The McGuffin Battlestar Galactica Season Four, Season Premiere

Posted by Cory Johnson on 04.08.2008

12 Cylon models, 7 are known, 4 live in secret, 1 will be revealed. Come on, you know that you have to find out if they can pay off on last season's incredible cliff hanger.

Admiral Adama-commanding officer of Battlestar Galactica and the colonial military
President Laura Roselyn-President of the remnants of the human race
Kara “Starbuck” Thrace-Galactica pilot, formerly married to Anders, and on-off love of Lee Adama, also presumed dead until she showed up at the end of last season, claiming she had been to Earth.
Anders-new Galactica pilot, reveled to be one of the 4 secret Cylons at the end of last season, separated from Starbuck
Colonel Saul Tigh-XO and second in command of Galactica, one of Bill Adama’s oldest friends, and also revealed to be one of the 4 secret Cylons
Tory Foster-President Roselyn’s presidential advisor and aide, also one of the 4 secret Cylons
Chief Tyrol-Runs the Viper hangers on Galactica, also one of 4 secret Cylons, married and has a son with Cally
Lee Adama-the Admiral’s son, split with his father during the trial of Baltar and left the military.
Gaius Baltar-former President of the Colonies, he was tried as a Cylon collaborator last season and acquitted. He can see and talk to a Cylon that he is in love with in his head, a Six.
Model Six-there are multiple copies of this and all Cylon models, one of whom is in Baltar’s head, one is held prisoner on Galactica, others remain on the Cylon ships.
Boomer-a Galactica pilot who never knew she was a Cylon until she shot Adama; she has rejected her Cylon nature and is a full member of the colonial fleet.
I could keep going, but there is probably a whole wiki out there dedicated to the plot and characters of Battlestar somwhere.


Episode 65 He That Believeth in Me

Lee looks at Kara, in total disbelief and doesn’t buy that it’s her. Kara says she has been to Earth. Voice recognition confirms it is Kara’s voice as Kara begins blowing up Cylon ships. President Roselyn tells Adama that this is a trick.

Adama yells at the distracted XO Tigh, trying to get his head in the battle. Tigh says nothing is wrong, he’s never felt better in his life as he PULLS A GUN AND SHOOTS ADAMA IN THE HEAD! Tigh looks at the gun in a state of shock as the whole world slows down as a yelling Adama’s voice brings Tigh back to reality. Wow, I really thought they pulled the trigger on that already.

Anders doesn’t want to go out against the Cylons, worried that he will turn on his team. Chief screams at him to shut up and get in the air. Boomer didn’t notice that Anders is a Cylon.

Baltar’s saviors take him to an unused compartment.

A Cylon Raider is wounded and kamikazes into the Pyxsis, destroying the ship and all 600 aboard. The special effects are amazing during this battle, by the way. There are 50 missles headed for Galactica and 50 more towards the fleet. Adama says shield the fleet, Galactica can handle the blasts.

Anders runs through a script of who he is, where he went to school, anything he can think that makes him human, not Cylon. He tries to save another Viper pilot from a Raider, but his weapons don’t fire and the Raider turns around. When the Cylon Raider scans him, Anders’ retinas flash and the Raider abruptly flies away. Gaeda reports that the Cylons are turning back to their ships. Tigh doesn’t understand since “they had us, game over. Why the hell did they let us go?” Roselyn’s aide thinks maybe something has changed…as we open the final season of Battlestar Galactica with 39,698 survivors.

Baltar is lead to his new hiding place, but two men have followed him. All the members of this colony get up and bow their heads to Baltar as he passes, like they cannot make eye contact with him. And then there is an altar of Baltar, complete with pictures and Christmas lights.

Starbuck gets out of her ship as the whole deck crew gathers to gawk at her (actually that is what most of the audience does too, but that’s a different story). Starbuck is smiling way too much. Lee runs in and hugs her as Tigh asks Adama if he believes in miracles. Adama yells for Starbuck, who says that she found Earth. The soldiers pull guns on her as Adama tells her that she will be examined by Doc Cottle. Starbuck starts to rev up, saying that she’d only been gone for a few hours and…Anders informs her that she was gone for two months. Kara says that is impossible, her ships clock reads six hours. Lee says everyone thought she was dead.

