Show cover for Battlestar Galactica

The Best Episodes of Battlestar Galactica

Every episode of Battlestar Galactica ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Battlestar Galactica!

When an old enemy, the Cylons, resurface and obliterate the 12 colonies, the crew of the aged Galactica protect a small civilian fleet - the last of humanity - as they journey toward the fabled 13th colony, Earth.

Genres:Sci-Fi & FantasyAction & AdventureDrama
Network:Syfy

Top Episode Ratings Summary

The best episode of "Battlestar Galactica" is "Crossroads (2)", rated 9.2/10 from 3011 user votes. It was directed by Michael Rymer and written by Mark Verheiden. "Crossroads (2)" aired on 3/25/2007 and is rated 0.1 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "Exodus (2)".

  • Crossroads (2)
    9.2/10 3,011 votes

    #1 - Crossroads (2)

    Season 3 Episode 20 - Aired 3/25/2007

    As Baltar's trial comes to a conclusion, key members of the fleet discover that they may be the Final Five Cylons. Tigh attempts to decipher the strange music he is hearing in his head, while a Cylon fleet approaches.

    Director: Michael Rymer

    Writer: Mark Verheiden

  • Exodus (2)
    9.1/10 2,707 votes

    #2 - Exodus (2)

    Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 10/20/2006

    Tigh must decide the fate of his wife Ellen after the assistance she rendered to the Cylons. Lee struggles with his assignment to protect the civilian fleet on its journey toward Earth while Adama returns to New Caprica with just the Galactica. The Resistance coordinates an attack on the Cylons just as Galactica arrives. As the Cylons begin to lose control, Number Three vows to put a final end to the New Caprican experiment.

    Director: Félix Enríquez Alcalá

    Writer: Bradley Thompson, David Weddle

  • Revelations
    9.1/10 2,207 votes

    #3 - Revelations

    Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 6/13/2008

    D'Anna holds President Roslin and other Colonials hostage in order to draw out the Final Five from the Colonial fleet. Col. Tigh believes he has the solution to end the standoff.

    Director: Michael Rymer

    Writer: Bradley Thompson, David Weddle

  • Blood on the Scales
    9.1/10 2,237 votes

    #4 - Blood on the Scales

    Season 4 Episode 14 - Aired 2/6/2009

    President Roslin faces off against Tom Zarek and Lt. Gaeta as they try to take control of the Colonial fleet. Both the alliance with the rebel Cylons and Adama's life are at stake.

    Director: Wayne Rose

    Writer: Michael Angeli

  • Pegasus
    9.0/10 2,542 votes

    #5 - Pegasus

    Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 9/23/2005

    Battlestar Galactica was not the only Battlestar to have survived the cylon attack, The Battlestar Pegasus also survived.

    Director: Michael Rymer

    Writer: Anne Cofell Saunders

  • The Oath
    9.0/10 2,072 votes

    #6 - The Oath

    Season 4 Episode 13 - Aired 1/30/2009

    Loyalties are made clear when Gaeta orchestrates a coup d'état of the Adama regime. Both prisoners and lives are taken as many of the fed up people work to take over Galactica.

    Director: John Dahl

    Writer: Mark Verheiden

  • Daybreak (2)
    9.0/10 3,211 votes

    #7 - Daybreak (2)

    Season 4 Episode 20 - Aired 3/20/2009

    Adama and the Galactica crew stake the survival of the human race on their plan to rescue Hera from the Cylon colony in this, the series finale.

    Director: Michael Rymer

    Writer: Ronald D. Moore

  • Resurrection Ship (2)
    8.9/10 2,314 votes

    #8 - Resurrection Ship (2)

    Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 1/13/2006

    The struggle between Adama and Cain is temporarily put on hold while the two Battlestars combine forces for an assault on the Cylon Resurrection Ship. Apollo faces a momentous decision and Baltar takes an interest in Gina, the Cylon prisoner.

    Director: Michael Rymer

    Writer: Ronald D. Moore, Michael Rymer

  • Kobol's Last Gleaming (2)
    8.8/10 2,394 votes

    #9 - Kobol's Last Gleaming (2)

    Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/24/2005

    When Commander Adama learns that Kara disobeyed orders and Jumped to Caprica on orders from President Roslin, he demands the president's resignation, with the implied threat of a military coup. Roslin refuses his demand and sparks a confrontation.

    Director: Michael Rymer

    Writer: Ronald D. Moore, David Eick

  • Resurrection Ship (1)
    8.7/10 2,229 votes

    #10 - Resurrection Ship (1)

    Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 1/6/2006

    The Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus face a new Cylon target, a "Resurrection" ship, while a power struggle threatens to result in all-out war among the human fleet.

    Director: Michael Rymer

    Writer: Anne Cofell Saunders, Ronald D. Moore, Michael Rymer

  • Lay Down Your Burdens (2)
    8.7/10 2,178 votes

    #11 - Lay Down Your Burdens (2)

    Season 2 Episode 20 - Aired 3/10/2006

    When Baltar wins the vote, Roslin considers stealing the election because she believes he is a Cylon collaborator.

    Director: Michael Rymer

    Writer: Anne Cofell Saunders, Mark Verheiden

  • Sometimes a Great Notion
    8.7/10 1,965 votes

    #12 - Sometimes a Great Notion

    Season 4 Episode 11 - Aired 1/16/2009

    Kara struggles with the foreboding prediction of the Cylon Hybrid, while Adama and the Colonial fleet face despair over their shocking discovery.

    Director: Michael Nankin

    Writer: Bradley Thompson, David Weddle

  • The Hub
    8.6/10 1,791 votes

    #13 - The Hub

    Season 4 Episode 9 - Aired 6/6/2008

    Colonial Viper pilots plan an attack on the Resurrection Hub with their Cylon rebel allies.

