I like this theory, they should’ve written it into the script, and theydefinitely should have strung Scar along for more than a single episode, maybe make him a constant threat, shadowing the RTF, picking off damagedVipers/inexperienced pilots like a predator
I’ll second that. The last few episodes have been choppy because of it, and the choppiness is made an order of magnitude worse by the overused flashbacks. I can’t possibly be the only one here who sees “xxx hours earlier” and thinks Drink!, can I?
(The drinking thing is based on Bar Trek, where we would watch Trek and drink at the cliches.)
Kara’s flashbacks show that she has been thinking of, among other things, Anders back on Caprica and her promise to return for him. It’s a big burden among all of the other burdens she (and everyone else) has taken on.
What I don’t understand is her change at the end that made her break on the chicken-run. She seemed to come to the conclusion that she needed to stay alive to rescue Anders, but she knew she promised herself that all along. So it’s not an epiphany. If she didn’t break off from that chicken-run for that, then why?
[sub]I’m still recovering from shingles so these pain spikes in my temple may be interfering more with my reasoning than I thought.[/sub]
I wonder if they are setting up an arc involving a rescue mission. Anders is still alive as far as we know, right?
She also has an intense competitive streak, mixed with the need to show she’s the best at everything, and doesn’t need anybody else’s help. With the wind up, she forgot her overriding responsibilities to the fleet as well as to Anders (who is still alive AFAWK) that required her to work as a team with Kat.
IOW, more fighter-pilot macho shit leading into the classic “rebel straightens out act” plot.
I did expect more of a Bonanza ending “We all have to work together!” and was pleasantly surprised at Starbuck’s “you still suck.” attitude. 
I’d say we’re definitely not done with Caprica. There’s too much going on there and Moore can’t have every single episode for the next who knows how many seasons taking place on board the fleet. What else can he do? Find Earth? Nah. Find a human occupied planet of the week like in the original? Aliens? Nah.
I think they have to include some goings on back in the colonies.
How does jumping come into play here?
Can they jump to anywhere, or is a single jump limited to a finitie distance?
My principal concern here being can you return to Caprica while searching for Earth?
I think it’s safe to say it’s not like setting a course by frigate from Spithead to Martinique and turning around mid way to visit Bristol.
Well…we don’t know.
We seem to have had it implied very, very heavily that human FTL’s can’t go that far. That’s why the original Raider was such a big deal.
So, it seems like there’s no quick popping back for home while searching for Earth (and when was the last time Earth was mentioned by the characters?.
However, we’ve got the Cylon transport ship that Boomer, Helo, and Starbuck used to get the arrow back to the fleet. So, if they really want to, they should be able to manage it.
-Joe
Okay, bear with me here.
I guess this question for a recap may be considered to be a spoiler for our Dopers living in Outer Mongolia.
Starbuck ripped off the Cylon raider and with the wishes of the President, recovered the Arrow of…Apollo? Mars? Jesus? Morimer Snurd? Hell, somebody, from Caprica.
President and company took it where to find the observatory giving the location of the colonies?
I have the same questions. Like Merijeek said, we know a Cylon ship can pretty much jump from anywhere to anywhere (so why hasn’t a new resurrection ship shown up?), so they have to figure out a reason to go back. Or Starbuck gets insubordinate again. Maybe with Baltar’s intellect & Boomer’s Cylon knowledge, they can upgrade the Pegasus’ FTL engines to make the jump, or something. It was Cain’s last wish to go back and retake the colonies.
I can’t see the Galactica going back though. Adama can’t leave the fleet unprotected or risk leading them back to the colonies, and it would be lame to abandon the quest for Earth.
Maybe it’s the cough syrup, but I keep getting this image of a Resurrection Ship being slowly rebuilt, with the BSG vipers going in on a Death-Star type destruction run.
“Get down Kat! You’re all clear kid!”
Hope not.
I think it’s partially a matter of navigation- figuring out jump coordinates becomes progressively harder and less precise the further you jump. (“That’s way beyond the Red Line”) And partially that jumping is physically stressful, possibly more so the further you jump. The pilot and the first episode (33) mentioned how unpleasant jumping is, they just haven’t routinely shown it. When Starbuck made the long jump back to Caprica, she said something that indicated that it was very rough for her.
Nothing’s rough for Starbuck. She’s the best…
Sorry.
The Arrow of Apollo, which they took to Kobol where it unlocked a planetarium left by the previous generation. It showed the constellations on the flags of the 12 colonies, which represented actual constellations as seen from Earth. That will eventually help the humans find Earth, if they ever pick that story arc back up.
Thanks, Elvis.