Battlestar Galactica, episodes 9-13
Feb. 20th, 2005 01:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThanks to my generous friends, I saw the rest of Battlestar Galactica’s first season while nursing my cold with hot tea and lots of chemicals. Well, except for Secrets and Lies, aka Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down, because that episode and my computer just don’t like each other. It refuses to play. So no Tigh background story for me. Drat. However, I’m still aglow with being enthralled by the rest.
Am I ever glad we get a second season, because to end the show with this would have been unspeakably cruel. But to get things in something of a rough order:
Hands of the Gods: that would be the Star Wars homage. Use the Force, Apollo! Seriously now, it’s a fun episode with some good continuity stuff, but not outstanding. It underscores that Lee at least feels he’s in eternal competition with Kara not just for the fleet’s “best pilot” estimation but more importantly for his father’s love and respect, and losing. Though Adama’s gesture with the lighter and the fact he managed to pull it off (temporarily) soothed this particular itch a bit. Meanwhile, we got to see that Adama might indeed love Kara to bits, but is no fool when it comes to security and doesn’t let his fondness for her blind himself to when to use her and when not. That demonstration with the weights was nicely done.
If our Baltar’s praying in Six Degrees of Separation was of doubtful sincerity, his being genuinely impressed by the fact his irrational and completely instinctive guess was validated was not. And it’s just like him to finally start to believe that there is a god because that god seems to specialize in pulling his bacon out of the oven. Ah, Gaius.
Oh, and: that hug between Kara and Laura Roslin? I want a screencap.
Colonial Day: thrilled my fetish for politics in sci-fi, though I have some nitpicks. For starters, suddenly introducing “Wally” as a trusted advisor of Roslin’s stood out like a sore thumb in a show which has been so careful about its continuity so far. Secondly, if we’re to assume that Tom Zarek was indeed in cahoots with the assassin wannabe, which his conversation with Mrs. Tigh strongly implies, it would have been an incredibly stupid move on his part. Say everything would have gone well for Zarek and he’d have won the VP election. If Roslin had been murdered then, guess whom everyone would have suspected and who would have squandered at once the good will he had from at least half of the assembly? And I don’t think the show wants to imply that Zarek is stupid. (Whereas if Roslin had died one month or so after, there might still have been some suspicions but not nearly as much.) This being said, they left a tiny door open for ambiguity and the possibility that Zarek wasn’t guilty (of this particular plot), so it’s only half a nitpick.
Speaking of Zarek, he’s more firmly in the villain’s camp here in general, but as in Bastille Day, he nonetheless makes some good points. (There must be dozens of professions which can’t be of any use now, and some restructuring of a society after such a devastating event makes sense.) Also, he brings out the superb politician in Laura Roslin, and this is always a joy to see. As the man himself said (twice), beautifully played. And my, but Lee is bitter about being disillusioned with his former campus hero.
Not that all of Laura’s decisions here are of the good. She handled Zarek very well, and picking Gaius Baltar as VP candidate was an efficient short-term solution. (BTW, Gaius being good with the press actually ties with the way we first saw him, back in the miniseries, giving an interview and being Mr. Media.) But long-term wise, it surely is a recipe for disaster, and I’m not talking about his inner Six or what his outter Six did on Caprica. As far as the President knows, this man is either an excentric or emotionally very unstable scientific genius with absolutely no experience in politics. If something happens to her, or if she dies of cancer sooner than expected, there is no way he could fulfill her position. Can you see Baltar and Adama working together? Baltar being able to provide the counterbalance Adama needs, but not go over the top with his own power? I doubt Roslin can. My guess is that, assuming she won’t die and the Kamala will at least prolong her life beyond the six months, she plans to ditch Baltar as Veep in the elections and replace him with someone who actually could take over from her. But it’s still a very risky gamble.
(Zarek or Baltar as President: debate efficiency and likelihood to do damage. Am I ever glad I won’t have to make that choice.)
The dancing at the end (duly noted that Kara dances first with Lee, then with Baltar) was predictable, but immensely cute. Yes, I admit it, I hoped Adama would ask her, and was quite pleased when he did. At the same time, schooled in the Jossverse, I recognised the breath of air before the impending catastrophe.
Last Gleaming Lights of Kobol: Speaking of which. Wow. The music used in the teaser of part I and the tag scene of part 2 – was that original, or taken from some classical piece? Either way, I want it.
