With the opening of this episode I could tell that it was going to be flashbacks revolving around Starbuck and actually kind of reminded me of the "flashback episode" of Serenity. How it was all leading up to why the main characters of the episode got into the strange and dangerous situation they're in. Then we cut to the men celebrating one of the pilot's 1000th landing on the Galactica. Starbuck and Apollo share a cute scene where they are painting the pilot's helmet with red paint, spill the bucket, and Starbuck blames Apollo, through a point of the finger. It's really interesting how the pilots act around each other. Apollo and Starbuck can be laughing one minute, and then calling each other "sir" the next and holding their hands behind their backs just the same way that Adama will hug Starbuck one minute and speaks like a commander the next. Their dynamics are all interesting to watch.
It's nice when you see celebrations of different cultures within a sci-fi show because it makes the characters that much more human in a world we don't understand. It gives us insight into the character's minds, culture, all with keeping a creative new thing to entertain the viewer.
Now the scene that I had my first emotion reaction to anything involved with the characters lives came from Adama and Starbuck and her confession. Superbly acted on both their parts. The way Adama pursed his lips and almost seemed like he wanted to yell and scream at Starbuck but held it back and his eyes began to well up with sadness as Starbuck continued to confess her mistake. Incredible. I got teary eyed. I can sympathize with both sides in this situation. I understand Adama's rage/sadness and I understand Starbuck's guilt and sadness. It's still amazing that I actually like Starbuck because she is well...likable. I wonder how this will play out with their relationship in future episodes. I don't expect that this story line will be over anytime soon.
9.5/10
(holds the record for highest rated episode...I believe)
NO SPOILERS PLEASE.