User Reviews

After a few episodes that might be considered filler we have one where something very important happens. Starbuck continues to be haunted by the image she drew that matched the picture in the Temple of Jupiter; Helo advises her to consult an oracle and when she does the oracle says things about what happened on New Caprica that only Starbuck could know. While out on patrol she sees a Cylon heavy raider and chases it into a giant storm that also resembles her picture. When she gets back to Galactica there is no evidence of the Cylon ship; no damage to her Viper despite the fact that she was convinced she was hit and no images on her gun camera. She has clearly been affected by what happened as we soon see her telling Lee where she wants her picture to be placed if she should die. On her next patrol she again sees the raider and pursues it into the storm; this time her ship is damaged and she blacks out; while unconscious she has a vision of Leoben taking her to see her mother. We see that Starbuck walked out after her learning her mother was dying but Leoben gives her the opportunity to go back and see her mother as she is about to die. Starbuck then awakens and makes the choice to continue downwards to certain death.

This was a great episode; with fine acting from Katie Sackhoff as Starbuck and a brilliant emotional scene from Edward James Olmos as Admiral Adama at the end. The whole episode had an emotional intensity as the viewer is left wondering whether Starbuck is having a mental breakdown or whether what is happening is the fulfilment of the destiny Leoben spoke of in previous episodes. When I first watched this episode the end came as quite a surprise; while plenty of important secondary characters have died I never believed that Starbuck could die... if she can die is anybody safe?

This episode can be seen as the apex of Kara Thrace's psychological journey. In her visions she comes to terms with her abusive mother and begins to see that her life may have a deeper purpose than she realized. In the process she also comes to an understanding about the people she has cared about the most. Especially poignant is the scene where William Adama expresses his grief by destroying the ship model he was working on (an ad-lib by Edward Olmos that destroyed an expensive, rented prop!). This is probably one of the most important episodes in the whole series and is a must watch for BSG fans. Like many episodes this season it leaves more questions than answers, but that's what we've come to expect with this series.

I think what the producers of the show are trying to accomplish is go beyond the "fire phasers" school of film/TV sci-fi, to tackle larger social/psychological issues. Given the canvas - a delicate, nearly extinct society on the run from the cylons, without any real sense of security, grieving over the loss of their homes and family - there's a lot of room for both "big battle" stories and "small personal" ones.

I like the direction the show is taking in season 3 - the creators are trying something different, and also setting up a mythopoetic structure. The themes of death/resurrection and memory/projection - which were first explored on the cylon side - are now being explored on the human side. We're coming to see how similar the cylons and humans are on a psychological basis, and how disturbingly close they are in terms of their moral "flexibility." And the moral issues explored in the show - is torture necessary? Is it fair to have a permanent underclass in the interests of survival? Does true love mean destroying the relationships you're a part of already? These are integral to the show, not a distraction from it.

Anyway, I applaud the show's creators for trying to be more than just another shoot-em up, epic war/battle series. (And in case you're wondering, I love those episodes too). What's great about the show is that you're never sure what you're going to get from week to week.

Such a pleasure to see more episodes like this where they dedicate the whole episode to one situation.

The whole series is Science Fiction at its very best - using future scenarios to create and explore human relationships and characters.

The actors are all settled into their characters and convincing down to the smallest looks, and the writing gives them enough space to portray all of the emotions.

This episode shocks us with the ending and left me very moved.

Like a very good book, you really feel you have been on a journey afterwards.

I've watched this series half a dozen times at least. And I'm always chomping at the bit for this episode. It is one of the deepest and most impactful episodes of the series.

Ronald Moore took the character of Starbuck to a whole new level. I grew up with the old series, and frankly, even I was skeptical about how the new Starbuck would hold up. This Starbuck would easily become one of the most profound and memorable characters in sci-fi lore. Perhaps even in all of television, Katie Sackhoff never got nearly enough credit for portraying a complex and pain-ridden character. This Starbuck was easily the best pilot, and yet she carried tremendous pain as well.

What is the absence of fear and pain? It's what you are. Call it love or truth or freedom...it doesn't matter. The episode sees an "angel" helping Starbuck to transcend her self to become that which would ultimately help--not only guide the fleet to Earth--but to help end the war between human and Cylon.

I can see why this episode and the handling of Starbuck is too ambiguous for some. Many fans want everything explained and wrapped up in a nice little box with a nice little bow. The best stories are those which make YOU ask the profound questions; make YOU decide for yourself what something is, rather than have someone tell you.

Perhaps that is why Ronald Moore himself, when asked who/what Starbuck is, said that he purposely left the character of Starbuck ambiguous so that fans could provide their own feelings and interpretations based upon their own beliefs. In other words, YOU get to decide who/what Starbuck is. And there is no "right" or "wrong" answer. So then, the real question is this: do you have the courage to do some Self-exploration to find out? Can you do some soul-searching and come up with your own answer without having it laid out in front of you?

And THAT is what makes such sublime story-telling; to challenge you to bring a piece of yourself to the equation. And that is just one more reason why this is still one of the best shows in the history of television, and also why this is one of the most poignant episodes of the series.

These two people above are idiots. While the episode before this, the one with the working class was pretty bad. This one was better. The people above are expecting some big thing to come up. And so am I. But in order to understand the "big thing to come up", we need to understand whats going on. Starbuck had a contract for the series, unlike Billy, so when she died, shes going to come back. This episode explains more about Starbucks past so we may know what the plan is. Overall, this was a good episode. And it did't have what I call a "Sit Down and Talk" ending like its predecessor.

To the idiots that wrote the two above: I mean every offence to what you write and what you believe. Don't be like most of America. And in case you're wondering, I would say this to your face.

Maelstrom came out of absolutely nowhere to kill off a character that has been treading water since her arrival in the Battlestar Galactica Miniseries. Even if Starbuck had been reprised by Face from the A-Team, the character would have been irrevocably boring and empty beyond the cocksure instinctive pilot.

With that being said, Maelstrom was an excellent swan song and send-off of Starbuck (unless she is a Cylon or Buddhist), with strong focus on the problematic history and growing dementia in the worn-out and haggard character portrayed as well as humanely possible by Katee Sackhoff. The redundancy of the Coriolis vortex painted in the apartment rooms of her mind and coming to meet her fate, was well done despite its duh and dull factor.

The photography was beautifully infused with flawless editing to present such a dark episode in the correct light. But it was too heavy with sentiment, fatalism, Starbuck, and tacked on story lines that had never been mentioned before to merit brilliance.

I get it, Starbuck's mom is an unmerciless perfectionist ____ and so her daughter becomes her mother and Leobon (Callum Rennie) is the Ghost of Christmas Past to bring the condemned to terms with her sins before the crucible arrives. I get it.

Apologies right now - this is about to be a rant...

I'm sorry - I loved this show at the beginning - but now - honestly - what is going on!

I look at the opening credits and I see Cylons - and that they have a Plan...

But ... We haven't really seen a Cylon for ages - let alone a so called plan. It's been just dragging on and on and on!

I had high hopes for this episode, but instead it was really just more of the same! I can't honestly believe that Kara gets killed off like that - her death was a little too meaningless (pretty much a suicide) for it to be OK for such a main character, so I can only hope there's some cunning plot? Maybe she's a Cylon? But then her destiny was that cloud thing - and maybe that's it. But quite honestly - No one can tell me that episode was good?