After Starbuck’s plan from last episode comes undone, she’s thrown in the brig, while everyone else is left to decide if she’s her normal crazy self or just crazy crazy. Meanwhile, the Cylons are having their own troubles as their raiders refuse to fight the humans.

A note to first time BSG watchers; these aren’t the reviews for you. I plan to write about the show with the ending in mind. If you haven’t seen the show, you will be spoiled on stuff that happens at the end. You’ve been warned.

If you start thinking about it, it has been forever since we’ve heard from our Cylon enemies. Sure, last episode they were bearing down on the human fleet, reading to annihilate their parents once and for all, but really, we didn’t see them, just their ships (their inhuman, mechanical ships).

We haven’t been in contact with them since Athena and Caprica Six took Hera back home, way back in “Rapture.” Where have they been? What have they been doing? Where are they going?

Well, we don’t really find out, but we can probably safely assume that they have been chasing the humans, looking for a chance to strike and enjoying some naked Tai-Chi. But that doesn’t matter right now; right now, they’ve got themselves into a big ol’ mess, and like their forefathers (and mothers), they decide to repeat mistakes rather than learn anything.

One raider read Anders during the fight, and in that instant, likely transmitted its finding to every other raider, and all of them rejoiced because the Final Five, their long-lost parents (who probably created them too) have been found. And in their joy, they give up the fight, because how could they kill their creators?

The Sharons, the Leobens and the Sixes want in on this love fest, even if this knowledge is forbidden to them, but Cavil (along with the Simons and the Dorals) shut it down and lobotomize the raiders back to their origin state. His argument makes a lot more sense when you know the whole truth behind him; he knows what is down this road, and he will have no part in it. Cavil is a machine first, and dammit, he will make every other machine around him act like a frakkin’ machine: efficient, emotionless and predictable.

It’s only the beginning of his downfall. Getting shot up by Natalie and her centurions is only the beginning. Soon, he’ll learn that he’s more human than he ever thought.

It’s also the beginning for Starbuck, our resurrected heroine who is trying her best to convince her family, especially Roslin, that she’s not a Cylon in disguise. Unfortunately, her *best* consists of holding a gun to the president and trying to force faith on an unwilling woman.

It’s a striking scene because we know now that Starbuck is right, and that everyone is looking at this miracle in front of them with suspicion and doubt, but I can’t say I blame them. She is acting like a crazy person, beating and threatening people left and right…Tigh was right, she’s more like herself than ever before. It’s hard to make the leap that she’s asking for, and she knows that, and she’s not sugarcoating it for them (or for us) because the payoff, Earth, is worth this crazy trip she’s going to take them on.

Of all people, Roslin should be sympathetic to Starbuck, but she’s been fooled before; she listened to her better angels and let them settle on New Caprica and look what happened. She learned from that mistake by becoming hard and ruthless and unwilling to bend in her thinking. She has become what she fought against all those years ago, and it’s going to be a long, long road back to her former glorious self.

The one who has changed in all of this is Admiral Adama, the avowed atheist who took that leap with Roslin in an effort to reunite his family, and he’s seen enough to know to make the leap when asked. He can’t choose between his daughter and his love, and after a horrific (but wonderfully performed) fight with Roslin, he picks the easiest path for him, even if it leads to some friction down the road.

He frees his crazy-pants, long-lost daughter from her cell and sends her on her way, hoping she’ll be right and hoping she’ll come home again. He’s learned a lot on this crazy journey; and one by one, so will his family.

Stray thoughts:

        I covered most of this episode, but I did want to mention just how sweet Lee’s party was. It’s so rare to see these folks enjoying themselves, and for once, they managed to have a moment of fun in between their misery. And Lee also continues his run of awesomeness by believing Starbuck.

        I still love Tori and all, even after the next episode, but yuck to sleeping with Gaius. Sweetie, you can do better. Although, I must say, he seemed to actually give a damn about her when she was upset, so maybe it’s possible he’s a slightly better man than I thought.

        But somehow I doubt that.

Next up: “The Ties That Bind”