Despite the fact that this episode was full of plot twists that were pretty surprising, the plot itself was fairly straightforward. Last week, if you'll recall, President Roslin and Baltar were whisked away on the wounded cylon Base Star to who knows where. And Sharon/Athena shot the rebel leader Six because she'd had visions that Six would steal her daughter Hera. As this week's episode opened, the wounded Six is being taken to the hospital and Athena is shipped kicking and screaming to the brig. After some gooey medicine scenes, Six dies while seeing visions of green fields that look vaguely heaven-like. And Adama is screaming at Sharon for totally fucking up the alliance with the cylons.

Meanwhile, Lee is dealing with what will happen to the Quorum, the Congress/Parliament of the fleet, now that Roslin has disappeared. Obviously, Vice President Zarek should step up. He was, after all, lawfully elected. And his behind-the-scenes deal-cutting with Lee and the president have shown him to be a canny politician. But here is where the episode encountered its first big problem.

The President Problem
Everybody is worried that Adama "won't accept Zarek" as president, even though it's completely corrupt for the admiral to be able to meddle with the chain of command. And after Lee has a phone conversation with daddy Adama, he's certain that the old man won't work with Zarek. He won't even take Zarek's phone calls. Instead doing what Roslin did, which was step up to the presidency and smack Adama down when he protested, Zarek goes along with Lee's plan to find somebody that Adama will actually work with.

For help, Lee turns to his old frenemy Romo Lampkin, who encouraged him to pursue law and politics but also showed him the dark side of both. Lampkin is the guy who defended Baltar at his trial in exchange for a cabin with a view. So Lee and Lampkin get together for a series of talks about who should basically be crowned president (there's never any talk of an election at all, which is creepy). They make a bunch of lists, and Lampkin keeps saying things about how Lee is very driven and ambitious, which Lee keeps denying. There are a whole series of WTF moments, where you know for sure Lee is going to get the crown but somehow Lee acts like he doesn't know it. C'mon — Lee isn't that stupid. The reason why he's become a politician is that he does have a kind of political savvy and it rings false that he wouldn't discuss the possibility of his candidacy right away with Lampkin.

Let's not even go into the weird crap with Lampkin, who is seeing the ghost of his dead cat and freaking out, and later holds Lee at gunpoint after he realizes that Lee is the only person who can become president. This whole plot arc with Lee's disingenuous "who me? president?" act, and Lampkin's murderous freakout, reek of writerly desperation. Show creators Ron Moore and David Eick have some reason they want Lee to be president, which will probably be really cool later in the show, and they took a clumsy route to get there.

Speaking of clumsy routes to getting places, we must now consider the second major problem with this episode.

The Admiral Problem
So for most of the episode Adama is screaming at Athena and keeping her away from her daughter Hera (remember, baby-daddy Helo is on board the missing Base Ship with Baltar and Roslin). And then he gets even more screamy because he discovers, after the doctor examines the imprisoned Six cylon, that the cylon is pregnant. Based on the fact that Tigh has been visiting her every day and sending the guards away, it's pretty obvious who the daddy is. Understandably, Adama is insanely fucking angry. Tigh has been acting unprofessionally, and in a way that potentially endangers the ship. (Though there is one interesting detail here: Tigh, a cylon, was able to get another cylon pregnant. That's not supposed to be able to happen. So maybe the final five can actually make babies with the other cylons? Hmmm, interesting.)

Adama and Tigh wind up getting into a tough-old-man fist-fight over the whole thing, after which Adama pretty much admits to Tigh that he's in love with Roslin and can't imagine going on without her. A few scenes later, after Lee has been crowned president and the fleet has discovered a battered book that belonged to Roslin in a volume of space filled with smashed-up Vipers, Adama takes off his Admiral pins and hands them over to Tigh. He's going off by himself to find the Base Ship that contains Roslin, and leaving Tigh charge of the fleet. Say what? He's just discovered that Tigh is so off the deep end that he's making it with the imprisoned Six (and isn't it kind of ookily near being rape?). And then he gives command to Tigh?

