Somewhere between killing an entire baseball team and fighting an African American samurai school girl with a large platinum afro and a Japanese name, I realized that No More Heroes was destined to become an all time favorite. Suda 51 delivered big time with this game giving us an over the top, insane, satirical blood bath of epic proportions that takes a stab at both eastern and western culture. It’s a shame that hardly anyone makes titles like this anymore.

No More Heroes follows the misadventures of Travis Touchdown: a stereotypical otaku loser turned assassin armed with a “beam katana” he purchased on an internet auction. After running out of funds to support his hobby, he accepts a job from the UAA (United Assassins Association) to kill “The Drifter.” Travis becomes rank Eleven after completing his mission and, realizing he is now a target for those ranked lower than him, sets out on mission to become Number One.

Obviously, the story isn’t meant to be taken seriously, but the amount of style and humor that’s been put into this game is exactly what makes the game work so well. The plot is pretty straight forward at first but towards the end of the game, there is a twist so completely WTF that it’s worthy of an M. Night Shyamalan movie (but with no preachy moralizing and crap).

In terms of gameplay, if you’re expecting a vast open ended environment similar to GTA, this isn’t the game for you. There are some minor sandbox elements and your allowed to explore the game world, but there isn’t a whole lot to do aside from the assassination missions, the part-time jobs and the ranked battles. You can customize Travis by buying new apparel at the clothing store, Area 51, and you can build up your strength and techniques at Thunder Ryu’s gym… but the only thing really essential to progressing in the game is earning money to enter next the ranked fight.

Each ranked battle requires that Travis deposit and entry fee to the UAA via ATM. There are numerous part time jobs and side quests (minigames) you can accept for money. You can blow it on stuff like new clothes (as mentioned above), training and wrestling tapes that teach you new moves, but most of this will be spent on working your way through the ranks.

And this is where you get to the core of what No More Heroes is all about: fucking up shit with a light saber. The sandbox elements may be crap, but this is the real reason you want to play this. The combat is much more refined than the other aspects of the game and is greatly satisfying. Heads are decapitated and bodies split while you swing your beam katana around like a mad bastard with unrealistic quantities of blood spraying everywhere.

Fortunately, swinging your sword mainly consists of pressing the A button; a smart choice considering that the combat is the primary focus of No More Heroes and excessive motion controls probably would have killed the game. Thankfully, the motion controls are kept to a minimum. They’re mainly used for Travis’ wrestling moves and delivering the coup de grace with the beam katana, but they’re utilized in some of the part time jobs as well.

One of the things that seperates No More Heroes from most other games in the genre is it’s insanity driven style. The game doesn’t take itself seriously at all and it’s hard not to enjoy its over-the-top sense of humor. For example, the save points in the games are toilets and with every save you’re introduced to a censored scene of Travis taking a shit. Childish and immature, yes, but still funny.

The overall story is a satirical melodrama very reminiscent of Kill Bill and pokes a lot of fun at the usual cliches associated with games and anime. Characters will often go into drawn out monologues before each fight detailing their life story and the revelation toward the end of the game will have you watching the youtube clip repeatedly (you’ll know what I’m talking about when you beat it).

No More Heroes is far from perfect but the same could be said for just about everything else I’ve played. Anybody who claims that a game has achieved absolute perfection is most likely talking about Halo 3 and needs to seriously consider pulling their head out of their ass. If you’re one of the many Wii owners like me who got the console expecting a new way to play the games you grew up with these past few gaming generations, then you owe it to yourself to get No More Heroes as not only a reminder of why this is your console of choice, but also as to why you like games in the first place: fun.

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Ah, Castlevania… the name alone is the source of many childhood memories. Being a long time gamer born of the 80’s generation (and I have the Genesis and Billy Idol playlists to prove it) I, too, aided Simon Belmont in his quest to destroy the evil Count Dracula in the golden NES days. The first CV game I was introduced to was Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest. Not exactly the best game to start with but this eventually led to the discovery of the original Castlevania as well as Castlevania III.

The overall concept of the original game is fairly simple but, like all long-standing franchises has managed to evolve into something more substantial over the years. You are a member of the Belmont clan, an ancient bloodline of vampire hunters chosen to fight Count Dracula (who is resurrected every one hundred years all the fraking time) with your holy, enchanted whip the “Vampire Killer.” It all started as a basic homage to old, classic, black & white horror films with end level bosses like Frankenstein and The Mummy but eventually became something of an alternate universe to Bram Stoker’s novel (supposedly the Morris’ are distant relatives of the Belmonts).

