Faith

Battlestar Galactica - Episode 4.06

Bear with me on this one. I watched this episode late Friday night (or is that early Saturday morning?) after an evening of drinks. My memory may be a little foggy and I probably need to watch this one again. Not that I mind. This was one of the best hours of the season.

The showdown on the Demetrius ends with Anders shooting Gaeta in the leg and Kara rushing to the poor guy's aid. If Felix loses the leg due to the extension of the mission, he's going to hold a huge grudge against Starbuck. I'm sure he's still not over her almost blowing him out an airlock for supposedly being a traitor last season.

All this shocks Helo out of his mutiny freak out and he decides to let Kara take a Raptor with Anders, Sharon, Leoben, and a red shirt to find the rebel Cylons' Baseship. He sets the clock, since they only have so long until they miss the rendevous with the fleet, so Kara and company only have a limited time to get back. When they find the Cylon vessel, the wounded, streaking Baseship looks like the painting of a comet in Starbuck's quarters on the Demetrius.

A lot great material follows. The Eights try to convince Sharon to challenge Natalie for control. They think she's going get them all killed. This parallels the power struggle and the crew's doubt of Starbuck on the Demetrius. When one of the Sixes revenge kills the red shirt for her own death on New Caprica, Natalie ends a potentially nasty standoff by executing the Six. There's no Resurrection Ship nearby, so the death is final.

Anders' experience on the Baseship is really fascinating to watch. When he sees the other Cylons touching panels and communicating with the ship, he is tempted to do the same. He wants to explore his Cylon nature, but he still fears what his exposure will result in. Also, he attempts to offer comfort to the dying Eight. He recognizes her as something that is tied to his real nature and could potentially help him understand it.

The Hybrid clues in Kara about the prophecy concerning her being a harbinger and leading humanity to the end. Also, there's a good deal about a dying leader learning the truth of the opera house and the three leading to the five who will in turn lead to the thirteen. The leader is Roslin who has been having visions of the opera house. D'Anna is the Three who has seen the faces of the Final Five. The number thirteen is where it gets tricky. Earth is the home of the Thirteenth Tribe of Kobol, but could there be a hidden thirteenth Cylon? If this is the case, it better be played by Dirk Benedict. His ego demands it.

Back on Galactica, Roslin's cancer treatment forces her into an extended stay at Cottle's infirmary. There she meets another dying patient named Emily (played by DS9's Nana Visitor) who has found comfort in the teachings of Gaius Baltar. Laura's experience with Emily causes her to reconsider the validity of Baltar's message and her bias against it. It'll be interesting if she becomes a convert or how she will begin view Gaius as a result of her meeting of Emily.

Best Scene of the Episode: Hard to decide. The mutiny showdown was intense and so was the execution of the rogue Six. However, Bill and Laura's moment at the end of the show was pretty damn sweet.

Episode MVP: Tricia Helfer and Michael Trucco. She continues to rock as Natalie and is an interesting counterpoint to Starbuck. Trucco does a great job really expressing Anders' need to know who he truly is and his fear of exploring this nature.

Big Question: How's everyone back at the fleet going to react when the Demetrius shows up with the rebel Cylon Baseship? I'm sure we'll get a tense showdown with a scramble of Vipers within the first few minutes of the show next week. This starts to rocket us towards the mid-season break and whatever cliffhanging curveball the writers want to throw at us this time.

8 out of 10