TV episode review
US airdate 9 May 2008 (Sci FI Channel)

The dying President Roslin and Kara Thrace have leaps of faiths in the face of death, mutiny and a risky alliance with the Cylons to find both Earth and the Final Five…

The show's writers have structured the final season as if it were a novel - one long story playing out with no episodes centered purely around specific characters. This means no standalone instalments, but the cost is sometimes all setup and no payoff – as with the previous turgid episode. Here everything is mostly back to form: tension, plentiful allusions to the ideas of trust and belief, and a few major revelations with devastating consequences for some.

The episode picks up with the Demetrius mutiny, which should have come sooner. A (rather obvious) compromise is reached – Kara will take a Raptor with Leoben to his basestar to talk with the hybrid and unravel her destiny, and bring the captured ship to the fleet. But this is only reached after Gaeta is badly wounded by Anders in a burst of panic fire (his Cylon programming?) and left with an uncertain fate – again showing that not even popular supporting players are safe. The audience is left ambiguous as to where the blame falls - Helo for starting the mutiny or Kara for provoking it?

The truce between the Cylons and humans delivers the dramatic goods and some fantastic visual effects, as the two sides rub against one another there are explosive consequences and bloodily avenged grievances. It is good to see more of Grace Park’s Sharon, a character neglected over the last few episodes, and Park is given time to portray the deep conflict over her defection. Meanwhile, Anders faces being exposed as a Final Cylon, as the Hybrid reveals to Kara that finding the Final Five and reactivating the Number Three model is the key to Earth. But she also warns that Kara is the "harbinger of death".

Laura Roslin wastes slowly away in Galactica's sickbay, but after talking to, and sharing dreams with, fellow patient Emily (Deep Space Nine's Nana Vistor) she finds herself curious about Baltar’s wireless sermons – talk of a single god and another world beyond their own. Perhaps Baltar, if not a messiah, really is a messenger. But what is the message and where does it come from? These quiet scenes between the two superb actresses gave much-needed weight to the Baltar storyline, and allow Mary McDonnell to showcase why she is such an asset to the show. The final touching moment between Roslin and Adama is one of their finest. Owen Van Spall

VERDICT: 8/10