After a disappointing 3rd season, this was supposed to be the last season of BSG, however the writer’s strike shook things up, and we ended up with only half of this final season. Luckily the quality of these 10 episodes was better than last season’s.

It’s clear now that the writers have worked out the end of this series, and are now working towards that target. That was my main problem with this series, they had no idea where to go both in terms of plot and characterization.

A lot has happened in last season’s finale, however I don’t think everything has paid off yet. At this point I don’t much care about Kara. She was supposed to bring them to Earth, but then the final 5 are also supposed to do that. It just doesn’t all fit that well. Another character I’ve lost interest in is Baltar. He used to be my favorite character, but I am already tired of his religious turn.

I liked the way the secret 4 cylons reacted to their discovery. Most of them were incredulous, but slowly accepted the truth. Tory was first to accept her true nature, and became a super-bitch. I think that’s a great way to develop her character. Sam had less screen time, so I don’t think they did much for his character. Chief was the most tormented one, and the one to suffer the most. Cali’s episode was the emotional high point for me.

My new favorite character has to be Tigh, he seems to have lost his mind especially with Six, I can’t believe the writers went ahead and made her pregnant. But he obviously completely redeemed himself in the finale. I’ll get back to that later.

Laura’s journey is a little boring to me, but her scenes with Adama are always a pleasure to watch. I do like their relationship and I am glad they’ve finally made it open.

Another interesting development was the Cylon’s civil war. That’s probably the biggest change in the series. That lead to the alliance with the humans, the return of Diana, the final 4 are out in the open, and the finding of Earth. All this in the jam packed finale.

I was glad that the 4 were finally out in the open, and finally there is a true alliance with the Cylons. The way Adama reacted to finding out his best friend has been a Cylon all along was devastating, but it felt too rushed. They jump cut between rage, drunkenness, desperation. Way too fast, I wanted to see more.

I am a little conflicted about the final scene. They pumped us very well with hope and joy right before landing on Earth, everything they’d gone through all this time seemed to finally pay off. But then they land on a desolated planet. So what?! First of all it’s just one land in a huge planet. Have they explored the whole planet already? Second, what were they expecting? The 13th colony after all this time? Not all of them were believers at the beginning of the series, but now they all are?

I found that ending not that shocking or surprising. I didn’t believe for a second that we would get a happy ending to this mid-season finale. I don’t believe we’ll get a happy ending when the real finale comes either. This is not that kind of show.

I also hoped they would reveal the final Cylon, but they need to leave something for next year. I used to be very excited about a Cylon reveal, but they still haven’t explained how Tigh can be a Cylon. Everyone else I don’t care, but Tigh is a puzzle. I’ve read a lot of theories about the final Cylon identity: Admiral Adama, Laura, Kara etc… All these wouldn’t surprise me too much. But my favorite theory is that Galactica herself is the final Cylon. That would be cool!

Overall this was better than previous season, the writers had more focus and there were some truly amazing moments. But it’s still not as exciting as the first season, so I am glad that next season we will see the end of the series.

Season Rating: 3 Stars