*** Spoiler Alert ***

Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica is really split into four parts. For the first portion of the season the remnants of the human race are mostly on New Caprica trying to free themselves from Cylon oppression. There are a few humans on the fleet’s ships who got away and are trying to work out a way to free the rest of the race, but this is only a handful of people. This part of the season lasted for only 4 episodes, but during those 4 hours of television there were some intense moments.

• Tigh’s wife, Ellen, gets him freed from the detention center by sleeping with one of the Cylons and keeps him freed by providing them information about the resistance. When Tigh finds out he kills for being a collaborator by poisoning her.
• Baltar is “president” but is forced at gun point to sign the death warrants for over 100 people. The resistance finds out and is able to save the people from the firing squad.
• Sharon is reinstated as an officer by Admiral Adama and sent to the planet to help prepare the resistance for the return of the fleet and their escape from the planet.
• Kara is held by the Cylons and told that they used her eggs to make a baby. When Adama and the fleet return she is able to escape with Ander’s help only to find out it is not her child at all.
• In their escape from the planet Sharon’s baby, Hera, is found and taken by the Cylons.
• The return of the fleet was one of the best space fights the show has had. They jump Galactica strait into the planets atmosphere , release all the vipers and then jump into orbit. Lee, who was suppose to stay with the Pegasis and guard the rest of the fleet, takes the Pegasis into the fight just in time to save Galactica, but they loose the ship in the process.

As you can see there was a lot that happened in the first part of the season. The episodes moved at a quick pace and they cap off this porting of the season by escaping the planet with around 8000 less people then they originally started the colony there with. Many were killed or captured during the 4 months they were on the planet under Cylon control, but many others dies in the escape.

The second portion of the season show the various members of the fleet trying to recover from their time on New Caprica. During these 6 episodes there is a lot of episodes where they try to display the different character’s responses to the time on the planet. Even though President Roslyn issues a pardon to everyone for anything that happened during the occupation some of the members of the resistance decided to take matters into their own hands and kill the worst of the collaberators. They finally stop when they are about to kill Gaeta and then find out he was their contact on the inside who was feeding them information. The humans discover that the Cylons are suseptible to disease but in the end don’t use biological weapons against them when they could have easily killed the enter Cylon poulation. During this section of the season we also learn that it was the humans who first broke the treaty they had with the Cylons by crossing the boarder they had originally setup with them. Additionally, it was Adama who was in charge of this mission that caused the Cylons to retaliate and nuke all 12 colonies.

The third portion of the season occurs on an alge planet that the humans are harvesting for food. Tyrol finds a temple on the planet that they think points the way to Earth. The Cylons also find the planet and there is a standoff between them and the humans. The humans can’t get off the planet and the Cylons can’t get on it without coming under fire from the other. Sharon finds out that Hera is still alive on the Cylon ships and has Helo, her husband, kill her so she can resurrect and get Hera. She does succeed in getting Hera with the help of Six. A single Cylon ship makes it to the planet with a copy of D’Anna and Baltar on it and a few of the walking toasters. On Galactica, Gaeta realize a star in the area is about to explode. The humans on the planet are able to capture Baltar and get off the planet just in time to escape before the whole place is incinerated by the start exploding. As a result they realize they know at least part of the path to Earth. This portion of the season is only two episodes long, but it marks a critical turning point in the season. The humans now have the start to a pathway to Earth.

The last 8 episodes of the season deal with the lead up to Baltar’s trial for treason. There are a few filler episodes in this section, in my opinion, that did not add a lot to the overall story, but I still enjoyed watching all of them. As Baltar’s trial approaches, Lee joins the defense for Baltar after getting in trouble and being assigned as body guard for Baltar’s lawyer. Lee gets in a fight with his father and steps down/is discharged from his role in the military. He proves to be a valuable asset to Baltar’s defense when he figures out that President Roslin is taking drugs.It turns out this is because her cancer has returned. In the end Baltar is acquitted mostly because of Lee’s testimony. As the final episode ends the humans make it to the location they found out about on the alge planet only to find the Cylons there as well. The season ends as the battle is about to begin.

One underlying theme through out the whole season was with Baltar trying to determine who the other 5 Cylon models are and if he is one of them or not. In the final episode of the season we find out who four of the five are. They are Tigh, Anders, Tyrol and Tory (President Roslin’s assistant). They all find out at the same time that they are Cylons when they follow some strange music they are hearing to the same room. All of them know it to be true and decide to ignore it and get back to their lives as “humans” as the Cylon fleet apreaches their position.

I really enjoyed season 3 of Battlestar Galactica. When the humans decided to stay on the planet they find, with Baltar as president, last season I was hoping it would not be for very long. Even though it was only four episodes the effects of their time on New Caprica can be seen throughout the whole season. The season starts with the humans fighting the Cylons and with the entire Cylon fleet about to attack them, but it ends with them them much closer to Earth.. I’m really looking forward to next season and hopefully some more progress on the trek to Earth.