    Director: Paul A. Edwards

    Writer: Jane Espenson

  • 33
    8.5/10 3,480 votes

    #14 - 33

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 10/18/2004

    In the wake of the Cylon sneak attack, the ragtag fleet of human survivors is forced to play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with their pursuers. Every 33 minutes, they make a jump to a new location. And every 33 minutes, the Cylons manage to find them. The pilots are on the brink of exhaustion, relying on artificial stimulants to keep fighting, and the civilians are beginning to doubt the leadership of Commander Adama and President Roslin.

    Director: Michael Rymer

    Writer: Ronald D. Moore

  • Guess What's Coming to Dinner?
    8.5/10 1,826 votes

    #15 - Guess What's Coming to Dinner?

    Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 5/16/2008

    President Roslin faces challenges as the Colonials plot with Cylon rebels to destroy a Resurrection Hub.

    Director: Wayne Rose

    Writer: Michael Angeli

  • The Hand of God
    8.4/10 2,317 votes

    #16 - The Hand of God

    Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 1/3/2005

    As its fuel supply dwindles, the fleet must seek out a new supply of tylium ore or risk becoming sitting ducks to any Cylon attack. A recon patrol finds an asteroid full of the fuel, but there's a catch — the Cylons have found it first and established a heavily guarded refining plant.

    Director: Jeff Woolnough, Michael Rymer

    Writer: Bradley Thompson, David Weddle

  • Downloaded
    8.4/10 2,125 votes

    #17 - Downloaded

    Season 2 Episode 18 - Aired 2/24/2006

    After Boomer's consciousness is downloaded into a new body following her death, she struggles with her new life on Cylon-occupied Caprica. Number Six is asked to help Boomer adjust to her new role in Cylon society.

    Director: Jeff Woolnough

    Writer: Bradley Thompson, David Weddle

  • No Exit
    8.4/10 1,764 votes

    #18 - No Exit

    Season 4 Episode 15 - Aired 2/13/2009

    As Sam Anders recovers from his head injury onboard the Galactica, he begins to remember events from ancient Earth. The Final Cylon struggles with the fallout from the Final Five's former plans. One of the humanoid Cylons vows to get revenge for being created in the image of Man. Tyrol informs Admiral Adama about the extensive structural damage on the Galactica.

    Director: Gwyneth Horder-Payton

    Writer: Ryan Mottesheard

  • Daybreak (1)
    8.4/10 1,992 votes

    #19 - Daybreak (1)

    Season 4 Episode 19 - Aired 3/13/2009

    With Galactica on the verge of falling apart, Admiral Adama readies the ship for what could be its final mission, as Baltar's Six warns that humanity's final chapter is near.

    Director: Michael Rymer

    Writer: Ronald D. Moore

  • Kobol's Last Gleaming (1)
    8.3/10 2,222 votes

    #20 - Kobol's Last Gleaming (1)

    Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 1/17/2005

    While flying a supply patrol, Crashdown and Sharon Valerii discover a bountiful planet that can support human life. Indeed, it might be Kobol, the legendary "home of the gods." The discovery prompts Commander Adama to send a ground team to investigate; it also gives new life to President Roslin's belief that she is a tool of destiny and that this discovery, like her rapidly spreading cancer, is part of an ancient prophecy.

    Director: Michael Rymer

    Writer: Ronald D. Moore, David Eick

  • Home (2)
    8.3/10 2,068 votes

    #21 - Home (2)

    Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 8/26/2005

    Adama heads to Kobol to find Roslin, reassembles the fleet and heads down to Kobol himself to find the presidential party in search of the "Tomb of Athena" which allegedly leads to Earth. Apollo hangs out with Starbuck , Zarek tries to keep his cronie off plotting with Boomer who is unaware of tension building between Helo and Tyrol.

    Director: Jeff Woolnough

    Writer: Ronald D. Moore, David Eick

  • Crossroads (1)
    8.3/10 1,933 votes

    #22 - Crossroads (1)

    Season 3 Episode 19 - Aired 3/18/2007

    Baltar's trial testimony threatens the very stability of the fleet. Lee assists Romo Lampkin in Baltar's defense. Some in the fleet begin to feel that Baltar is divine. Though he dismisses such beliefs, Number Six suggests that the followers may know more about his true nature than Baltar does himself.

    Director: Michael Rymer

    Writer: Michael Taylor

  • He That Believeth in Me
    8.3/10 2,011 votes

    #23 - He That Believeth in Me

    Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 4/4/2008

    During the Cylon attack, Sam Anders has a strange encounter with a Cylon Raider. The crew of the Galactica view Starbuck's return with suspicion and doubt. Gaius Baltar takes refuge with a group of women who believe he has the power to heal others.

    Director: Michael Rymer

    Writer: Bradley Thompson, David Weddle

  • You Can't Go Home Again
    8.2/10 2,556 votes

    #24 - You Can't Go Home Again

    Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 11/15/2004

    When Lt. Kara Thrace goes missing in action after encountering a Cylon patrol while on a training mission, Commander Adama feels responsible — especially in light of her recent admission that she blames herself for his son Zak's death.

    Director: Sergio Mimica-Gezzan

    Writer: Carla Robinson

  • Scattered
    8.2/10 2,138 votes

    #25 - Scattered

    Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 7/15/2005

    With Adama out of action, Colonel Tigh takes his position as commander of the Galactica. Boomer is in jail, and the cat's out of the bag - she's a Cylon.

    Director: Michael Rymer

    Writer: Bradley Thompson, David Weddle