Well, I guess that fits in with Adama's other completely uncharacteristic behaviors too, such as letting Starbuck take command of the fighter pilots again without so much as a "what the hell." And then as his last act as Admiral, he tells Tigh (now Admiral Tigh) to let Sharon be with her daughter Hera. Let's face it: this is not the Adama we know. Our Adama puts the fleet ahead of his personal feelings, and more importantly he knows Tigh's limits. He wouldn't endanger the whole fleet just to go after Roslin, especially when "somebody he can work with" has become president.

Like the Lee-crowned-president subplot, this subplot feels forced. There's some reason why Moore and Eick want Tigh to be Admiral — or they need Adama to hang out with the rebel cylons when they cream the Resurrection Hub and permanently destroy the cylons' ability to download. Either way, they pushed this plot through in a way that wasn't believable.

But it could have been. I really think this episode was a great idea wrapped in bad execution. Here's one possible way these problems could have been solved, made for a much meatier and more interesting plot, and left us pretty much in the same place in terms of character development.

The Zarek Solution
So the main problem with this episode was believing that the main characters made choices that were believable in the context of their established personalities. One way to fix that would have been to have Zarek — always unafraid to face down those in power in the past — refuse to step down as President. The episode could have been devoted to a power struggle between Zarek and Adama, with Lampkin and Lee working with Zarek. This would dovetail nicely with the already-existing tension between Lee and his father. And it would make sense for the ambitious Zarek.

Also, having the power struggle between Zarek and Adama would also have created a new, and more believable, incentive for Adama to step down as Admiral. In the face of widespread public outcry over Adama trying to cockblock Zarek's lawful ascension to Preisdent, and further betrayal from his son Lee, he might hand over his Admiralty in disgust. Giving the fleet over to Tigh, whom he knows to be unpredictable and violent, would be his way of punishing Zarek. And it would show how unbalanced he'd become in the wake of Zarek's triumph.

Feeling driven from the fleet, Adama would go on a search for Roslin — not just because he wuvs her (which, I'm sorry, is just not a good enough reason) but also to restore a government he can believe in. See how that works? It makes his mission less personal, more about the fleet, and thus fits with his character more believably.

I'm just going to pretend that's what happened in the episode, because it makes so much more sense. Plus, I am also going to pretend that Lampkin's insanely cute gray-and-white cat is still alive. You can't just replace a kitty with a puppy. It's apples and oranges, people.

Here's this year's standout Cthulhu for president shirt. Every election season, you've got to vote for the creature who does not represent the "lesser evil," but this tee takes it one step farther. Love the "Ia Ia America Fh'tagn" slogan here — it makes me think that somewhere in the ocean deep, slimy tentacled creatures are singing the praises of the U.S. government. It's good to have allies!

For those who are tossing their lot in with Admiral Adama, leader of Battlestar Galactica, there's always the swag available through AdamaforPresident.org. There's this poster (at left, available in larger sizes obviously), and a simple "Adama 08" tee. No word on his running mate. May we suggest Helo? Anybody who can mutiny against Starbuck can certainly hold his own against Adama. Plus, he has that hybrid baby which makes him totally plugged into the next generation.

Reynolds/Washburn tee [Ziraxia]

Cthulhu 2008 tee [Zazzle]

Here's a complete list of episode titles and writers for the first half of the season.

Starbuck: The first few episodes of season four are "all about Starbuck," says Jamie Bamber. She believes she's only been gone a few hours, but it's been seven months for everyone else. She's not the same as she was before, and may actually be dead. And not only does she claim to have been to Earth, but she has photos which she took from Earth orbit showing the pattern of the stars — matching the pattern they found in the Temple of Athena. She insists she's not a Cylon, and Ron Moore has pretty much confirmed it. But the President suspects her. It doesn't help her case that her Viper is in pristine condition.

And at one point, Starbuck gets locked up in the brig and has to break out. She may take the president hostage. There are lots of clips of her freaking out and shouting that the fleet is heading the wrong way, and they're going to have to kill her to shut her up. She worries she's been brainwashed or turned into a infiltrator..

