BSG: Season 3, Ep 19 - Crossroads (part 2) (March 25, 2007)

Baltar's trial leads to vicious betrayals and new alliances... but who are the final five cylons? Find out Sunday in the shocking season finale!

OMG so we ARE going to find out who the final five cylons are.

Then I guess the four in the fleet are really cylons. And, with an appearance of Kara, I'm wondering if she's number five.

Now, thinking back to when D'Anna went to the final five. She looked at one of them and apologized, and said that she didn't know. Was it Tigh, and she was apologizing because he had an eye removed, and was tortured?

I just want some answers... and we're six days away from that.

Alrighty there Ms. Spoilers...

Could be. Or it might be the 5th one...

-HECK!

Actually, if you've seen part one of the finale, then it isn't a spoiler. So, to come into a thread that is for an episode that is later than one you haven't seen, it's at your own risk!!!

What might be the fifth one? The one that we've yet to see? True.

Season 3 finale episode recap:


Tigh, Anders, Tyrol and President Roslin's assistant Tory Foster are all now hearing — or hallucinating — a strange song aboard the Galactica.

Roslin, meanwhile, is recovering in the ship's infirmary after her first major cancer treatment. There, she experiences another vision of the opera house through which she, Athena and Six pursue the toddler Hera.

Waking with a start, Roslin is shocked to discover that Six, Athena and Hera have shared the identical vision. Like those hearing music, none of these women can find an answer for their perplexing experience.

At Baltar's trial, the defense is teetering on the edge of defeat. To save his client, Romo Lampkin moves for a mistrial because Lee Adama has heard his father — a judge — make biased statements against Baltar in private.

Lee reluctantly takes the witness chair. Instead of admitting his father's prejudice, however, he makes a compelling speech on behalf of his client, arguing that President Roslin has forgiven countless misdeeds since the fleet's long journey began, and Baltar should be treated no differently.

Lampkin rests his case after this eloquent statement, and soon, the judges determine by a vote of three to two that Baltar cannot be considered guilty. The courtroom erupts into chaos. The last duty that Lee and Lampkin perform for their client is to whisk him away from the mob to safety. After that, Baltar is a free man — but he's also on his own in a hostile fleet.

Roslin is disgusted with the verdict, and her relationship with Adama is shaken when she learns that he voted to release Baltar. They must set aside their conflict, however, when the fleet finally arrives at the Ionian Nebula.

As the Galactica scans this waystation on the route to Earth, the entire fleet abruptly loses power. In the darkness and confusion that follow, Tigh, Tyrol, Tory and Anders are nearly overcome by the insistent song, and they each follow it to an obscure workout room on the Galactica. When they lock eyes with each other, they guess the obvious but horrifying explanation for the mental summons that they've obeyed: they must all be Cylons.

At that moment, a massive Cylon armada bursts onto the scene. Lee Adama joins his old Viper crew and flies out in defense of the Galactica. In the light of the mysterious nebula, to his shock, Kara Thrace appears in a Viper next to him. Seemingly back from the dead, she has come bearing a message of cosmic importance….

Okay, first off, this was a damn good episode. I wish that they would have all had such a good story line this season. Anyway... for the, the absolute BEST moment, for this entire season, was Lee up on the witness stand, and testifying why Guias Baltar should NOT be charged for his "Crimes." It was a pivotal moment for the entire fleet, and it's going to change things, in a huge way, I believe. The fact that Adama voted "Not Guilty" speaks volumes. Though, his comment to Roslin of "Not guilty and innocent are two different things" was spot on. Sure, Guias isn't innocent... but everyone else would have done the same thing, I believe. I truly do.

I loved that Lee got back in the cockpit of his viper and went out with the fighters, to protect the fleet from the cylons. The fact that no one else saw Kara's ship on their radar screen, when Apollo did, makes me think that she made it so that no one else saw her. She's a "being" now, I think.

