Battlestar Galactica Season 4.5 Epi. 18: Islanded in a Stream of Stars

As usual, tonight’s episode recap begins after the second blue header.

Questions Going Into Tonight’s Episode

1. How much of a beatdown will Tyrol get for his role in Boomer’s escape with Hera?

2. What’s up with Caprica Six? Is she still with Tigh?

3. Will we get anymore Starbuck revelations?

4. Just how damaged is Galactica after Boomer’s jump frakked her up?

5. Will Anders wake up? If so, will his Earth memories still be intact?

6. What’s John’s endgame?

7. Now that Hera is gone, will the shared visions of Athena, Roslin, and Caprica Six return? What do they mean?

8. Is Islanded a word?

Can you think of more questions? See you at the end of the hour…

Islanded in a Stream of Stars

Previously on Battlestar Galactica: Starbuck realizes that her father taught her the song that switched on the final four when she was a kid. Sam is shot and in a coma. Boomer returns to Galactica with Ellen, kidnaps Hera, and causes major damage to the already crumbling Galactica after she jumps away too close to the ship.

And now…

Hera is sitting on the strategy board pushing a model Galactica into a model of a Cylon base ship. Hmmm, sign of things to come?

A six argues with a human worker as they’re trying to repair the ship’s damage. An eight breaks it up.

There’s a close up of an eye blinking in a red room and the lights are flickering with each blink.

Ellen tells Adama, Lee, Starbuck, Tory, and Tigh that John Cavil probably took Hera to their colony. What colony? Oh, you know, the home planet they never bothered to mention till now. That one. Ellen thinks they need to go and find Hera. Lee doesn’t think it’s smart to jump Galactica’s broken down ass into the middle of a Cylon gangbang. With the miscarriage of Caprica Six’s baby, Hera is now more important than ever, Ellen counters. Starbuck agrees and tells Adama and Lee about the mysterious song and Hera’s part in it. Adama has had enough of destiny, fate, prophecies, etc. He even damns the Gods. He eventually agrees to send a Heavy Raider for a recon mission, but wants to keep Athena and Helo out of the loop.

Helo wants to know if Athena hates him. She doesn’t answer. You know she does!

Caprica Six and the President are both in the sick bay having that Opera House dream.

There’s a breach and several workers go flying out the airlock. A six saves a guy and gets spaced for her efforts. Could anyone tell if she was telling him to close the door, and then turning the wheel to lock it OR was she trying to get in? At first I thought she was asking for help, but after watching it two more times, I don’t know.

And we have credits…

61 people are dead, including 26 Cylons. Tigh and Adama discuss Sonya’s inquiry into Galactica’s transition to the Cylon base ship. “That’ll be the day,” Adama grumbles even as the ship farts and coughs around him.

At a fleet captains’ meeting, the captains are incredulous over the possibility of Adama and the military operating out of the Cylon base ship. Sonya tries to reassure them, but they ain’t having it. The captain of the Tylium ship reissues his complaints of the jacked up air on their ship. He wants dibs on Galactica’s CO2 and particulate scrubbers. Lee shoots him his best, “Have you bumped your head?,” look. Another captain wants the FTLs as his apparently are slow. Lee tells the vultures to settle down.

She's not even dead yet, and they're already picking over her bones. Poor girl.

Starbuck sits in the bar listening to Gauis’ broadcast in which he claims to believe in angels because he sees them. Head Six looks on as Gauis speaks. Caprica Six is leaving with rations when Gaius rushes over to give his condolences. (Note: how odd to see Caprica Six is such a position. Such a reversal from the first episode when she snapped that baby’s neck.) He offers her a place to stay if she needs it and she tells Gaius she has no desire to join his harem. Oh, snap. He insists that isn’t what he meant. She tells him that he hasn’t changed, but she has. (I don’t know about the first part of that.)

In the sick bay, a dying eight wants to see Colonel Tigh. He holds her hand and she thanks him for the privlege of meeting her father before she dies. He just grumbles something about spending years trying to kill her kind. She says, “Too much confusion,” before dying. (Another line from the song.)

Boomer is jumping her way back to Cavil and Hera is showing her little ass. “I want my Mommy! I want my Mommy!” Even I want to see her spaced after awhile. Boomer threatens to dope her up again. Hera loses her shit. The Mom in me can barely watch. Boomer needs her ass kicked.

OK, where the hell is Tyrol?! Are we not even going to address his role in Boomer’s escape?

Tigh is searching his quarters for liquor and Ellen tells him they need to do more than send out a recon when their people’s existence is at stake. Tigh claims the people of Galactica are his people. She reminds him that he’s a Cylon even if he doesn’t remember it, and that he needs to remember what they were trying to achieve. She tells him that their children will die off one by one if they don’t act. He said he had a child and it died. Ellen tells him, “You’re wrong Saul. You had millions.”