The 2D games have been divided into two different categories in terms of gameplay. It started out as a standard action platformer (with a bitch-hard difficulty) but most of the recent games are modeled after Symphony Of The Night, which CV fans refer to as the “Metroidvania” style (Metroid featured a style of play that allowed players the freedom to explore and the recent CV titles follow this concept). Symphony Of The Night is often hailed as the best of the latter, but its prequel (and supposedly the best of the classic Castlevania’s) hasn’t been released in the States until recently: Dracula X: Rondo Of Blood.

Sure, anybody familiar with the terms Internet, Google and Emulators can easily play it at this very moment or have been for years. Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP, however, is the first official State-side release. Dracula X Chronicles is essentially a 2.5D remake of Rondo Of Blood with the original PC Engine version thrown in as an unlockable as well as a port of Symphony Of The Night.

The 3D remake is pretty much what you would expect: a visually enhanced version of the original game. The backgrounds are much better compared to some of the stages in the PC Engine version but some of the character models look pretty jagged for something that’s supposed to the portable equivalent of a PS2. Some feel the original is easier than the 3D remake (and vice-versa) but I can’t tell the difference myself. Of the two, I have a slight preference for the remake mainly because you can customize the soundtrack. As for the original Rondo Of Blood, it was definitely worth the wait. Personally, I wouldn’t say it’s the best of the old-school CV games (that title still belongs to Super Castlevania IV) but its become a new favorite.

The port of Symphony Of The Night is nothing short of awesome. There are some slight differences between the PSP and PSOne versions but it’s an overall improved experience. The dialog has been re-written and re-recorded and you can switch the language from English to Japanese. If you’re a CV fan and you own a PSP, this a must own. Three games for $30 is a pretty good deal.

And now it’s on to this week’s edition of Bite-Sized Story Time.

—-

Aw, man… this is almost as bad as that one episode of BSG where Starbuck dies… OMG SPOILERZ!!!

27. Not like this, she thought. Please, I can’t lose him like this. Arissa’s hold was tight but she could feel Arkim’s strength draining. He stared into her eyes, one last time… “I love you,” he whispered. He released her and she watched, helplessly, as he fell to his death. “Arkim!”

Don’t drink & drive. Also, revenge is a dish best served cold.

…

KAAAAAAAAHN!!!

28. I held him by the hair in front of the tombstone and pressed the pistol against his neck. “I said look at it!” He opened his eyes and began to read the engraving. “That’s my wife,” I said. “I want you to remember that name everytime you see your wife.”

DRADIS Contact: Crappy BSG fanfic just jumped in. I thing I was suffering from writer’s block when I wrote this. Alcohol’s making things a bit hazy right now…

29. “Just half an hour left, Jumper,” I said. “Roger that, Cap,” she replied. I scanned the asteroid field before us. Patrolling the Armistice Line seemed completely pointless. Life in the Twelve Colonies hadn’t been interesting in over fourty years… but I couldn’t shake the feeling something was coming. “DRADIS contact!”

Hmmm… yes siree. You’ve definitely got mutant zombies in your basement. I’m gonna have to call Greg down here for some special supplies. Y’know, a Bible, Holy Water, the usual…

30. The bloody mass lay curled on the floor. Whatever this thing was, at least it had stopped moving. My girlfriend finally answered the phone. “Hello?” Damnit, I have to focus. “Uh… Yeah. Vanessa, it’s me,” I said. “Listen, I’m gonna be a little late tonight.” She paused. “Why, what’s wrong?”

Inspired by a random forum thread I was reading.

31. The cyborg riding a unicorn headed toward the horizon. After he dissapeared, a large mushroom began to sprout behind me. I turned around to see the most awesome Heavy Metal band ever perform on top of its massive, color changing cap. “Wow,” I exclaimed. “This is some really good shit!”

The next four stories act as a prequel to the “mutant zombie” story. It’s an idea for a horror story that’s one part Bag Of Bones, one part Eternal Darkness and two parts Silent Hill.

32. The door to my study was open. Someone else was here. Slowly, I pushed the door open and I peered inside. Only the light of the full moon shined through the window. I took one step in and noticed that my desk drawer was open… where I kept my gun.

Oh snap! Not the gun!

33. I tried not to panic. My eyes scanned the room. There was no one else in here. But they could still be somewhere in the house, I thought. I stepped out into the long hallway and my heart nearly stopped. A dark figure was at the other end watching me.

