The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS for "Escape Velocity," the fourth episode from the fourth season of SciFi Channel?s "Battlestar Galactica."

"Battlestar Galactica? has to its credit the finest writers on staff. And Jane Espenson certainly has a natural flare for this series.

Her debut last season was one of the highlights of the year as she took the show back to its roots with a starving fleet in ?The Passage.? Now, she is completely immersed in the colonial ways,.and ?Escape Velocity? takes her into exciting new areas. And you can clearly see the fleet beginning to crumble from the inside.

Aside from the swoon-worthy special effects and intricate storytelling, one of the most entertaining parts of the series is the culture shock. In most cases, this takes the form of a complicated political system within the fleet, but there are times where the religious beliefs of the colonies dwarfs all of the political machinations. Chants of ?so say we all? and paragraphs of scripture have helped take the religion beyond what has been done before with fictional on screen religious convictions and have firmly established the Lords of Kobol as a credible belief.

Cally?s (Nicki Clyne) funeral and Tyrol?s (Aaron Douglas) prayers to the Gods were very intimate yet totally alien to today?s culture, and the entire funeral scene acted as a brilliant introduction to the proto-religion leading up to Baltar?s (James Callis) desecration of the church and also for the beginnings of his ideology war against the rest of the fleet. His speech in his inner sanctum had a very nice correlation to the existing religious unrest in the world today ... and that is ?Battlestar Galactica?s? award-winning trademark.

What Worked

Aside from the religious overtones, there was something chilling about watching Tory (Rekha Sharma) sitting at the funeral and expressing her sympathies for his loss particularly since Cally?s final moments remain shrouded in so much mystery to the fleet that no one really knows how or why she died ... except Tory of course, who manages to deceive not only the Humans of the colonies but her fellow Cylons as well. Since her activation, we?ve seen a very different side to her and that dark exploration of her own soul (or lack thereof) takes the next natural step.

Tyrol?s guilt was a wonderful contrast to Tigh?s (Michael Hogan) haunting, only far more vocal. While Tigh must now deal with the knowledge that he killed his own wife for her collaboration with his own people, Tyrol?s questioning his own existence has brought him full circle and back to Boomer (Grace Park). Were they the star-crossed people of the Cylon species?

What Didn?t Work

Where was the Demetrius, or the budding Cylon civil war? Both have contributed heavily to the direction this season is taking and their absence was sorely felt. It may have allowed for some more intimate insights into three of the shows main stars, but a few Centurions would have worked a treat.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"Battlestar Galactica" stars Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Jamie Bamber, Katee Sackhoff and James Callis, and airs Friday nights at 10 p.m. on the SciFi Channel. "Escape Velocity" was written by Jane Espenson and directed by Edward James Olmos.

Alan Stanley Blair is the assistant news editor for Airlock Alpha and its sister site Rabid Doll. He is currently studying for a diploma in freelance journalism and can be reached at anytime at ablair@airlockalpha.com.

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