Last week on Battlestar Galactica, I cried into my stylish yet manly hankie when Adama and Roslin were finally reunited aboard the Cylon Basestar. Before that touching moment, Helo and an Eight successfully rescued D’Anna from the Resurrection Hub just minutes before the Viper pilots blew it to bits. D’Anna promised to tell Roslin the identities of the final five Cylons, but only if she takes her back to the Galactica. Can the Cylon be trusted, or is she merely trying to ensure her survival now that she’s the last of her kind?
Tonight’s episode of Battlestar Galactica is the final installment until 2009. Sit down, buckle up, and prepare yourself for one of the most mind-blowing cliffhangers of the television season.
The finale kicks off with Kara (Katee Sackhoff) and Lee admiring a drawing of one of Earth’s temples. While Lee worries about his father’s safety, D’Anna starts a negotiation on the Basestar. She’s going to hold everyone hostage using the Centurions until the Final Four are brought to the ship. Roslin wants to know about the fifth one, but D’Anna specifies that there are only four in the fleet. The Admiral decides to accompany D’Anna to the Galactica, that way he can jump in and prevent the Cylons from getting the location of Earth if necessary.
Gaeta (Alessandro Juliani) is still looking sickly and legless, but at least he can do his job. He sees a ship come in, and a moment later Adama and D’Anna are arriving with their proposal. The Final Four must go with them, otherwise the hostage situation begins. While in front of the four Cylons, D’Anna states that she only wants to love and protect them. Tory steps up with the excuse that Roslin needs her medication, but the others aren’t so willing to tag along.
If anything goes wrong with this plan, Lee (Jamie Bamber) and the Admiral agree to destroy the Basestar, even with Roslin aboard. The road to Earth isn’t information that the Cylons can be trusted with. The Galactica crew gathers and plans their attack, though they hope it doesn’t become necessary.
D’Anna (Lucy Lawless) introduces Tory to her fellow Cylons aboard the Basestar, but Roslin is busy tending to Baltar’s wounds. He thanks her for not murdering him, but she tells him not to be so grateful. After all, the Admiral is going to blow the ship to bits if D’Anna doesn’t back down. Tory (Rekha Sharma) soon interrupts them, gives Roslin her meds, and reveals her Cylon nature to the gang. Baltar claims he always knew on a subconscious level, but Roslin is pretty much gobsmacked. She begs Tory to convince D’Anna to end the hostage standoff.
After D’Anna executes one of the nameless hostages, Lee tells his father he’s authorized to start the rescue mission. While separated on the two ships, the four Cylons hear a static-filled transmission that compels them to investigate Starbuck’s Viper. Tyrol (Aaron Douglas) knows that there’s something different about the ship, but he can’t figure out what it is. Tigh doesn’t want to worry about it, and instead tells Bill that he needs to scrap the rescue mission. He also reveals that he’s a Cylon, but Adama (Edward James Olmos) thinks he’s being frakked with. He’s known Tigh for 30 years, has seen him age and lose his hair, and is convinced that he has an implant that’s making him delusional. Tigh explains that it’s not a delusion. He knows that D’Anna will back down if Bill threatens to toss him out an airlock.
After Tigh is taken away by soldiers, Adama deals with the bombshell by smashing a few things and downing some booze. At least he doesn’t smash his model ship again. Lee finds his father in a crying heap later and tries to comfort him. Adama thinks he’s been sending people to die all this time for nothing, but Lee assures him that Earth exists and they’ll get there.
President Adama greets Tigh (Michael Hogan) in the airlock with a punch to the face. When D’Anna calls, Lee tells her that he’ll flush the Colonel out the airlock if she doesn’t stand down. On Lee’s orders, Tigh reveals the identities of his fellow Cylons. Soldiers arrive to arrest Tyrol and Anders (Michael Trucco) while they help Starbuck with her Viper, and she’s obviously shocked to learn her husband is a toaster. They really named this episode “Revelations” for a reason, didn’t they?
Instead of standing down after Lee threatens the Cylons, D’Anna prepares to start executing some people. Baltar (James Callis) steps in and explains that Lee doesn’t give a damn about the four Cylons, so pushing him wouldn’t be a smart move. He thinks things can end peacefully, but D’Anna has a more realistic outlook. Brute force is the only way to go. As D’Anna ponders whether to attack the Galactica, Lee prepares to throw Tigh out the airlock.
Meanwhile, Starbuck fiddles with her ship and discovers that it holds the way to Earth. She interrupts Lee just before he can send Tigh into the depths of space. Her Viper, and only her Viper, is picking up a Colonial emergency signal that Starbuck believes is coming from Earth. Someone wants them to find the planet, and she believes they’re meant to discover it with the Cylons.
To end the conflict, Lee fills D’Anna in on the Viper’s message, telling her that they can move forward and head to Earth together. D’Anna agrees and calls off the hostage situation. After plotting out the course to Earth, Lee tries to get his father ready for the step of a lifetime, but the elder Adama is still in a bit of a funk. Luckily, Roslin (Mary McDonnell) is there to step in and encourage him to go for it. She also commends Lee on his short turn as president, assuring him that the fleet will need his brand of leadership in the future.
The Colonial Fleet prepares to make the jump to Earth, and Bill allows Roslin to give the order. “Take us to Earth,” she says, and just like that the entire fleet appears next to our planet. The Admiral gets on the intercom and tells his crew that they’ve finally made it. After much celebration from everyone aside from Tigh, the first members of the fleet arrive on the planet. As the Galactica crew looks around their new home, they all appear sad and disillusioned. There are no beautiful temples and streets paved with gold, only tons of destruction and fallen buildings. Maybe Earth isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
As the show cuts to black, that marks the end of Battlestar Galactica for 2008. The series will return early next year to answer our remaining questions and wrap things up once and for all. It’s going to be a long frakking wait.
– Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of the Sci Fi Channel)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