This shiz be freaky, d00d.

34. Paralyzed with fear, I stood frozen. Slowly it began to move towards me. As it came closer I noticed that it’s lower half was missing… it was hovering towards me. Suddenly, I heard dozens of voices whispering all around me in a dark and twisted language. It drove me insane.

OH TEH NOES!

35. I tried to back away but lost my footing and fell to the floor. I looked up only to see the dark figure hovering over me. The very sight terrified me. No face, no features, just the blackness of shadows and two piercing red eyes… and then I woke up.

See You Next Mission!

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So I got to see Iron Man this past Saturday. If you’re a comic buff and you haven’t already seen it, there is something very wrong with you. You need to stop whatever is you’re doing and go see it now! If you have to take care of the kids, either take them with you or call a sitter. If you have to go to a funeral, postpone it. They’re already dead, it’s not like they’re going anywhere…

I kid, of course.

Iron Man is easily one of the best super-hero films ever and, in my opinion, dethrones Spider-Man 2 as the best yet. Iron Man was one of my favorite Marvel heroes as a kid, though, so I may be a little biased. Still, it stands as a very well done film on its own and it’s hard to find fault with it. BE WARNED: This be a review so there be minor spoilers ahead, yar. And by minor, I mean stuff you comic geeks already know about Iron Man’s origins… yar!

The film opens with billionaire arms dealer and playboy, Tony Stark, under attack by terrorists after demonstrating his latest creation to U.S. military buyers in the middle-east. Tony is wounded by shrapnel (which ends up near his heart) and taken to the terrorist hideout where a doctor and fellow prisoner, Yinsen, installs an electro-magnet in Stark’s chest to keep the shrapnel from going into his vital organs and killing him. Oh, and the magnet is powered by a car battery.

The leader of the terrorist group wants Stark alive so that the scientific genius can build him the weapon demonstrated to the U.S. military, the “Jericho” missile, to go with their already large stockpile of Stark Industries’ other splodey products. While being held prisoner, Stark uses his time and resources (along with the help of Yinsen) to build a high-tech suit of armor as his ticket out. Stark manages to escape but not before blowing up the terrorists cache of weapons (splode).

Changed by his experiences, Tony decides that the resources of Stark Industries should be used to help people as opposed to making them go splode. This doesn’t sit very well with his business partner, Obadiah Stane, but Tony could give two shits as he’s much more interested in refining his suit.

As I said earlier, it’s hard to find fault with this movie. Probably the best aspect of the movie is the cast. Robert Downey Jr. practically is Tony Stark, Gwyneth Paltrow nails it as Virginia “Pepper” Pots; his loyal assistant with no life outside of her job, and Terrence Howard is very likable as Jim “Gonna be War Machine in the Sequel” Rhodes; Tony’s friend and fighter pilot. While the action sequences are few and far between, the exposition and build up to each one makes it more than worth it. One of the best is when Stark, after being screwed over by Stane, finally decides to take his suit into action by going to the middle-east to kick some terrorist ass. It’s not just a great super-hero movie but also a nice feel-good action movie with it’s liberal, anti-corporate message in a time when it seems like the rest of the world hates us.

Stick through the credits if you want to see Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

And now onto this week’s edition of Bite-Sized Story Time! But first I would like to wish a happy birthday to my friend Nolan. Happy Birthday and here’s hoping you get those birthday fajitas eventually, if not today.

—-

Ah, the “crazy chick” story. Nolan has suggested that I expand on the “crazy chick” story. And I plan to… eventually.

10. “Love can make you do crazy things… insane things.” I had to get out of there. God, Maria… what have you done? “Where are you going? Eric, stop!” I reached for the door but as she stood, a sudden fear gripped me. “Don’t you dare open that door!” she hissed.

One of my favorites. Nolan expanded on this story with my permission and I like what he’s done with it. I’ve decided to do a continuation of it. You can find both the setup and the aftermath here, courtesy of Senor Hobbs.

11. “Don’t make me do this,” I said. “Good to see you, too.” he replied. We drew our guns simaltenously and were now in a stand-off. It was just a matter of which one of us would shoot first. “You boys alright?” The voice came from the kitchen. “We’re fine, mom.”

This one’s cheesy, I know. But it’s supposed to be. There is lots of dark humor in the universe this story is set in. It’s also connected to three of the stories from last week.

