Battlestar Galactica Episode 110: Hand of God.

My review:

Wow. I think taht we just watched one of the best episodes out there with Battlestar Galactica this season. It came right at the perfect time as well, where things seemed to be slowing down a bit after several episodes of inter-fleet issues. In this one, we see them take the war to the Cylons when the Galactica comes across an asteroid loaded down with Tyllium, a fuel that the fleet is desperately needing. The fleet is down to 5% of it's reserves, and during a press conference, Roslin has a hallucination of snakes, and leaves early. Meanwhile, Boomer and Crashdown find an asteroid loaded with fuel. One problem: it's also loaded with Cylons. They report back and Adama decides that they have to take the astroid. Adama has Tigh and Lee work on a plan, as well as Starbuck, who's told that she can't go on the mission due to her knee injury. She's not happy, and she's pissed at Lee about it.Baltar is drawn in to help them decide where to blow things up, and he randomly guesses a point on the map. They develope a plan with several decoys, hoping to draw off the 90 + cylon fighters. A strike force is sent out, and while they're headed out, a second patrol of Cylons attacks them. Several pilots die, and they're ordered back. Now, all of the Cylons are headed towards them and the Galactica. At this point, Lee and eleven other fighters detatch from the decoy ship and rush towards the base. They attack it, and several more pilots are killed, while Lee flys his ship through a tunnel to get to the main base, where he destroys the plant. The remaining Vipers mop up the remaining Raiders and they have won.
This episode is definently my favorite. Right at a perfect spot, we get some action that has been very missed for a while. There are some big things in this episode. First, we have some prophecy, involving the 12 snakes that Roslin saw on her podium. It's said in the episode that a leader who has a vision of snakes will lead her people to the promised land, but that she will not survive.
Next, the action is top-notch. Zoic knows their stuff, and we have some outstanding graphics and fighter action, as well as a little well placed stock footage. The entire action scene had a very Star Wars feel to it, mainly the attack on both Death Stars and the Battle of Hoth. In the commentary, they mentioned that these were definently Star Wars moments. Several instances, mainly Apollo going down the tunnel, going on manuel to blow up the refinery and some of the pre-battle set up. It was a really cool thing to see. Overall, the action was better than anything in the Miniseries.
Baltar's story is becoming more interesting, as his randomly picked point turned out to be the place to strike. He's now a firm believer in what Six has to say.
Music-wise, I think that this was the strongest episode thus far. There's a new song in the beginning, which is very good, and there's simply a much higher presence of new songs in the background, expecially during the celebration scene at the end. I can't wait to pick up the soundtrack this summer. There's some cool songs on it.
There are some interesting character things here too. Starbuck getting pissed at Apollo over his going on the mission while she was grounded was interesting, as well as tensions between Adama and Roslin during the attack. It was all very well done.
Helo and Sharon's story is also interesting, but not too much to be seen. They're still on the run, although Helo's now seen another Six and is really confused. Poor guy.
So, this episode is awesome. Completely. Utterly. I was blown away. Can't wait for the last three.

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