Season 4, Episode 7:
Guess What's Coming To Dinner?
On Colonial One, Roslin and Lee are listening to one of Baltar's radio speeches. The former doctor reveals that Roslin has told her visions to Sharon and Caprica-Six. When Lee asks if it's true, Roslin reluctantly confirms it.
On the Demetrius, the crew are making last-minute jump preparations after discovering the rebel Basestar. The Basestar jumps into the middle of the fleet, which causes panic until Tigh orders a weapon hold when called to action stations. The Demetrius appears moments later and confirms that the Basestar is under their control.
Gaeta is rushed to Galactica's sickbay in grave condition due to his leg injury, and is told by Cottle that they will have to amputate the leg immediately. He asks not to be anesthetized for the procedure, and gets some numbing chemicals injected before Cottle cuts into his leg.
Galactica's command crew meets with Natalie and the other rebel Cylons. Natalie explains that the Two (Conoy), Six and Eight models on the Basestar rebelled against the One (Cavil), Four (Simon) and Five (Doral) models, which culminated in the latter side attacking the rebels when they went to unbox the Three (D'anna) model. Natalie says that most of the Basestar's Raiders were lost in the attack, but the Basestar itself can heal. She concludes by saying that they need to unbox D'anna to learn the identities of the Final Five and lead them to Earth.
Natalie offers to help Galactica destroy a Resurrection Hub, which will destroy all Cylons' ability to resurrect and will allow them to access the boxing facility where D'anna's consciousness in store. When Bill asks why she would do such a thing, she says that the rebels have no place to go anymore and want vengeance. Bill reluctantly gives his word that he will help them.
The incredulous Colonial pilots begin prepping for a joint assault on the Resurrection Hub, working alongside Centurions on the Basestar. Bill, Tigh and Roslin discuss enacting an alternate plan where they will unbox D'anna before destroying the Hub and keep the identities of the Final Five secret until they arrive at Earth, while Zarek and the Quorum are angered at the lack of information on what is going on.
Tory meets with Roslin to discuss fleet updates, but Roslin has other ideas. She calls her aide out for leaking information to Baltar, and says she knows Tory has been sleeping with him. Roslin turns her back on her and orders her to leave.
Prompted by Lee, Roslin gives a speech to the Quorum outlining the recent events and plan to destroy the Hub. She also brings Natalie to tell the Quorum of her own civil war and their quest to seek redemption. Later, Roslin, Caprica-Six and Sharon all share another vision where Hera is taken away from the fleet.
Kara visits Roslin while the latter is undergoing another round of cancer treatment. She reveals the prophecy told to her by the Hybrid onboard the Basestar, and confirms that the President is having visions. Roslin begs Kara for help finding out the meaning of her dreams, and Kara agrees.
Onboard the Basestar, the rebel Cylons are having doubts about the attack plan. Natalie agrees to meet with Bill and discuss matters while the rebels come to a decision. She is ferried to Galactica, where she meets Tigh and an escort.
In the Agathons' quarters, Sharon discovers that Hera is missing, and runs out into the hallways on Galactica to find her. She eventually discovers Hera standing by Natalie (who is being escorted by Tigh) in the corridor. Incensed by her recent visions and misplaced belief that a Six has come to take the child away, she shoots Natalie just before Marines intervene and take her away…
On the Basestar, Roslin and Baltar have gone to visit the deactivated Hybrid. Roslin tells the doctor to reactivate it, saying they need to get answers. As soon as it awakes, though, the Hybrid yells out a command to jump, and the Basestar disappears from the fleet…
Tropes:
- An Arm and a Leg: Gaeta's leg is amputated when the Demetrius meets back up with the Fleet.
- Cliffhanger: The Hybrid jumping the Basestar after being reactivated.
- Creepy Child: Hera doesn't usually fall under this but Athena waking up to find Hera standing over her saying "Bye-bye" is pretty spooky and then there's her book full of drawings of Six.
- Irony: When the Colonials board the Basestar for the first time, Tigh mistakenly assumes that one of the rebel models onboard shot Gaeta and asks the Demetrius crew which one. In actuality, it was a Cylon, but it was Anders.
- It's All My Fault: Anders nearly suffers a breakdown in his sadness over shooting Gaeta in the leg, which caused Cottle to have to amputate it.
- Mama Bear: Athena, who's already unsettled by the visions of a Six and Baltar taking Hera, shoots Natalie in the hallways for trying to talk to the little girl.
- Nightmare Fuel Coloring Book: Hera's coloring book has pictures of the Cylon Basestar and herself standing beside a copy of Six, as well as the number "6", which greatly distresses Sharon.
- Not in This for Your Revolution: Natalie tells the Galactica crew that the rebel Cylons want to help them solely out of vengeance against the other faction.
- Plot-Driven Breakdown: The FTL on the Demetrius fails just after the crew have stated how crucial it is that it and the Basestar arrive at the Colonial fleet together. And then the comms on the Raptor aboard the Basestar fail so Athena can't tell Galactica not to fire. This leads to Tigh ordering the Vipers to hold their fire on a gut intuition before everything gets working again.
- Sensor Suspense: When the rebel Basestar jumps into the middle of the Fleet without the Demetrius.
- Shout-Out: The title is a reference to Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
- Spanner in the Works: Two.
- Out of a desire to keep Natalie from ever taking Hera away, Athena shoots her, which causes a major crimp in the already tense alliance.
- When the Hybrid is reactivated, she shouts out a command to jump, and the Basestar teleports away... with Roslin and other important crew members still on board.
