Kobol's Last Gleaming Part 1

Mark here...Laurel and I are settling in with some steak, a pear, arugula and bacon salad, and a butternut squash and kale dish, all courtesy of Laurel.

The episode, "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 1" starts off with a whole lot more Baltar than I remember and he's super annoying.  First we see, out of the blue, he and Starbuck are hooking up.  Clearly she's a bit damaged and he's a bit narcissistic in this hook up. She mistakenly calls out "Lee" (Apollo) in the midst of it, pissing off Baltar.

Also in the episode, Galactica discovers planet Kobol, a legendary home of the gods.  The shows history states that humanity left Kobol to found the 13 colonies, including Earth.  So, in theory, Kobol could lead them to Earth.  Roslin's visions, from the drug she is taking to treat her cancer, further this theory.  Of course Adama and her aide Billy find this crazy talk. Roslin however is convinced this will lead them to Earth.  We know from the pilot though that Earth is a myth.  One that the fleet believes, but that Roslin and Adama know to be just that. If Kobol is to lead them to Earth they will need "the Arrow of Apollo"...the god not the character.  Way confusing and not well established yet...essentially this arrow is a sort of compass back on Caprica.  It took some time and I needed to explain to Laurel that it was a physical thing.  In any case, Roslin persuades Starbuck to steal the captured Cylon Raider and jump back to Caprica to get it.  The only way she can persuade Starbuck is by revealing that Adama has lied about knowing where Earth is...so at the end of the episode Starbuck, seemingly testing the raider, jumps away.

The other plot point is that Kobol has a Cylon basestar orbiting around it and Cylons shoot down the Raptor force sent to investigate Kobol.  Baltar is in this crew and aboard the surviving Raptor that crash lands on Kobol.  His acting is so over the top and crazy-eyed its a wonder anyone listens to him!

There's also a bit going on with the 2 Cylon Sharons...Galactica version tries to kill herself and fails...Caprica version is with Helo, who claims he's only staying with her to find a way off Caprica...

Laurel here...thank god Mark was here to explain this one to me because I would have totally lost!!

Just a couple of little details I noticed...One is that in the opening of this episode Adama and Apollo are litlerally having a boxing match with each other (well ok they are sparring partners but still) metaphor much?

Also Apollo figures out that Starbuck and the crazy doctor have hooked up, because the doctor acts like a total freak (of course) when he sees her.  Apollo and Starbuck get into an argument about it - at one point Starbuck loses her shit and punches Apollo in the face, and he responds by punching her, in the face, right back.  Hard.  So awesome!  I love this idea of men and women being on equal footing without anybody being worried about how men are "supposed" to treat women or vice versa.  Listen if a bitch punches you in the face her face is fair game!