“Pegasus” comes along right when “Battlestar Galactica” needs it most. The show spends the first several episodes of Season 2 wrapping up all the lingering mysteries from the cliffhanger Season 1 finale, and then it gets a little narrative reset in the form of an entire second Battlestar, the Pegasus. The introduction of Michelle Forbes’ Admiral Cain shakes up the show’s just re-established power structure because she outranks Commander Adama, whose love of military protocol often out-strips his common sense.
True to form, “Pegasus” brings in new stomach-churning moral dilemmas, along with the novelty of new characters. It’s revealed that not only has Cain’s ruthless attitude meant turning on her own crew and civilians at times, but it’s also allowed her to turn a blind eye to the constant torment of a Cylon prisoner of war. By the end of the episode, the joy of reunion turns to terror, as two Pegasus crew members are dead and a civil war looks about to break out over the moral dilemma of how humans treat Cylons.