McGuffin TV Review - Battlestar Galactica Episode 72: Hub

Posted by Cory Johnson on 06.13.2008

D'Anna is back and she knows who the final five are, Baltar tries to convert a Centurion, Roslin figures out why she is still alive,...oh, and the humans finally have an opportunity to level the playing field with the Cylons.

Episode 72 Hub

We flash back to two days ago as Roslin and Baltar plug the Hybrid back in and the Base Ship jumps away. Roslin meets Elosha (the religious lady who told Roslin that she was the dying leader who would take the people to Earth) on a dark and smoky ship corridor. Roslin hugs her and the image of the two widens like a funhouse mirror for a moment before Roslin snaps back to the room with Sharon, the Hybrid, Baltar and Helo. Sharon asks why did it jump and were are we? Baltar suggests that he talk to the Hybrid to find out why as Helo tries to wrap his head around what just happened. Everyone has this really grim look as suddenly the Hybrid jumps again. Elosha asks Roslin to walk with her through the empty corridors of Galactica. They note how quiet and strange the empty ship seems. Elosha leads Roslin to sick bay, where Roslin is in her death throes, gasping for breath….as we open episode 72, “Hub” with 39,673 survivors.

Back on the Base Ship, the Hybrid resumes her incoherent babble. Sharon tells Roslin that this is unusual to jump again so quickly. Baltar believes that the Hybrid likes and trusts him, but no one is listening to him. Roslin is amazed that Sharon can get information from those strange liquid interfaces. Boomer says that the Hybrid is panicking and disorganized. Baltar asks the Hybrid why it jumped. The Hybrid shockingly responds to Baltar, noting that the Six (brunette Six/Natalie) is dead. Roslin is surprised that she can feel upset. Roslin asks Boomer to calm her down and have her jump back. Sharon informs her that it doesn’t work like that, she makes her own decisions and they can’t unplug because she has wired herself into life support. Baltar shushes the Hybrid, trying to calm her down. The Hybrid calms itself, stops the countdown. Baltar begins to explain how he opened himself up to her…….when the Hybrid jumps again.

Roslin watches herself (future dying Roslin) writhe in sick bay, as Cottle, Adama, Starbuck, and Lee sit in vigil. Elosha leans over Roslin’s bed and asks if she hates these people. Elosha notes that she hasn’t robbed these people of their empathy…yet. Elosha tells Roslin that she doesn’t love people and asks If that is clear and practical enough for her, Madam President?

Everyone has the same bewildered look after the ship jumps, as if all of them are having some kind of flash forward experience. Boomer announces that they are heading for the Resurrection Hub. Later she tells Helo that the Hub is ahead of them, and sooner or later they will catch it. Helo is pessimistic because he knows that they will see the heat signatures from the Vipers and see their electronics. Helo and Sharon brainstorm their way into a plan. Basically, they are going to go in cold, no electronics at all, covered by the Cylon ships; basically a Trojan horse type of deal. Helo and Sharon will board the Hub and get D’Anna back online. Sharon rubs Helo’s shoulders when he has a crisis of faith. Helo says that Athena learned how to do that, and wonders how she learned how to do that. Sharon says that she got curious about Athena and accessed her memories from her last download. Sharon says that these memories are a part of her memories now too, but she doesn’t want this to be strange. Helo is kinda disgusted and walks away as Sharon gives a look that says “boy, I really fouled that up”.

Helo tells Roslin the plan the risks involved. Roslin feels that they must take the risk if they have even the smallest chance to stop the Cylons from downloading. Roslin wants D’Anna brought to her first, because the identity of the final five secret Cylons is a matter of human security. Roslin was reading the book that Adama gave her (and that he is reading as he floats in space).

Resurrection Hub (YESSSS)
D’Anna wakes up as a Sharon watches, and Cavil welcomes her home. D’Anna accuses him of breaking his promise that she would never have to go through this again. Cavil relates that they are in the middle of a civil war (1‘s, 4‘s, 5’s vs. 2‘s, 6‘s, 8‘s) as a result of her “retirement”. Cavil tells her that the rebels are working with the humans in her name. D’Anna wonders why Boomer (an eight) is with them and not on the other side. Cavil calls Boomer his pet Eight (man that is gross) and says that she has seen the light of reason., and that an Eight can be a passionate ally. D’Anna taunts her by saying she will be loyal until she sees something shiny. D’Anna asks why Cavil brought her back, and Cavil says that he brought her back to heal them and end the civil war.

Helo and Sharon try to get the gathered Galactica pilots and Cylon models (just Sixes and Eights) to get along and informs them of the plan. None of the Galactica pilots trust any of the Cylons not to double cross them. Sharon says that they have all trusted Athena and that she is the same as Athena. Sharon says that all of the Cylons are fighter pilots ready to take out other Cylons, just like Athena and that once the Hub is destroyed, they better figure out how to work together or they are all dead. Good speech.

Baltar tells Roslin to just go ahead and ask the Hybrid already. Roslin and Baltar try to ask the Hybrid about her vision. The Hybrid says something about protecting the child and closing the door. Baltar tries to interpret this as he is the protector of the child. Roslin finally yells at the Hybrid to open the door and the Hybrid bolts up and says “Three is online” in reference to D’Anna and then jumps again.

Roslin flashes to her deathbed scene, but walks away as she doesn’t want to see this again. Elosha tells her that the ancients believed that a people is only as strong as the body of it’s leader. Roslin tries to follow, wondering if she means that humanity died because she did? Roslin tells Elosha that if she is her self-conscious she is a little full of herself. Elosha says that she is referring to the morality of the people and references Baltar. They turn a corner to see Adama reading to Roslin.

On the Base Ship Baltar tells a Centurion that he is on low end of the spectrum and wonders if they told the Centurions about god. The Centurion tilts his head.

Helo challenges a worsening Roslin about her D’Anna plan and then takes her to task for not acting in good faith. Roslin says that she Is doing exactly what the Cylons would do. Helo disagrees, saying the Sharon’s wouldn’t. Roslin gets nasty, telling Helo that he is not married to the entire production line and if he cannot do this, find her someone who can. Before Helo can respond, the walls flash in alarm. Helo thinks they have arrived.

D’Anna wants to know why Cavil did not ask about the final five, as Boomer announces that the Base Ship arrived and launched 25 heavy Raiders. Cavil says that they are not meant to know the final five and D’Anna needs to help end this war. D’Anna threatens to shout their names out. The Galactica pilots are impatient, waiting for the Cylon ships to release their towing cables. The Cylon Raiders release the Vipers and keep flying towards the Hub. Boomer reports that they are facing the rebel Base Ship and panics, thinking they are going to attack. Cavil call that mass murder and tells D’Anna that would mean permanent death for all of them. D’Anna sits up in her tub at the mention of permanent death and says that makes this all the more meaningful before she grabs Cavil by the throat and smashes his head against the side of the tub. A frightened and shaken Boomer runs.

The Raiders and Vipers blow the Hub’s FTL and Helo and Boomer prepare to go get D’Anna.

Baltar tells the Centurion that god is his god as well and that god doesn’t want any of his creations to be slaves. This seems to resonate with the Centurion.

As the air battle rages around the Hub, Helo and Sharon find D’Anna as Hub starts to shake apart and she follows them.

Pike is hit and defenseless, he tells Hardball that he is jumping home just before he get hit again. He manages to jump just before he dies.

Helo, Sharon, and D’Anna find their ship is gone as the Hub is rocked with another series of explosions.

Baltar tells the Centurion about a dog who had a bone placed on his snout. The dog had to wait for the master’s permission to eat. The Centurion cocks it’s head again and Baltar calls the dog and master situation pathetic.

The rebel Cylon Base Ship is hit and glows like a bomb/nuke is going off. The Centurions takes the brunt of the blast and Baltar is thrown to the ground. Baltar’s abdomen is bleeding profusely. Roslin finds a medic kit and tries to help Baltar by giving him a shot of morpha for the pain and dressing the wound. Baltar is thanking her over and over, as she notes that he is going to live again. Best line of the episode alert:

Baltar: You know what, you’re very pretty .
Roslin: That morpha worked pretty fast.

Baltar tells her that she needs god, and she needs god right now. Baltar says that he was harboring immense guilt and now it is gone. Roslin asks what his guilt was about, and a drugged out Baltar confesses that he gave the Cylons the access codes that nearly wiped out all of humanity. Baltar says that he didn’t know at the time, but when god saved him, he felt rewarded. Roslin is reeling from the shock and tries to understand how he could feel rewarded. Baltar quotes the scripture that talks about the flood that wiped out most of humanity and how nobody blames the flood, and how in the end it became a point of rejuvenation and rebirth. Baltar says that he was another flood and that he blamed himself for the flood, but he realizes that god made the man who caused the flood and god made us all perfect and without guilt. Roslin is shaking, in horror? In anger? In fear? In shock? Baltar offers to give Roslin that peace and asks her to pray with him. Roslin says ok and sinks to the floor as she notices that Baltar has bled through his bandages and is dripping onto the floor. Roslin removes Baltar’s bandage as Baltar begs her not to do this to him. Baltar’s wound begins bleeding even more heavily without the pressure from the bandage.

Helo announces that they have D’Anna on board as they fly out of the hub, and the Vipers prepare to deliver the nukes. The Hub explodes in spectacular fashion as D‘Anna announces that with a whimper, every Cylon in the universe begins to die. Sharon calls this is a good thing, now everyone can trusting each other.

Baltar begs Roslin not to do this to him, as blood pours out of his wound, but Roslin sits with her back to him, her bloody hands clasped together like a child in prayer. The Base Ship jumps and Elosha tells Roslin that she is not arguing that Baltar has done more good than harm, but she argues that humanity cannot prove it’s worth on a case by case basis. Roslin asks Elosha what she wants from her, and Elosha tells her to love someone. Adama, over Roslin’s deathbed, watches her monitors flatline. Adama kisses her and tells her to go and rest now, that he is not going to be selfish anymore. He puts his ring on her finger and begins to weep for her.

Roslin comes back and begins to cry out no as Baltar looks dead. He makes the slightest sound and Roslin sets to stopping the bleeding. She begins unwrapping IV supplies.

Sharon tells Helo that they have to get D’Anna to the control room. Helo tells her that isn’t the plan and he has to take her to the President first. Sharon looks shocked, objecting to Helo changing the plan. Helo says that he is just following orders. D’Anna says that this is double dealing, a very human thing, and that is something you just never got Eight.

Roslin keeps working on Baltar, her pleas sounding like a prayer.

Helo tells Sharon that he doesn’t agree with his orders, but she cuts him off saying that she just made a fool of herself. She walks away, looking completely betrayed and throws the word “trust” at Helo before leaving. D’Anna asks if they can go find the President now.

Roslin lies on a bed across from Baltar, watching him intently. Helo and D’Anna enter, and D’Anna bolts for Baltar (they were a part of a threesome at one time). Helo tells Roslin the Hub is destroyed. Roslin tells Helo to keep everyone out, no matter what it takes. Roslin asks D’Anna about the final five. D’Anna is surprised that she knows about them. Roslin tells her that the final five know the way to Earth.

D’Anna: “But you don’t know that you’re one of them?”

D’Anna breaks into laughter at her own joke. She tells Roslin that she is not giving her any names until she feels like she is safe. D’Anna knows that she is mortal now, and information is the only card she has left. D’Anna promises to tell Roslin who the final five are once they are safe in the colonial fleet. D’Anna goes all Stone Cold and says that she doesn’t trust anyone right now, so Roslin didn’t even need to break her truce with the rebel Cylons.

Roslin sits with the Hybrid as they jump again. Elosha says that they have a long trip back, but Roslin doesn’t mind, as each jump brings them closer to Earth, to Galactica, and maybe there is something there for her. Elosha says that maybe something even closer.

Adama’s dradis comes to life as the Base Ship jumps right in front of him Adama climbs out of his Raptor onto the Base ship to find Roslin waiting for him. They both try to speak before Adama finally says that he missed her. They hug and Roslin tells him that she loves him. Adama tells her about time and they hug and cry.

Analysis
That was much better than the filler they offered last week. Again the special effects were some of the best of the series. The Hub explosion is everything that the Death Star explosion should have been (the first or the second time).
This episode suffered from some of the same problems as last week, we knew that Roslin would find and reunite with Adama, we expected them to blow the Hub and return with D’Anna. Things like that kill the tension and drama they attempt to build.
Baltar completely stole this episode. He was comedy relief and the X-factor in the plot. His cockiness with the Hybrid was great and his attempts to go door-to-door Jehovah’s witness on the Centurions was absolutely priceless. I loved those scenes. I will admit that I did wonder if they would have him die right there for a few minutes, especially when he was losing all that blood.
Roslin scenes with Elosha got irritating very quickly. If that is what it took for her to understand that she is dying and there is no harm in giving into her feelings for Adama, ok, but that was a little drawn out for my tastes.
I would be remiss to ignore the return of the skull bashing religiosity of this episode. Baltar’s explanation of how he was converted was convincing and egotistical, just like the character himself. That being said, it wasn’t necessarily good or compelling.
The music in this episode did a great job of setting the tone and becoming a part of the scenery.

Things I Wonder
Why exactly would the rebel Cylons choose to become mortal? You can’t tell me this was a unanimous decision (we all know how that worked out in Superman II).
So how many other Cylon Base Ships are out there?
No matter how many times you see it, doesn’t it mess you up when they show all of those Sixes and Eights together?
Why do the Cylons trust the humans at all? It seems remarkable to me that they didn’t really react at all when they learned that Natalie was dead.
Why did the Raiders suddenly need pilots?
What’s with D’Anna acting drunk?
Where did Boomer go?
Where did Helo, D’Anna, and Sharon get their ship? I’m guessing that Sharon took their ship and they took the ship that Cavil took to the Hub?
Just because they destroyed the Hub, does that mean that there are no other Resurrection Ships out there?
Does anyone else really pull for Helo and Sharon(s)?
What was a “saved” Centurions going to do?
Some of the battle scenes were just little fireworks, weren’t they?
Anyone out there think that Cavil is a little to logical to expose himself so recklessly like that without a backup plan?
How great was D’Anna taunting Sharon?
Those Arby’s inside looks really stop you from fast forwarding through the commercials, don’t they?
I didn’t see any Fours or Fives, did you?
So how long until this whole Cylon vs. Human thing breaks out again?
Roslin was really going to pray with Baltar, wasn’t she?
They never explained why Boomer sided with Cavil, unless it was their *shudder* relationship, right?
So who is going to be the first of the final five to crack when D'Anna arrives?
They have a theme with old guys and young girls lately, don’t they?
Roslin's little speech about human security to Helo was a lame shot at Bush, wasn't it?
We don't really know that the final five are really THE final five, do we?

Thanks for reading, as always, comments, feedback, and emails always appreciated. I will be back early next week with my review of Weeds and Confessions of a Call Girl and of course, the next episode of Battlestar. Until then, this is Cory, keep watching.

The 411: Much closer to a return to form, the battle scenes didn’t disappoint, but some of the drama was completely anticlimatic. Nothing actively bad, but not quite up to the high standards they have set. The religious themes were a little much, as they continue to feel the need to beat us over the head with their message. Everything is looking up from here to the mid-season break, though.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]