Battlestar Galactica recap, episode 4×06: "Faith"

A week ago I was a bit down about Battlestar Galactica as the pace had slowed and I was ready for stuff to start happening.

After watching Faith tonight, I’m now thinking about how sad I’ll be when the show finally ends.

This was a beautiful episode of BSG tonight, that’s the first way I can think of describing it. Laura Roslin, even without hair, was beautiful. The scenes aboard the basestar had some kind of beautiful poetry. The blood from the shot Sharon dripping into the Hybrid’s pool was…beautiful.

It just felt very sci-fi tonight, which was a welcomed change.

President Roslin

Roslin was amazing tonight, along with guest star Nana Visitor (Deep Space Nine), who plays Emily, another cancer patient.

Their scenes together in sick bay were impressive. Roslin hears the radio playing Gaius Baltar’s messages, and when Roslin assumes that Emily would rather it be off, she totally midjudges the situation.

As she spends time with Emily, Roslin hears the dying woman’s testimony about why she believes in the Cylon God, or the one true God. She had a clear vision of crossing a river on a ship and seeing her family on the other side, waiting. A warm presence surrounded her, which she could only describe as God.

Later, as Emily passes on, Roslin is dreaming, and she’s next to Emily on the ship, and then Emily is on the shore with her family. Then the shore changes and it’s Roslin’s loved ones, including her mother who was also a schoolteacher and died of cancer.

But Roslin says…she’s not ready yet.

There was another…beautiful…moment with her and Admiral Adama at the end, where he confesses that he believes in Earth because of Roslin. And how he’s worried he may never seen all his “kids” again. And Roslin says…”I’m right here…we’re going to find it together.”

Some of the greatest moments in BSG have been simple scenes like this one with Adama and Roslin.

Starbuck

We join this week’s episode a split second after last week’s ended. The mutiny is taking place, Kara is being held after trying to run for the jump controls on her own.

Helo orders Gaeta to change the coordinates back to the fleet, and when Gaeta tries to do it, Anders out of nowhere shoots him in the lower leg, pretty much destroying his bone. Gaeta fears later that Doc Cottle will take the leg when they return to the fleet.

With blood being shed, things calm down and Starbuck gets some clarity. She decides to take a Raptor instead of the Demetrius to the basestar, with Leoben, Anders, Sharon and Barolay tagging along.

That’s when things start getting interesting.

The Raptor jumps into a debris field with pieces of basestars floating around, still exploding from power fluctuations and whatnot. But Starbuck takes control of the ship from Athena, and steers them towards the big planet nearby.

That’s when the sight takes her breath away. You can see the basestar they are trying to find floating in the rings around the planet. The ship has a trail behind it, taking the shape of a comet.

The very comet Starbuck painted in her cabin. See below:

The thing I thought might  be the Ship of Lights last week, is in actuality just the basestar.

They land on the thing (with some very cool organic doors closing behind them) and stuff starts happening.

The basestar can’t jump, but they can use the Raptor’s FTL drive if they hook it up. Two Sixes are here, one of them the Natalie character.

The one Six remembers Barolay as a member of the resistance on New Caprica. She killed the Six, watched her drown. The Six still has nightmares about it and ends up killing Barolay, which continues our bloodbath of side characters dying.

Anders yanks his gun out to return the favor, but Starbucks tries to keep him from unraveling everything. Natalie on the other hand, talks softly to the Six, understands her pain, and then pulls Ander’s trigger for him.

No resurrection for that Six.

Three important things happen on the basestar. First, Anders almost sticks his hand into the water pool computer aboard the ship, which would have likely given him away to the entire ship.

Man I wanted to see that.

Secondly, Athena is approached by all the Sharons. They all admire her, like a legend, for making her own choices. They desire mutiny against the Sixes, but Athena tells them they can’t just cut and run when things don’t go well.

But the final thing was the most important of all.

Starbuck goes to the Hybrid and waits for a message or sign. None comes right away, so they decide to just unplug the Hybrid so they can jump away with the Raptor’s FTL.

But as a Sharon goes to unplug it, a Centurion blows her away, and then in turn gets blasted by everyone else. As Sharon bleeds into the pool of the Hybrid, Starbuck leans in and begs for it to tell her what she wants from her.

And the Hybrid tells her:

“A dying leader will know the truth of the Opera House, the missing three will give you the five, who’ve come from the home of the 13th…you are the harbinger of death Kara Thrace…you will lead them all to their end.”

There is so much there. I had pretty much figured it out already, but Natalie interprets the Hybrids words right after.

Roslin will learn the truth about the Opera House she’s been seeing. The Missing Three is of course Deanna (The Three Cylon) that was boxed. She knows the faces of the Final Five, or at least one of them.

And the Final Five…come from EARTH, the thirteenth colony.

OMG!

What the frak?

The Final Five are from Earth, and were sent to the colonies why? Were they sent, or did they go on their own? What for? To end the human race? To bring them home?

I’m confused, but the development is astounding. It means that the Final Five KNOW THE WAY TO EARTH!

And the last line of the Hybrid is one we’ve heard before. Kara is the harbinger of death. You will lead THEM all to their end.

Ah, but the question I now ask is…who is “them?” The Humans or the Cylons?

Last Thoughts

Early in the episode, Roslin asks Tory to make sure she pays attention to EVERYTHING that crosses her desk as her mind is wandering and unsure right now. Tory is now in a place of even more power.

The dying Sharon tells Athena “you were right, forgive me” but Athena wont take her hand. But Anders does…a strange sight.

The alliance between the Cylons who believe in the Five and the Humans has begun. The coming weeks should be super interesting.