Cain sentences Helo and Chief Galen Tyrol to death after they accidentally kill a Pegasus officer who was preparing to rape Sharon.

Cain relates to Adama and President Laura Roslin how she ordered a risky maneuver to escape the initial Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies.

Cain declines to resupply the fleet's civilian ships and integrates the battlestars' crews, transferring Apollo and Starbuck to Pegasus over Commander Adama's objections.

Adama reiterates his willingness to follow Cain, to both Roslin and Tigh, and insists that Apollo and Starbuck obey their transfer orders.

Cain denies Adama's request that Helo and Tyrol be given a jury court-martial and sentences them both to death for murder and treason.

Executive producers David Eick and Ronald D. Moore advocated for "Pegasus" to be shown as a 90-minute special episode.

Noting that Sharon has provided the humans with useful intelligence, where Gina and Leoben have not, Ip characterizes "Pegasus" as "an allegorical critique of the [George W.] Bush Administration.s treatment of terrorist detainees.

"[8] Ip also sees parallels between the way the Pegasus crew talks about the captive Cylons as subhuman and Bush administration rhetoric surrounding such detainees.

[9] Overall, Ip contrasts what he considers a "skeptical" portrayal of the effectiveness of torture as an interrogation method in "Pegasus" with what he views as a more sympathetic treatment in the television series 24.

[8] Tung Yin also invokes 24, calling the Pegasus interrogator a more realistic "professional torturer"[10] than Jack Bauer, the 24 protagonist.

[5] Amanda Keith of Los Angeles Newspaper Group's Film Cannon considers Cain's verdict against Helo and Tyrol.

[16] According to Eick, Forbes was reluctant at first to accept the part because she felt her role as Ro had resulted in her being typecast as a science fiction actress.

According to Eick and Moore, the Sci Fi Network did not permit it, citing substantial differences between the script and what was filmed and the belief that the material would be too controversial for television.

Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "Tricia Helfer and Grace Park [Sharon] gave outstanding performances".

[19] Clifton gave "Pegasus" an A, praising the performances of Mary McDonnell (Roslin), Helfer, and especially Forbes and calling the episode as a whole "really, really well done, and really, really hard to watch.

"[5] Segrest also said it was hard to watch but nonetheless reviewed the episode favorably, commending the performances of James Callis (Baltar) and Helfer as Gina.

[7] Davis gave "Pegasus" an A+, praising Forbes, Helfer, McDonnell, and Olmos and calling the episode's musical score "without equal".

"[20] Michael Hickerson of Slice of SciFi ranked "Pegasus" as the eighth best episode of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, calling it "compelling and...

[24] Jackson Alpern of Maxim ranked the first scene of confusion over whether Pegasus is a Cylon ship the ninth best moment in the series.

[26] In separate interviews, Olmos, McDonnell, and actor Aaron Douglas (Tyrol) were asked to respond to criticism of the graphic nature of the rape scene.