The four "cylons" meeting up and discovering that they have been cylons, all along, was quite strange. And I LOVED what Tigh said. Damn right dude... because it's true, no matter what... you are Col. Saul Tigh, of the BSG Fleet, and that's how it SHOULD stay. But, the look between him and Tory, at the very end, was a bit strange. Are they really there for the fleet, and the President... or are they going to leave?

We did NOT find out who the final five are. We never saw their faces in Six's dream. So, unless those four REALLY are cylons, then we have no clue. BUT, who is the FIFTH cylon? Could it be Kara showing up is them telling us that she's a cylon? Was it Roslin, who, right before the power went out, had some weird "attack" and felt strange? I don't know... but NOTHING about the final five was solid info.

I felt like that was never given to us, so I'm still left in wonder.

Despite that, I loved the episode.... and now, I can't wait for season four.

Is Kara really there, in some form, and not Lee's imagination? Last time he flew, he saw her viper explode. So, is he just wishing that he found her? Or, is she truly there, as something/someone? Did she really find earth? When they backed the camera up, and go through the universe, and you see earth, that made me think that she truly did find it.

Oh, and reading through the recap just now, it says that the four ASSUME that they must be cylons, for the mental message that they have obeyed brought them there.

Now, I'm just wondering... because it's never truly been said that the final five are cylons... could they be something else?

Just a thought.

This is an article on the season finale by Maureen, from the Chicago Tribune.


Originally posted: March 25, 2007

'But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate': Another insane 'Battlestar Galactica' season finale
The following post discusses Sunday's season finale of "Battlestar Galactica." DO NOT read this if you have not seen it yet. If you have, then by all means, join the discussion.

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How cool was Sunday’s “Battlestar Galactica” finale?
Pretty cool. Actually, I thought it rocked.

So Tigh, Tory, Chief Tyrol and Anders are all Cylons. I don’t know about you, but that revelation blew my mind.

And as others have pointed out, all of them were leaders of the resistance on New Caprica. Coincidence? Maybe not.

Since lurking on the TelevisionWithoutPity.com “Battlestar” spoiler board a while back, I haven’t been able to get one commenter’s idea out of my head -- that maybe there are no humans. Maybe there are just different Cylon factions at war, and the Tigh-Tory-Tyrol-Anders contingent is just one faction within that war.

I think that's a pretty compelling idea: What if there are no humans, and this show’s been about the Cylons’ attempt to reclaim or develop the “humanity” of their human creators -- who are long dead?

Here’s another theory posted on this site earlier this week: Maybe the Cylons created the humans, not the other way around.

That’s even wilder, but as we know, “Battlestar” doesn’t shy away from the wild. I enjoy it when the show upends my expectations in such radical ways -- having earned the right to do so with solid storytelling first. And these last couple episodes of the season are about as solid as it gets on TV (and of course, some of Sunday's developments might have been set up well before this last bunch of episodes -- then again, knowing Ron Moore's affinity for shaking things up along the way, maybe not. Who cares. This finale worked for me).

All of these thoughts are pure speculation, keep in mind. I have not a scintilla of information about what is actually going on and what we’ll see next season. And that’s the way I want it -- now we can actually spend the long months until the show returns in January 2008 trying to figure out what the writers have up their sleeves for season four. Of course we’ll probably be wrong, and I have every hope that they’ll come up with something far better than what we can dream up.

So, Kara “Starbuck” Thrace – still alive? Reborn? A Cylon? Tanned, rested and ready to rule the galaxy as some kind of intergalactic goddess? Knows where Earth is? Ready to lead the fleet there? All of the above? Or is Lee Adama just having one completely tripped-out vision?

I’ve got no idea. My only concrete thought is that, if she's found a wormhole, she should stop by Quark’s bar on Deep Space Nine at some point. Saving the remaining human population (if that’s what the people aboard the fleet's vessels are) is thirsty work. Say hi to Morn for me, Kara!

