A Charter Member of the Nymph Squad

The following article may contain MAJOR SPOILERS for all episodes of Battlestar Galactica, up to and including the most recently broadcast episode: "Guess What's Coming to Dinner"

What an opening. I envisioned myself as one of the colonials aboard the commandeered base ship; looking on in horror, powerless to stop the coming attack. And then I remembered... the Raptor! As Starbuck raced to use its radio to communicate with Galactica, I realized she wasn't actually racing anywhere. Suddenly, all the tension evaporated. Was it really just a plot device, meant to ratchet up the doom a couple levels? I'll withhold final judgment until Ron Moore's forthcoming podcast, but until then, color me deflated.

Without the logical uncertainties, though, this was a hell of a way to begin the episode. Perhaps it was necessary so that Saul could use his Cylon powers to detect what was happening, and thus give Adama another clue into what's really going on inside his battlestar. For that reason I'm prepared to cut the scene a little slack; but I'd have liked to see somebody on that base ship remember how they got onto it in the first place.

Saul is able to deflect the Admiral's questions this time, but how long can he keep up the deception? Clearly it's taking a toll on him. Tory, on the other hand, continues to embrace what she considers to be her Cylon nature. I suspect she's misunderstanding herself a little... this ability and desire to manipulate people has been in her all along, and she's just using the discovery that she's one of the final five as an excuse. Shedding her inhibitions. The fact is, Tigh, Tyrol, and Anders have all reacted in different (but much less evil) ways. It's easy to see why the other Cylons are so cold -- absent a little human warmth in their lives, what else could they do? They don't know any better. Tory does, which makes her transformation much more diabolical.

Lee Adama: Is it just me or has he been marginalized to the point of irrelevance? Perhaps I just don't care enough about the Quorum or the people. They've adopted him as their de facto leader -- Zareck's hand in this is all too apparent, but I find myself just waiting for those scenes to end. Hopefully this is all going somewhere, but the little presentation Natalie Six gives to the Quorum here is not a big enough payoff for the tedium. I prefer Action Lee.

Getting back to the A-Story: The subtle tweaks we're seeing to standard Mystery Formula are enthralling. Not only do we already know several of the answers, but we're also privy to the knowledge that despite what both the Cylons and the humans think, at least four of the five have no idea where Earth is. This is a delightful conflict and it plays on several levels. We are emotionally frustrated by the unwillingness of the final four to just come forward already, but we have the privilege of enduring the slow and inexorable crawl toward the truth. It's yet another mark of the genius of these writers, that they can create tension and conflict despite some huge reveals.

By the way, I love, love, love that Adama is calling Natalie Six the "Rebel Leader".

Lastly: since when was Gaeta a badass? Staying awake for your own leg amputation is about the most hardcore thing I've ever seen. He's given some great things to do both during and afterward... it leaves me longing for his eventual confrontation with Anders. And his song, "Gaeta's Lament", written just for the episode according to composer Bear McCreary, is both haunting and beautiful. It sets a great tone for the (breathtaking) end of the episode.

Do you think Baltar knew the Hybrid would jump them as soon as they plugged her back in? He sure seemed to know something was going to happen, which makes his acceptance of it very worrying indeed... We'll find out in two weeks.

Battlestar Galactica airs Friday nights on SciFi.



Oh, wait... have you seen this yet? Prepare to be blown away: