I did not see the first one but if this is any indication of how this show works all I can say is Wow! It held me from the opening moment until the end. it was an emotional ride that never let up on the heart strings ( no pun intented). What amazed me was that they never went for the easy out or gave in to cheap theatrics, they allowed the emotions to play out. I was fasinated to watch how each and every word became important to the out come and when the hostage taker caught him in a momentary lapse they could go back and correct what had been said. It is a fasinating glimpse into how these teams operate not only with the weapons but through the psychology of the moment. I can not wait for the next one!

I watched in the usual silence waiting for someone to say something about the fifth and it was in silence that something was said. D'Anna asked for four not five to be returned to the cylons. WHY? Perhaps she knew that she already had the fifth on the base ship with her. Now who does that point to Baltar or Roslin? From the beginning Gaius Baltar as himself asked if he was a Cylon and in some ways he wants it to be true. It would be the excuse he needs to explain everything he did. It would make everything neat and tidy; but why go for neat and tidy. Why not destroy Adama completely. Tigh's announcement left him on the floor crying; a man he had thought he had known. Known for thirty years was one of them. Can you imagine if it turned out the woman he loved was also one of them? The man would go mad with grief and perhaps he would like Tigh find himself in the uneasy position of having to kill the woman he loved. I ask not really wanting it to be true... yet the question is out there... Why did D'Anna not ask for all five, why did she only ask for four?

Jack is spining out of control. He sees life as a threat because he can not control all the bells and whistles. He wants Kate but only on his terms and heaven forbid if she does something without his knowledge. He knew she cared about Sawyer yet back home that something nice is threatened by what could have been. He is looking for a reason to hate Kate because he is already beginning to hate himself. However, Rose asked the question, innocent and revealing. The island cured Locke, it cured her and yet it would not cure Jack just as it would not cure Ben. Perhaps that island with all its secrets knows that those two men do not really understand what the island is really capable of. Ben because he thinks he can control the power and Jack because he does not really believe in the island or its power.

He allowed a man to take revenge for the death of his son, is that out of character for our man Jethro Gibbs? No it is not. That emotion is something Gibbs understands all too well. He knows what if feels like to have a child murdered since his wife and daughter were taken from him in a violent act... and yes he went after the killer. Gibbs took the man down so he would never begrudge any man that act since he himself took that vengence. In some ways that is Gibbs weakness, he will always side with a grief stricken parent because he still mourns for his daughter. Thsi episode was not out of character, it was exactly what I expected.

He was an American, born and raised but in the eyes of war he was an enemy. However, he could not bring himself to believe that his country could do that to him and his son. And when his son died fighting for that country, died in France a hero, all Ray wanted was for his country to acknowledge the sacrifice. Skip had faced the war too and in that moment of sacrifice all he saw was the Japanese kamikaze pilots who gave their lives taking the lives of his friends. War is a painful thing, it takes innocence and belief and turns it inside out. Ray and Skip wanted to believe in their vision of America and when push came to shove neither could get away from the ugliness of the war. Perhaps that it explains why it was only Stillman, a man who had witnessed the horror of Vietnam, who could understand what made Skip snap at a man he had once called a friend and now labelled an enemy. War is not only about hatred it is about discovering the blindness that hatred can bring.