'Battlestar Galactica': Scorched Earth

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And then, the inevitable revelation we'd been waiting for: Tigh coming clean to Adama. ''I am one of the Five.'' You could see the stages of grief racing across Adama's face; he was grasping at any straw that would allow him to refute the truth. But ol' One Eye wouldn't be deterred. He'd remained silent for long enough. And Tigh, ever the soldier, wanted to use his Cylonness as a weapon, as a lever to get D'Anna to back down. Threaten to flush the good colonel out an airlock, and she'll have no choice.

A good plan. Too bad that ultimate betrayal brought Adama to his knees. Literally. Howling at the gods, drinking, destroying his office, punching inanimate objects: I'd never seen the admiral so bereft, not even when his son was lost in space. That speech that Starbuck had given Lee in the teaser — about how parents need to die so their children can come into their own — came full circle. There's nothing sadder than having to console your own father, nothing upends the natural order like holding your sire like a baby, cradling him as he cries his anguish out. Nothing makes you want to punch someone quite like seeing your father reduced to a pile of shattered faith.

Finally, Lee Adama found his big-boy pants, got Tyrol's and Anders' names from Tigh, and stared down the barrel of D'Anna's nuclear arsenal.

And suddenly, with a nudge from her now-revealed-to-be-a-Cylon ex, Starbuck popped into her pristine Viper, flipped on the DRADIS (or something), and found a signal coming from Earth — just in time to stop Lee from flushing Tigh out an airlock.

After Kara convinced Lee that the fritzy little readout in her fighter did, indeed, point to Earth, Lee in turn invited the Cylons over to see for themselves. President Adama's gesture of goodwill sealed the deal: ''We go to Earth together.''

I wonder: Even though Lee gave the Final Four amnesty, will it do them any good? Everyone knows who and what they are, and everyone feels betrayed by them. What kind of life will they be able to lead? Will their loved ones ever forgive them? (Finally, Baltar will have people who outscore him on the hated-by-the-fleet scale.)

That was a nice moment between Lee and Laura. Two people who love the same man but who've had a rocky relationship, coming together to try and shake Bill Adama from his hollow-grandpa funk. And it worked: The admiral took off his Mr. Rogers robe, picked himself up, and put his war suit back on — for what he clearly hoped would be the last time. (And if anyone out there wants to buy me a birthday present, you find me a T-shirt that says, ''We gotta roll the hard six.'')

Earth. Finally. Tears. Joy. Lee going all Chippendales in the CIC. A beautiful moment — followed by heartbreak. Ruined cities. Radioactive soil. Salvation, scorched.

How does that old proverb go? Be careful what you wish for — you just might get it.

This episode might as well have been called ''Redemption,'' because, for me, it wiped clean the missteps of a wishy-washy season like a strong rain.

What about you? Did this hit it out of the park for you, as well? If the Fifth Cylon isn't in the fleet, then where is he/she? (My gut tells me that someone had to set the Colonial signal that drew the fleet to Earth.) How long will the combined Colonial-Cylon rebel fleet have before the other Cylons come a-knocking? And when the frak are we gonna get more Battlestar Galactica?

Until then, however, you cats have a good summer...and fall...and probably winter. Thanks for tuning in.