selenak

Figures that Ultimate Drew would do well with a Marshall episode - in fact the first Mashall-centric episode since season 2's The Abduction, if I'm not mistaken. Now I really want to read the crossover wherein Jonathan is Marshall's cousin and Warren gets recruited by SD-6...

I must confess that it took me far longer to fall for Marshall than for the Jossverse geeks - I found Marshall-as-comic relief a bit too forced in early season 1. But eventually I found him very endearing. By the time this episode rolled along, I have come to adore him. And the way the episode lets him save the day (twice) is perfect because it doesn't feel wrong for the character (or the rest of the gang). So, scattered observations, and not just on Marshall:

- I've said it before, I'll say it again: four years too late, I finally get and root for the Syd/Vaughn relationship; their conversation on the cell phone was
very cute in a non-sirupy kind of way

- Marshall saving Sydney, and the aftermath, with the two of them just lying there, catching their breath, felt so real

- so did Sydney's despair in the coffin - yes, she's been in tough situations before, but not when she was absolutely and completely helpless. Even in the torture scenes with Glasses, she could at least mouth off and hope to distract him. It also reminded me that she had to watch her own funeral once.

- Marshall's lullaby for Mitchell? Love. Adore. And btw, this is such a Jossverse scribes thing, with their love for wordplay

- Marshall's idea of being a bad-ass CIA agent? Play Jack Bristow. I was rolling on the floor. Loved Sydney's "okay, that's... good" reaction, too

- extra points for picking two actors as Germans who can actually talk German! (So Syd and Marshall had atrocious accents, but hey, they weren't
supposed to be German.)

- So this is a spork. No, Jack, you're not the only one - I've come across the term in lj again and again, but thought it was invented, like "still not
king"

- On the other hand, I'm not the slightest bit surprised Jack knows how to extract an eye

- see, this is why Sloane, Evil Overlord or not, is actually a good team leader - he kept their attention together

- aha, an almost Jack/Nadia moment!

- on the matter of keeping a secret from Carrie: am torn. Otoh, she used to be NSC and thus should recognise the signs; otoh, given that a) what happened to Danny, and b) he's working for Sloane again, I understand why Marshall hasn't told her, and why Sydney, of all the people, does not encourage him to do so

- also, the scene in the car between Syd and Marshall was sweet. She always was his hero, and now he got to be hers for a while, too.

Battlestar Galactica story recommendations:

"Visions" by

kiaforrest. Another excellent take on Laura Roslin, vague spoilers for the finale. Priest might seek visions with metaphorical raptures that tasted of milk and honey to guide them through daily life. She just wanted the tangible arrow to lead to a tangible map in a tangible tomb. She'd settle for a plan, a puzzle to solve, a vision to seek that another could carry out with logical step-by-step progression.

And here's Lee Adama, not with Kara, or his father, or Laura for that matter, but paying another visit to Tom Zarek. More definite spoiler for the finale this time. Lots of lovely twistedness.