Slightly more seriously, a large number of commenters on this site in recent weeks seem to think that Kara may now be (and always has been?) a Being of Light or a goddess or some other sort of celestial creature. Then again, she could have always been a Cylon and she may have downloaded after Lee lost sight of her in “Maelstrom.”

Or she could be none of the above. And in all truth, I tend to think Lee was not seeing a vision, and that the Starbuck we saw was real.

One quibble that doesn't have anything to do with the finale itself: I can’t say I was thrilled with the promotional tagline on Scifi.com for the final episode of the season. It said, “Who are the final five Cylons? Find out on the ‘Battlestar Galactica’ season finale.”

By my count, we met four Cylons in the finale. Not five. So are we to understand that Kara is a Cylon? My speculation is not really leaning in that direction. But it’s kind of a drag that the tagline could be read as leading us to think that she is the fifth Cylon, when she may be something else.

I tend to think Kara’s something other than just a garden-variety Cylon. But I could be wrong.

In any case, I’m wondering if fans are going to be mad about that tagline. We didn’t have a fifth person clearly identified as a Cylon, so unless I’m missing something, the tagline was wrong.

Another bit of speculation -- did anyone else notice how Laura Roslin became a little ill when the fleet arrived at their destination, just before the power went out? They didn't show that she heard the music, and she didn't quote any lines from Dylan's inimitable song, but I thought there were a few clues here and there that she might be the fifth Cylon. She was in that weird opera house scene with Six and Athena and Hera, for one thing. That's got to mean something, though it may not mean Roslin's a Cylon. (Critic Alan Sepinwall has some interesting analysis on Roslin and other finale matters here.)

One theory at Sepinwall's site: What if those four aren't Cylons, and there's a third party at work? Yikes. We're in deep waters here. But that's where "Battlestar" does its thing best.

Finally, I have to say that Bear McCreary, who does the show’s terrific music, did a great job of incorporating “All Along the Watchtower” into the final episode. This was a risky move that could have been really cheesy -- but it wasn’t, thanks to the skill of McCreary (and “Battlestar’s” editors, who did a great job of making that last set of scenes, when the four characters realize they're Cylons, compelling).

One quibble about the music -- I wouldn't have picked the vocalist that was chosen to sing the song in the closing moments. He reminded me of the guy who sang the "Star Trek: Enterprise" theme song, a theme I never really liked -- either version.

In any case, what does it mean that a song that is recognizable from our own, current Earth era was used in that episode? An episode in which the humans may have actually found a way to Earth? Very suggestive, no? I thought it was.

Here's what McCreary said, in part, on his blog regarding the use of "All Along the Watchtower":

"[T]he idea was not that Bob Dylan necessarily exists in the characters' universe, but that an artist on one of the colonies may have recorded a song with the exact same melody and lyrics. Perhaps this unknown performer and Dylan pulled inspiration from a common, ethereal source. Therefore, I was told to make no musical references to any 'Earthly' versions, Hendrix, Dylan or any others. The arrangement needed to sound like a pop song that belonged in the Galactica universe, not our own."

(McCreary adds that his version of "All Along the Watchtower" will come out in August, on the Season 3 soundtrack CD. One final digression, there's a recent Salon interview with Ron Moore here.)

All in all, I found the last two episodes of this season wonderfully compelling. I enjoyed Romo Lampkin quite a bit, and Lee’s scene in the courtroom, in which he excoriated the hypocrisy of putting Baltar on trial while allowing others in the fleet who’d done questionable things resume their lives – well, all I can say is, bravo, Jamie Bamber. That was excellent work and great writing.

The first time I watched the last two episodes of the season, I saw them both together, and seeing Baltar's trial all at once really amplified its impact. On Sunday, I watched the finale for a second time, and I enjoyed it again, even though I knew what would happen. I did notice some snippets "All Along the Watchtower's" lyrics in the first half of the finale script that I hadn't noticed before.

