Well, my fellow Battlestar Galactica addicts, the show came back on Friday, and it was back with a proverbial bang, was it not? Let's jump right into the action because there was copious amounts.

The last time we were with the BSG crew, things didn't look good. The fleet was surrounded by Cylon basestars, and the the power was shut off for some reason after the fleet jumped into the nebula. Baltar was found not guilty on the strength of Apollo's testimony and the legal work of Romo Lampkin. Tigh, Sam, Tory and Tyrol all figured out they were Cylons, and Starbuck, who had been assumed dead for two months, popped right back in time for the fight, talking about having been to Earth.

Got it? Good. We jumped right into the fight with the Galactica scrambling every available fighter into a Viper. Even Sam, the new Cylon and recent flight school graduate who didn't want to get in the cockpit for fear of just turning around and killing his own guys. The space battle was perhaps the most extensive we've seen from the show, and it paid off in big way. We had all the live wires out there, both Starbuck and Apollo and our new Cylon, Sam. While out in the dogfight, Sam also got his eyes scanned by a Raider at the height of the battle. The Cylons quickly bugged out of the fight after that, and the fleet made their own tactical retreat as well.

These new Cylons are at least going to try and play this straight, but they're having some mighty strange visions. Tigh had one vision of shooting Adama through they eye, which almost had me going. I figured all bets were off after the third season opener, but thankfully real Adama was spared, unlike dream Adama. If this first episode is only a taste of the awkwardness these fleet Cylons will be a part of, we're in store for some good times. I could hardly contain myself when Starbuck told Sam that she'd kill him if she found out she was a Cylon. Sam didn't share this opinion, but Tigh does. The crusty old colonel made it clear that he would be willing to take care of his own business and answer for any of his actions that caused the fleet danger. Tigh is one tough dude.

Baltar, ever the one to land on his feet, has found himself in the loving embrace of a mono-theistic cult that just so happens to worship him as a Prophet. Besides his chief priestess, number 6, the cult has an ample supply of young vixens who are only too happy to "commune" with the prophet as long as he can cure some diseases with prayer. It's never been easy for Baltar, but this seems to be a pretty cushy spot. His love nest is undiscovered so far after one of his girls went medieval with a pipe on a couple of guys that had not been drinking the Baltar kool-aid.

Meanwhile, Starbuck, everyone's favorite pilot, is now the person who everyone thinks is a Cylon. Even though she's been dead for two months, she thought she had only been gone for six hours (her Viper computer confirms this). Also, her Viper came back brand-new, factory style. She can't explain her whereabouts or anything about her new Viper, but she has pictures for Earth and is having conniptions every time the fleet jumps in the opposite direction of where Earth is. Kind of in a tough fix, everyone thinks she's a Cylon and nobody trusts her. She doesn't have much to back up her story either. Her ship's computer has no record of where she was, just the snappy photos. And the jumps seem to cause her pain, which in turn serves to disorient her. It disorients her enough to beat up her marine guards, take a gun, and break in to Adama's quarters to confront the President with a loaded gun? Why, yes, it seems so. So, let's not jump on the Starbuck-is-not-a-Cylon bandwagon yet. She could still be part of some toaster trick after all. Guess we'll see.

So, what did you all think? Is Starbuck a priestess, a toaster, or just a trick? Where is Apollo going to land? Maybe the next president? What will our gang of four do now that the President knows that the final five Cylons are in the fleet?

Also, I'm adding a feature to these recaps. Each week I'll discuss a candidate that might be the last Cylon model. This week, please welcome Felix Gaeta. He's in a position of influence on Galactica and has easy access to many of the communication and electronic systems on Galactica. He was part of the government on New Caprica and had lots of face time with Cylon occupiers. He's always been a little bit shady, hasn't he? But then again, he was feeding the resistance info on New Caprica, and he is counted on by Adama as one of his most trusted officers. But is he, or isn't he? Next week I'll discuss Dualla.

Story by Larry Grodsky
Starpulse contributing writer