Boomer tries to get Hera to eat, but she refuses. She doesn’t want to take food from the bad lady that kidnapped her and kept her in a trunk. ‘Magine that! Boomer projects herself into the house on Picon and Hera joins her. For some reason, Hera doesn’t mind eating the cupcake there. O-KAY.

Starbuck is on the toilet watching Gaius shave. She asks if he really believes in angels. He does. He sees them regularly.

“Regularity. Must be important when you’re full of it.”

Burn.

Starbuck gives Gaius her dog tags that she pulled off her dead body on Earth. She wants him to test them.

Note: I really didn’t like this episode, but it’s growing on me after more viewings.

Sam is hooked up to the data stream like a hybrid. Starbuck asks for time alone with him. (He’s the owner of the red blinking eye.) She remembers when she told him if she ever found out he was a Cylon, she’d put a bullet in his head. Turns out, she didn’t mean it. She only wants her Sam back.

Girl, your Sam is gone. The last time we saw him was when he was tossing a pyramid ball before the mutiny.

She goes to kill him… huh?!… and he grabs her arm and starts doing the hybrid mumbo-jumbo including, “You are the harbinger of death, Kara Thrace.”

Roslin and Adama chat while she’s in sick bay. She lights up a joint. And I wish I had one to dull the pain of this awful episode.

Gaius tests Starbuck’s dried blood on the dog tags.

After a bunch of techno-talk, an eight explains to Tigh that Sam could jump the ship if he wanted to, much like their hybrids. He orders Sam taken offline. The electricity stops flickering.

From the recon mission, Adama learns that Cavil moved the colony five months ago and they have no idea where he went. Lovely.

Boomer shows Hera the room her and Tyrol’s daughter lived in within the imaginary house. Hera jumps on the bed.

Seriously? This is how they use the time in the final episodes?

Helo talks to Adama who admits that they sent a Raider out to find the colony, but it was a bust. Helo wants to go alone and look for her. Adama tells him to let it go. Helo says Adama is the one that can’t let go ’cause he’s still trying to repair Galactica’s busted ass. Realizing he’s gone too far, Helo apologizes and asks for a Raptor again. Adama still ain’t havin’ it.

Funeral services are held for those that died in the latest explosion and breach. Ellen, Adama, and Gaius all speak before the bodies are put out the airlock. After the service, Gaius announces to everyone that death is not the end. He says there is one amongst them that has already crossed over and returned. He tells everyone about Starbuck finding her own deady body on Earth and the results of his test confirming that the blood on the dog tags came from dead flesh.

Starbuck slaps the taste out his mouth.

Why, exactly, is everyone so shocked? They know she blew up. They know she returned in a Viper whose signal lead them to Earth. THEY KNOW something ain’t right with her!

At the memory wall, Lee tells Starbuck he doesn’t care what she think she saw, he doesn’t care that he saw her Viper explode, he’s still her friend. Jesus, Lee is desperate. Starbuck returns her picture to the wall in between Kat and Dualla.

Boomer jumps to this kickass Cylon ship. It’s not a base ship, it’s like the thing that poops out a base ship.

She delivers Hera to John and Hera, once again, loses her shit, but this time ’cause she wants Boomer and not the creepy old man with caterpillar eyebrows. John tells Hera that soon she’ll have lots of new playmates. What’s THAT supposed to mean. Boomer cries. Don’t cry now, heifer!

Oh Lord, more shots of Adama staring at the walls of the ailing Galactica. He takes off his Admiral pins and marches to his jacked up bathroom. He starts smearing paint on the walls and has a bit of a breakdown.

You know, I defended the last two episodes when most people shat on them. I cannot defend this. This was worst than filler.

Starbuck sits with Sam and she says she’ll sit in the room with him until they figure out the pattern of the music notes. She plugs him back in.

Tigh arrives at Adama’s quarters. Adama tells him that they’re stopping all the repairs on the ship. He’s gonna have the crew start stripping the ship and packing up. The’re gonna abandon the ship. Tigh doesn’t like it. Adama tells him (and I love this) that Tigh never let him down and he can’t blame Tigh for what he is especially since that includes being the finest XO and friend he’s ever known. Galactica has never let him down either, and he wants to send her off in style. They toast to Galactica.

Goodbye, old girl.

Questions

1. What up with Tyrol? Is he in the brig?

That’s really all I got since I’m so disappointed.

But, I will say this, if the series goes out with Anders being a damn mumbling hybrid-like vegetable, I will NOT be happy.

Check your local listings for Battlestar Galactica: The Last Frakkin’ Special. It airs between this Frida’s episode and the three-hour finale night.

Also, as always, you can find more BSG blogging every Tuesday at The TV Tyrant.

So, what did you think of this episode?