Many things are coming to a head here. Let’s talk about the Tale of Two Boomers first. Two suicidal android girls, there. Boomer-Caprica was willing to let Helo shoot her (though, and good for her, after a while she got fed up with his “thou unholy thing, thou” attitude) in atonement of her playing him at first. Boomer-Galactica was trying to commit suicide repeatedly because she was afraid she’d hurt someone. She probably could sense it coming, even though I don’t think she knew who the target would be until shortly before it actually happened. Both of which make the case that the Cylons are capable of free will that excels the sum of their programming pretty strongly. With the caveat that Six may be right about the programming winning in the end anyway, as it did in the case of Boomer-G, which makes her very tragic. Stories in which someone gets brainwashed into doing something against his/her convictions always creeped me out the most.
However, the most surprising effect of the Boomer-G storyline is that here we see Gaius Baltar, for the very first time in the entire show, be kind and compassionate towards another being without any self interest being involved. Granted, he’s in a shaken (more than usual) state at that point. And it’s interesting to speculate whether he felt more for Kara than lust and then a bruised ego because she cried out the wrong name. Six assumes so, and no matter whether Baltar’s inner Six is a chip or his own splintered psyche, she’d probably know. But still, as great as the fallout from the Baltar/Kara tryst was for several storylines, I’d say in the long run, his scene with Boomer is more significant. Despite Six trying to reduce this to sexual interest, too, it clearly wasn’t. He simply felt sorry for her, and could empathize with her (who better, given his own situation?). IMO the first character progress he made at all.
Lee/Kara: so it’s official. Which I wasn’t completely happy about – I like the sibling vibe better, but okay, I know I’m in a minority here. So it’s UST, fine. Kara thinking about Lee while having sex with Baltar clearly came as a shock to her as well, and it makes her even more defensive towards Lee afterwards. Meanwhile, our Captain Apollo isn’t above throwing a jealous fit, because really, in theory Starbuck/Baltar sex concerns nobody but the two participants. But all the ‘shippy stuff pales in significance when compared to the big elephant.
Which is of course the Adama/Roslin conflict. You know, I think they’re both in the wrong here. Adama has a right to be pissed; Roslin going over his head with her direct order to Starbuck was both a serious breach in the chain of command and a maneuvre that put both his pilot, their military asset the captured Cylon ship and the people crashed on Kobol at risk. However, his reaction – demanding her immediate resignation and then trying to enforce it by taking her prisoner - was way over the top. She did not lose her right to be President, a right he did not give her, the constitution did, because of one bad decision. Unless that decision would have proven her a) clinically insane and thus unfit for office, or b) violating the constitution. Which her order to Starbuck did not do, according to all we know of the Colonies’ constitution and its deliberate parallels to the US one. Moreover, he knows that she gave her order to Starbuck for a valid reason; the absolute necessity to find Earth. “I saw it in a vision” is a less than valid back-up explanation, but the reason itself is for the greater good.
Meanwhile, Roslin going from having precognitive flashes featuring cylons to seeing snakes (she should talk with Baltar about seeing stuff others don’t) to seeing ancient ruins plays out in nice ambiguity. These could be genuine visions as a side effect of the Kamala, which would tie with the Graeco-Roman mythology they’re touching on for the humans. After all, the ancient Pythias of the oracle of Delphi did inhale, to put it flippantly. Or, considering that the only other person whom we happen to know sees visions is Gaius Baltar, it might just be that the crusty old doctor isn’t what he appears to be and put something in her head. In either case, the knowledge of her mortality plays deeply into her increasing belief in them. I think the High Priestess saying that the leader who will guide the people to the promised land will never see it but will die first clinches it for Madam President. That’s when she believes. She’ll die. But she has to get them to safety first, and if it means overriding Adama on a military matter and risking their painstakingly established relationship, that’s what she’s willing to do.
Now I think she made a mistake there (plus using the knowledge that Starbuck’s hero-worship of Adama would actually work in her favour if Starbuck gets informed Adama lied to all of them about Earth was pretty ruthless, that smart Roslin way she can be ruthless); she should have used her greatest strength, her ability to argue and convince, with him more so they could have worked out a compromise, instead of going “my way or the high way” just as he did. But when the chips come down, I think she’s the one showing greater wisdom. Now whether it’s because she didn’t want Apollo to actually have to fight against his father’s soldiers, and thus his father – and of all the Galactica crew, he’s the one she’s closest to – or because she realized that their fragile society couldn’t recover from the shootout between the military and the President’s circle any time soon, or both, I don’t know, but she was the one who put a stop to this by ordering everyone to put their weapons down. I don’t see that as her being the one who “blinked first”, but as I said, as the one being the wiser just then.