12. “Fool,” he said. “Do you honestly think that your ancient ways will work against others with the Dark Gi-” I plugged a round into his servant’s head and watched him melt to ash. “Spare me the Anne Rice bull shit,” I said. “I’ll ask one more time: Where is he?”

I have no idea what they’re hiding from. It could be zombies, it could be Aliens. Nolan thinks its rabid squirrels. I like that idea.

13. Day Twenty Three: One of those bastards managed to make it inside again. I spent all fucking morning fixing that damn door, too. There are a number of things that need to be done around here and we’ve got enough food to skip ration hunting for at least a day.

Connected to the first story I wrote, this is the guy’s twin sister. She’s an awesome character and a lot more light-hearted and cheery than this story depicts her, but she’s pissed for a very valid reason as you can tell. I’m undecided as to whether or not I want her final name to be Tyris.

14. “Enough!” Her voice echoed like a clap of thunder and a cold breeze swept throughout the temple. The two men stood paralyzed with fear as the girl remained curled on the floor weeping in shame. Tyris stepped forward, ceremonial spear in hand. “How dare you assault a priestess!” she shouted.

Inspired by a true story that happened to a guy I once knew. He didn’t actually get physically violent but he did threaten his roommate with a bat. The save file in question, I think, was Final Fantasy VII.

15. That did it. He had crossed the line before, but this time he had gone too far. Well, it wouldn’t happen again… I kicked down his door and swung my bat right into his gut. I wasn’t done with him… “You’ve overwritten my save file for the last time, asshole!”

Connected to the story where the vampire guy gets shot in the face.

16. The Dark Creature emerged from the portal with a roar that sounded like the cry of a thousand lost souls. Its massive wings spread and its many arms reached toward the heavens. To a normal person, this may have seemed frightening. “You have got to be kidding me.” I said.

Dedicated to the Team Fortress 2 Pyro. May your flamethrower continue to torch many bitches.

17. “Well, everything checks out. You have the credentials and the experience,” he said. “So why do you want to join the team?” Saw that one coming… “I was born for this,” I replied. “What?” Damnit… I forgot I was still wearing my mask. “I said I was born for this!”

IT’S OVER!!!

—-

Shipping to me this week (as early birthday presents courtesy of teh mommeh) are No More Heroes and Okami. The Wii has been in need of some loving lately, outside of Brawl, and these games will make lovely additions to my collection. I’ll have reviews when I finish them. Also, I’ll almost done with my Prey article and that will go up later this week. Until then, may the Lords of Kobol watch over you. So say we all!

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Ever since the original DOOM, the First Person Shooter has become one of my all time favorite genres. While DOOM was mainly about running from room to room and gunning down hordes of enemies, it also featured a pretty interesting back story: A teleportation experiment on one of Mars’ moons has gone horribly wrong and a portal to the Gates of Hell is opened. Having lost all communication with the base on Phobos, the military sends in a group of marines to investigate the situation. Unfortunately, when your team arrives, you’re stuck with guarding the ship. Later, you receive a transmission from your dying team mates that shit has completely hit the fan and that you are now the only squad member left. Now you are the only thing standing between the Forces of Satan and Earth.

Not the best premise ever written but what do you expect from a game made in the early 90’s?

As with most games of that era the focus was primarily on the game itself and how fun it is to play. Ultimately, the story is irrelevant and it’s all about killing stuff (demons to be specific) but that’s not to say that they didn’t put at least some thought into the story as everything in the game is modeled off of the concept. Two of the main inspirations behind DOOM’S premise are the films Aliens and Predator (and to a lesser extent, Evil Dead).

The concept of a lone marine (or a team of marines) fighting a Hostile Alien force that they know little about is something that translates very well into a game, and has resulted in many games (FPS in particular) that follow a similar formula while paying homage to the two films that started it all.

Lately, there’s been an over-saturation of these types of FPS games and its starting to get a little old. I’m sure that we can all agree that Aliens and Predator we’re both really good movies but not every FPS needs to follow in their footsteps.

Recently, my brother (in his quest for entertainment via youtube) sent me a video of a golden oldie that I used to own. It ditched the traditional sci-fi setting in favor of a dark Old West theme and pays homage to several horror movies.

BLOOD

Back in the summer of 1997, this game was the shiz. It utilized the Build Engine (originally created for Duke Nukem 3D) and was developed by Monolith. The game featured an aresnal of interesting weaponry and-as the title implies-lots and lots of BLOOD.

