Battlestar Galactica 2.17
Feb. 19th, 2006 01:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakBack in Munich, and with the latest BSG ep.
Firstly, the A-Plot with Gardner was surely the part everyone was least interested in. Though it was saved by the Kara-Lee scenes. But poor Gardner himself came right out of the overused book of clichés, down to his sacrificial death. I'll say it before, I'll say it again: the much derided ST: TNG was a mold breaker in the Chain of Command two parter when the temporary Commander replacing Picard there couldn't stand Our Heroes but was neither incompetent, over-his-head, crazy or dying a heroic death at the end but competent, doing his job, and departing with a job well done. However, as this plot also contained Kara 'n Lee dealing with the aftermath of Sacrifice and in a manner that had nothing to do with UST and everything with character and their issues and their friendship, I wasn't bored.
However, the b-plot was clearly the meat of the episode. Give me politics, Roslin, Baltar, and add Zarek as a bonus (though I really wish they'd let him show up for more than one or two scenes per episode), and I'm a happy fangirl. This would be the episode where Roslin having played the religious card starts to bite her in the behind. (Doing this when you know you're dying is one thing; but now there is a life time ahead, and bills are presented, more and more by the minute.) The Geminon fundamentalists think they own her now. More about that in a moment. Even worse, at the start of the episode Laura has become a little bit too sure she can have it all. As her new aide says, she has the support of both the military and the civilians. Of both the religious faction and the agnostics. And the competition is Tom Zarek, who will always be tainted by jailtime for terrorism. Flash forward to the end of the episode, and the prospects look very different indeed. My totally unspoiled speculation for the season ending cliffhanger (you know there'll be one): Laura Roslin is going to lose the elections. With the decision to make abortion illegal, she has lost her old support group. The only ones who could enforce this are the military, because there is no police, as has been pointed out on this show before, and that is going to confirm to the civilians she has settled with Adama post-Home at the price of giving up that separation. There are of course her new supporters, the ones who became hers because of the Prophet!Laura factor. But that is a ticking time bomb as well. Lest we forget, Sara the Geminon representative was against Roslin Colonial Day but completely supported her in Fragged because Laura Roslin played out the religious card and claimed that title. Sara, not Zarek who was very careful not to do this at any point during his temporary alliance with Roslin and explicitly maneuvred Sara into doing it, was the one who proclaimed Laura Roslin as the fulfillment of the scriptures. Now Sara ends this ep ticked off because Roslin didn't go far enough for her taste, and of course we all know Roslin is no longer the dying leader. This, I predict the religious faction will desert Roslin as well, and she'll start the next season in the opposition, having to completely rebuild her power base.
When Napoleon ordered the Duke of Enghien's execution despite the later not being on French soil, Tallyrand supposedly commented that this was worse than a crime, it was a mistake. Quite completely independent from the ethics, banning abortion is just such a mistake, because far from guaranteeing those 40 000-something survivors won't die out, it just guarantees that the women wanting to have abortions still will get them, just illegally and in a manner that will endanger their lives as well. Mind you, I can see why Adama doesn't think of it, but I'm somewhat surprised Roslin, with her past, didn't. Otoh, the desperate human-race-in-need-of-survival thing is not the only reason for her decision here, it's also politics (hence her "now you have your pound of flesh" remark to Sara, which btw is one of those rather endearing anachronisms because that's a phrase derived from The Merchant of Venice, Ron, and unless Will Shakespeare gets translated not just into Klingon but into Colonial, I don't quite see how the allusion would make sense to Laura), so given this, I can see how she would make said mistake.
Her other mistake was underestimating Baltar. Who manages what Adama Senior and Tigh never did; to completely blindside Laura Roslin here. I'm also wondering whether Zarek isn't making the same mistake, because clearly he thinks he can do what Roslin did in Colonial Day, co-opt a man who is easy to manipulate for political gain, and pull the strings from behind. Only this isn't the same Gaius Baltar any more who showed up in the Quorum that day completely bored and only interested in a quickie with Playa the Reporter. (Who is back in this ep, yay! Sorry, I wrote my one and only BSG fanfic about there, so I'm partial.) Zarek is the one who suggests the "scientist versus religious icon" card, but Baltar, by using the press conference - which is a masterstroke - takes it one step further and thus starts his race with "man of principle goes up against power-corrupted tyrant" as well. And Baltar, as he's now, really is a more dangerous rival to Roslin in the presidential race. Because she herself endorsed him by making him her VP. Because he has saved her life, and everyone knows it. Because if she now says something about having remembered, in her delirium, about having seen him with a Cylon model on Caprica, it will look like a political smear campaign. And because Baltar never was part of her claim at religious status, and thus neither the agnostics nor disillusioned-by-her-surival believers can hold him responsible for that.