At some point, Starbuck gets enough trust back to be put in charge of a Das Boot-esque ship called the Demetrius. She finds out about the prophecy that she's the herald of the apocalypse. Oh, and a leaked call sheet says later in the season, she finds a crashed Viper with her own dead body in it, and she puts fake dog tags on the body and lights it on fire, and Leoben is with her.

(Side note: Bamber mentions in the above clip that even Ron Moore and the other writers had no clue what was going on with Starbuck coming back from the dead, until they started working on season four. What the frak?)

Col. Tigh: We know, from preview footage, that he's incredibly paranoid about being found out as a Cylon — and he's scared that Starbuck knows. He insists in one clip that he's not going to let those bastards program him to go against his principles. But we've also seen preview footage of him pointing a gun at Admiral Adama in the CIC, and one source suggests he may actually shoot the Admiral non-fatally. He gets some scenes with his dead wife Ellen, which may just be dream sequences, and also screams for her in a pool of water. And at one point, the Cylon Six and Ellen sort of blend together. He did not pick this frakking life. Oh, and he's not hearing that frakking song any more. Thank the gods.

Baltar gets his own cult of worshippers. And maybe takes a non-Cylon lover. But even though he becomes a religious leader, he also preaches that the gods don't exist. (See clip.) (Maybe he preaches mono-theism?) And at one point, he gets captured by some fanatics who threaten to slit his throat, so he can give his life so God will save an innocent child. He chooses to give his life to spare the child's, and it gets as far as his throat actually getting cut. At some point, he meets up with the Caprica Six, and somehow he can see the Gaius Baltar that she sees in her head. The two of them even interact.

Anders has similar issues with being a Cylon. And when he's out flying in battle, he runs into a Cylon fighter, which scans him with its "eye" and refuses to attack him in the clip we featured a while back. (And we're guessing he's the hidden Cylon who "jumps ship" in the first few episodes.) Anders tries to come out to Starbuck as a Cylon, sort of, by telling her that he would still love her if she was a Cylon. But she doesn't react in the yay-Cylons the way he was hoping. And this causes a split between the two of them.

President Roslin is Starbuck's biggest doubter, judging from the clips. She seems to be asking Bill Adama at one point whether he's willing to risk his own death just to avoid losing her again. And Lee Adama seems to be accusing her of being power-mad and ruthless in another clip. She questions Cylon Six about the final five, and Six says they're in the fleet. Six can feel they're near. Meanwhile, her cancer comes back, and in episode six, "Faith," she's stuck in a sick bed next to Emily, played by Deep Space Nine's Nana Visitor, who annoys her by listening to all of Baltar's radio broadcasts religiously. But the two bond eventually.

The Cylons decide not to attack the human fleet any more, because the final five Cylons are on board and may not be able to resurrect. This supposedly leads to friction between Six and the other human-looking Cylons.

Six, meanwhile, gets a new incarnation this season, called Natalie, who wants to lead a Cylon revolution. Six opposes Brother Cavill because she decides his treatment of the Cylon raiders is unethical, and encourages the robotic Centurions to kill the other skin jobs. We've featured clips of her leading some of the robotic Centurions into a room full of other skin-jobs. There's a rumor that the Centurions are going to rise up against the human-looking Cylons in episode four, "Escape Velocity," because the skin jobs tried to restrict the Centurions' free will. The "skin jobs" debate what to do about the Centurions, and Brother Cavill says they're tools, not pets. Cavill gets a new love interest, whom he makes out with.

The second episode of the new season is called "Six Of One," and includes the Caprica Six and her mental version of Baltar.

Meanwhile, the Boomer version of Sharon is back in a big way, and does something to shock the other Cylons in one of the clips we've seen. Also, at some point the Cylons un-box the Lucy Lawless Cylon to find out what she knows. But two Cylon models may get wiped out altogether by Six's coup. At the same time, someone (Six?) wants to unite all the Cylon models.

Admiral Adama has a crisis of faith, maybe revolving around Starbuck's return. He's tired of turning away from the things he wants to believe in.

