'Battlestar Galactica': The harbinger of death

After a couple of weeks in low gear, Battlestar Galactica turned it up a notch tonight with gunplay, death, quizzical statements about the future, mutinies, near mutinies, and pretty much a little bit of everything they could possibly toss in for good measure. Plus, the Hybrid on baseship was neat. Let's discuss, shall we?

Tonight started off right where last week ended, with Starbuck losing control of her trash ship in a Helo-run mutiny. Sam however came to Starbuck's rescue, shooting Gaeta in the leg just prior to Gaeta's being able to turn on the FTL and jump back to Galactica. Then, just to prove to us that Starbuck isn't totally frakked up, she was the person to jump in and help with Gaeta's wound.

With Starbuck back, almost, sort of, kind of, in control of the Demetrius, she informed Helo that she wouldn't take the whole ship to the Cylon baseship, instead just she, Leoben, Athena, Sam, and one other silly volunteer (who was immediately apparent as the BSG equivalent of a Star Trek Red Shirt) would make the trip in a Raptor. The only problem with that, and really, it was just a minor quibble, was that Starbuck's Raptor wouldn't have enough gas to make the trip to Galactica directly, and the Demetrius was going to have to jump back to Galactica in short order itself or they'd risk running out of fuel.

Quickly proving that she was still more than a littlie batty, Starbuck explained that while the Raptor wouldn't have enough gas, the baseship would. Starbuck's plan, fiendishly clever in its intricacies (as a wise man once said) was to take control of what was left of the baseship and take that back to the Galactica. Yeah. Walk in the park. No problem whatsoever, it's not like there were still any questions about whether Leoben was telling the truth with his whole "some of the Cylons want to be friends" thing.

It didn't take long for Starbuck to be proven less than completely insane, as, after passing through a swell Cylon graveyard, they came upon a huge reddish planet with a comet circling it, just like in Starbuck's crazy, crazy, drawings. Only, the comet wasn't a comet, it was the baseship. At that moment I was completely convinced that the show has some serious explaining to do prior to the finale. I don't buy Kara's "visions" stuff just comes from nowhere.

It wasn't all peaches and cream though as their overjoyed sense at Kara's vision being true led them to not pay attention until too late about the incoming Cylon projectiles (probably just random flotsam from destroy Cylon ships, but possibly more evil in nature). Kara was knocked unconscious and when she woke up was told by Sam that she ought not worry, that they were all still alive. The statement was true, but sort of neglected the fact that they had been pulled aboard the baseship and they still weren't sure that the Cylons wanted to be friends.

Athena came face to face with her fellow Eights, who were oh so proud of her for saying "no" to the Cylon grand plan and showing them that they don't have to be a slave to their programming. The Eights actually suggested to Athena that she help them lead a mutiny against the Sixes, because the Eights figured that the Sixes had messed up the fight against the other models.

Athena wasn't biting and soon it was clear that the Sixes were ready to go against Leoben's plan to work with the humans. Things were not going well, and continued to head downhill when Kara and company suggested that the Cylons pull the Hybrid offline and rig the baseship to their Raptor. And, even once that plan was approved, a Six who had been killed on New Caprica by Kara's Red Shirt decided to get some revenge, killing the Red Shirt. The Six was, apparently, completely haunted by the memory. To end the ensuing standoff, the head Six, Natalie, killed the tormented one, and without a resurrection ship nearby the Six was, a Natalie put it, just as dead as the Demetrius's Red Shirt (but she didn't say "Red Shirt" which I guess means that she doesn't know Star Trek).

With the tenuous peace reestablished, Starbuck was off to see the Hybrid. And boy, does the Hybrid ramble. Neither Starbuck nor I could make heads or tails of most of what the Hybrid said and once it was announced that the baseship was hooked up to the Raptor's nav system, Kara was ready to have the Hybrid pulled offline. The Centurion guarding the Hybrid wasn't so happy with the plan though, and once the Hybrid started screaming the Centurion shot the Eight that was disconnecting her.

This would have led to another standoff had Kara and Athena not shot the Centurion. Going slightly batty again, Kara yelled at the Hybrid for an explanation of what was going to happen. Kara did get a response, and, because I know you want to know what it was, I'm going to give it to you verbatim: "Thus will it come to pass, a dying leader will know the truth of the Opera House, the missing Three will give you the five who have come from the home of the thirteenth. You are the harbinger of death, Kara Thrace. You will lead them all to their end. End of line."

Natalie and Kara figured, as I think we all did, that the five referred to the "final five" and the thirteenth, the thirteenth tribe. They then decided that it meant that the final five knew the way back to Earth. Athena threw in, a little slowly for my taste, that the Three in question was the boxed Cylon model.

What I don't get is why Kara seemed all excited that they worked it out and that it seemed like it might be true. If it's true that kind of makes her the "harbinger of death." I'm not sure why she seemed so enthused to take on that role. If I were told I were the "harbinger of death" I might try to fight against it, not wholly embrace it.

But, I quibble, it was a good episode and I'm looking forward to next week (or perhaps the week after), when the Galactica gets ready to launch its Vipers upon seeing the Cylon baseship only to pull them back at the last minute.

Other tidbits and pieces:

• Roslin seems to now be hairless due to her chemo and ready to hand off more duties to Tory. Plus, after a chat with another patient and a near death experience, she seems more inclined to accept Baltar and his ministry.
• Is it just me or did Helo flip-flop a little too quickly on his little mutiny, especially with his holding the Demetrius past their jump time?

As for me, I'm getting the frak out of here, I'm spinning up the FTL and heading to The TV and Film Guy's Reviews.

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