Having "Faith" in BSG

Well, I was all set to spool off a caustic critique of Season 4 thus far, but I'm glad I held out until Episode 5. Okay, how cool was that little hour of television?! (SPOILERS to follow. Be warned...)

I have the tenuous intention to write more about it tomorrow (too late now and my cat wants me to retire), but in case I don't get to it....

I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief that the show came down real hard on the true, good and beautiful side of some issues that are big for those of us who cleave to the reality of the transcendent. And I have to note some other thoughts because the mystery at the heart of the show is just so fun to try and piece together. So, we now know...

1) There is a God in the BSG cosmos. He knows us little individuals by name and he says things like, "Don't be afraid. I will be with you."

2) There is life after death, which means human beings have an immortal non-material soul.

3) The hybrid noted that there is someone who has (paraphrase) the spark of the divine. I'm thinking it must be Kara. I think she has been resurrected and recreated by God to do her saving mission. Of course, when Anders says to the dying 8, "I am with you," it made me think he is the one with the divine spark because it is such a close mimic of what Emily heard in her dream of the afterlife. Either way, we are way outside the parameters of a purely material universe here. Phew.

4) The humans are being called to transcend merely human justice as that only leads to corpses piled up on the floor.

5) Kara has now been presented a very excellent character dilemma. She has been told that if she fulfills her personal destiny, it will mean the harbinger of death for everyone else. Cool. What's a hero to do?

6) Through her love (ie. acts of will - "you gotta choose which side you are on and stick to it), Athena has completely morphed out of cylon-ness. She seems to have no meaningful connection to the cylons anymore beyond accidents of the physical. I don't know what they are saying with this, but I think I like it.

It was a beautiful and hope-filled episode. Um, just in the nick of time.

There is a more thorough treatment of it on friend Tony Rossi's blog here.

Feel free to share your awe and insights about the show in the comments.