For some reason, the Final Five theme song kind of irritates me. It's 'audience inferior.' The characters' reactions to the song are so hyperbolic (in particular, Tigh's fantastic gurn) that it's wearing out its prophetic/mysterious potential and becoming a tease. Also, the song's contemporary inspiration is distracting, and especially meaningless if it doesn't, in the end, tie together in some way with the present day (i.e. we were the 13th tribe, etc.), a scenario that I'm not sure is desirable.
I thought "Someone to Watch Over Me" was much better once Tyrol decided to replace Boomer with the abducted Eight. That was the first interesting choice of the episode, and quite an interesting choice too... just a pity that it had to wait until the last act or two. After that we got a causal chain of pretty brilliant scenes, including Boomer screwing Helo in front of Athena, Boomer ripping a new one in Galactica (although it would have been nice if they had established a little further back that a jump could have this effect), and Athena beating Helo's back - for the horror of it and for his impotence. All of that stuff was high-intensity and quite worthy, I thought. Roslyn's collapse at the end was bleah, though, 'cause like "All Along the Watchtower" her metaphysical connection to Hera is only a fact - we don't understand its significance or even its potential.
The A-plot around Starbuck was yawnable, not because it was too slow, if there is such a thing, but because what it established (that Starbuck is connected in some way to the Final Five) is such an incremental revelation for a show that has a lot to explain in a satisfying way in just a handful of episodes. Galactica has a funny way of spending five minutes on the entire backstory of the thirteen colonies ("No Exit") yet just chilling with Starbuck on the piano for ever so we can snatch a tiny insight into her cosmic role.
I grant you that we were introduced to a new character that will probably turn out to be Daniel or at least someone important (although you'd think they already had enough of them competing for screen time), but in the meantime we have to endure repetitive visions of Starbuck being haunted by her own zombie, giving mission briefings, waking up, and showering. I thought the episode theme was going to be about repetition (what with the piano player repeating his composition), but that kind of evaporated. What we are left with is a contemplative overlay of piano music on top of the other, more dynamic storylines, an overlay that doesn't manage to inject any special meaning into what we see. Unlike the show's other great montage, where a passacaglia plays over Lee boxing with Adama and Helo chasing Boomer on Caprica, the piano here doesn't resonate as completely with the scenes it plays on top of.
I did like the last scene, with Tyrol hunting for the baby Boomer promised him and essentially realizing that her promises were all false. Likewise, I'm glad that Boomer wasn't simply "convinced" by Ellen on Cavil's basestar, as that seemed like quite a leap for her. However, in a show where characters routinely make sudden leaps and changes of mind, the revelation about Boomer's true intentions has less impact, in my opinion, than if something seemed terribly fishy about her choice from the beginning.
Nonetheless, I'm relieved that BSG made it to the finale without collapsing under its own weight. I thought it might do after season 3 and even after the more promising season 4.0. The remaining episodes are written by Michael Taylor and Ron Moore for the curtain. The two of them must have a rapport since they will be codeveloping the recently commissioned Virtuality for Fox. I expect them to be excellently written, even if they don't deliver on every expectation that BSG has accumulated like barnacles over the course of six years.
