Why doesn't President Roslin just promote Adama to one rank ahead of Adm. Cain and be done with her? Given the show's grounding in our political system, with its civilian control of the military, it seems incongrous for the President and the Council not to have the power to control promotions to flag rank (i.e., admiral or general). I believe in the US military, the President has to nominate officers to be promoted to flag rank, and Congress has to approve. So Roslin nominates Adama to a rank above Cain, and Council approves. Then Roslin and Cain duke it out in a galactic civilian-vs-military cat fight.

Responding to the comment above, of course the humano-cylons are human. They are humans--enhanced humans with partially synthetic, cybernetic parts. Sharon has conceived a child with a human, ergo there must be an identical chromosomal structure between the two. A synthetic "gamete" or egg (is such a thing even possible?) wouldn't combine successfully with a human gamete (sperm) for a viable pregnancy. Sharon's immune system would attack the fetus as an invading pathogen otherwise. The humano-cylons are cybernetically enhanced, advanced human clones with a capacity for telepathy with one another. They think. They feel. They are sentient. They probably have "souls." They aren't mere cylons. They are altered humans. In fact, following that logic--wouldn't Sharon's baby be born wholly human, just like Helo, without the synthetic/mechanical parts? Synthetic parts can't reproduce sexually. If the writers follow it through logically, how can the baby be born any other way? That would convince the humano-cylons that they are, in fact, human. I'd love to see that.

In response to an earlier question, it is my understanding that the Cylon internal communication is limited in it's range. Note Sharon III being surprised and happy to see Sharon II was still alive a couple eps back? And it could be that the iteration of Six in Gaius's mind may not be connected to the overall Cylon "network," if you will. She may be little more than an implant with her personality in his brain, not a full Cylon in another place. But who knows? The thing I love about this show is that, were this any other show, the Pegasus would have been destroyed in a Cylon attack by the end of this episode, with all or most hands lost. Very few shows have the gall to completely alter the status quo...ever. I will be VERY pissed off if they destroy the Pegasus earlier than the end of Season 3, because it just adds SO much. There are so many possibilities here, so many conflicts to explore, relationships to discover, etc. And I think they will keep it around. Mainly because of some of the semi-big name actors. Not huge names, but names I recognize. Ok, not names, but faces. Michelle Forbes, obviously. The XO of the Pegasus I know from somewhere. And the First Wave guy. Even the Pegasus CAG (sp?) I'm sure I know from somewhere. nBSG is quickly cementing itself as one of the highest quality sci-fi shows of all time. I just want to wait and see what happens down the road. If they have been laying the groundwork for some big stuff to go on, or if they're just flailing blind. I think the former. But we'll see. Oh, and Sharon II's reaction to the attempted rape proves they are human. And I think eventually this is going to cause deliciously fun problems and conflicts. Oh how I love this series.

I know someone online who is in the ratings biz, and I'm lead to understand that the ratings for BSG are stellar for Scifi Channel. like a 2.0 share. 2.2 on a stronger week. (Farscape only got like a 1.5 on a good week) For a large network they'd be dismal, but you can't compare the big six to a small niche cable network. For cable a 2.0 is healthy.

Seriously, best show on television right now. I read that the ratings haven't been so stellar though, anyone have any updates on that? Is everyone really downloading so many episodes? If anyone could lead the pay-per-episode download future it's Sci-Fi! Come on Sci-Fi!

Calvin - Sebastian didn't play Cain in 'First Wave', he played Cade Foster. Cain was played by Roger Cross (had to check that part on IMDB).

I'm surprised how few people have mentioned Sebastian Spence's (Played Cane on First Wave) appearance in this episode--I assume he is a character they will develop more as he certainly is not the kind of actor to be used as an extra...

I was completely unhappy that the season ended with so many balls up in the air. I can understand a good cliffhanger, but this is going beyond. I think next seasons episodes need to be 90 minutes long or come with 15-30 web episodes to flesh out some of the storylines. So far there have been almost no epic space battles like we had in the original series. Where are those? It may be the best sci-fi on TV right now (is LOST sci-fi?), but that doesn't mean with have to settle for being treated like chumps.

One wonders if the only difference between the Galactica and Pegasus' crews (the Pegasus crew being a darker mirror of the somewhat less vile actions of Adama's crew) is that Galactica had a civilian government to offer a different perspective and temper its crew's response to different stressful situations. Remember--Commander Adama wanted to go off half cocked and fight the cylons once upon a time--leaving the civilian ships behind in the process. Roslin, bless her, convinced him otherwise. To Adama's credit he eventually listened. Adama instigated an illegal coup, but his son opposed him with mutiny. In retrospect, Apollo's actions proved quite correct and even heroic. If Adama had managed to dismantle the civilian government, what would have happened to their souls? That's what makes this series fascinating. Its characters teeter on the edge all the time.

Oh, and a few more things... I'm not sure why I numbered my thoughts. Operating on four hours of sleep makes it hard for me to type and think... And, I like the age disparity. I've already been put through the spectrum of experiences where I was the new kid leader on the block and now the one that has had younger bosses too. It is a mix and I think Cain's age is just right for the Admiral part. She's obviously not the fresh out of the class type but not old enough to be out of touch with the last batch ot technologies that existed as the norm prior to the destruction of the colonies. Think about it, Adama is symbolic, along with the Galactica, of a passing age ... we learn that sometimes the older point of view may not be so outdated after all. I love the shows writing minus some irritating things that I don't like. They are so small that I forget them when I start a new episode! LOL! I hope this show is on for many years to come!