1. Bookends
This episode begins with a reminder of Roslin’s mutiny. And for that sin of mutiny, Adama calls her a religious fanatic. Adama was out of commission while Tigh fracked up everything going on within the fleet, and he has felt out of control ever since. It appears the commander has basically said good riddance to those that decided to leave, including his own son. It’s a betrayal that is digging at Adama from the inside, he even describes it to Dee as a rage, a rage just gnawing at his chest. Adama spends the entire episode holding onto these feelings of rage and betrayal and good riddance, until Dee confronts him and spells it out for him; it’s not just comrades at arms that have been separated, it’s families that have been separated as well. Finally, by the last few minutes of the episode, we see Adama back to his confident self, no more nervous and unassured speeches to the press corp, no more trying to force an unqualified and unprepared pilot into the position of CAG, no more walking around like a man scorned, but back to reuniting the fleet, back to reuniting his family…even reuniting with that mutineer Roslin. They’re all better, and stronger, together.
2. Redemption
Despite being abducted and operated on, on Kobol, Starbuck makes it back to Roslin’s ship with the Arrow of Apollo, the religious artifact the former President believes she needs in order to begin her journey to save the human race, just as the scriptures predicted. But Starbuck hasn’t just brought Helo back with her, she’s brought Cylon Sharon as well, the woman that looks just like Adama’s attacker, and Apollo is not having it. Roslin wants to toss the Cylon right out the airlock, but Sharon has something she wants, knowledge of the location of the Tomb of Athena, and Roslin cannot bear to let that knowledge simply float out into space, unreachable. So she spares her. Once Roslin’s party makes it onto Kobol, they stumble upon land mines and Cylons, both of which take a heavy toll on the group, but our key players survive because Sharon takes out the last remaining Cylon – redeemed in the eyes of her human companions. At least for now.
3. Surprise! It’s a kiss
Surprise! You’ve arrived home and your dead fiancé’s brother plants a big one right on your lips. Awkward. It’s less awkward if you’re Starbuck…thanks to your wry sense of humor and tendency to make awkward situations into jokes. Apollo may be embarrassed, but Starbuck is not. These two are connected in so many ways, they’ve fought alongside one another, they’ve almost become family, they’ve basically been family, and they’ve (secretly) been in love. Neither one will admit it, probably because they’re too stubborn and because they are so very different, but they fight, they make up, they fight, they hate each other, and we’ll see where this leads. We’ve met Anders, but he’s stuck back on Kobol.
4. Lurker
Hey! There he is. It’s Baltar. He’s back, but if you blink, you might miss him. He’s literally lurking in the hallway, just watching human beings stroll by going about their business, and making fun of them with Six. Basically, it’s what we all love to do out in public, even if we don’t admit it to ourselves. Baltar recognizes humans as lesser and is pretty pleased when Six reminds him there is a plan for him; he’s not one of those base human beings, he’s better. Just as he assumes.
5. Machinations
Let us not forget about former terrorist Tom Zarek, who seems to have designs on stealing the fleet right out from under Roslin’s feet. But Zarek is no dummy, and he knows he can’t just strongarm everyone into following him, because, as he says, he believes in the power of myth, and these people have decided to follow Roslin because of the myths they have grown up on and believe so whole-heartedly. He wants power, but he’s smart enough to wait to take it.
