- During a seemingly hopeless battle, Kara Thrace appears in a pristine Viper, claiming that she has been to Earth and can lead the Fleet there -- but the terminal Laura Roslin believes otherwise. Meanwhile, four of the so-called Final Five are forced to tackle the repercussions of their newfound nature, while Gaius Baltar discovers he has a commune of nubile female cultists who believe him to be an agent of the "one true God."—Amezzeray
- The Colonial fleet and the Cylons engage in a costly battle within the Ionian Nebula, Gaius becomes the figurehead of a religious sect hiding on Galactica, and Starbuck's resurrection shocks and terrifies the fleet. Meanwhile, Colonel Tigh, Galen Tyrol, Sam Anders, and Tory Foster struggle with the revelation that the are Cylons.—Kevlar01
- The Galactica engages the Cylon fleet that has suddenly appeared and are losing the battle. After scanning Sam Anders however, they immediately stop the attack and the ships jump into hyperspace. Everyone aboard the Galactica is dumbstruck at the return of Starbuck. She thinks she's been away for only a few hours but in fact it's been over two months. Her Viper is new and doesn't have a mark on it. The President orders her detained until they can figure out just what is going on. She repeats her claim that she has been to Earth and can show them the way to get there. Every time the fleet jumps into hyperspace however, she senses that they are going the wrong way. She decides to confront President Roslin. Gaius Baltar meanwhile has been led off to a part of the ship where his followers have created a safe haven - and a place of worship with him as the central deity with healing powers.—garykmcd
- Survivor count: Down to 39,698.
The opening card has changed. Twelve Cylon models. Seven are known. Four live in secret. One will be revealed.
What that means if you're catching up is this: We already know Number Six, Leoben, Sharon, D'Anna Biers, Brother Cavil, Simon and Doral are Cylons. Last season's finale revealed that Colonel Tigh, Chief Tyrol, Tory and Sam were four of the five Cylons models nobody has ever seen. They were brought together by their shared hearing of the melody to ''All Along the Watchtower.'' The final model remains a mystery.
As you may recall, there was a power outage, leaving Galactica a sitting duck during a Cylon attack. Though Lee has retired his pilot status, the fleet is thin and he jumps into the battle. He flies off to chase a bogey and comes up on...Kara Thrace, aka Starbuck. She's supposed to be dead. He's highly confused and understandably suspicious.
Pull into the new episode and we see: A nebula, and clouds.
Lee and Kara are flying side by side, and he still can't believe it's her. Neither can command, where Admiral William Adama is juggling the execution of the fleet's defense against a heavy Cylon attack as well as the shock of hearing Starbuck's voice over the chatter monitor. President Roslin, not wanting to take any chances, insists it's a trick and advises Bill to take her ship down. But instead, Kara gets straight to work blasting Cylons.
Meanwhile on Galactica, Tigh can't get his head in the game, drifting off into the knowledge that he's a Cylon and, in a horrifying blink, visualizing assassinating Adama. But the Admiral snaps him back to reality by barking orders to put everyone who has ever held a stick into the fray -- including Sam.
Sam is worried that his Cylon side will be triggered by the attack, but Chief (a fellow Cylon in hiding) makes him jump into the battle anyway. Sam flies through the fire and can't lock onto a target with his guns. The battle is going poorly, and one of the civilian ships disintegrates into flames. ''How did they find us?'' Roslin wonders, and Tigh gets a nervous look on his face.
Another civilian ship takes heavy fire, and it seems all is lost. But in that moment, Sam gazes into the red eye of a Cylon Raider pilot and, after a staredown, his pupil flashes the same red.
The ship turns around, and Cylon attack fleet shocks everyone by pulling out.
Aboard Galactica, everyone is confused by the sudden retreat. ''They had us. Game over,'' Tigh says. ''Why the hell did they let us go?''
''Maybe something's changed,'' Tory suggests with a knowing look on her face.
''Like what?'' Roslin asks. There's a pause and Tigh and Tory's facial expressions indicate they have their theories, but Tigh only suggests, ''I have no idea, Madame President. No idea.''
Meanwhile, a cloaked and bearded Gaius Baltar is escorted away from his former allies and enemies, to another part of the ship where it seems a cult that worships the idea of him as a Messianic force has risen up. The place is draped in red and populated by an array of beautiful people. Gaius is utterly perplexed, especially when he sees his photo on an altar festooned with blinking colored lights. What he doesn't know is that he was followed by two men...
The battle is done, and Starbuck returns to the ship with the happy news that she has found Earth. But if she was expecting a hero's welcome, she was mistaken. She jumps out of her ship requesting the usual post-battle check, but everyone is suspicious of her, from the President down to the techs.
''Do you believe in miracles?'' Tigh asks Adama as they look on at the scene, to which the Admiral quickly replies, ''No.''
Lee tries to smooth things over by embracing Kara in front of everyone, but Adama immediately orders her into custody in sick bay and has the doctors run some tests to see if she's human. Turns out she is, but further debriefing doesn't persuade anyone that she is the real Kara. Starbuck believes she was only out six hours, but to everyone else, she was gone for two months.