Of course, then things go to complete hell anyway when Boomer’s program gets activated. Let’s see: people in the fleet are going to hear that there has been a military takeover resulting in the President in the brig and the commander of the military shot/in a coma/dead/incapacitated, anyway. You know that Zarek is just going to love this. Meanwhile, the Vice President is unavailable due to being crashed (not that I think Gaius, progress on the character front or not, would be capable of providing an able government just now), Apollo is in the brig as well for mutiny, Starbuck is light years away, and I suppose that leaves Colonel Tigh in command of pretty much everything. And, capable XO that he is, we know how everyone in the fleet loves him. And how he loves the civilians.
So, my guess for next season:
- Adama is going to stay between life and death for several episodes
- Tigh is going to have release Roslin pretty soon, even before Starbuck comes back with the arrow, because he’ll have a civil war on his hands otherwise (lead by Tom Zarek)
- Starbuck will come back with the arrow, and Helo and possibly Boomer-C, though how they all will fit in that tiny Cylon ship is anyone’s guess; I suppose, though, that Boomer-C could fly/steal them another, if she wants to
- Boomer-G won’t survive beyond the first episode; this society does have the death penalty (Gaius was afraid of it back in the miniseries), and Tigh isn’t the type to hold back with an execution; he’ll only try to debrief her first, but I doubt she knows anything, poor girl
- Boomer-C, however, will not get executed, because by that time Gaius & the others crashed on Kobol will be back, and Baltar-the-protector-of-human/Cylon-hybrids will assume his new role. His pity for Boomer-G might come in here as well.
- Kara and Lee will forget about the UST and jealousy for a while by worrying about Adama together, but once Adama is on his feet again, he’ll have massive issues with both of them, starting with the fact they tookMum’s Roslin’s side
- Come to think of it, if Roslin isn’t back in power by the time Kara gets back, Tigh will put her into the brig as well. But if Roslin is already reinstated, he can’t very well punish her for having followed the President’s orders.
Am I ever glad we get a second season, because to end the show with this would have been unspeakably cruel. But to get things in something of a rough order:
Hands of the Gods: that would be the Star Wars homage. Use the Force, Apollo! Seriously now, it’s a fun episode with some good continuity stuff, but not outstanding. It underscores that Lee at least feels he’s in eternal competition with Kara not just for the fleet’s “best pilot” estimation but more importantly for his father’s love and respect, and losing. Though Adama’s gesture with the lighter and the fact he managed to pull it off (temporarily) soothed this particular itch a bit. Meanwhile, we got to see that Adama might indeed love Kara to bits, but is no fool when it comes to security and doesn’t let his fondness for her blind himself to when to use her and when not. That demonstration with the weights was nicely done.
If our Baltar’s praying in Six Degrees of Separation was of doubtful sincerity, his being genuinely impressed by the fact his irrational and completely instinctive guess was validated was not. And it’s just like him to finally start to believe that there is a god because that god seems to specialize in pulling his bacon out of the oven. Ah, Gaius.
Oh, and: that hug between Kara and Laura Roslin? I want a screencap.
Colonial Day: thrilled my fetish for politics in sci-fi, though I have some nitpicks. For starters, suddenly introducing “Wally” as a trusted advisor of Roslin’s stood out like a sore thumb in a show which has been so careful about its continuity so far. Secondly, if we’re to assume that Tom Zarek was indeed in cahoots with the assassin wannabe, which his conversation with Mrs. Tigh strongly implies, it would have been an incredibly stupid move on his part. Say everything would have gone well for Zarek and he’d have won the VP election. If Roslin had been murdered then, guess whom everyone would have suspected and who would have squandered at once the good will he had from at least half of the assembly? And I don’t think the show wants to imply that Zarek is stupid. (Whereas if Roslin had died one month or so after, there might still have been some suspicions but not nearly as much.) This being said, they left a tiny door open for ambiguity and the possibility that Zarek wasn’t guilty (of this particular plot), so it’s only half a nitpick.
Speaking of Zarek, he’s more firmly in the villain’s camp here in general, but as in Bastille Day, he nonetheless makes some good points. (There must be dozens of professions which can’t be of any use now, and some restructuring of a society after such a devastating event makes sense.) Also, he brings out the superb politician in Laura Roslin, and this is always a joy to see. As the man himself said (twice), beautifully played. And my, but Lee is bitter about being disillusioned with his former campus hero.
