Starbuck: "When we meet up with the Colonial fleet, I don't know if they'll feed you or frak you."
I loved the title of this episode so, so much. It wasn't just clever and funny. If you think about the plot of that classic movie, it suggests that the rebel Cylons will intermarry with the Colonials and come "into the family".
Leoben: "Don't expect the fate of two great races to be delivered easily."
As usual, they're not afraid of the big topics. The nature of life and death, Cylon retribution via sacrifice, the reconciliation of two warring races. BSG makes most other shows look fluffy in comparison.
I don't know whether it's just depression over losing Starbuck or a general feeling of malaise about where Battlestar Galactica is going, but this was the sixth episode in a row that just didn't do a lot for me. (I went back and counted.)
This episode was sort of a drunken ramble about marriage and prison being a whole lot alike; i.e., full of lies and the loss of freedom. And I suppose there was some redemption in there, too.
Tigh: "You've seen one nova, you've seen them all."
The nova itself was the Eye of Jupiter. It was a marker intended to point the way to Earth, 13,000 light years away. I think. I'm mildly confused about that part.
Gaius: "I have very conflicted, very ambiguous feelings about helping you find Earth."
Do we have genocidal table turning? Will the humans take advantage of whatever caused that mysterious illness to wipe out the Cylons? Where did the illness come from? The thirteenth tribe?
Battlestar Galactica is often emotional for me, but it rarely packs a wallop this strong. I knew Lee would turn around and come for them; how could he not, when the stakes were that high? His decision to buck his father's authority saved thousands of lives, as well as the Galactica.
During this entire episode, I kept thinking someone in the cast would die. I was actually pretty surprised that we got to the end with everyone still alive.
Cavil: "They're worried about what God might think if they commit murder. They're covering their existential asses."
Adama sending Sharon Agathon as his undercover mission leader was a gutsy move, and one that the Cylons would never expect. Sharon Agathon was ready to betray her race... it seemed. Of course, all that could change when Sharon discovers that Adama faked her baby's death. And I'm sure she'll discover it eventually.
During the election scenes, I kept thinking, yeah, go ahead. Elect Gaius Baltar president and settle on Planet Perfect, and you'll be sorry. I just never expected them to actually do it.
Caprica Six: "We're dangerous, Sharon and I. We're celebrities in a culture based on unity."
Until now, I didn't believe Six truly loved Gaius. But she really, really does. Her first words when she was reincarnated were about him. Caprica Six and Sharon One have been changed by their love for Gaius and Tyrol and the people on Galactica. Whoever thought Six and Sharon would bond over their experiences with humans?
Forced abortion, pseudo stem cell research, suicide bombers for peace? This episode explored some truly controversial topical issues in, of course, a science-fiction-y type way. The content actually made me somewhat uncomfortable. Maybe it was the great big needles.
Sharon: "Sometimes you gotta roll the hard six. Right, Commander?"
Tired, discouraged and grieving, the crew really needed a miracle -- and Chief Tyrol gave it to them. Yes, creating a stealth viper from scratch is far-fetched, but dramatically sound. I loved it.
There was a lot to like about this one. I particularly enjoyed the Adama/Roslin summit, Number Six goosing Gaius while he was having a bran scan, and the way we could tell absolutely nothing about what Sharon would do at any given moment.
This one was disturbing, in a Nazi experiments sort of way. I was right about the Cylons needing humans to reproduce (okay, the hints were pretty overwhelming) and this is violation on a fundamental level, reducing people to things. Which is pretty much the way the humans are treating Sharon, come to think of it.
Things continued on their downward spiral. There was an interesting parallel here, with Crashdown completely screwing things up on Kobol while Tigh continued to completely screw things up on Galactica.
So there they were, on a ship in space, in the dark, with monsters. I actually had a memorable nightmare like this a few years ago. (Yeah, I know, the plot of "Alien.") When the lights went out, I couldn't help laughing. What more could go wrong?