In blogging last week about BSG, I ignored a huge part of the episode, as I got rather wrapped up in the whole “Ellen Tigh really is as crazy as she seemed, but I love it” part of things.

Don’t worry, lots of Baltar goodness to go around in this week’s carnival, but I thought I’d share some things I’ve been musing on:

Baltar is crazy. Like a fox. He quickly sees that control of his cult has been all but wrested from him. But the ladies still have an eye for our brilliant, possibly insane, doctor, and he has a last chance to get it back.

All he needs to do is appeal to their inner sense of strength. And if that doesn’t work, their desire to have bigger guns than the bad guys. That should do the trick.

Head Six is still totally in on the game. What does that mean? We know that some of the Final Five had visions that preceded the blowing up of Earth, etc., so what does that mean for Baltar? We know that he has some sort of strange connection to the Cylons, but what is it? Is he perhaps a hybrid? And why does Caprica Six hallucinate Baltar?

And, is Baltar and his merry band of insane women going to become the new militia? Sort of the National Guard, if you will? And I simply must ask this (as did, I think, EVERYone else watching the show): WTF did he say to Adama/Roslin/Lee to convince them to give him the big guns? I mean, really?

Anyway, there’s a lot to get to here, lots of entries, so let me get started:

First off, Jayson Peters presents ‘Battlestar Galactica’ finale will be a two-parter posted at Nerdvana: Sci-fi, comics, games & more. Jayson reports that the finale will be three hours, split in two segments. FRAK!

Lisa Paitz Spindler, a first-timer here, presents Among Bright Stars I’m Lost posted at Lisa Paitz Spindler. It’s a recap of No Exit, actually, but has some really excellent points. She caught a few things I heard at the time, but never really registered with me – such as when Ellen asks Boomer about “the swirl,” which I take to be the image that Starbuck painted/sketched/drew her entire life. Connection to Daniel?

Kenneth Hynek, another newbie to our carnival, presents A potential inspiration for BSG? posted at Kenneth Hynek. It’s a fascinating look at a book I’ve never read, “On the Beach,” and the similiarities it has with our beloved BSG. If the show were to continue to echo the book, that could mean things end poorly. Which we expect already, given the show and everything Edward James Olmos has said. I want to read this book now.

Norman Doering presents All My Cylons … these are the days of our fives … As The Galaxy Turns posted at A Blog from Hell. In it, he coins my favorite word of the year: Balcubines, to describe Baltar’s female minions.

Nina presents Battlestar Galactica – Season 4.5 Epi 16: Deadlock posted at Blog It Out Bitch. It’s long, but it’s funny. And she quotes Adama’s best line of the entire series, when he declares he has to go to the head. And like most of us, she can’t figure out what the frak Adama’s doing arming Baltar and his balcubines.

Tru presents BSG – 6 down, 4 to go posted at True Science Fiction. He was a bit disappointed that not more was resolved or moved forward. I’ve heard that from several folks, though I don’t necessarily agree.

Roberta presents BSG So Say We All Blog Carnival – Ellen, Baltar & his blanket and possible BSG movie posted at CouchSlobs – A Monument To Human Idleness. She reconciles the thought that this crazy lady could have been responsible for the skinjob Cylons with the recognition that Baltar is also bat-guano crazy and yet was considered the most brilliant man in the Colonies before, well, he helped get them all ‘sploded. And she also links to an article about Universal considering a BSG movie – based on the original series, because only Glen A. Larson has movie rights.

Ms. SP presents If I Go There Will Be Trouble, If I Stay There Will Be Double posted at Ms. Smarty Pants Know It All. She posits some very interesting thoughts about the idea that one has to be in love in order to procreate, and what kind of person would follow a God who enforced that. It made me wonder if that is the reason the “new” Cylons could never procreate. They tried to procreate to make new Cylons, not out of love. Hera was born out of love between Helo and Sharon. Hmm?

Phew! That’s it for this week. “Someone to Watch Over Me” comes this Friday, and then there just three more episodes. I’m not clear, however, if three episodes counts the two-part finale as one, in which case there are really five hours left. I’ll let you know when I figure it out.