To me this was the quintessential BSG, everything it could be at last wrapped up into these 2 episodes. Also, I feel it was a turning point in the series and the eps after this were of better quality in general. John Colicos turns in a dynamite performance along with Lloyd Bridges.
It also broached a topic I had often wondered about and set it to rest for me. In all the other eps, Adama and the military are the rational saving grace of the fleet while the civilian council is ever duped into near destruction. But in this ep, Adama clearly draws the line between military control and conscientious safeguarding of the fleet. To me, when Adama pulls the ropes in on Cain in a decidedly non-military direction, he demonstrates that his command decisions both now and in the past have only been the minimum force required to protect the fleet. This yields a nice balance to the show in the end.
Favorite line:
Baltar: "It's impossible!"
Cylon: "No, it's a battlestar"