Lastly: no, I don't think the episode endorses a ban of abortions by letting one of the good guys (Adama) suggest it and another of the good guys (Roslin) decide on it against her own convictions. See above laid out arguments how this is going to cost Laura her presidency for a while. (As I think she will make a comeback; "in politicis, one dies many times".) But we're thankfully - after two episodes, Sacrifice and Epiphanies, where the people opposing Our Heroes aren't just in the wrong but also without good points - back to territory like Bastille Day; Baltar and Zarek might be Ambiguous/Bad Guys, but they can still be right on several issues, no matter their motives. You always had to wonder how - if Roslin didn't die but had to fight for her election, her first one actually, as she wasn't elected in her own right before but serves out Adar's term - the show would make a credible case for the result not being a given thing. How to make it credible that people would vote against her as well as for her without making them seem stupid. Well, now I think one can imagine your avarage fleet civilian taking a loooong look at Laura Roslin and think twice.
Scattered thoughts:
- the previouslies illustrate that the editing of the recent eps sucked; those scenes should have been in them, and several gratitious Lee-in-space shots out
- I like the new Presidential aide
- If I were Tigh, I'd resent Lee being promoted to Pegasus Commander instead of me somewhat; otoh, I might then remember how I hated being Galactica's commander and made one mistake after the other, and be secretly relieved
- Tyrol! I missed you these last eps; good to have you back
- next week seems to be the Cylon pov episode Moore mentioned a couple of blogs ago, Downloaded; very much looking forward to it.
Firstly, the A-Plot with Gardner was surely the part everyone was least interested in. Though it was saved by the Kara-Lee scenes. But poor Gardner himself came right out of the overused book of clichés, down to his sacrificial death. I'll say it before, I'll say it again: the much derided ST: TNG was a mold breaker in the Chain of Command two parter when the temporary Commander replacing Picard there couldn't stand Our Heroes but was neither incompetent, over-his-head, crazy or dying a heroic death at the end but competent, doing his job, and departing with a job well done. However, as this plot also contained Kara 'n Lee dealing with the aftermath of Sacrifice and in a manner that had nothing to do with UST and everything with character and their issues and their friendship, I wasn't bored.
However, the b-plot was clearly the meat of the episode. Give me politics, Roslin, Baltar, and add Zarek as a bonus (though I really wish they'd let him show up for more than one or two scenes per episode), and I'm a happy fangirl. This would be the episode where Roslin having played the religious card starts to bite her in the behind. (Doing this when you know you're dying is one thing; but now there is a life time ahead, and bills are presented, more and more by the minute.) The Geminon fundamentalists think they own her now. More about that in a moment. Even worse, at the start of the episode Laura has become a little bit too sure she can have it all. As her new aide says, she has the support of both the military and the civilians. Of both the religious faction and the agnostics. And the competition is Tom Zarek, who will always be tainted by jailtime for terrorism. Flash forward to the end of the episode, and the prospects look very different indeed. My totally unspoiled speculation for the season ending cliffhanger (you know there'll be one): Laura Roslin is going to lose the elections. With the decision to make abortion illegal, she has lost her old support group. The only ones who could enforce this are the military, because there is no police, as has been pointed out on this show before, and that is going to confirm to the civilians she has settled with Adama post-Home at the price of giving up that separation. There are of course her new supporters, the ones who became hers because of the Prophet!Laura factor. But that is a ticking time bomb as well. Lest we forget, Sara the Geminon representative was against Roslin Colonial Day but completely supported her in Fragged because Laura Roslin played out the religious card and claimed that title. Sara, not Zarek who was very careful not to do this at any point during his temporary alliance with Roslin and explicitly maneuvred Sara into doing it, was the one who proclaimed Laura Roslin as the fulfillment of the scriptures. Now Sara ends this ep ticked off because Roslin didn't go far enough for her taste, and of course we all know Roslin is no longer the dying leader. This, I predict the religious faction will desert Roslin as well, and she'll start the next season in the opposition, having to completely rebuild her power base.
When Napoleon ordered the Duke of Enghien's execution despite the later not being on French soil, Tallyrand supposedly commented that this was worse than a crime, it was a mistake. Quite completely independent from the ethics, banning abortion is just such a mistake, because far from guaranteeing those 40 000-something survivors won't die out, it just guarantees that the women wanting to have abortions still will get them, just illegally and in a manner that will endanger their lives as well. Mind you, I can see why Adama doesn't think of it, but I'm somewhat surprised Roslin, with her past, didn't. Otoh, the desperate human-race-in-need-of-survival thing is not the only reason for her decision here, it's also politics (hence her "now you have your pound of flesh" remark to Sara, which btw is one of those rather endearing anachronisms because that's a phrase derived from The Merchant of Venice, Ron, and unless Will Shakespeare gets translated not just into Klingon but into Colonial, I don't quite see how the allusion would make sense to Laura), so given this, I can see how she would make said mistake.
