Reviewss for Part 2

Two sites have posted reviews for Lay Down Your Burdens Part 2, Nowplaying Magazine and TV Squad. Here are excerpts from both:

Now Playing Magazine:

Starbuck has finally been reunited with her lost love, the resistance fighter Anders, thanks to a high-risk rescue mission back to Caprica. Caught in a protracted firefight with the Cylons and facing overwhelming odds, she and her fellow Colonials hole it up, fully expecting a massacre. But then, out of nowhere, the Cylons disappear, apparently not just from the firefight, but from the planet. And a familiar face appears on behalf of the Cylons to offer the Colonials a truce, of sorts. Meanwhile, back aboard the fleet, Laura Roslin realizes that she is in danger of actually losing the presidential election to Doctor Baltar, despite – or rather, because of – his ill-advised plan to settle on the recently discover planet that’s been dubbed New Caprica. Will Roslin do whatever she can, legal or otherwise, to win the election? Or is settlement a foregone conclusion, and by extension, is finding Earth nothing but a dream?
Battlestar Galactica finishes its second season with an extended 90-minute episode that is as unwieldy as it is impressive. Plot-wise, showrunner Ron Moore and his team continue to chart new territory that other genre shows, or even most A-list dramatic television series for that matter, dare not enter. The willingness to move these characters forward, to not “reset” story and plot to the status quo each week, has never been as clear as it is here, particularly in the final 30 minutes or so of the episode.
Full Review Here

TV Squad:

It all comes down to this. So, were the spoilers floating around accurate? Did that "big risk" being talked about really happen? Who wins the election? Does the fleet settle on the newly found planet? Are more Cylon models revealed?
Read on to find out.
First big thing we find out -- yes, the preacher is a Cylon. Somehow he's able to easily slip onto the return ship from Caprica, and the rescue team thinks nothing of it. Honestly, the fact that the crew so easily assumed the Cylons left Caprica *and* allowed a Cylon to board their ship was disappointing.
Sharon reveals her darker side, admitting she cares nothing for Helo or any other humans, which is why she allowed the new Cylon to board.
Oh, and the new Cylon has the best lines of the series so far. "I'm not a fraking Cylon! (sees his Cylon twin) ...Oh, OK then." Brilliant!
So, what message does the new Cylon give? Basically, "we destroyed humanity and, well, we shouldn't have done that. Our bad." And now the Cylons want to just call bygones, let Humans and Cylons go separate ways. Well, Adama don't play that.
Also, it seems perhaps the new season will intro with "and they have a NEW plan."
First up, the destruction of Cloud Nine by Gina. I guess Baltar wasn't so hot in the sack. Anyway, it looks as if the explosion takes out a few other smaller ships in the process, leaving the fleet population numbers in total question. That effect of the camera getting hit with debris was an excellent touch.
Full review here.