Michael Angeli delivers the next part in the Cylon virus story with A Measure of Salvation, which first aired on 10 November, 2006.

The Galactica and the fleet have joined the Raptor at the infected basestar. When they find some dying survivors aboard, Apollo (Jamie Bamber) and Athena (Grace Park), along with their team, bring them back to Galactica.

Studying what has happened to them may lead to the development of a biological weapon which could wipe out the entire Cylon race. Adama (Edward James Olmos) and Roslin (Mary McDonnell) wrestle with what that would mean to use such a weapon. Do they let the virus run its course by infecting the Resurrection Ship?

Baltar (James Callis), still on a basestar, finds himself in a precarious situation following the events with the dying basestar. But one of the D’anna (Lucy Lawless) may be up to something. First, however, he is tortured to find out how much he knew about the virus and the beacon that was brought aboard the basestar.

Watching the series like this, one episode right after another, makes for a powerful impact, and you realize how smart and well-thought-out the series was.

Bringing the Cylons aboard may cause other problems among the fleet. There’s a Six (Tricia Helfer), a Boomer, a Doral (Matthew Bennett), Leoben (Callum Keith Rennie), will that cause some issues with Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff), and a Simon (Rick Worthy).

The choice is eventually stolen from them, but it was interesting to see how far Adama and the Galactia were willing to go, and what people were willing to do (Helo (Tahmoh Penikett)) to stop a genocide.

Lots of moral questions in this episode, and that’s one of the things that makes the series great.

Hero was written by David Eick and debuted on 17 November, 2006.

A face from Adama’s past arrives back in the fleet. Lt. Danny ‘Bulldog’ Novacek (Carl Lumbly – Love this actor!). He claims he’s been in a Cylon prison for the past three years. His return forces Adama to wrestle with command decisions he made in the past; he was the one who sent Bulldog, a friend, on a special ops mission to Cylon territory.

Starbuck digs into things and finds some anomalies in Bulldog’s story.

There’s a lot of reflection back on what has gone before in this episode. And it brings Adama to the decision that perhaps he should no longer be in charge. He tenders his resignation.

But perhaps that’s part of the plan, by the Cylons, to undermine the fleet’s leadership.

And we get some more continuation on the Tigh (Michael Hogan) story, who has been in quarters since his confrontation with Adama. Tigh, who served with Adama on the Valkyrie when the mission happened, knows exactly what happened, and it adds a wrinkle to everything. When Tigh reveals it to Bulldog, as Adama reveals it to Apollo, how will things play out?

It’s an exploration of consequences, soldiers, orders, war and black ops, and it makes you wonder if the actions Adama took led directly to the attack on the Colonies.

And aboard the baseship, things are getting interesting for Baltar, Six, and D’anna, but D’anna is struggling with so much more than threesomes.

Damn, this show is good. It shows actions have consequences, and we carry those, but there are other things at work as well beyond our control. We have to carry on, and not just survive, but thrive.

Adama wasn’t responsible for the attacks, but humanity was.