There may have been some uneven moments this season, but as Matt Roush said on his site Friday, “I can take an off episode here and there on any series as long as it ultimately delivers, and to me, 'Battlestar' does.” Amen.

So, was it a reason to get excited? Too much confusion? Can’t get no relief? Share your thoughts here.

So, reading the article from the lady in the Chicago Tribune, and then, just now, going back to that site, and reading peoples comments, I see that I'm not the only one who found that Roslin getting some strange feeling coming over her, right before the entire fleet lost power, strange. Could Roslin be the fifth?

I thought the same. She got light headed or whatever then ZAP, the power goes out. The fact she's having visions with 2 1/2 Cylons speaks volumes. That Baltar there is Six's fake Baltar in her mind (hence the no beard.) Either the Hera blood transfusion is making her slightly Cylon, who knows. Like Athena and Six said, it's impossible.

I'm glad they explained that Dylan song. I thought it had to do with Earth but it was just a song, not necessarily one from Earth.

Looks like Blatar is going to start a freaky commune or something.

I tend to believe Apollo really saw Starbuck. I didn't expect her to be so relaxed. And the fact she showed up with the Toasters can't be a coincidence.

-HECK!

Man, I was so tired yesterday. I was up late on Saturday hangin' with the peeps, sun almost came up, and slept like 5 hours then had to come to the office for a few hours. So I get home and was just trying to stay up until 10. About 9 I hit the wall, started dozing, but maybe my internel alarm clock worked because I shot out of bed right at 10 and turned the TV on. I rule.

Damn worth it too. I am just pissed we have to wait over 8 months. That's shit.

-HECK!

I read all the comments that people made to the article that Maureen wrote, and damn, people have some great thoughts on what things mean for BSG!!! Some really good ideas floating out there.

Comments where?

-HECK!

Let me post them in here. It was at the end of the Chicago Tribune article. People can post comments to her online reviews.

I'm actually going to make a new thread on this article, and the comments. Then, we can discuss our thoughts.

Cool, I actually just read them all the site. Good theories.

RM's interview said that the four are really Cylons, no guff.

-HECK!

Yeah, I just posted his interview on here as well...

Someone posted it on that blog, but RM also said Starbuck was dead. I just hope he's not full of shit.

-HECK!

When they confronted Six and said that Hera was in the vison they all had, she said something about it being impossible. Don't remember the exact quote.

She didn't say that about Roslin being in the dream, so I figure the pres just might be a Cylon.

It's so ambigious. I think RM keeps as generic as possible so he has a lot of creative wiggle room. She has that Not Baltar in her head and that's still never been explained so the fact she's having a dream-some with Roslin, Athena and Hera should be par for the course.

-HECK!

I'm thinking if I found out I was a Cylon like they did, I'd just go to Adama and spill the beans, let them lock me up.

Not cruise on back to my work shift. But that's the way I roll.

No way, I'd be all slick and plot against everyone secretly... or not.

The one little problem I have with the whole thing is that means Chief's baby is also a hybrid and that makes Hera a lot less important, no?

-HECK!

I guess. Also means when he was tanking Boomer, it was Cylon on Cylon action.

Also means the local union rep is a Cylon.

Also means the silly stealth fighter he made is now a Cylon creation.

I figure they got a boatload of little ones back on Capricia, with the experiments they did on the women. So Hera must be something special for some other reason.

True. Plus RM said that these 4 are a different kind of Cylon so who the hells knows. I still don't know why they were having that vision, it really made no sense. It's creepy and weird for the sake of being creepy and weird.

-HECK!

Well, cylon or not... the cylons didn't know, and still don't, except for Three (D'Anna) who they are... and she's been put out to pasture. So, of course they would think that Hera is special. Because they know that the other models, the known seven, don't have any children (except for Athena). That's my theory.

Of course, Hera could be special because there is something about her that will reveal earth, or the truth behind a great mystery.

It's truly open to huge interpretation though, and that's what Ron wants. He wants us spending the next eight months talking about all of this, and trying to figure things out.