Battlestar Galactica: We few, we happy few, we band of brothers

Spoilers for the latest "Battlestar Galactica" just as soon as I decide whether to wear my glass eye or eyepatch today...

"Look around you. Take a good look at the men and women that stand next to you. Remember their faces, for one day you will tell your children, and your grandchildren, that you served with such men and women as the universe has never seen. And together, you accomplished a feat that will be told and retold down through the ages. And find immortality as only the gods once knew. I'm proud to serve with you. The dignity and integrity of the human race rides with us. Good hunting."

Chills, people. I got chills. If that's not the band of brothers on St. Crispin's Day-level great, it's because the language is plainer, but Edward James Olmos sells the hell out of it. In a way, the speech reminded me of the pep talk Coach Taylor gives Matt Saracen in the latest "Friday Night Lights," an attempt to psych up someone or someones who clearly aren't up to the task at hand but have to be, anyway. The difference is that Coach Taylor obviously thinks this is a lost cause even as he's doing it, while Adama -- true believer that he is -- has convinced himself that, yes, this raggiest of the ragtag bunch of pilots and soldiers have a chance of pulling off this impossible mission.

(Also chill-inducing? Adama leading the deck crew in a farewell salute to Fat Apollo, complete with the Adama family bagpipe theme.)

Down on the ground, things are seriously frakked for all parties. The Cylons can't agree on anything (though I'm curious about how much the other Sixes and Eights are still with Caprica-Six and Sharon), Six and Baltar are just having hate sex, Tigh is finding out that Ellen betrayed them (and how brilliant is Michael Hogan that he can say so much with only one eye?), and D'Anna is hot on the trail of baby Hera -- even telling Sharon about her. (Though, at the moment, Sharon's too invested with her regained entry into Unca Bill's inner circle to believe he could have perpetrated such a horrible lie upon her.)

My only significant gripe was with the punchless resolution to the cliffhanger. It's cheap -- especially for a show like this that is all about consequences -- to set up a situation where it looks like several characters we know and care about are going to die and then kill exactly none of them. Although the human victory there did giveus another insight into just how hard-core Brother Cavil is -- he cut his own carotid with a spent shell just so he could resurrect faster! Nice use of each regeneration being harder on the Cylons as a metaphor for the rising body count in any occupation.

So what did everybody else think?