Few, if any, television shows in recent years have achieved cult status on the same level as Battlestar Galactica. Although slowly rising from almost complete obscurity, it still never gained the mainstream popularity it so clearly deserved. Even so, there is no shortage of viewers eagerly awaiting the show’s final year and to find out if humanity has finally found its salvation in the long searched-for Earth.

Well, we’re here at last and the fifth season shows no desire to ease anyone into proceedings. Picking up immediately where the previous finale left off, it quickly becomes clear that Earth, far from being the paradise everyone hoped for, is an uninhabitable nuclear wasteland. This new dilemma, along with the proposed alliance between humans and cylons, provides much of the drama for the season. Several new questions and mysteries are posed early on, many of which don’t get answered until much later in the run.

Other than that, the first half is mostly familiar territory, dealing with the problems and conflicts of life in the now severely diminished fleet. It isn’t until just past the midway point that the it gets into its stride and the action really kicks off, which continues at a steady pace until the final episode. We’re also treated to a little more back-story for some of the main characters along the way, giving everything a little more emotional weight.

While there are a few loose ends still left untied by the final credits, the finale is a more than satisfying wrap-up of events. Strikingly bittersweet, the ending hits more than one emotional chord as the fate of the human race, as well as that of the cylons, is finally decided.

While some parts drag slightly and some story-arcs seem a little too drawn out, particularly in the first half, this is a terrific conclusion to the show that maintains the same levels of quality and depth that we have come to expect. So say we all.

Released on DVD on Monday 1st June 2009 by Universal Pictures.