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The inevitable outing of the four Cylons on board Galactica has been given much build up throughout the year and thankfully it lived up to the heightened expectations. The unveiling of Tory in front of Roslin was deliciously sinister, but Tigh's confession to Adama was simply stunning.
These two men have fought together, in more ways than one, for many years and built up a deep-rooted respect for each other's loyalty to the survival of the Caprican race. Yet in the space of a few seconds, it was all torn apart.
Edward James Olmos conveyed the inner turmoil of Adama brilliantly, his world shattered when confronted with the revelation. As for Saul Tigh, can someone please give Michael Hogan's eye an Emmy Award please?
You can't help but pity the pathetic Tigh as he reveals the truth about his existence, metaphorical tail between the legs. It's hardly as if he chose to be a Cylon. Tigh's subsequent offer to act as a bargaining chip in the airlock further humbles a man (well, a machine) who is already haunted by his battle with the bottle and murder of his wife Ellen.
There was also a rather touching scene where Lee was seen dragging his inebriated father to his feet, a fine example of the real touch of humanity the series possesses alongside its obvious sci-fi leanings. The hostage situation engineered by D'Anna ramped up the tension wonderfully, as did her demand that the final Cylons step forward in front of their betrayed crewmates.
It was also nice to see poor Gaeta back on the job too. However, these are small pleasures when compared to the astounding and audacious ending, which strongly echoed the bleak climax of the second season of '80s BBC show The Tripods.
The sudden shift to a Cylon-Caprican alliance and the discovery of Earth certainly felt rushed, yet this greatly contributed to the jarring, shocking feeling of the final scene. The eerie silence as the camera pans across the desolate landscape before revealing a city in ruins is truly breathtaking and leaves the proverbial lump in the throat.
Just what has happened to Earth? It's going to be one hell of an agonising wait until this superb show returns to our screens in 2009. We can't fracking wait…
> Were you impressed by the mid-season finale? Share your views!
More: US TV, Battlestar Galactica
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BSG is rubbish, it has always suffered from low ratings, is classed as a flop in the US and has been axed there. Proof if proof were needed that you can't polish a turd
First,I am very upset that BSG is going offthe air.I feel that they have alot more to fracking give to us fans.I did though like the thirdand the beginning of the fourth up till now.I hate Tigh,so I'm very happy that he was made Cylon and i really do feel that they should of brought Admiral Kane from the dead and made her the fifth cylon they make a great match.I'm hoping that since the show is ending then I hope that it goes out with a fracking bang!!
Yes, can't wait. Please, before 2009!
Could it be Earth - or not?? When the fleet arrived you saw only a small portion of a planet and no moon. In addition, the final panorama didn't give any of the obvious "easily recognisable" artefacts that would indicate that it was Earth. Scientifically speaking, the nearest star to our Solar System is Alpha Centauri - who's to say that there may be an Earth type planet within this system?? Guess we'll have to wait ti find out.
It's not Earth, it's Terra.
Thought the build up to the season finalle was fantastic, are to beleive that the planet they landed on is "Earth", or have we been duped by the fifth unnamed cylon, in that they are hiddding the actual known location so that they never get there?
I too was surprised they reached Earth this far from the end. I was really hoping that they'd finally arrive here and it would be the Middle Ages. I suppose there's a chance that only the east coast of America is desolate. "Come to Europe, we're fine!!"
Couldn't agree more. My guess is the other Cylons beat them to it.
Wow wow wow. I did not expect them to get to Earth so quickly and a few choice words escaped me when the camera panned back to show the blue glode with the fleet jumping into orbit! This was an amazing episode full of tension and jaw dropping twists (granted some of them were predictable but great nonetheless). I thought the final scene down on Earth was incredibly powerful. They came all that way to a planet ruined in some massive catastrophe and I thought that the very final shot was of the Brooklyn Bridge (the statue of liberty would have been too obvious). I cannot believe that we have to wait at least another 6 months to find out what happens next. Bring it on.
Fantastic final scene: are we to believe the other Cylons got there first and nuked the place?
Great episode, if they don't give Mike Hogan an Emmy they should be forced to eat them. He's long overdue.
It is the HUMAN race and a Cylon - HUMAN alliance. Do stop calling it Caprican - there are 11 other colonies with survivors in the fleet. A great episode - exactly the type of close one story (reveal the 4 to the fleet) and open new story lines (what the hell happened to Earth, where does the colonial signal on Earth come from) episode that BSG excelles at. We are so close to finding out the whole truth about the scriptures, the human history and the Cylon history. The programme has got all it's players to this evolutionary dead end - Where can they go from here and is it really going to be another 6 months of waiting? Frak!
Fantastic mid-season finale. I believe Battlestar has benefited from a clear end date, and game. Fantastic build up lead to a jaw dropping finale. Really didnt expect them hit earth so soon. However, stupid Sci-Fi channel in america dragging the series out till march 2009 is ridiculous, but cant wait to see how it all ends.
are we all dead then?
A fabulous mid-season finale. My only criticism is that, the series as a whole, took a little too long getting there. The final sequences of the wasted urban landscape of the Earth were truly shocking - though the mischief maker in me was half expecting the camera to pan towards an image of the Statue of Liberty.
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OMG, york Ha Ha. Whatever it is you smoke, please give me some. Proof if proof were needed that reality and some people don't mix.