I like Dan but I'd say this episode was only so so.
I find that his multi-part epics get better and better as they proceed. I plod through the first one, there are always a few good bits but it's almost never gripping. The last one is usually pretty enthralling. I'll find a reason to separate myself from the family to get another twenty minutes, cleaning up the basement or taking a long time fixing dinner. I often don't think his thesis is fully fleshed out until he's ground through a few episodes. By the time he needs to wrap it up he's done some hard thinking and has more thoughtful things to say about the matters at hand. I think that The Destroyer of Worlds towed the first episode line. I'm sure if he did a multi episode on the same material that it would have been a better product by episode 3. Death Throes was my favorite series that he's produced. I had read a bit about Caeser but got new incite from Dan's telling.