A riddle in numbers.

An opera house.

The Cylons split even further; schisms within schisms.

The constant prattle of a hybrid (a hybrid between human and Cylon), resetting and guiding an utterly damaged ship, guarded by a lone Centurion whose only mission is to keep her alive.

The missing three will get you the five who have come from the home of the 13th.

The final five Cylons.

The missing (model) Three, a boxed D’Anna Biers.

D’Anna has looked upon the face of the five; indeed is the only Cylon that knows who they are. That is why she was boxed; whoever programmed the Cylons made that a rule. The Cylons must never think about the Final Five, never mind know who they are.

Why is that?

So that only once the humans and Cylons can actually come to a truce and understand one another and accept one another and live in (relative) peace and harmony (I mean, c’mon, neither race has proved capable of living in true peace and harmony within its own race, we can’t expect rainbows, hearts and flowers when you bring the two races together) that they are allowed to know the Final Five and, by extension, the location of Earth?

Is Kara the one to bridge that divide because she is married to a Cylon, because a Cylon is truly, deeply, madly in love with her? Or is that even just beside the point? How did Leoben know Kara Thrace was the special one, the one who could bring them all to Earth? None of the other models, until now, seemed to believe his obsession was anything more than an obsession.

And how is it that these five came from Earth, yet the existing seven have been programmed never to think about them? How could they have been programmed thusly if the other five weren’t created along with them?

Or were they indeed created along with them, but sent to Earth a long time ago (which begs the question of how, if the first Cylon wars were only 40 years ago and there were no skinjob Cylons then)?

Which brings me to this:

The main thing we learned in this hour is that Cylons are far, far more human than anyone, themselves included, would ever have liked to believe.

They feel pain — emotional as well as physical, evidenced by the Six who kills in an almost instinctual revenge for the murder of her previous incarnation on Caprica. Her mouth was taped over, she was dumped into a septic tank, left to die like an insect.

And Athena has disdain for the other Eights. They are so quick to change loyalties, she believes. But didn’t she change loyalties, for the sake of love? Has she become so human that she can’t even touch another dying Eight in her last moments? Or in her lecture to the other Eights (whom she taught that they didn’t have to be slaves to their programming, enabling the split that led to this Civil War when Creepy Dancing Sharon sided with Cavil) does she simply feel guilt that she has betrayed her race?

What I realize in watching Battlestar Galactica is that this show is better written and acted than just about anything I’ve ever seen.

Just watch again the scene that Tricia Helfer played against herself, Natalie consoling the platinum blonde Six who suffered so badly on Caprica at the hands of one of Anders’ resistance fighters and then shooting her in the back of the head, just as dead as the woman she’d killed.

Just watch again Anders’ temptation to find out if he could interface with the Base Star (would he have been able to?), his rage and desire to kill the Six and then his willingness to be there for the dying Eight spurned by Athena.

Just watch again the opening scene where Helo has led a mutiny, chaos reigns and in the end, Kara takes charge again because, dammit, she really is in charge and knows what needs to be done to save Gaeta and also to complete their mission.

Just watch again the scene where Roslin (thought I’d forgotten about her, didn’t you?) tells her new friend about her mother; the woman with an indomitable spirit who was a teacher and died a painful death from cancer.

All I know for sure is this:
D’Anna will be unboxed.

The final five will be revealed.

Earth will be found.

What I do not know is this:

Will mankind and Cylons be able to survive those three events?