Said The Joker To The Cylon

Avert your eyes right now if you don't want Battlestar Galactica spoilers...

I haven't looked at any online commentary about last night's season finale yet, but I have to imagine it's sparked off some kind of firestorm. On the one hand, it's hard to square that the BSG universe is the same as ours, to the point where a classic rock song can play any part whatsoever in the plot.

On the other hand, they are looking for Earth, which is presumably our earth. That doesn't make the sudden ubiquitousness of "All Along The Watchtower" (Super Bowl, BSG) any more jarring. Was the nebular acting as some sort of signal amplifier for radio transmissions from Earth, and the Cylons were unwitting receivers? Then why didn't Athena and Caprica Six pick it up? Or were they too busy with this whole "Opera House" deal?

This raises the much bigger question for the future: Will the Cylons split into rival factions, like the Sunnis and the Shiites, based on whether they think Bob Dylan or Jimi Hendrix is the one true God? And will there be some smallish cult who believes in Michael Hedges?

Seriously, though, I liked all the major plot developments: The trial, the Opera House, the revealing of four of the final five Cylons, and Starbuck's return -- even though I thought that was pretty obvious. They all worked for me, conceptuatlly, but the execution was just, well, kind of weird. But that's more about stylistic choice than anything else, so I guess I can live with it.

Of course, waiting at least nine months for new episodes, that's entirely different.