One of Baltar’s followers asks him to stay put while they go and check on her ailing son in sick bay. When Baltar says that he is praying for him, she looks at him like he’s the messiah. Baltar asks what the plan is and when can he leave, but he is told that none of the other ships will take him. Six appears to ask why Baltar is so down; yesterday he was going to be executed. Six tells him to relax, that she didn’t bring him this far to die here. I’d forgotten how much I missed Six. Six holds Baltar’s hands, reminding him that he still has her, as Tracy, one of the followers, walks in saying that is so beautiful-Six held Baltar’s hands in the prayer position. Tracy says it is like the gods are right there with Baltar, but when she prays, it feels empty. Six tells Baltar to tell her that the gods are false. Baltar says that there is only one god as she begins to undress both of them. Tracy asks if he can feel god’s presence, as he his hands seek a different kind of spiritual awakening.

Adama says everything checks out with Kara. Kara accuses everyone of thinking she was a Cylon. Roselyn is unconvinced and wants to hear the story again. Kara says that she followed a Raider into the storm, passed out and woke up orbiting the Earth, which matches all of descriptions, and she even took pictures. Roselyn asks how she got here and Starbuck says she doesn’t know. Roselyn wants to hear everything she remembers. Kara remembers turning around, a planet with rings, a flashing triple star, and a comet, and then she was back. Roselyn asks about the time difference and Starbuck doesn’t understand how, but knows that she didn’t imagine it.

Chief says that everything on Starbuck’s ship checks out, except that there isn’t a scratch on it, like it is brand new. Roselyn says that it is not the same ship and Chief agrees. Tory and Tigh share a look of horror. Chief says the nav computer is blank. Roselyn tells Adama to put her in the brig. Lee objects, but Tigh says that Doc Cottle’s tests mean nothing and Tory states that she could have the same DNA and still be a Cylon. Roselyn says that this could be part of a trap with the Cylons playing on Adama’s feelings for Starbuck. Roselyn brings up the aborted attack earlier and asks what if Kara is playing all of them.

Baltar wakes up with Tracy to find that the sick child from the sick bay has been brought to him for healing. Baltar says that he prayed for him. The boy’s mother replies that apparently the one true god doesn’t want him to live.

The four new secret Cylons are gathered and Tigh asks if anyone still hears that song and nobody does. Anders says that after he was scanned the Cylons just cut and ran. Chief wonders if he thought it recognized him. Anders wonders if he was programmed to leave his gun safety’s on. Tigh says nobody can program him. Chief reminds him that Boomer believed that until she shot Adama. Tigh says that’s not going to happen, Boomer didn’t know who she was, but we do, and he retrieves his gun from his locker and puts it on the table.

Roselyn tells the imprisoned Six that she doesn’t know why she is visiting her. She retracts that and says it’s because they have shared visions and asks what Six saw in the opera house. Roselyn asks Six about the final five Cylons and without prompting, Six states that she wants to know if Kara is one of them. Six says that she is programmed never to think of them, but Roselyn says her programming isn’t working, since she is thinking about them right now. Six gets up; bringing a guard into her cell, but Roselyn orders him out. Six says that the five are close, she can feel them.

Starbuck is arguing with Gaeda, trying to find Earth on a star chart. Helio orders Gaeda to take a break and Kara tells him that nobody believes her. Helio tells her to find Earth to solve that problem. Kara tells Adama that it is feeling, and that if they keep jumping away from the nebula, she may never find her way back. Adama dismisses Helio and tells Kara that Roselyn is adamant on following the eye of Jupiter trail. Adama is staring holes through Kara and she grabs for her head as the ship jumps. She is still holding her head after the jump and tells Adama that they are going the wrong way. Adama tells her that he will not go to the President based on her feeling because he just left her unscratched, like-new ship. He asks her to explain and she demands that she look him in the eye while she swears to the gods that it is her, and if he still loves her like a daughter he has to trust her on this one. Adama says that he can’t afford to.

Lee is reviewing the tapes from Kara’s death and reappearance. Adama asks him should he follow his head or his heart. Lee tells him that he knows where he stands. Adama says that this is exactly what the Cylons are counting on. Adama thanks Lee for suiting up during the battle, and offers him his wings back. Lee feels that it is time to move on; he might have an opportunity with the government. Lee asks what if Zack (Adama’s son and Lee’s brother who died training to be a Viper pilot) had come back in that Viper. Would any other factor have mattered, even if he was a Cylon?

