The criticism that this special was no better than an iffy mid-season episode of BSG is, to be blunt, a pile of crap. I cannot see how any BSG fan can say that with a straight face. You are either stirring the pot - or you have been watching a very different series than I have.
The more I think about it, the more I am disappointed. We left off last season with the shot of Earth and the rocking guitar chords and after months of hype we get a story that goes backwards, not just in time, but also retreading the philosophical ground of episodes that aired two years ago. Yes, Cain is a type A personality who was driven over the edge after the attack, shot her XO, cannibalized civilian ships, and tortured a prisoner. I know that already.
Almost all the Pegasus scenes, we already knew what was going to happen. We also knew that Shaw was going to die, or else she would have popped up in season 3. There wasn't a whole lot going on that really advanced the BSG story-other than one revelation thrown it at the end by the bizarre hybrid. The only new thing we found out about Cain was her relationship with Gina, an interesting revelation to be sure but their relationship wasn't developed beyond a kiss and a couple lines of dialogue.
Not only that, BSG is at its best when it's weaving mutiple stories together and using all its characters. Most of the BSG cast made little more than token appearances, and there was only one plot (if a rather windy one).
I still hold out hope that the DVD version will have a lot in it, and will give some life to the Cain and Shaw characters. I don't think what made it on to the screen was a disaster. I don't think it was poorly acted or shot, on the whole. My criticisms are mostly on the broad conceptual level. But I'd really rather that we had two more bona fide episodes of season 4 instead of this.
Incidentally, I also look forward to Ron Moore's DVD commentary. I suspect he would acknowledge these types of criticisms and would explain why they chose to do this project in the first place. He's always been very receptive to criticism from the fans.