Believe in Me

Apollo's expression when he saw Starbuck pull alongside him in her viper, pretty much says it all.  The cockiest fighter pilot this side of a battlestar is back, feistier than ever and looking pretty damn good considering she and her plane blew up into itty bitty pieces at the end of the last season.  Yet, there she is, as large as life, with a mysteriously resurrected viper that is not only unscratched and undented, but completely data-less.  So, where's she been?  Is she a cylon, clone, hybrid, human or something else altogether?  And what if she is human and the cylons have found a way to tinker with her?  How and why else would she mysteriously know her way to earth...?  Women's intuition?  Um, maybe not.  Lee and Bill's reaction to her return is gratifying--genuine heartfelt relief that comes from close relationships.  Anders reaction is puzzling, lukewarm at best, and while he is struggling at dealing with his own cylon identity, you'd think there'd be a little more cheer from his side.  But... maybe that's natural considering his wife's admission that she would put a bullet between his eyes if she ever found out he was a cylon.  Good old Kara.

Talking about Anders... one of the best scenes in this opening episode features him being scanned by the cylon raider.  Was he the instigator for the cylon withdrawal?  Did he issue a silent command that the enemy plane read?  Did the raider awaken something within Anders, or was it a case of the cylons checking (and recognising) the activation of the final five?  Truly one of the best space battle scenes, we've seen, but not enough of it... I'd have loved for it to be longer--for the whole episode to have been longer, in fact.  The four newly discovered cylons seem pretty determined to stay true to their 'humanity' and the relationships they have formed.  But how realistic is that?  We've already seen Anders stumble in the air--was it a newbie mistake under pressure, or something more sinister?  Tigh is struggling with himself--was the image of him shooting Adama a fear, fantasy, a premonition or something else?  The only one of the quartet that seems to be holding it together is Tyrol. 

Ah, Baltar.  Not as strong a plot line here as I'd have liked.  His adoption by a neo-religious cult and the healing of the sick child (coincidence anyone, or his immune system latterly kicking in?), and even the murder attempt was way too predictable... tired writing from the BSG scriptwriters--surely not?  A lead up to a devastating twist, maybe...hopefully.

So where does that leave us, or rather where does that leave Roslin, as Starbuck has her left in a rather difficult situation.  Roslin's reaction to Starbuck's appearance is puzzling.  For someone who believed so strongly in the scriptures and prophecies, and was in a not-so-dissimilar position herself not too long ago, her adversion to Starbuck's claim shows a strange reversal.  And what are the implications of her and Bill's relationship for the rest of humanity?

And who is 'he that believeth in me'...?  God believing in Baltar or Leoben in Kara?

Last but not least, shame about Lee's decision to quit the military.  I know I'm not the only girl that'll miss seeing him in uniform...