Back in the cult, Gaius is having problems settling into his Jesus Christ pose. ''King of fools,'' he grumbles. ''Probably best to be hated by everyone than loved by this lot, doomed to live out the rest of my life in this loony bin.'' But as the Six in his head reassures him, it's all part of the plan -- but he demands proof that all his suffering has a greater purpose.
One thing you gotta love about ''Battlestar'' is the way it doesn't sugarcoat the notion that prophets tend to be pariahs at best, and at worst, big old losers. Poor Gaius.
Kara, Lee, Adama, Tory and the president try to get to the bottom of what happened via a rough inquisition. Kara's story doesn't make any sense to anyone, and what's more, Chief examines her ship and can't account for the fact that it looks like its fresh out of the factory. Plus, the flight data recorder is empty.
To President Roslin it seems fairly clear that Kara is a Cylon. She warns Bill and Lee Adama not to trust their emotional ties to her because, she says, that's what the Cylons are counting on. How else to explain the enemy's sudden decision to abandon a battle they were winning? She wants to put Kara in the brig, but Lee and Bill aren't certain; meanwhile, Tigh, Chief and Tory look on, their faces only slightly veiled in dread.
Cultville again. One of Baltar's worshippers takes him to her bed. Another brings him her child stricken by viral encephalitis, hoping that he'll be able cure him. Being a virus, no medicine can help...but later, he prays over the child, asking the One God to take his miserable, undeserving life in exchange for that of the boy.
Elsewhere, at a meeting of the Four, Sam reveals what happened during the battle, wonders why he couldn't shoot the Cylons and furthermore, why the Cylon who targeted him didn't shoot either. As Tigh, Tory, Tyrol and Sam realize that they might not be in control of themselves, Tigh pulls out a gun and implies that if any of them exhibits signs of losing control they will take themselves out, or that the others will do it for them.
Roslin visits New Caprica Six in the brig to find out about the five models nobody has seen yet, but Six doesn't have any concrete answers for her except for one: She can feel the five, and they're close.
Starbuck and Gaeta are going over maps, but Gaeta can't find evidence of Earth's star system. Worse, it's clear Gaeta doesn't believe Starbuck. Helo continues to grill her, and when Adama walks in on the conversation, she explains that navigational maps won't help them; she can only find Earth by what she calls a feeling. The more they jump, the less acute the feeling becomes. But Adama can't, and won't believe her -- he's laid eyes on her ship, and there's not a scratch on it. He's also watched the playback of Lee's flight recorder, and saw her ship explode with his own eyes.
''What do I believe -- my heart, or my eyes?'' he asks Lee later on in a briefing room. The younger Adama says he knows, and in a change of conversation, the Admiral asks his son to come back to the fighter squadron. Lee declines, explaining that he's had the feeling that he needed to stop being a pilot for a long time, and that he's toying with the idea of taking a position in the government. Adama reveals that he's keeping Kara under guard in his quarters.
Back at the cult, one of the acolytes expresses her appreciation for Baltar's prayers over the sick kid as she escorts her leader to the bathroom for a shave. As Baltar finishes, a man walks in and tells the disgraced former President about his young son who was shot to death by Baltar's police forces on New Caprica. An accomplice enters and restrains Baltar's acolyte as the man hits Baltar, grabs his razor and puts it to his throat, drawing blood.
Then Six appears to Baltar. ''When you asked God to take your life instead of the boy's, did you mean it?'' she said.
''Yes,'' he replies. ''Do it. Take my life.'' His attacker is thrown off guard by the selfish Baltar's readiness to die, giving the acolyte an opening to escape her ambusher and beat both men unconscious with a pipe. She escorts Gaius back to the cult compound, where the sick child has made a miraculous recovery. As Baltar gazes on amazement, a knowing Six stands in the background and grins.
A heavily guarded Kara meets with Sam and expresses concern about what's happening to her. Sam says that if she's a Cylon, she can't help it and she has been since the beginning, and knowing that fact wouldn't stop him from loving her. Kara replies that he's a better person than she is, because if the tables were turned she would shoot him between the eyes.
Galactica jumps again and Kara, holding her head, wails that the ship is headed in the wrong direction and if they keep jumping, she'll lose her way forever. Then she realizes that President Roslin is the force standing between her and Adama's faith in her, and decides to do something about it.
Without warning she knocks out her guards and Sam, grabs a grenade (Lethal? Smoke? She pulled a pin out of something with her teeth, which is never a good sign for whomever is on the receiving end) and tosses it into the hallway outside of Roslin's bedroom.
The sleeping president is awakened by the boom, and sits up in bed to see Kara walking into her room, with a gun drawn and anger darkening her face. Roslin stands up and faces her, and the outcast pilot -- who may be the human race's savior that nobody believes -- raise the gun to the leader's face and cocks the hammer.
To be continued....
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