Not that all of Laura’s decisions here are of the good. She handled Zarek very well, and picking Gaius Baltar as VP candidate was an efficient short-term solution. (BTW, Gaius being good with the press actually ties with the way we first saw him, back in the miniseries, giving an interview and being Mr. Media.) But long-term wise, it surely is a recipe for disaster, and I’m not talking about his inner Six or what his outter Six did on Caprica. As far as the President knows, this man is either an excentric or emotionally very unstable scientific genius with absolutely no experience in politics. If something happens to her, or if she dies of cancer sooner than expected, there is no way he could fulfill her position. Can you see Baltar and Adama working together? Baltar being able to provide the counterbalance Adama needs, but not go over the top with his own power? I doubt Roslin can. My guess is that, assuming she won’t die and the Kamala will at least prolong her life beyond the six months, she plans to ditch Baltar as Veep in the elections and replace him with someone who actually could take over from her. But it’s still a very risky gamble.
(Zarek or Baltar as President: debate efficiency and likelihood to do damage. Am I ever glad I won’t have to make that choice.)
The dancing at the end (duly noted that Kara dances first with Lee, then with Baltar) was predictable, but immensely cute. Yes, I admit it, I hoped Adama would ask her, and was quite pleased when he did. At the same time, schooled in the Jossverse, I recognised the breath of air before the impending catastrophe.
Last Gleaming Lights of Kobol: Speaking of which. Wow. The music used in the teaser of part I and the tag scene of part 2 – was that original, or taken from some classical piece? Either way, I want it.
Many things are coming to a head here. Let’s talk about the Tale of Two Boomers first. Two suicidal android girls, there. Boomer-Caprica was willing to let Helo shoot her (though, and good for her, after a while she got fed up with his “thou unholy thing, thou” attitude) in atonement of her playing him at first. Boomer-Galactica was trying to commit suicide repeatedly because she was afraid she’d hurt someone. She probably could sense it coming, even though I don’t think she knew who the target would be until shortly before it actually happened. Both of which make the case that the Cylons are capable of free will that excels the sum of their programming pretty strongly. With the caveat that Six may be right about the programming winning in the end anyway, as it did in the case of Boomer-G, which makes her very tragic. Stories in which someone gets brainwashed into doing something against his/her convictions always creeped me out the most.
However, the most surprising effect of the Boomer-G storyline is that here we see Gaius Baltar, for the very first time in the entire show, be kind and compassionate towards another being without any self interest being involved. Granted, he’s in a shaken (more than usual) state at that point. And it’s interesting to speculate whether he felt more for Kara than lust and then a bruised ego because she cried out the wrong name. Six assumes so, and no matter whether Baltar’s inner Six is a chip or his own splintered psyche, she’d probably know. But still, as great as the fallout from the Baltar/Kara tryst was for several storylines, I’d say in the long run, his scene with Boomer is more significant. Despite Six trying to reduce this to sexual interest, too, it clearly wasn’t. He simply felt sorry for her, and could empathize with her (who better, given his own situation?). IMO the first character progress he made at all.
Lee/Kara: so it’s official. Which I wasn’t completely happy about – I like the sibling vibe better, but okay, I know I’m in a minority here. So it’s UST, fine. Kara thinking about Lee while having sex with Baltar clearly came as a shock to her as well, and it makes her even more defensive towards Lee afterwards. Meanwhile, our Captain Apollo isn’t above throwing a jealous fit, because really, in theory Starbuck/Baltar sex concerns nobody but the two participants. But all the ‘shippy stuff pales in significance when compared to the big elephant.
Which is of course the Adama/Roslin conflict. You know, I think they’re both in the wrong here. Adama has a right to be pissed; Roslin going over his head with her direct order to Starbuck was both a serious breach in the chain of command and a maneuvre that put both his pilot, their military asset the captured Cylon ship and the people crashed on Kobol at risk. However, his reaction – demanding her immediate resignation and then trying to enforce it by taking her prisoner - was way over the top. She did not lose her right to be President, a right he did not give her, the constitution did, because of one bad decision. Unless that decision would have proven her a) clinically insane and thus unfit for office, or b) violating the constitution. Which her order to Starbuck did not do, according to all we know of the Colonies’ constitution and its deliberate parallels to the US one. Moreover, he knows that she gave her order to Starbuck for a valid reason; the absolute necessity to find Earth. “I saw it in a vision” is a less than valid back-up explanation, but the reason itself is for the greater good.
