A lot of people are going to be unhappy with this finale. Personally, I liked it, with a couple of things that kind of rubbed me the wrong way, which I’ll talk about in a second. Obviously, if you haven’t watched it yet, you probably shouldn’t be reading this.

First of all, as usual, I was completely blown away by the quality of Tigh and Baltar. The actors who play those two always impress me, because here are two of the most unlikable characters ever, and they’re both portrayed with humanity and strength. It would have been easy to dismiss Baltar as a spineless wimp, but the depth of that character is amazing. Ever since the torture scene where he decided that he wasn’t a cylon, he’s been getting more and more twitchy, and it was clear that he was preparing for the obvious death sentence. When he was acquitted, I think he was as suprised as anyone – and while the single tear is a bit cliche, it was a perfect shot of Baltar looking stunned while the room erupts around him.

And Tigh – wow. Watching that character dive further and further into self-destruction has always been amazing, but after the beating he took on the stand in Part I, you really felt for him as he began to (apparently) spiral into madness – being the first one to hear the music. The shots of him wandering the halls, half out of his mind, pressing his ear against the bulkhead and mumbling to himself about music were great.

The verdict itself was no surprise – what’s Galactica without Baltar? – but the delivery was well-done, and it’s good to see that Lee got a chance to redeem himself by regaining the grudging respect of his father – though I suspect he’ll have hell to pay when he returns from his unauthorized Viper flight. Personally, I bet he gets his wings back, but Helo will remain CAG, and Lee will be kicked down a rung.

The lawyer was great, and the scene at the end where he left his cane in the hall and walked away was a nice touch.

But of course, I’m skirting around the real revelation – the final five. Or is it four? They’re certainly implying that Starbuck is the fifth, with her last-minute appearance in a spotless and not-at-all-exploded Viper… But I wonder.

Starbuck’s ex and the President’s aide are too shallow so far for me to care much that they’re Cylons – But the Chief? Now that’s interesting, and it puts a whole new spin on his former relationship with Boomer – and does that mean that his kid is also half-cylon? Or are the final five something different, as they’ve implied in the past?

But of course, given the love I have for Tigh, he stole the scene for me. His rage at the injustice of it all – all the horrible things he’s suffered through, all to find out he’s a toaster? I really thought he was going to break down for a second there when he mentioned Ellen – but then he snapped back into control, and ordered them to lock the doors, and that was great. But nothing can touch when everyone is wondering what to do, and he gives his little “My name is Saul Tigh, and I’m a colonial officer” speech. I’m always fond of stories where people fight their fate, and Tigh is the perfect guy to lead the final five.

But it wasn’t all perfect. I really liked the music being played, and the sort of Indian strains in it really lent to that sense of something alien – so when the final five started reciting the lyric to a Dylan song (even if it is a good one), it sort of kicked the legs out from under it. It was still a good scene, and it was definitely strange to see them all chanting the lyrics almost like a mantra, but it just didn’t rub me the right way.

So while I loved the show of the four of them very intentionally marching back into their jobs, some of the polish was taken off for me because I was wondering where the song came from – are they trying to say that the Cylons have already been to earth in the 60s? Did they pick up radio transmissions of the song? (that would imply that it’s well in the future, because radio is slow). I dunno – as long as they don’t pop up in 1980s Earth, I’ll probably enjoy it, but the blatant pop culture reference was a little too much for me.

And the other thing that bothered me is that we have to wait until 2008 to get any more? I mean I don’t like it when they take a break in the middle of the season, but 9 months seems a bit overkill, even if they are going to do a two-episode special about the Pegasus in the fall.