TV episode review
US airdate 6 June 2008 (Sci Fi Channel)

Roslin and Helo, trapped aboard the rebel basestar, decide to destroy the Resurrection Hub while betraying their Cylon allies...

After the heavy-going politics of 'Sine Qua Non', 'The Hub' is more of an action-focused instalment that shows us the flipside view of the previous episode.

Leaving Galactica behind, events pick up aboard the rebel basestar at the end of 'Guess What's Coming to Dinner?'. It leaves Roslin, Helo and Baltar stranded on the basestar with the humanoid Cylon rebels and a bunch of wary pilots. When one of the Number Eight 'Sharon' Cylons (who intriguingly has access to Athena's memories, arguably making her the same) reveals that the hybrid is jumping towards the Hub in a panic, Roslin decides the mission is on.

This sets in motion an uneasy pilot team-up and an epic showdown which is unique in its construct and scoring, and backed up by the SFX team's stunning work. The effects still feel as fresh as they ever did, with no reliance on stock footage or repetition of material. This episode contains such impressive sights as basestars duelling with basestars and the Colonials using the novel tactic of towing de-powered Vipers into combat by Heavy Raiders to avoid detection. And, taking centre stage, is the fascinating space temple-like Hub.

Beneath the action lie ideas about death and resurrection – themes BSG has brought up again and again. The vertigo-defying fighter assault on the Hub (hauntingly scored by Bear McCreary, who continues to introduce new rich themes) really has an edge - human and Cylon will find themselves as mortal as the other if it is destroyed.

There is, typically, bitterness behind the triumphs – Roslin is determined that the resurrected D'Anna Three Cylon (the returning Lucy Lawless) be brought to her alone once rescued from the Hub. But when Baltar is injured on the rebel basestar and lets slip a shocking revelation, visions of her old priestess friend Elosha haunt the president. Will she let him die? Has she grown that cold? And why is Roslin experiencing the visions when the ship jumps?

Worthy of mention is Tahmoh Penikett as Helo, thematically the best character to put in the middle of this situation. In the past Penikett has never really got the credit he deserves, often written off as the dull moraliser. In fact Helo's moral compass is what makes him so interesting - Battlestar's world is definitely no easy place for the noble. Here he carries out his orders to the letter, but the look on Helo's face when he sees the racks of Sharon Cylons who will be incinerated by his own nuclear strike says it all. His wife back in the fleet has no second chances now.

And fans will savour the episode’s final two minutes…Owen Van Spall

VERDICT: 8/10