Battlestar Galactica recap: “Guess What’s Coming to Dinner?” (episode S4×07)
(as always, my Battlestar Galactica recaps contain SPOILERS galore, so read with caution)
The first thing I have to say is that this was an AWESOME episode.The second is that the next new one isn’t for two weeks and that is total poo-poo.
Not only do I not get Lost next week, but now no Battlestar Galactica? Argh!
Let’s get to the episode tonight, entitled “Guess What’s Coming to Dinner?”
I’m sure that line has been used countless times in lot of movies and television shows (replacing What with Who of course), but when I saw the title I immediately thought back to Pavel Chekov in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country when the Klingons come aboard the Enterprise for the first time.
Turns out that was a pretty fitting comparison.
By the way, on a personal note, if my future child ever walks up to me in the middle of the night and says “bye bye” I’ll totally crap myself.
A TON of stuff happened tonight, so bear with me here.
The Demetrius and the Basestar
Okay, so we join with the crew of the Demetrius and the Rebels onboard the damaged Basestar. They are syncing up their FTL’s so they can arrive AT THE SAME TIME when they rejoin the rest of the fleet.
Only, that doesn’t happen. The Demetrius gets stuck, and the Rebel ship appears right smack dab in the middle of the fleet, a sitting duck. Galactica orders an emergency jump and deploys the alert fighters.
Right before Adama orders all ships to fire, Tigh stops it, having sensed something was wrong. Was it his Cylon instincts kicking in, telling him what was at stake? Or just old war habits? After all, the Basestar wasn’t sending out Raiders or anything.
Then the Demetrius finally returns, confirming Tigh’s response. Helo radios Galactica to tell them Athena and Starbuck control the Basestar.
Natalie appears before Roslin, Adama and every other important member of the military, to explain the situation. Her story includes a new ship and a strategy to change all Cylons into mortal beings.
My only fault with this scene was the lack of surprise on Roslin and Adama’s face when Starbuck tells them the Final Five are from Earth.
There is a ship where the Three is boxed (Deanna), and it’s called the Resurrection Hub. The Hub controls the functions of every resurrection Ship in their fleet. It protects itself by periodically jumping to random coordinates and relaying them back.
Take out the Hub, and the Cylons can’t resurrect. They become mere mortals.
The plan is to jump in, unbox Deanna, find out who the Final Five are, and let the Rebel Cylons leave with the Five.
Only the humans don’t plan on releasing the Five until they get to Earth, and the Cylons don’t trust the humans either, so they put into place the Centurions to hold human’s hostage once the Five are found.
Now, I wish I had a screenshot of the Resurrection Hub, because it’s the coolest looking ship I’ve seen on the show yet. Simply awesome. I said that out loud right before the Raptor pilot said it was “almost beautiful.”
Gaeta
Apparently the destroyed leg on Gaeta wasn’t just a meaningless side plot. He does lose it though (thank you Cottle), but in doing so, we discover that Gaeta (and actor Alessandro Juliani) has a beautiful singing voice.
He sings every time he feels his phantom leg, and this strikes Anders as important for some reason.
But more importantly, what is Gaeta singing about? Is it prophetic or insightful, or just meant to be background music?
Even more to the point: Does any of these have to with him being the final Cylon to be revealed?
Roslin’s line was so great: “What a way to discover such a beautiful voice.”
Agreed. But I also think this was a way to discover something even more important. We’ll find out down the road if I’m right.
Roslin
Roslin finds out that Tory is sleeping with Baltar, and asks her in such a coy way. “What is it about the Galactica that gives you such a glow?”
Nice Roslin…hilarious.
She is upset that someone is telling Baltar about her dreams of The Opera house, yet doesn’t suspect Tory for whatever reason.
With her wiry Cylon wit, Tory sleeps with Baltar and then gets the info out of him: The Six told him during his Trial about it.
Lee comes to see Roslin a few times in this episode, but mainly to persuade her to talk openly about the operation with the Rebel Cylons, because the Quorum has no faith in anything anymore, and they need to put a face to the joint-mission.
So she does it. With a lot of guards, Bill, Starbuck and Athena, Roslin talks to the Quorum and then brings in Natalie to tell them why the Rebel Cylons need help.
The Opera House, Roslin, Hera and Athena
We know that A Dying Leader will find the Secret to the Opera House, but when? Well, it almost happened tonight. Almost.
But before that, Athena, Roslin and the Six all dream again of Hera running though that Opera House, with the Six and Baltar finally taking it through closing doors.
This all becomes too real for Athena, as she wakes up in the middle of the night with Hera staring at her saying “bye bye.”
Creepy as all heck. And then when Athena returns home that day, Hera has done nothing but draw pictures of a blond stick figure with the numbers “6″ all over, and a little girl figure with dark hair.
The dream of Hera running to the Six.
Suddenly Hera is gone and Athena tries to find her. The pursuit mimics her dream-journey through the Opera House until she catches up with Hera running into NATALIE, who is being escorted to see Adama.
