'Battlestar Galactica': Will they stay or will they go?

This episode seemed more like the last... it feels like the writers are just trying to finish storylines like they're annoying chores. It's as if they're covering their backs instead of making things exciting for us.

Are you sure it wasn't Sons of Ares? Like, Ares, god of war?

I felt a little cheated by this episode. With so few episodes left I want every one to be outstanding and this just seemed like so-so filler to me.

There were some good things. Tigh and Adama's guy love of course was the highlight. *****y Ellen was even *****ier than I thought she would be. I have to admit, I didn't see Caprica losing the baby coming. My husband kept saying all episode she was going to lose it and I was naive and didn't think it was going there.

The whole thing with arming Gaius confused me. A human solution to what? It was the humans who were fighting each other there. And if anything this episode seemed to emphasize (if rather overly drawn out) that humans and cylons will need each other if they wan to survive.

So is there going to be any significance to Ander's regaining brain activity shortly after Liam died?

That Anders scene at the - was it Anders waking up OR was it Liam jumping into Anders' body? I didn't really like this episode at all, nothing much happens in it. With 4 episodes left, they have a lot to cover and this is the second episode (the first being episode 12), where nothing really happens. Cavill is still in power and still wants to kill the last humans. Balter seeing virtual Six again. Starbuck's resurrection and the big finale - all in 4 episodes! Well in the preview for next week, they show dead Starbuck in the mirror - are they finally going to reveal her resurrection? Someone just mentioned to me the other day that the virtual Six/Balter and the scenes where Roslin was seeing her death when Galatcica jumps - that these could be the light ship aliens. Interesting theory.

I thought this was a good episode. I think we needed this episode. The Final Five was a big deal, so the reunion had to be treated properly. I like that Ellen is still the same old Ellen. For the record, I LIKE Ellen Tigh, and always have, and was super-excited that she was the Fifth Cylon. I think she was the perfect choice.

I'm curious to see what will happen with Caprica Six now that she's miscarried. Something tells me her love affair with Saul is pretty much over. I'm also wondering if the Eight we saw conferring with the other Cylons in this episode was Athena or just a random Eight. I can't imagine Athena wanting to abandon the Galactica, especially knowing that Helo would be resistant to the idea. Speaking of Helo, where has he been?

Aries is a ram, Ares is the God of War. Pretty sure the Sons are of the latter.

Anyway, I have to agree this episode was just a "bridge"; it's purpose was to connect the aftermath of the mutiny and Ellen's reunion to the series finale, where everything is going to come together.

That's what the symbolism of the final scene at Memorial Hall was about; the Cylons, having lost resurrection and becoming mortal, are starting to identify with humans and become integrated into their society. In this episode, the re-emergence of Hera as the figurehead of both races' survival became front and center, and sets in motion BSG's endgame.

But religious zealots arming themselves can't be a good thing, especially with Baltar involved. With Anders waking up and Kara learning her purpose (next week), I think the arrival of the "angels" or whatever the Re-Imagined series version of the "Ship of Lights" is imminent.

Technically, there's five episodes left, not four. The finale is 3 hours long.

This is the episode I've been fearing over for a while this season. They needed to get all the soap out of the way eventually, looks like they managed it into one episode.

I think this was another strong episode, establishing that cylon-cylon reproduction is not feasible and reinforcing the need for cylon-human interdependence. It also approached Ellen's character in an unexpected way: instead of her being a "wise leader" and taking up the mantle as The Last of the Final Five, she's just as messed up as she always was: jealous, irrational, irresponsible, etc. It really undercut our expectations in a rather subtle way.

Also, a "bridge" episode is more important than seems to be given credit here. As in a joke, in which you need first a set-up, then the punch-line, so too do you need to set up the action in a series like this. Last week and this week had a lot of exposition, all of which serves to build up to the finale over the course of the next month. I'm sure some fans would like the show to be all Starbuck all the time (and next week's episode is poised to deliver on that front), but BSG is about so much more than just that. In the long run, these "bridge" episodes are what flesh out the series and allow the more exciting episodes to achieve their impact.

Tigh's great-grandfather was a power sander.

I'm sure it is Sons of Ares - the Colonials believe in the Greek pantheon, in which Ares is the God of War.

What does the return of Baltar's mental Six mean after her long absence? I think Baltar must be going down the wrong path, since his Six has always sent him in the wrong direction (for example, convincing him to run for the presidency). I liked how Baltar's imperative to help others was mixed up with sexual desire and self-aggrandizement. Six has two leads to make him go wherever she wants. She can use his self-interest to pull him in one direction, or his need to redeem himself to pull him in another.

The situation between Saul and Ellen and Caprica Six was really uncomfortable for me to watch. I've never really seen Saul and Six as a couple, and believed there "relationship" was based on exploitation and desperation. Finding out that Six is Saul's creation (his metaphoric daughter) just made the situation that much ickier. Six said that love was necessary to bring about a Cylon birth, so when Saul had sex with Ellen, betraying Six, I think he directly brought about the death of their child. The writers seem to be clearing the decks of other Cylon babies in order to emphasize the central importance of Hera.

Unlike the recapper, I like the character of Ellen Tigh. I like her a lot more than Caprica Six, who has never shown the slightest bit of remorse for her role in the genocide of the human race. Saying it was a wrong move is not the same thing as admitting guilt or taking responsibility.

Not a lot of raptor action in this episode, but I'm sure they are saving the CGI budget so that the last episode will be chock full of expensive and impressive effects.