Lee Adama didn't take this job to help someone undermine the president. And he's made a decision that he can't explain, but which he knows he has to do. He does not return to active flight duty this season.

Does Lee Adama's new life path have something to do with the spoiler we reported this morning, that Tom Zarek leaks classified information to "a new colleague" for nefarious purposes?

Romo Lampkin comes back at least once during the first 10 episodes, and again during the last 10. And it sounds like his voice in that one promo clip telling someone they're a beacon of hope, and hope should be extinguished.

Cally is rumored to die in the third episode, "The Ties That Bind," probably by suicide. And the Cylonitude of her husband may be what drives her to it. (And it may not be coincidence that we reported this morning a leak that "someone" finds out the identity of three of the secret Cylons in that same episode.)

Misc.: There are all sorts of rumors about what happens when the fleet finds Earth. It's in ruins. It's in our 22nd century. There will be some kind of snakey plot twist. "Everybody's dying in season four, and I wouldn't be surprised if the ship was blown apart," says Edward James Olmos. There's a rumor the name of the thirteenth colony in the scriptures is "Cylon." Oh, and we totally predicted back in November that the final Cylon wouldn't be one of the big characters. (And that poll's still open!)

Let the speculation begin.

Image Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, Moscow

It's by Giulio Romano, an Italian painter of the late Renaissance. Titled "The Battle of Zama," it shows the Romans defeating Hannibal in Tunisia. The palette is too bright for it to be a perfect match with the "Monclair" of the First Cylon War, but the graphic organization, with the banners, the mayhem, and the three distinct vertical masses in the background, are similar.

Of course, the dude who created it may disagree. But you've got to admit the resemblance is amazing.

Photo Eike Schroter/SCI FI Channel

Heroes

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• There's going to be a fairly high body count when Season Two: Volume Two ends next week, including one of the main characters. Although if we've learned anything, it's that no one stays dead on Heroes.
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• Looks like Naomi isn't dead, despite having a knife hurled into her back by Locke at the end of last season.
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• Remember that mysterious freighter we told you about? It'll be bringing in a slew of Naomi's friends, which she phoned up on her walkie talkie at the end of last season.
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• If you remember the end of last season, then you recall that the show had jumped forward in time a great deal. A heavily-bearded Jack was living a life of booze and oxycontin addiction, and had been off the island for some time. According to some insiders, we'll be jumping both forward and backwards in time not only all season, but until the series wraps.
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• The first ten episodes will be all about the newly discovered Cylons, there were a few hints about that during the season four preview at the end of Razor, including Colonel Tigh leveling a gun at Admiral Adama on the command deck.
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• There's going to be a new Six named Natalie, although it's unclear if that means she'll be another actress playing a replacement Six, or simply another Six. The problem is, everyone knows what that famous face looks like around the fleet, so that would make it hard to have Tricia Helfer in some new Six boots.
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• We'll see who the final Cylon is before the end of the season. Can we issue a collective "duh" on that one? If they didn't give that up, there would probably be some minor rioting, millions of angry internet threads, and Ronald Moore's house would probably be reduced to ashes.
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Spoiler Chat [E! Online]

According to http://roadrunnerdm.livejournal.com/84288.html">Roadrunner's LiveJournal:

• Starbuck will be locked up in the brig for "some time." Not exactly the sort of reception you'd expect for returning from the dead.


• Leoben will be back in Starbuck's life, and they'll be spending some quality time together on a beach... on Earth. At least they won't have to jockey for a good spot on the sand.


• Starbuck will have a lot more scenes with Laura Roslin, and with the Cylon ladies as well. One thing Starbuck has never really done is have a girl's night out.


• Starbuck believes that she is a Cylon, although Katee herself doesn't buy it. One thing is for sure, if Starbuck turns out to be a Cylon, half the audience will have expected it, and the other half will be searching for Ron Moore's house with torches.


• Kate Vernon will be reprising her role as Ellen Tigh, although she's not the 12th Cylon. Since Saul has always been torn up about having to kill her, this will most likely be some sort of guilty flashbacks coming from the bottom of a bottle.


