I don’t know what to say about this episode: if it seems slightly off-pace as compared to last week’s, it’s probably because the momentum of Gaeta’s mutiny (and therefore the momentum of the arc) has been lost. A friend on Facebook described “The Oath” as a return to BSG’s basics: hardcore motherfuckers being badass in space (a paraphrase).

To quickly wrap up: Tigh and Adama are incapacitated by the flash-grenade pitched into the airlock. The “brig-rat” Kelly leads the Marines who take them into custody. Meanwhile, Hot Dog refuses to shoot down Roslin’s Raptor, and he and Narcho jockey for position: she escapes to the Basestar and the Cylons debate their course of action, eventually deciding to move into the Fleet (to give themselves cover) and demand Gaeta’s surrender. Zarek moves quickly, and when his attempt to dominate the Quorum fails, orders two Marines to execute them all. Lee and Kara break out the Cylons and Helo from the Brig and arrive to the hanger deck in time to stop Adama’s execution, while Tyrol busts ass through the ship’s crawl-ways to disable the FTL and prevent Gaeta from jumping away. Adama leads a march through Galactica, with loyal crew members rallying to his side, and the loyalists storm the CIC and retake the ship. Gaeta and Zarek are executed by firing squad.

Most of my thoughts are taken up by one minor character’s story arc, so I just have a few general impressions before I get into that. First, this is the first time, in four seasons, that we’ve seen Galactica’s engine room. It’s big with lots of weird moving parts, and maybe I’m stupid, but I didn’t get the importance of Tyrol looking up at the big crack in the bulkhead after he sabotaged the engine — did he do that? Also, when he was crawling through the access tunnels — were those little chunks on the deck debris? Or rat droppings? I wonder if Galactica has a ship’s cat?

We still don’t know what happened to Anders, after he was shot and wounded during the brig escape: presumably, his fate will be touched on in next week’s episode (which, lovely, reintroduces my least favorite of all of the show’s myriad characters, Ellen Tigh). After Adama is rescued, he marches boldly through the corridors, with loyal deckhands, officers, and Marines joining at his side. I was hoping to see Newman — I probably messed up the name, but he’s the Marine who Adama overpowered and released last week — make a stand with the Admiral, but it wasn’t made clear if he was one of those loyal.

I enjoyed the second-to-last scene between Baltar and Gaeta. It reminded me of their friendly relationship during the first two seasons, when Gaeta admired Baltar, and before the Cylon occupation of New Caprica put them at odds. I really had no clue the next scene would be Gaeta’s death, but I guess his calm sereneness should’ve been a hint: after four years, he doesn’t have to worry anymore about death around the corner. He’s known his fate since the initial Cylon attack, just never when it would happen. Now he does, and he’s okay with it. Very well plaed.

There are other questions: we saw the ringleaders of the mutiny killed. Well, okay, we didn’t actually see them die, but they were seated, in an airlock, and Adama ordered his Marines to open fire. One wonders what will happen to Seelix, and Racetrack.

But, with one man’s treason, comes another’s redemption. We first met Captain Aaron Kelly in the miniseries, and he returned to the role in a handful of episodes in the 2nd and 3rd seasons as the Galactica’s Landing Signals Officer (he got to yell at pilots coming in too fast, and he was the guy in the CIC who said “Altitude, 5000 feet, falling like a rock!” during the storming of New Caprica). Towards the end of the third season, he also killed several people while attempting to disrupt Baltar’s trial: the bottom line was that he hated Cylons, and he hated Baltar, and he wouldn’t stop. Presumably, he was locked up. Although I didn’t notice him until I re-watched “The Oath” tonight (he’s the guy with the “jaws of life” prying open the hatch), he’s got a pretty prominent role in the episode.

As a Cylon hater, Gaeta probably figured he could trust Kelly. But there’s a scene in the miniseries, early on, that says a lot about Kelly: he stops Adama in the corridor outside CIC and informs the commander that it’s been his honor to serve with him. Adama wishes him luck in his next assignment, and they part. But as Kelly becomes more and more aware of what his actions are a part of, you can see him slowly making up his mind. Really, it was the scene where he gets the drop on Tyrol (racing to shut down Galactica’s FTL engine so Gaeta can’t escape) that convinced me of it: the two, who worked closely as two very important aspects of the ship’s hanger deck, reminisce about old times, and crack jokes on each other. And it dawns on Kelly (much to his regret, “FRAK!” he cusses) that as much as he might fuckin’ hate Cylons, he does indeed respect the Admiral that godfrakin’ much to get over his hatred.

After almost committing suicide in Memorial Hallway, and then being held at gunpoint by Lee Adama and telling the brig escapees of Adama’s location, Kelly grabs his rifle, “I’m coming with you!” and rushes after them. Although it happens off screen, pilot Narcho, and the Marine firing squad, are taken by surprise: when we find them, the Marines are on their knees, with Kelly covering them. Obviously, there’s no telling where we’ll find Kelly again next week — or even if we’ll see him again: he only appears to pop up when Gaeta, Dualla, or Helo aren’t available to man some obscure station on the CIC. Of course, given the fact that two out of those three are dead (and the third is now the CAG), I think the odds are good that Captain Kelly’ll be back in uniform, and back on the command deck.