Fantastic Return from the Midseason Cliffhanger

Yes, I know I've been late in starting this series after the mid-season cliffhanger. Blame it on the new job.


When last we checked in, the Cylon/Human standoff over the Algae planet had come to a head. The nukes are deployed, the triggers set, and all that is awaited is the go signal from Adama. Deanna and Baltar are speeding to the planet in a group of 5 Cylon heavy raiders filled up with Chrome Jobs. Oddly enough, the Cylons blink first, and 4 of the 5 Heavy Raiders return to the base stars. Deanna and Baltar, of course, make it to the planet's surface. Nice to see the humans come off on top of things, for once.

On the surface, the humans are ambushing the chrome jobs. Lee, in a nicely ironic move, deploys his own wife, Dualla, to rescue Starbuck, his lover, from the crash site. Both Dualla and Starbuck recognize the irony. Nice, taught dialogue here. oooogy!

Meanwhile, Athena ('the good cylon') has learned her daughter is not dead and on the base ship. She convinces Agathon to shoot her so she can get over to the Cylons. That's an amazing scene... Especially the ensuing standoff between the Boomer cylon and Athena cylon.

Deanna and Baltar manage to make it to the Eye of Jupiter temple.. turns out the Eye is really, really the rapidly approaching stellar nova. Funny thing that they happen to be there at that exact moment, eh? Deanna manages some mystical mumbo jumbo and yes, she does see the five cylons that are revealed to her, but not us. She says "Excuse me, I had no idea.." I wonder what that means??? Could it mean that it was Baltar all along?

The nova happens to provide the requisite cliffhanger action... and we learn just how serious Deanna's transgressions are in the eyes of Cylons. She gets recalled to the resurrection ship and informed that for going where she should not (the final five) she will now be "boxed" and her entire model retired. Hard guys, those cylons!

During the fracas, Baltar gets coldcocked by Galen and smuggled back to the Galactica in a bodybag. Presumably, for trial or perhaps a trip out an airlock.

Athena and Caprica six overcome the Bommer Cylon on the other ship, who was kind of flipping out because it was clear that the Hannah baby doesn't like Boomer but loves her genetically identical mother, Athena. SOMEHOW, they manage to leave the Cylon ship (how, we are not told) and arrive on Galactica, where Athena and Hannah return and Caprica is put in the brig at gunpoint.

And thus the season ends; very taught, the work of the show's best director and one of the best writing teams. Very good, didn't open up too many holes, and I liked the resolution... we are clearly seeing a dissolution of Cylon Unity and Single Purpose-- they are not all working from the same game plan like they used to.

I realize this one is in just under the wire, I'll try to get a reaction piece done later on this week.