• Lee Adama is still a civilian in season four, although it's unclear if that means for the whole season or not. After the way he resigned last season, it's hard to see him putting a uniform back on. Of course, that doesn't stop him from hopping into a Viper whenever he feels like it and taking off.


• She also made it fairly definitive that she won't be coming back to Bionic Woman at all, strike or not. Apparently there is no love lost between her and series star Michelle Ryan.

News dump from Burbank conventions [Roadrunner]

Razor Flashbacks: The Sci Fi Channel has been airing original "flashbacks" in a desperate bid to get people to watch Flash Gordon. Er, we mean a thinly veiled marketing ploy to see what you'll get if you buy the DVD. Frak, actually we mean in an effort to bring the fans a little backstory about the First Cylon War. These short episodes can be seen on the Sci Fi website, and will also be part of the longer Razor which goes on sale December 4th. So what do these six clips tell us?

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• Day 4,571: Young rookie "Husker" Adama gets some action in his rack, and we find out that the familiar "What do you hear? Nothing but the rain" exchange came from his own commander. He fears that with rumors of a Cylon surrender on the horizon, he won't get to see any action in this war. Movie watching veterans know that's usually when the roof caves in.
• The Hangar: Husker's wish comes true as he prepares to launch out on his first combat mission. However, he spies his girlfriend on the floor of the flight deck, having just returned from her own patrol with half of her face blown off. He growls out "Let's do this" while waiting in the launch tube.
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• Operation Raptor Talon: One of the best battle scenes ever on BSG, webisode or not. Husker and his wingman shoot down several old school (yep, they look just like the ones from the old TV show) Cylon Raiders before witnessing the destruction of the Battlestar Columbia. An angry Husker chases two Raiders into the atmosphere of a nearby planet, which results in a catastrophic collision and his Viper plummets to the surface.
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• Free Fall: In a bit of a ridiculous scene, Husker bails out and goes toe-to-toe with a Cylon (old school too!) in mid-air while they both free fall. Remember the scene in Moonraker where Roger Moore's James Bond and Jaws fight in mid-air? You get the picture. Adama and his toaster-buddy crash through the ceiling of a building on the planet's surface and Adama goes medieval on the Cylon's ass (well, his face really) with an iron rod and "kills" it. Then he realizes he's in some sort of a Saw-like torture chamber and grabs the Cylon's gun.
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• The Lab: With gruesome Cylon/Human body parts hanging all over the place like a perverted flesh fair, Adama tries to figure out what he's stumbled into. He sticks his arm into some murky water in what looks like a Cylon birthing chamber, and of course something grabs him from underneath. A creepy looking man floats to the surface and looks at Adama before vanishing. Was he really there? A disembodied voice tells Adama "All of this has happened before, and will happen again.
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• Survivors: Adama struggles to free a group of humans from Gemenon locked inside the Cylon laboratory, but only succeeds in opening the door a few inches. As the room starts to come apart around him, they urge him to save himself and to remember them. He flees the collapsing laboratory, leaving the humans trapped behind.
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• Escape: Stumbling out of what turns out to be a Cylon ship, Adama watches as it takes off into the atmosphere with the humans still aboard. He tries to call in support, only to hear that the war is over: the Cylons have surrendered. Cut to an older Commander Adama on the flight deck of the Galactica, two days before the decommissioning ceremony. He surveys the museum-ready ship and reflects, standing in front of an old-school Cylon encased in lucite, not knowing that he's about to revisit the past in a big way.
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While these clips show us some cool scenes from the First Cylon War, they unfortunately show very little. Plus, isn't it a little coincidental that Adama just happens to be the one who discovered the first hybrid Cylon/Human and didn't see fit to mention it until now? But, there are a lot of coincidences in the BSG universe, so we'll take it in stride.

One thing to note: all of these flashbacks take place 41 years in the past, which means that Adama has to be about 60 years old or so by now, which sounds about right. Kudos to Nico Cortez, who plays a fairly convincing (and relatively smooth-cheeked) young Adama. He even gets the raspy voice right.