Lee: Remember a week ago when you didn't like me?
Tory: My background placement denotes subtle composition

This episode's frustrating. Although it had the appearance of forward momentum, especially Kara's opening screamfest diatribe, it ultimately felt more like setup for the future. At this point in the journey, and my own personal fanaticism, I'm willing to cut Galactica some slack and let it rearrange it's chess pieces. It's still preferable to the standalone episodes that have plagued prior seasons.

A topic worth delving into is the return to a purely Cylon perspective, only ever done once before, in season two's Downloaded. Sure, we saw glimpses in season three's, first during the occupation then the basestar, but all through the eyes of Baltar. Perhaps season four's finality is the excuse they've been waiting for to give us the Cylon lowdown. Oh and the Cylon musical theme reoccurs!! asdf;lkj asd;fk j!! etc.

The parallels between the division in the Cylon collective and the Colonial fleet are a major theme of this episode. Both fleets at a crossroads of what to do and where to go next.  We finally get the payoff of Admiral Adama's insight [sorry, can't cite the episode, paraphrasing] that "you can appreciate the irony of the Cylon's creating a worker class, and keeping them stupid to prevent them rising up." I've got to stop listening to the Galactica Watercooler podcasts, they've been pimping this possible storyline tangent so much that I almost took it as predictable when it occurred onscreen. If all this has happened before, and all of it will again, then we're seeing the beginnings of the next cycle, as Cylon slaves rise up against their Cylon masters. Welcome to human frailty, Cylonites. Interesting what happens when you have to live in the real world of messing feelings and grayness instead of a pristine mechanized version of how it should be. The Cylons are growing up, and all it took was the annihilation of the Human race. Small price, eh?

This is called foreshadowing.

In an episode lacking a coherent singular narrative, but filled with a number of good individual scenes, Let's jump to point form:

• How fraktacular was Apollo's farewell? I love the subtle detail of Papadama's presence. It fits with his history as a fighter jock (Callsign: Husker), and is consistent with his presence in prior episodes (e.g. 2x15 Scar). It's been clearly shown-not-told that among the pilot's, the Old Man is accepted as one of their own. Hell, they playin' strip poker in his presence. Lee, I shed a tear and raise my glass to your final toast: "To absent friends..."
• Writers seem to be finally getting a grip on characterizing Adama, in the present tense. (vs. say, 3x15 A Day In The Life's bizarre ghost of marriage-past). By the end of the Bill/Roslin scene, you get the weight of their individual perspectives on the relationship. Good goddamn, Papadama's a mean drunk.
• Baltar! You finally get a scene with yourself!?! OMG, "Well, she's a sexy lady..." you do indeed slay me Gaius. I don't even care what this means. You do no wrong.
• Kara, Kara, Kara. Katee Sackhoff, you sure can carry an episode by sheer force of acting will alone. Charlton Heston is rolling in his grave. And just as Ana Lucia was Lost's Kat, so now does BSG have it's own "WAAAALLLT". We're going the wrong WAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!. The moments shared with Admiral Adama are nothing short of mesmerizing. and holding your own against EJO is nothing short of amazing. Good luck and god speed in the garbage scow.

Did anyone else catch the reference to Romo Lampkin? Does Dee have any future in the show now that she said goodbye to Lee? Again. Will Baltar nail Boomer, making his Cylon slut list complete?