As I sat down to watch this episode for the first time, I wasn't really expecting that much. I figured Kara would get back to Galactica and the whole "hey, remember that time you killed my brother?" thing would pretty much blow over.
In a nutshell, that's what happens, but summarizing the episode just like that is like saying Star Wars is all about a couple of walking tropes rescuing a princess from a guy in a silly helmet. It's true, but it doesn't do the story any justice.
So at the end of the previous episode, Kara got herself shot down because taking on eight Cylon Raiders is a lot less of a daunting task than trying to look Adama in the eye once he's figured out you killed his son. She survives, but before she can do too much, her knee gets smashed up and she has to hobble around for the rest of the season. In fact, there's even some doubt later on about whether she'll ever be able to fly again.
It turns out the answer is "yes." Not only will she fly a Viper again, eventually, she'll actually fly something in this very episode. Wandering around on the planet's surface, she finds the Raider that she shot down. It's intact, aside from a bullet hole in its head, so Kara climbs inside, scoops its brain out, and hijacks its body. Yes, these things are organic. Try to imagine this from the Cylon perspective. (Actually, we're still a full season and a half away from the first Cylon POV episode, and at this point they're still either faceless baddies, sex bombs, or sleeper agents, so seeing things from their point of view isn't too high on anyone's list.)
Meanwhile, the Galactica crew has used up an insane amount of fuel trying to rescue Kara, and it's really insightful seeing just how little of the planet they've been able to scan. They have DRADIS, which is basically radar, but they don't have sensors or scanners or anything that can easily detect life on the planet. It's a minor point, but it's yet one more difference between this show and the various Trek incarnations.
Roslin's annoyed about how much fuel they're using, especially once Starbuck's forty-six hours of air run out. So with extreme reluctance, Adama and Lee eventually concede and abandon the search-and-rescue attempt. Adama, in the episode's best scene, tells Lee that if it had been him [Lee] on the planet's surface, they would never leave. Lee is so overwhelmed by what constitutes an emotional outburst from his father that he magically teleports down to the hangar deck in time to intercept a Cylon Raider that has come out of nowhere.
Lee and the Raider (which Starbuck has commandeered) play tag for a minute before Starbuck gets him to see that she's written her callsign on the underside of the Raider's wings. Now, the reveal is pretty fantastic, but the underside of the wing is just about the least visible place on the Raider's entire body. (Okay, Starbuck had a bum leg, maybe she wasn't up to crawling around on top of it, but really, it seems to have been done that way for a dramatic effect.)
So, having very narrowly avoided shooting her down, Lee escorts Starbuck into the hangar, with orders to shoot her if she does anything unexpected. Now, 1) this is Starbuck we're talking about, so Adama should know better, and 2) this isn't the last time this exact scenario is going to play out. It's just that next time, she's going to be in a Viper instead of a Raider. Talk about all this happening before, and all of this happening again. Still, the reveal is handled pretty differently both times (though the music is undeniably cooler the second time).
Everyone celebrates the capture of Kara's new toy. Also, they celebrate her return, and, as predicted, Adama pretty much shrugs of the whole "You got Zak killed" thing.
Even though the ending was kind of predictable, this was still a great episode. As someone once said, it's not the destination but the journey that matters.
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