Baltar stares at the sick and sweating boy. He prays for the boy and prays for god to take him instead. One of the men who followed Baltar earlier, greets him in the bathroom as Mr. President, says that they met on New Caprica when he introduced him to his son. When Baltar asks how his boy is, the man replies that Baltar’s police shot him. A devotee, who had gone with him to shave, attempts to leave and is grabbed by the other men who followed Baltar. The first man clocks Baltar and holds the razor to his throat, demanding that he look at him.

He begs Baltar to scream for help and begins beating him down. Baltar’s follower is being held off the ground in a chokehold. Baltar is forced to knees as Six appears and asks if he meant it when he asked god to take him and spare the boy. Baltar says yes, the blade is cutting him pretty deep now, with a pool of blood forming on his neck. Baltar starts to beg his assailant to take his life, as his follower breaks free with the help of a pipe. She frees Baltar by shellacking his assailant and keeps swinging until Baltar stops her. Back safe in their compound, Baltar tells the rest of the followers that he cut himself shaving, even though he is holding a soaked towel to his neck. The boy isn’t sick anymore, and the boy’s recovery is proclaimed a miracle as Six smiles and looks on.

Kara is looking at the memorial wall. Anders tells her that she needs to cut people some slack. Kara questions whether they replicated her when she was a prisoner and rambles on wondering how they would, how could they have her memories. Anders says that if she had been a Cylon, she’s been one from the beginning and it doesn’t change who she is and that he loves her. Kara says that if he were a Cylon, she’d put a bullet in his head. Kara grabs her head again as the ship jumps again. Kara keeps babbling that they are going in the wrong direction. She says that she has to get to the President and turns on her guards, with an assist from Anders who prevents her from getting shot. Kara starts asking Anders where the President is and when he doesn’t answer fast enough, she knocks him out cold.

Roselyn is in bed with a washcloth over her eyes while Kara creeps towards her bedroom, gun drawn. Kara pulls a grenade and uses it to knock out the President’s guard. Roselyn wakes up and as her blurry vision clears she sees Kara point her gun at her….to be continued.

Analysis
Battlestar Galactica is one of those shows that does not have very many casual fans, mostly due to the fact that they have crafted a complex, ongoing storyline complete with its own mythology. I would love to hear if this is someone’s first episode what they thought of it, jumping in at the end.
It is science fiction, but it does transcend that narrow genre, exploring themes of spirituality, resilience, faith, and all the qualities that makes someone human. This show has succeeded in being as good a drama as anything on television.

This episode was worth the wait. The four new Cylons trying to adjust to their place in the world now that they know who they are is going to be great to watch. The opening scene where Tigh shot Adama was phenomenal, since there was no reason to think it wasn’t a dream. This storyline has opened up all kinds of possibilities, even for minor characters like Anders and Tory.

I doubt that we will find out the nature of Starbuck’s true self until the end of the season, but the producers did a great job of planting doubt both ways. My money is that she is a Cylon.

Baltar’s new cult following didn’t do much for me, but I love the head games that Six plays with him. Six is both Baltar’s seductress and protector, and she walks that line perfectly.

The special effects in this episode were by far the best of the series and they really added a special dimension to the episode. That being noted, it’s always the quality writing with BSG and this episode was no exception. Adama staring at Starbuck was chilling and the scene with Roselyn and Six kept the viewer on the edge of their seat listening, hoping they were going to get some answers.

Things I Wonder
So what is Starbuck and what happened with her during her disappearance? Why does she grab her head when the ship jumps?
What are the four secret Cylons programmed to do?
If the Cylons planted Tigh, Chief, Tory, and Anders, how could they predict that they would all wind up on Galactica? If I think about this too much, my head hurts.
What is the Cylon’s new plan (since they obviously don’t want to wipe out human race or they would have done it already)?
How did Baltar ever survive that first nuclear blast?
So does Chief and Cally’s kid play in role in all this?

This is Cory; I hate science fiction, love Battlestar, and appreciate you reading this. Comments and feedback welcome. I’ll be back next week as we get another look inside the Cylon command ship. Keep watching.

The 411: A great outing to start this season; the producers have promised that everything will be revealed and answered by the end of the season and I’m on the edge of my seat waiting to see how they do it. Of course, being Battlestar, they had to open up a whole new batch of questions first. This episode has some good performances, great special effects and tense drama that fans have been waiting for an eternity to see from Battlestar Galactica. Easy recommendation.

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]