With that out of the way, the episode is allowed to move onto its main plot, as the two attempt to stop a group of alien poachers from taking the minotaurus, as well as a bevy of other animals.
There's not much in the way of tension, as the two heroes have a clear upper hand in terms of fighting capability. The script does try to nerf the pair by putting them on a spaceship, thus keeping them from going all out lest they die in the vacuum, but that doesn't really get in their way as much as one might think.
Still, it was quite fun seeing 17 pummel on these guys for the sake of protecting the animals. He makes it clear that he's hardly an upstanding, noble hero; but there are things that disgust him and this happens to be a big one (it seems to be one for Goku as well, as he makes multiple references to how despicable he finds the poachers.) It's a cause that 17 is not only willing to fight for, but willing to die for, as he makes an attempted suicide run to take the head hunter out with him. Goku stops it, but it shows how far the android is willing to go.
It's in this scene preceding the "take you with me" charge, where the episode makes any real effort to bring tension to this conflict. While the head poacher is no match for 17 in a straight fight, he does manage to keep the android and saiyan at bay by revealing a detonator for a self destruction device. It allows him to get in some decent monologuing and taunts before he is ultimately brought down.
Now, I could nitpick and say that either one of them is fast enough to zip over, snatch the device, and zip back before the poacher could even get a word in edgewise. I won't, though. The scene still worked well and I figure you have to throw the guy a bone for the sake of keeping the episode interesting.
Having Goku respond to hearing about a self destructing villain by transporting the group to King Kai's planet was an amusing little call back. On the plus side, I don't think this explosion would have been nearly as devastating as Cell's, but King Kai still rightly calls Goku out on it.
Goku shrugs it off, saying that Kai and the others are already dead, so it really shouldn't matter one way or the other, but when dead people die again, they're erased permanently. There is still a very real threat, even in that circumstance. It's rather unsettling, as Goku knows (or should know) this. You could argue that it works differently with the gods, but I wouldn't be so sure. Then again, Goku has been shown to be very forgetful, so I suppose this is another instance of that.
The real standout scene, in my opinion, is the final scene where Goku and 17 talk. The android asks about his sister and brother in law and the two reflect on their lots in life. It allows for a lot of nice call backs as the two talk about what's changed over the years.
While Goku's character was called into question earlier in this story line, this scene also gives us a better understanding of his "alignment", as it were. While Goku makes it clear that he's largely fought villains because they were strong, he also makes a point to say that he hates to see innocents get hurt. It was a nice way to sort of blend the two Goku "personas" and acknowledge both aspects of his character.
All in all, this won't go down as one of the show's great episodes. Even in terms of the two parters, this one might feel lackluster. Still, for what it was, I thought it was OK. There was some decent humor and it gave 17 a chance to shine after being out of the spotlight for so long. His joining the team was a given, but it was nice to see how far he's come since we last saw him.
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