Week in and week out, this show does a tremendous job of inching us closer to the end without giving too much away in any given episode. Occasionally, we’ll get a filler episode that doesn’t really move the big storyline, but this wasn’t one of them. We knew that the plan was retrieve D’Anna and destroy the hub so that she would be compelled to reveal the identities of the final five Cylons, and ultimately reveal the way to Earth. But all D’Anna has is information and she’s not giving it up until she returns to the human fleet, so we have to wait at least another week to find out the identities of all the skinjobs. Of course, last week’s line to Roslin about her being one of the Cylons turned out to be a joke… a joke! Damn you, Ronald D. Moore!
Roslin kept having visions every time the basestar jumped, and I guess the point was for her to come to the realization that she couldn’t let Baltar die, even after he (finally) admitted that he (unknowingly) gave the security codes that allowed the Cylons to destroy Caprica and the other colonies. Roslin really wanted him dead, but after her last vision she apparently saved his life. The priestess said something interesting after Roslin admitted there might be something for her there (presumably, Galactica). The priestess said, “Maybe even closer.” What the hell does that mean?
We saw Roslin reading that book that was eventually found in a destroyed raptor, and I guess that was meant to explain how that book got there. Was that the same raptor that jumped away in the middle of the battle, eventually to be found by Galactica? It was finding that book that sent Adama over the edge last week, so it’s nice that they explained how it happened to be there.
The dynamic between Baltar and Roslin (when they were trying to communicate with the hybrid) was really funny. There’s a weird tension between the two of them; I dare to call it sexual, which was kind of confirmed by Baltar’s compliment of Roslin’s beauty when he was all hopped up on drugs. I also thought his interaction with the Centurion was humorous, especially when the robot tilted his head like a dog who has just heard a strange noise.
Lastly, I have to hand it to the creators once again for the wonderful special effects of the battle scene. It’s amazing to see how far these effects have come over the past thirty or forty years.
Based on the scenes from next week, it looks like we’ll have another big step forward in discovering the identities of the Cylons in the fleet and finding a way to Earth. It is the 10th episode of the season, and I’m pretty sure there will be a break before the final 10 episodes, so I’m betting we’re in for a doozy.
