Flying By the Seat of My Pants Spec' on BSG, "Maelstrom"

[lifeonqueen]

Since I can't be bothered to sign into TWoP and TWoP MBS make me cranky at the best of times, here's what I think's gonna happen to Starbuck in Sunday's BSG ep based on the spoilers I've read and the previews I've seen:

After getting reamed by the Old Man, Kara has what she thinks is a psychotic episode in her viper, hallucinating an entire dogfight. Taking Adama's words to heart, she decides that she's becoming unglued and can't fly anymore. But rather than ground her, Apollo steps in and offers to fly her wing - as CAG, he needs his best pilot in the sky; as Kara's friend, he knows that flying is what holds her together, that taking away Kara's wings would be like taking a piece of her soul. Unfortunately, this time Kara really is losing it - between the four months she spent as Leoben's mindfuck-toy, the Colonial Holocaust and the better part of three years of combat flying - Starbuck is coming down with Galactica's long-overdue first case of battle-fatigue, suffering from chronic nightmares and flashbacks to her childhood and the physical abuse she suffered at her mother's hands.

Later, on patrol with Apollo, Starbuck spots a Cylon heavy raider. The Wonder Twins give chase, following the Cylon towards some sort of galactic phenomena like a nebula or a blackhole. As they get closer, Starbuck begins to hallucinate and has a visionquest-type experience where Leoben acts as her spirit guide, drawing her attention over and over again to the significance of her drawings of the mandala. Meanwhile, Starbuck's viper begins to drift towards the nebula/blackhole as Apollo tries desperately to raise her on the wireless, pleading with her to pull up. Held in the grip of her vision, Starbuck flies straight into the nebula/blackhole and disappears from dradis.

For Apollo and Galactica, it looks like Starbuck, crazy out of her mind, has killed herself. Both Lee and Adama are left to mourn and work out their sense of responsibility for what's happened - Adama for not bridging the rift that has existed between them since New Caprica; Lee for encouraging Kara to keep flying instead of grounding her. As a result, Lee begins to seriously consider whether or not he really belongs in the military, particularly as the commander of Galactica's air group.

As for Kara, that's the last we see of her...

Until her viper pops into orbit above a familiar blue and white planet.

Or I could be totally wrong. We shall see, eh?