10:09 PM

An FTL malfunction on the sewage treatment ship results in the Cylon base ship jumping into the middle of the Colonial Fleet by itself, creating a bunch of drama in the "teaser" segment. But luckily no one was killed.

The mystery is why did Tigh yell "hold fire." Was that Tigh the Cylon or was it the old Tigh speaking?

10:19 PM

Number Six wants the humans to help them unbox the Deanas because they will identify the Final Five. Tigh and Tory don'lt look so happy about that.

I think that Doc Cottle is cutting off Gaeta's leg. Poor Gaeta. He seems like such a nice guy. Except for when he lied on the witness stand. I wonder if he's the final Cylon?

10:32 PM

Tigh argues that they should just blow up the master resurrection ship and not rescue the Deanas. Tigh doesn't want his secret identity to be discovered. But his plan was shot down.

On the Cylon ship, the Cylon skinjobs agree that they will use their Centurions to take over the ship after Deana is recovered. Those sneaky Cylons. You can't trust them.

Apollo visits Roslin in sickbay to tell her that the Quorom is going to give her a "no confidence vote," whatever that means. Gaeta is there singing. He has a great voice.

10:43

Tory gets Baltar to reveal that he heard about Roslin's dream from the Number Six in the brig.

Then Roslin has another dream, and Baltar is in it too. I have no idea what the hell the dream is supposed to mean. At the end, Athena sees Hera.

10:57

Everyone in sickbay it probably tired of hearing Gaeta singing. I know that I am.

Will Athena be court martialled for shooting the Number Six? Probably not, no one ever gets punished for shooting things aboard the fleet. There hasn't even been any investigation of the Anders-Gaeta incident.

I think it was a mistake to plug in that hybrid. I wonder where they jumped to?

Roslin is bald like ex-Chief Tyrol! And she may be starting to buy into Baltar's religion.

But most of the action this episode takes place on the sewage ship. Gaeta, the guy most likely to be the final Cylon, is shot by Anders. Jumping to visit the Cylons seemed like a really bad idea, so clearly Anders was in the wrong here, but of course, it turned out that Starbuck was right. It's too bad Gaeta had to take a bullet and possible lose his leg.

The "hybrid" on the Cylon base ship tells Starbuck some mumbo-jumbo about how the Final Five are from Earth and Starbuck will lead them to the "end." Or something like that. Who knows what it means?

Next week, they will apparently bring the Cylon base ship back to the Colonial fleet.

In comments, someone proposed that they will find Earth uninhabited, and we on Earth today are descendants of matings between Cylons and humans. If the commenter is right, this means the writers of the show are buying into the anti-Darwinist movement; humans didn't evolve from chimpanzees, nope, we came here from outer space.

10:10 PM

The ex-Chief is bald!

Starbuck found something.

10:24

It's Leoben!

Tory looks very sexy, even though she has a big nose.

Back to the "sewage recycling ship." Leoben wants to help Starbuck find Earth and he wants the humans to form an alliance with his Cylon faction. He says he will help Starbuck meet his destiny.

From a logical standpoint, it would be incredibly stupid to believe any Cylon. Leading any faction to Earth might mean the destruction of Earth; the Cylons will do to Earth what they did to the twelve Colonies.

10:33

The Baltar-religion seems to be spreading through the fleet.

I can't figure out what Starbuck is trying to do.

The Cylon Heavy Raider blew itself up, taking out the chick in the space suit.

10:46

ex-Chief Tyrol tries to choke Baltar. Baltar deserved it.

Back on the sewage recycling ship, Starbuck punches out Loeben, and then Helo punches out some unnamed crew member. I wonder if Helo might be the final Cylon?

10:57

Baltar visited Tyrol. Tyrol gave him the hand of forgiveness.

Helo relieved Starbuck of her command. First sensible thing Helo ever did. At least it seems sensible. A few episodes ago, I was sure that Starbuck knew what she was doing. Now she seems nuts.

Of course, I have no idea where Ron Moore is going with this. If some Cylon faction gets forgiveness after destroying the human race, I'm going to be pissed that I watched this show for four years.