Meanwhile, Roslin going from having precognitive flashes featuring cylons to seeing snakes (she should talk with Baltar about seeing stuff others don’t) to seeing ancient ruins plays out in nice ambiguity. These could be genuine visions as a side effect of the Kamala, which would tie with the Graeco-Roman mythology they’re touching on for the humans. After all, the ancient Pythias of the oracle of Delphi did inhale, to put it flippantly. Or, considering that the only other person whom we happen to know sees visions is Gaius Baltar, it might just be that the crusty old doctor isn’t what he appears to be and put something in her head. In either case, the knowledge of her mortality plays deeply into her increasing belief in them. I think the High Priestess saying that the leader who will guide the people to the promised land will never see it but will die first clinches it for Madam President. That’s when she believes. She’ll die. But she has to get them to safety first, and if it means overriding Adama on a military matter and risking their painstakingly established relationship, that’s what she’s willing to do.
Now I think she made a mistake there (plus using the knowledge that Starbuck’s hero-worship of Adama would actually work in her favour if Starbuck gets informed Adama lied to all of them about Earth was pretty ruthless, that smart Roslin way she can be ruthless); she should have used her greatest strength, her ability to argue and convince, with him more so they could have worked out a compromise, instead of going “my way or the high way” just as he did. But when the chips come down, I think she’s the one showing greater wisdom. Now whether it’s because she didn’t want Apollo to actually have to fight against his father’s soldiers, and thus his father – and of all the Galactica crew, he’s the one she’s closest to – or because she realized that their fragile society couldn’t recover from the shootout between the military and the President’s circle any time soon, or both, I don’t know, but she was the one who put a stop to this by ordering everyone to put their weapons down. I don’t see that as her being the one who “blinked first”, but as I said, as the one being the wiser just then.
Of course, then things go to complete hell anyway when Boomer’s program gets activated. Let’s see: people in the fleet are going to hear that there has been a military takeover resulting in the President in the brig and the commander of the military shot/in a coma/dead/incapacitated, anyway. You know that Zarek is just going to love this. Meanwhile, the Vice President is unavailable due to being crashed (not that I think Gaius, progress on the character front or not, would be capable of providing an able government just now), Apollo is in the brig as well for mutiny, Starbuck is light years away, and I suppose that leaves Colonel Tigh in command of pretty much everything. And, capable XO that he is, we know how everyone in the fleet loves him. And how he loves the civilians.
So, my guess for next season:
- Adama is going to stay between life and death for several episodes
- Tigh is going to have release Roslin pretty soon, even before Starbuck comes back with the arrow, because he’ll have a civil war on his hands otherwise (lead by Tom Zarek)
- Starbuck will come back with the arrow, and Helo and possibly Boomer-C, though how they all will fit in that tiny Cylon ship is anyone’s guess; I suppose, though, that Boomer-C could fly/steal them another, if she wants to
- Boomer-G won’t survive beyond the first episode; this society does have the death penalty (Gaius was afraid of it back in the miniseries), and Tigh isn’t the type to hold back with an execution; he’ll only try to debrief her first, but I doubt she knows anything, poor girl
- Boomer-C, however, will not get executed, because by that time Gaius & the others crashed on Kobol will be back, and Baltar-the-protector-of-human/Cylon-hybrids will assume his new role. His pity for Boomer-G might come in here as well.
- Kara and Lee will forget about the UST and jealousy for a while by worrying about Adama together, but once Adama is on his feet again, he’ll have massive issues with both of them, starting with the fact they took
- Come to think of it, if Roslin isn’t back in power by the time Kara gets back, Tigh will put her into the brig as well. But if Roslin is already reinstated, he can’t very well punish her for having followed the President’s orders.
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no subject
Date: 2005-02-20 06:12 pm (UTC)Although, if she hadn't shot herself, she would have been on the Raptor that went to Kobol, and not in a position to carry out her mission, meet up with the other Cylons and shoot Adama. So it looks like free will, but how free is it really?
no subject
Date: 2005-02-20 06:47 pm (UTC)I'm also curious about her mission to shoot Adama. She could have done that at an earlier point. I'd say it's because with Roslin in the brig, taking out the military head as well does the greatest possible harm, but Boomer doesn't know yet about Roslin...
Beautiful icon, btw.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-22 07:28 am (UTC)(from this site (http://scifi.about.com/blbgpix1.htm))
no subject
Date: 2005-02-22 07:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-22 09:18 am (UTC)Hey...
Date: 2005-02-23 07:04 pm (UTC)Re: Hey...
Date: 2005-02-23 07:09 pm (UTC)Also:
Date: 2005-02-23 07:05 pm (UTC)I don't feel too hot, myself. *sigh*