The game pits you in the role of a man named Caleb. At age 17, he had already established himself as a merciless gunfighter in the late 19th century American West. At some point, he meets a woman named Ophelia Price who happens to be involved in a dark cult known as “The Cabal” which worships and evil God know as “Tchernobog.” Caleb and Ophelia become involved and eventually they ascend to the highest ranking circle of the cult, known as “The Chosen.” For reasons unspecified at the time, Tchernobog informs the four Chosen that they have failed him and now must die. Caleb and the others are all like “Yeah, that’s grea- wait, what?”

Three of the chosen (including Ophelia) are picked off by Tchernobog’s minions and Caleb is, supposedly, buried alive. Years later, Caleb is revived and awakens sometime in the early 20th century. During this time, the Cabal have grown in power. Their dark experiments are now being unleashed onto the world and soon all will be covered in darkness… But Caleb could care less. He’s really not very happy about being stabbed in the back and now he wants to exact his vengeance on the dark God and his minions wherever they may hide.

With it’s dark humor and over-the-top gore, BLOOD is easily one of the best FPS’s I’ve played. I mean, how many games allow you to play as an undead cowboy? Caleb is one of the most bad ass anti-heroes ever with his black trenchcoat, broad-brimmed hat and glowing red eyes. He’s a cynical and sarcastic sadist that spouts one-liners and laughs maniacally when stuff blows up (which happens a lot in this game).

Caleb’s journey takes him across the world to many Cabal strongholds littered with various enemies and dark creatures such as zombies with axes, flying Gargoyles, fire-breathing Hellhounds and robed cultists armed with shotguns/tommy guns. While the enemy AI isn’t all that great, they still present a bit of a challenge. Most enemies will rush at you full speed to attack and armed enemies fire almost constantly making them a threat even at a distance. However, like all good shooters you are given a wide array of weapons with which to kick tons of ass and the end result is usually bits & pieces all over the walls.

At the start of the game, your only weapon is a pitchfork which is actually pretty useful when you’re low on ammo. One of the first weapons you come across is a Flare Gun and, yes, it causes your enemies to burst into flames while running around screaming. In addition you also find sawed-off shotguns (slight nod to Evil Dead II), Tommy guns, a napalm launcher, a futuristic shock rifle, bundles of TNT, remote detonators, an aerosol can with a lighter to make a cheap flamethrower, and a voodoo doll. You gotta give props to somebody with the balls to put a voodoo doll in a first person shooter.

The game is split up into four episodes that range from 7 to 9 levels including a “boss level” at the end of each one. Many of the levels in the game contain direct references to cult-classic horror films such as Evil Dead and The Shining and it’s fun to play through and spot them all. In the first level, Caleb awakens in a tomb located in a graveyard of the “Morningside Mortuary” funeral home (a reference to the film, Phantasm). In one level of the third episode, you have to find your way through a snowy hedge-maze and later in the fourth episode, you’re taken to a camp located at “Crystal Lake” (if I need to tell you what film series that references, you need to be smacked in the face).

The game still stands out among other FPS’s even to this day but has, unfortunately, been lost in the sands of time as abandon ware but it can still be found if you look hard enough on teh interwebz. A sequel was made called BLOOD II: The Chosen but the less said about it the better… BLOOD is also cited as one of the key insipirations behind a Korean comic book series titled Preist and has recently been published in the US by TokyoPop (you can find more on that here).

If you’re looking for something different, BLOOD is definitely worth checking out (and, yes, it is possible to get it working on XP).

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I’m really glad that Battlestar Galactica is finally back on air. It’s been quite awhile since the end of season 3 but it was totally worth the wait. I just finished watching the second episode of the new season which aired yesterday and I can honestly say that this is my favorite one so far.

*MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD! THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING!*

Twelve Cylon Models

Seven are known

Four live in secret

One will be revealed

At the end of last week’s episode, Starbuck is starting to lose it as they keep jumping farther from the road to Earth. Her miraculous return from the dead has everyone suspicious that she may be a Cylon, especially President Roslin. Pushed to the edge, she takes matters into her own hands and breaks into Adama’s quarters to confront the President… with a gun.

In this week’s episode, Starbuck makes a desperate attempt to convince Roslin that she has been to Earth and knows the way. She offers her gun to Roslin and asks her to shoot if she truly believes her to be a cylon. Roslin hesitates at first then picks up the pistol and fires… but misses. Colonel Tigh, Helo, Admiral Adama and a team of marines show up and Starbuck is taken to the brig while kicking and screaming about Earth. Adama confronts her later and he’s pretty pissed off at her. Kara delivers a bit of a low blow and he loses his cool. He storms out of the brig and she starts screaming again about how they’re going the wrong way.