Wow. But the wow’s don’t end. Athena pulls her gun on Natalie, telling her to leave her daughter alone.
The Hybrid, the Death, the Jump and the Singing
The end of this episode was pulled off with such perfection. A mini-orchestra of musical pieces that are connected by Gaeta singing in the background, even if we can’t hear him until the end.
Starbuck finds Roslin in sickbay, and tells her the Hybrid’s words: “A dying leader will learn the truth of the Opera House.” Roslin is stunned, wants to see the Hybrid and takes along Baltar since he’s in the dream as well. Helo goes along with a group of marines.
Natalie was going to see Adama so she can stall the mission while Leoben tries to stop the Centurions from their plan of taking hostages once the Hub is destroyed.
Athen holds a gun on Natalie while she asks Tyrol to take Hera away.
Roslin tells a Sharon to plug-in the Hybrid.
Athena sees the Six taking Hera in her dream, says “You are never going to take my baby” and then shoots Natalie twice.
The Hybrid gets plugged in, who awakens yelling “JUMP!”
The ship disappears from the fleet, having jumped away.
And then we hear Gaeta singing, and the scene switched to a pan of his face, as his eyes look at the camera. The final verse he sings twice:
To have her please, just one day wake.
To have her please, just one day wake.
Final Thoughts
First off, the special effects this season are out of this world. The scenes abord the Basestar, the new Resurrection Hub, the space shots, everything. Top notch, the best on television period.
So what were the lyrics sang by Gaeta? I tried to listen to them a few times and this is what I could come up with:
—
Alone she sleeps in the shirt of man
With my three wishes clutched in her hand
The first that she be spared the pain
the comes from a dark and laughing rain
When she finds love may it always stay true
This I beg for the second wish I made too
I wish no more, my life you can take
To have her please, just one day wake
To have her please, just one day wake
—
Whatever it was, the singing was beautiful, the lyrics even better. You can read more about this song and the lyrics over on Bear McCreary’s blog, the composer for Battlestar Galactica.
I am loving what is happening right now with the characters. Tigh is afraid of being discovered and what that will make them. Anders can only think of others around him - the dead Sharon last week, Gaeta this week.
Roslin walking into the room with the Hybrid was just surreal. What will she find out next week?
What did you think of the episode? Did I miss anything vital? Is Natalie dead or will she pull off an Adama-like miracle?
Do the lyrics mean anything?
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Frakin’ amazing episode. I was a little surprised by the way the scene of Athena chasing down Hera played out. I figured Roslin would have still been on Galactica at that moment so she’d be close to Hera as well. Then I realized she has another destiny.
Woot! I’ve been refreshing Bear McCreary’s blog. I’ve got to know more about tonight’s music and he just posted it.
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Maybe Roslin will be chasing Hera at a later time. Maybe that dream they had wasn’t one with them all together, but separate times?
I thought it was awesome when Sharon shot Natalie, but it was even better when the hybrid awoke and shouted “jump” and the ship just jumped. Really cool. And the special effects are definitely top notch.
I think my favorite fx shot of the night was in the opening. The vipers are closing on the basestar and the fleet is jumping out one by one. There was something very balletic about the way that looked.
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Yeah, that was pretty awesome. You usually see it from so far away, this time you were right in the middle of the action, seeing it from the Basestar, watching the ships flee.
But the scenes aboard the basestars have been great…to see more of their hangar decks, etc., has been nice.
I think the song is about Roslin.
“Alone she sleeps in the shirt of man”
Roslin is single “alone she sleeps” - and in a position of high authority, “shirt of man” - Not meaning to be sexist (I’m really not), but in our society, positions of high authority like the presidency have historically been held by men.
“The first that she be spared the pain, that comes from a dark and laughing rain”
Roslin has cancer which is quite painful for her. And the astrological symbol of cancer is associated with water - “dark and laughing rain”? I know, it’s a bit of a stretch.
“To have her please just one day wake”
I think Roslin’s going to be the one revealed. She’s going to “wake up” just as the other four did.
I’ve said it from the get go… its Rosalin, she the fifth one… its why shes connected in dreams to the other cylons…Was glad to see this season finally pickup a bit, but what the frak makes next friday so special we cant see a new one!?!?!
My money’s still on Gaeta.
Looks like SciFi’s running a movie marathon for Memorial Day weekend. They’re probably worried too many people have plans for the long weekend.
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@ Chris - Nice job man, you could be right with all that stuff.
@ Cap’n - It’s actually interesting to pick her, because if she is indeed a final Cylon, she could lead them to Earth.
The other thing is…why isn’t the final Cylon aware yet? Or are they? What event would make them suddenly aware?
The dream stuff definitely made it look like Roslin is the fifth Cylon. But if that’s the case it’s going to be almost anti-climactic by the time they actually tell us for sure. She seems the most obvious but because she does, I think maybe she isn’t.
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