I have to admit, I’ve had a hard time putting together a coherent thought about this week’s season finale of Battlestar Galatica–except, “Holy frak, it’s going to be a long wait until January.”

It’s hard to not want to jump right to the last act with all the revelations that came left and right, but I won’t do that.  I will try to be patient and not discuss those until a bit later in the review.

OK, wait…I have to say it–holy cow, Tigh is a Cylon?!? What the hell?!?

So, back to the review….

I’ve been less critical of Battlestar of late as compared to other reviewers around the Net.   I feel as though Ron Moore and company have earned the right to have a couple of epiosdes that are all about character building and will pay off in a better understanding of the characters later when the proverbial dookie hits the fan.  So, while I won’t tell you that all of the episodes coming out of the hiatus in January were pure Galactica gold, I think they’re going to age a lot better when seen in the overall context of what is the tapestry that is season three. (Plus once you blow the effects budget on Galactica falling through the atmosphere on New Caprica, how can you expect to top that every single week?)

That said, the last three weeks have been special and have ramped up the drama and intensity once again.  I was hooked and mesmerized by each story, breathlessly waiting to see what unfolded and all the while dreading the fact that every second I watched too me closer to Galactica being gone from my TV screen until 2008.

I think that they need to move heaven and earth to get Lampkin into a recurring role.  I’m not sure how but damn that character was good.

So, Baltar is found not-guilty of his crimes.   As Adama points out, it’s not that he didn’t commit them so much as the defense made its case.  Lampkin’s tactic of putting the system on trial works, though they get a huge boost from Lee.  Lee’s impassioned testimony on the stand, while straining credibility in a huge way, was absolutely dead-on.  Humanity is showing a double standard–everyone else is exonerrated while they want to make Baltar a scape-goat.  Yes, the guy made some bad choices and he does put self-preservation above all else, but who wouldn’t in the same situation.   It’s easy for everyone to stand back and say–I’d've done differently, but then again they never had a gun pointed to their head and were ordered to sign a death warrant.

I did love that Gaeta was willing to purjure himself on the stand to get Batlar convicted.  Nice moment there.

And I love where this took us.  Baltar is found not-guilty, but the question is, “Now what?”  He’d have been better served to have been found guilty and continue living in his cell.  Now he’s a free man but has to worry about those extremists who would take justice into their own hands and shove him out the nearest airlock.  Baltar’s status as some kind of new religious figure-head should be interesting to explore next year, esp. since we know Roslin sees herself in a simliar light.   Could Baltar be headed back to some kind of power and/or voice within the fleet?  And could he be useful in working with Six? 

Another big question I’ve got–is there any redemption for Gaius Baltar? 

Of course, the big news was we found out four of the final five Cylons–Tigh, Tori, Anders and Tyrol.  They all heard the Bob Dylan verson of “All Along the Watchtower” and this triggered something in them.   And the revelation raises a whole lot of questions that demand an answer–such as how can Tigh be a Cylon since he’s clearly been around since before the Cylons evolved into skin jobs.  Is Tigh a proto-type?  Or do the Cylons kidnap people and make them Cylons?  Is there a real Tigh out there, who is being held prisoner by the Cylons?

Also, if you think about it, iwas D’Ana talking to Tigh Cylon in her vision–apologizing for torturing him so on New Caprica and taking his eye.   (Just so you know, I’m going to call this Cylon model a Tigh-lon from now on…I just decided). 

Meanwhile, the other Cylon that intrigues me is Tyrol.  We saw how he reacted to finding out Sharon was a Cylon.  Man, we could have some really good angst hit the screen now with him being a Cylon as well.  Boy, that should be fun to watch him try to reconcile that.

And then we have the big cliffhanger.  I told you the Cylons were waiting in the nebula.  I do have to wonder if it was the four Cylons we saw that somehow sabotaged things or do the Cylons have some new way to impair the fleet. 

But while the entire fleet is in peril and as if our jaws weren’t already on the floor, we get the return of Starbuck.  So, she wasn’t dead–or was she?  Or is she?  Is she a ghost in Lee’s head?   She’s been to earth and wants to show them how to get there…this could be interesting.  All I know is it’s going to be a long nine months until we get back to Galactica. 

I’m already counting down days….