Meanwhile on a Cylon Base-star, a conflict is brewing among the remaining models. The Sixes, Leobens, and Sharons are trying to plead to the Cavil in charge that the reason the Raiders retreated from the attack in the last episode is because they’ve discovered the Final Five among the colonial fleet. Cavil insists that the Raiders are thinking a little too much and reminds them that discussion of the Final Five is forbidden. Cavil thinks the best course of action is to lobotomize the Raiders so they can “go back to being Happy Warriors.” The other three are against it and Six reminds him that he has no authority to take action without a majority vote. Voting commences.

Back to Galactica… Admiral Adama has come to terms with his son, Lee Adama, leaving the military to pursue other opportunities and a party is thrown in his honor among his fellow pilots with a frak load of ambrosia shots to go around. After the party, a drunk Admiral heads back to his quarters and proceeds to get even more wasted. Roslin tries to talk to him about Starbuck and things get kinda ugly.

Adama loves Starbuck like a daughter and probably suffered the hardest from her death. Roslin points this out and feels that his feelings for her is clouding his judgement. The discussion ends with Adama saying some rather harsh things that upset the President and she gets all emo. Oh, and her hair is starting to fall out as a result of her chemotherapy treatment (or “Diloxin” as it referred to in BSG).

Lee says one last goodbye to Starbuck before he departs for his new job and they have a tender moment together (awww). When he arrives at the hangar deck, most of the crew is there to offer him a fond farewell. Even Dee, his ex-wife is there and they end things on a good note.

Four of the Final Five (Tigh, Tori, Anders and Chief) continue to meet in secret and are debating whether or not Starbuck herself is the fifth cylon. Chief points out that Gaius Baltar was with Deanna (the Threes that were “boxed”) in the Temple of Five back on the algae planet in the middle of last season. Thinking that Gaius might have some answers for them, Tigh suggests that Tori try getting some info out of him (even if it means sleeping with him). She agrees to it but with hesitation.

Tori spies on Gaius in a cafeteria where he is joined by his new monotheistic buddies (who view him as some kind of healer). Gaius takes notice of Tori and they proceed to talk. She ends up sleeping with him. And she cries during sex. Also, Gaius is now seeing himself (not the imaginary Six he always sees, but rather the imaginary Gaius that Caprica Six sees). Yeah, I don’t get it either…

Back at the Cylon base-star the Cavils, Simons and Dorals agree to lobotomizing the Raiders. The vote is three to three but things take an unexpected turn when Boomer votes against her fellow model Eights; something that the Six states has never happened before. Cavil goes through with his plan and Six is not pleased…

Six later confronts the other three with two Centurions at her side. She reveals to them that, in retaliation, she as well as the Leobens and Sharons have removed the Centurions’ inhibitor chips and that they are now capable of free thought and reason… Oh, and she told them about Cavil’s unethical treatment of the Raiders. They seem pretty pissed off about that. The three futilely attempt to escape but the Centurions make swiss cheese of them.

On Galactica, Helo and a few marines take Starbuck out of her cell and escort her to the hangar deck supposedly to be executed. Adama is there when she arrives and she tells him that he’s making a big mistake. He has the marines remove her restraints and tells her that he believes her and that he can’t risk losing her again. The plan is to give her a ship (the Demetri; a sewage recycling ship) to find the true path to Earth. To the President and everyone else in the fleet, Starbuck will be dead and the Demetri on a mission to find food. Starbuck and Adama hug (double awww) and he wishes her good luck. End of episode.

As I said earlier, this is definitely my favorite episode so far. The scene of Lee Adama’s departure almost had me in tears and the rift created between Admiral Adama and Laura Roslin by Baltar’s trial (as well as Starbuck’s return) is really making things interesting. I’ll admit that Tori’s falling in love with Gaius due to his sympathy towards Cylons was a bit predictable but it’ll still be interesting to see where they go with it.

The story arc aboard the Cylon Baseship is probably my favorite part of the episode. It astounds me that the Cylons could be so oblivious to what’s happening to them. All of this talk about being machines and being perfect and they can’t see the obvious. They’re becoming the very thing that they’re trying to destroy. They’re becoming human. The tables have turned and now they have to deal with their own robotic rebellion. “All of this has happened before and all of it will happen again.”

Next Friday can’t get here soon enough. I frakin’ love this show.

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