Apollo and Starbuck arrest a man named Valance who has smuggled a handgun aboard Cloud Nine, the ship where the Quorum meeting is being held.
"[1] Executive producer Ronald D. Moore characterized the Quorum of Twelve in the original Battlestar Galactica as a hybrid political-military body whose unwise decisions Commander Adama frequently overruled.
Moore was ultimately not fully satisfied with his own writing in this regard because the assassination fizzles, but he thought director Jonas Pate made the episode work nonetheless.
[1] The exterior shots on Cloud Nine were filmed at the University of British Columbia, in the Rose Garden and in front of the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
He defended the choice as one that shows a setup similar to the White House press corps and thereby grounds the viewer in a familiar understanding of the influence of the presidency.
[1] Several weeks after shooting of "Colonial Day" completed, the writers inserted a short scene appearing immediately before the vote count in the Quorum.
[4] Jason Davis of Mania gave "Colonial Day" an A, commending the performances of guest stars Richard Hatch (Zarek) and Robert Wisden (Gray) as well as main cast members Bamber (Apollo) and Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck).
[5] Simon Brew of Den of Geek also reviewed the episode favorably, praising the show's ability to skillfully address such topics as manipulation of media or behind-the-scenes political machinations and to portray complex multidimensional characters.
[6] Susan Tankersley of Television Without Pity gave "Colonial Day" a B−, agreeing with Moore that the main plot and assassination subplots did not fit together well but nonetheless calling it "not a bad episode".
[7] Arianne Gift of Game Rant said that the episode highlighted the fragile nature of unity among the Twelve Colonies and emphasized that maintaining cohesion is an ongoing struggle.