I take it w/ your sarcasm (or maybe I am misinterpreting your post) you didnt quite like this episode.

I do believe that she is either what you say, or she popped the eject (which her hand was hovering near btw).

I thought it was actually one of the best ones in a long time. People w/ childhood's like that live with it their whole life in their own little ways. Even if they got "help" for it, it never really goes away. Plus she was under a huge amount of stress... I would be surprised to see the "end" of her character... but either of the above scenario's would make the series that much more interesting.

PAR

It would be very hard for me to believe that BSG could continue w/out Kara... now, whether she will return a Cylon or she ejected I dont really care, but I have to say my heart skipped a bit when her ship blew up...

I'm pretty confused myself... I hope she's not going the way of Jack Bauer... that man has brushed death so much if he DID die I still wouldnt believe it. Kara is getting up there lol

PAR

The whole things seems incredibly set-up to me.

1 - Kara is told Leoben is coming and soon
2 - Kara sees Heavy Cylon Raider (why not a regular raider, why a heavy raider?)
3 - Radar does not, but it's acting wonky so maybe it's there or not
4 - Tigh points out that Heavy Raider can jump out and alert Cylon Fleet
5 - We see Kara's hand on eject level

So, it seems logical to me, that Kara wasn't hallucinating the heavy raider, and while a viper (w/out jump capabilities) would be doomed "below the deck" a Cylon Heavy Raider would not. Kara ejected just before the explosion and is picked up shortly after by the heavy raider (perhaps even with Leoben on board who had been drawing her out the whole time), while everyone else in the fleet assumes her dead.

Maybe she was picked up by the white-clad god people things from the original BSG like the original Starbuck. Or maybe it was just crappy writing. Yeah, that's the most likely explanation. They can't even kill a main character without bungling it up. All this setup from season one on and yet we get a big pile of nothing in the end. No explanation why the real Leoben was so fascinated with her. No real explanation why the painting on the wall was connected with the Eye of Jupiter. Just a random and senseless death of a main character, not unlike the deaths of Tasha Yar or Jadzia Dax on Star Trek (and the way she went out seemed eerily similar to a certain episode that buzzvang loves to pan). About the only moment of the episode that seemed poignant was when Adama started smashing the hell out of his model ship. Why do I have the feeling that that's about as much as we'll see in terms of reaction to Kara's death?

Noooooooo..... The love quadrangle!!!!!!

I must start with something positive before I go all Rat Boy on the episode... It has quite a few shots of Vipers flying. I like Vipers.

Unfortunately, I don't like Kara. And this was a 100% Kara episode that brings all the problems with the writing into sharp focus. OK, so she's got problems. But the writer's never explored her issues in any meaningful way. While we get a couple of Cylons referencing things over the course of three seasons, it didn't feel like a buildup toward anything. Which is just as well because this episode doesn't feel like a payoff. It just feels like the writers tried to come up with something "shocking." And the only potentially interesting thing to come of it will be the effect on the Adama boys.

I completely agree with Elysium's take on the story, especially since in the view from Lee's cockpit just before Kara's ship went squish, you could see (what I assume was) the raider. But I think the only thing they can do to not make the whole plot line a cheat is to grant Kat her desire for a tub-of-goo scene.

Interesting responses. I also had a lot of difficulty feeling anything for Kara's plight in this episode (or recently, for that matter), mostly because the stuff driving her (destiny, compulsive paintings) is so vague. It reminds me a bit of my problems with Lost, where you've got actions taking place on the surface that should theoretically be stirring, but the motivations are way too murky and seemingly withheld by thte writers for me to care. I also am allergic to Oracles in all forms of media, for which I probably have the Matrix to thank.

Loved all the flying shots. I'm glad Hot Dog's genital itch subsided long enough for him to fly all fancy-like.

If this Starbuck thing is the first salvo in an effort to kill off every BSG character under 35, I'm all for it. All I need is a show about Adama, Roslin, Baltar and Tigh.

I too feel a tub of goo coming on. Maybe Leoben & Co. have discovered a way to 'download' a human consciousness? That would be a pretty special destiny. Sort of reminiscent of the Gateway novels... anyone ever read those?

I think there's a 100 percent certainty that she'll show up again down the line, in one form or another. It felt like Eko's death in that I sort of didn't care, but they're definitely setting the character up for something down the road. Maybe she will become Lee's 'Kuato'. Won't that make things awkward with Dualla!

I hope the director didn't want a second take.

Did Apollo see the raider right before she died? I swear he saw the raider and her and yelled "visual"...

I didn't mean that Adama should hate Kara forever because he once called her a "cancer". And yes, you're right, Adama also called Tigh nasty names in that episode too. The difference, however, was that we saw a scene where Adama and Tigh make up and play nice again, but we never saw a reconciliation between Adama and Starbuck. In fact, I got the impression that things were still rather strained between them throughout the rest of the season, which is why the whole "Nothing but the rain" exchange - lifted from the miniseries, nonetheless! - seemed weird to me. Would have been nice to see a similar "make nice" sequence between Adama and Starbuck at least somewhere between Torn and Maelstrom.

What I meant was that I fully expected Adama to freak out when Starbuck died; after all, she was once like a daughter to him. But I didn't expect the show to linger on it, because we haven't seen much of Adama and Starbuck together for the past season. Certainly not the relationship that they had back in Season 1 or 2. It just seemed like yet another scene the writers threw in to show how awesome an actor EJO is. Maybe it's because, as you said, they've been overusing Adama lately. Maybe it's because I really don't like Adama anymore. I dunno. But I just sort of rolled my eyes at that scene, even though it made sense, it was well-acted, and it fit with the character.

It could be that it wasn't so much "let's show Adama sad" as "he's now torn to pieces because he let Starbuck go without making up". I'm thinking the whole Lee and Adama guilt angle is going to be a big one. Lee let her die because he let her fly when he knew she shouldn't, plus he didn't love her and he knows that hurt her. It is completely out of his control but it does seem like something Lee would beat himself up over. Adama let her die without reconciliation, or any kind of real relationship with her, which now that I think about it is probably exactly how it went with his other son, and it currently looks like it's going with Lee. He's not exactly a close man.

This show has been circling the drain all season, I think it's finally gotten sucked in. Too bad, was a good show for awhile.

I watched some of the episode again last night, and some of it is so well done, especially the flying stuff and even that scene where Lee offers to be her wingman. But I just can't get past how it apparently was Kara's special destiny to fly into a bullseye cloud for no real reason and to the benefit of no one. Way to prepare your daughter for greatness, mama Thrace.

Now, obviously there's the possibility for some sort of return down the road, maybe that's even highly likely, but that's all the reason why this death should have made a bit more sense. 'Cause right now I'm just wondering how they'll make it make sense two seasons from now, instead of feeling one way or another about anything but the special effects.

I can live without her. Remove Athena though and I'll get mad (and I mean of the show. None of that tub of goo stuff).