The Adventures of Husker and the Searider Falcon

The following article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for all episodes of Battlestar Galactica up to and including the most recently broadcast episode: "Sine Qua Non"

Major points for the return of Mark Sheppard's Romo Lampkin. But I always get excited when the cast and crew of Firefly show up elsewhere... it's kind of like how all the Grey's Anatomy fangirls got so excited to see Izzy in Knocked Up. I made fun of them at the time, but I think I'm the same way. It's a little freaky, but whatever. We're talking Science Fiction here.

I am entirely pleased at the way the characters of the BSG universe are allowed to believe Athena's shooting of Natalie Six is directly responsible for the base ship jumping away with President Roslin aboard. This did not occur to me, because as a part of the audience I have much more information than the crew of Galactica does -- it's a fine detail, and I love how the writers have stepped inside the shoes of these characters and given them reactions that are true to life. This shouldn't surprise me as much as it does, but I've been led astray by too many television programs.

Natalie Six's death is another example of how weighty the deaths of these rebel cylons are; the few extra moments of her life that we're shown are entirely unecessary from a plot perspective. But as a method of character based storytelling, they're infinitely important, and the additional seconds of screentime serve as way to further blur the line between human and cylon.

There was a moment in Adama's confrontation of Athena where I felt sure she was going to just beat his ass... it speaks volumes for her character that she was able to restrain herself, and gives credence to her claims that she was merely acting to protect her child from a perceived threat, and not enacting some devious cylon plot. I think Adama senses this, and after a cool-down period he's able to take a step back and maybe do the right thing by restoring that family unit. Maybe the wrong thing. We'll see.

Lee's story finally got interesting this week (Leeland!!?), which is likely a direct result of Romo Lampkin's reappearance. Lampkin knows, as we do, that the only good candidate for Interim President is Lee Adama... but there's an added element there that I did not foresee. Lee actually wants the job himself, but isn't audacious enough to take the step forward to proclaim it. Lampkin's method of forcing that declaration out of him is decidedly brilliant; the thing is, I think if Lee hadn't admitted his ambition, Romo might've shot him right there. For a second I thought he was gonna.

A word about that cat: How brilliantly devious is this? Romo's scenes are shown from his perspective, and the cat is a part of that. Even though it's dead we see tiny glimpses of it, but those are just his imagination. It's a gross, manipulative thing to do, but it works; we're just as surprised as Lee is to see the cat's body in that duffle bag. It's a real What the Frak moment.

Saul's revelation came out of the blue, too -- even though the audience has a ton of extra info about things, we're still susceptible to deception. First the cat, and now this. It makes perfect sense: Saul's beginning to use his Cylon ability to project imagery, or whatever they call it, even though he can't control it. Seeing Ellen was just the first bit; he wants to feel her too. I don't think we have enough evidence yet to tell whether Caprica Six knows what's happening with that or not... my gut says she doesn't, and that she's just using Saul for whatever kind of human contact she can get. It's foolish to claim any real distinction between the Cylon Skinjobs and their Human counterparts anymore, at least emotionally. That line is gone.

Adama's decision to stay behind in a raptor is one of the greatest moments of this series. Remember when Martin Sheen's daughter was kidnapped and he stepped down and let John Goodman be president? This is like that, only better. It doesn't come from a ridiculous subplot, for one, and it gives Adama something to do besides stare angrily at folks. That's an understatement, of course... Adama's always been my favorite. I'm just really excited at this little twist on his character's arc.

We're starting to see the go-for-broke attitude of the writer's room now. Shit's going to hit the fan, you guys.

Battlestar Galactica airs Friday nights in the US on Sci Fi, and Monday nights in the UK on SkyOne.