Battlestar Galactica Recap: “Revelations”

I’m still playing catch up with BATTLESTAR GALATICA and to that end I haven’t seen the mid-season finale. I’m carefully tip-toeing through the internet carefully trying to avoid spoiler land mines.Of course our resident BSG expert, Jo, has seen the finale and she’s all set to talk to you about it. I’ll close my eyes.

I wanted to thank Jo SO much for writing such great recaps throughout the season. She always manages to catch something that slipped right by me. And episode isn’t complete until I read what Jo has to say about it. I hope you all take the time to check out her own site, TV on the Brain.

Title: “Revelations”
GMMR Recapper: Jo

I’d like to revise my favorite episode of Battlestar Galactica from Exodus part 2 to Revelations. I’ve never nearly jumped out of my seat while watching TV before. Never been so mesmerized, never been so astounded, so shocked. This show has had one amazing season finale after another, but nothing could’ve prepared me for this. That’s the great news. The horrible news is we have to wait til 2009 for the last 10 episodes!

Silver lining, this gives us all six more months to convince more people that is the best series on television bar none. Just give me four hours. The three-hour miniseries and season one, episode one, titled “33”. If you can watch all that and still aren’t convinced, I can’t help you.

There is something ethereal about this series. The music, the movie budget graphics, the rock solid writing and the flawless acting. My biggest thought about the finale, besides the hour of gasping, was that a true crime against humanity will be if Edward James Olmos doesn’t win an Emmy for this episode. It was such a beautiful and awe inspiring hour of TV that I almost feel guilty for cracking jokes about it. Almost.

39,665. D’anna decides to hold Roslin and the other pilots hostage. She’ll trade them for the final four. Que what? I’m with Roslin, where is the fifth one? Roslin whispers to Adama that if the deal goes south, blow the baseship to smithereens. He just got her back, so I’m thinking he’s going to have a hard time with that executive order. D’anna and Adama arrive on Galactica. She spies the members of Cylon Anonymous whose reactions range from terrified to curious. D’anna announces that the four should make their way back to the baseship and then the hostages will be released. Tory pipes up about Roslin needing her medicine so she asks to return to the baseship with a smug D’anna.

Starbuck and company try to figure out a solution that doesn’t involve everyone dying but the end game always points back to annihilation. Unless the Four give themselves up. On the baseship, Tory accepts her new found rockstar status by tossing some meds to Roslin and then giving her a pretty cold shouldered see ya. Her character is so slimy now, it’s awesome.

The static radio, sans All Along the Watchtower, kicks back up in the Four. (Though we never get a full lick of AAtW, the music in this whole episode is amazing.) Tigh, Anders and Tyrol end up at Starbuck’s squeaky clean viper. They know this is the answer to Earth, they are just not sure how or why. Tigh decides to turn himself in. Bill doesn’t take the news well. And this should be his Emmy winning scene. Maybe we should start a campaign to buy Emmy voters TVs, since they don’t watch them. Bill falls apart and I mean apart. To the point where Lee is having to drag his dad out of the bathroom. Tigh tells Lee to airlock him if D’anna doesn’t back down, because she’s already airlocked one.

Anders and Tyrol bring Starbuck to her bird and try to convince her to look it over again. The marine guards rush in to arrest Anders and Tyrol, much to Starbuck’s confusion. I love, love Tyrol’s little smirk. Starbuck represses the news that her gorgeous, former professional athlete husband is a Cylon long enough to find a beacon that only her viper is picking up. The signal to Earth. Lee decides to airlock them one at a time, but I question why he didn’t start with Anders. I’m just saying. Guess he’s over the algae planet. Starbuck arrives just in time to prevent the one-eyed XO from the airlock.

Lee proposes to D’anna that they form an alliance and go to Earth together. Bill’s still a little worse for the wear until his woman shows back up. He lets Roslin give the command and the fleet jumps into, well, our solar system. The image is amazing. He gives another one of those awesome Adama speeches about how they have arrived. Everyone celebrates and hugs their loved ones. The fleet lands on planet Earth.

Except something ain’t right. I mean, seriously, were we honestly expecting a happy ending? But not only are there no humans on the planet besides the new arrivals, the whole place is in ruins. The ground looks desolated, it’s windy and grey. And scene.

WHAT?! WHERE on the Earth are they? If I had to guess, they are in New York? Cold, windy, remains of a bridge. A plethora of tall building remains across water on an island? Why didn’t they land in Florida where it’s warm? Did the rest of the cylons die in the civil war or are there more out there? What happened to the fifth cylon?! Why is SCI FI waiting till 2009? Will the prequel series Caprica be any good? Why will no one give this show a proper chance? So many questions! I love this show.

Okay, still it’s awesome. I can’t believe we got to see Earth before the fifth cylon. And ps, does that mean the last cylon died in the fleet earlier? And could still be alive somewhere if resurrected before the hub was destroyed? So who is it? Starbuck did go visit a picture of Kat…and we haven’t seen her in a while…..at least we have six months to ponder it all.

Jo has a boring job in a small town in Texas and spends her hours daydreaming about Dillon Panther football, Samuel T. Anders and becoming a real life version of Veronica Mars. Her random TV rants can be found at http://tvonthebrain.wordpress.com.