Her other mistake was underestimating Baltar. Who manages what Adama Senior and Tigh never did; to completely blindside Laura Roslin here. I'm also wondering whether Zarek isn't making the same mistake, because clearly he thinks he can do what Roslin did in Colonial Day, co-opt a man who is easy to manipulate for political gain, and pull the strings from behind. Only this isn't the same Gaius Baltar any more who showed up in the Quorum that day completely bored and only interested in a quickie with Playa the Reporter. (Who is back in this ep, yay! Sorry, I wrote my one and only BSG fanfic about there, so I'm partial.) Zarek is the one who suggests the "scientist versus religious icon" card, but Baltar, by using the press conference - which is a masterstroke - takes it one step further and thus starts his race with "man of principle goes up against power-corrupted tyrant" as well. And Baltar, as he's now, really is a more dangerous rival to Roslin in the presidential race. Because she herself endorsed him by making him her VP. Because he has saved her life, and everyone knows it. Because if she now says something about having remembered, in her delirium, about having seen him with a Cylon model on Caprica, it will look like a political smear campaign. And because Baltar never was part of her claim at religious status, and thus neither the agnostics nor disillusioned-by-her-surival believers can hold him responsible for that.
Lastly: no, I don't think the episode endorses a ban of abortions by letting one of the good guys (Adama) suggest it and another of the good guys (Roslin) decide on it against her own convictions. See above laid out arguments how this is going to cost Laura her presidency for a while. (As I think she will make a comeback; "in politicis, one dies many times".) But we're thankfully - after two episodes, Sacrifice and Epiphanies, where the people opposing Our Heroes aren't just in the wrong but also without good points - back to territory like Bastille Day; Baltar and Zarek might be Ambiguous/Bad Guys, but they can still be right on several issues, no matter their motives. You always had to wonder how - if Roslin didn't die but had to fight for her election, her first one actually, as she wasn't elected in her own right before but serves out Adar's term - the show would make a credible case for the result not being a given thing. How to make it credible that people would vote against her as well as for her without making them seem stupid. Well, now I think one can imagine your avarage fleet civilian taking a loooong look at Laura Roslin and think twice.
Scattered thoughts:
- the previouslies illustrate that the editing of the recent eps sucked; those scenes should have been in them, and several gratitious Lee-in-space shots out
- I like the new Presidential aide
- If I were Tigh, I'd resent Lee being promoted to Pegasus Commander instead of me somewhat; otoh, I might then remember how I hated being Galactica's commander and made one mistake after the other, and be secretly relieved
- Tyrol! I missed you these last eps; good to have you back
- next week seems to be the Cylon pov episode Moore mentioned a couple of blogs ago, Downloaded; very much looking forward to it.
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no subject
Date: 2006-02-19 02:15 pm (UTC)As you say, there is no way that a woman who supposedly spent her life fighting for abortion rights wouldn't know that outlawing abortion merely increases the number of women who die in botched abortions (and in the fleet, there's the very real danger that Roslin will end up having to lock up a doctor who breaks the law - when obviously doctors are a rare commodity that can't be squandered). If she wants to increase the fleet's population (which may or may not be a good idea) she should be incentivizing pregnancy and opening up a public debate on the need to maintain the species' viability. But these solutions, of course, are far too sophisticated for a show that has consistently ignored the civilian population as BSG has done.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-19 03:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 12:14 am (UTC)add Zarek as a bonus (though I really wish they'd let him show up for more than one or two scenes per episode),
So should it be the Laura Roslin Chronicles, featuring Tom Zarek, or vice versa? Discuss. Draw pictures, if need be.
Lastly: no, I don't think the episode endorses a ban of abortions by letting one of the good guys (Adama) suggest it and another of the good guys (Roslin) decide on it against her own convictions.
I agree and, if anything, Moore & Co. are assuming that their audience is pro-choice and would only associate anti-abortion sentiment with religious wackos; perhaps we're even supposed to be thinking that this is a step on the road to baby-farms a la the Cylons (b/c as others have said, illegalizing abortion isn't going to do much to raise the population by itself -- although it does seem consistent with her uncompromising stance on the black market). Laura's move makes more sense as a pure concession to the religious voters, with the population issue as a pretext. Though I still would have liked to see more of the process behind the decision, as opposed to the Foregone Conclusion plot with Gardner -- though yay for good non-ship-oriented Kara/Lee. It will be interesting to see where that goes, esp. with Adama just having appointed his son as drummer-for-Spinal Tap.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 07:16 pm (UTC)One more thing about the abortion ban: I'm surprised Roslin made it as draconian as she did. I didn't hear her say anything about exceptions for the life or health of the mother. Together with a better explanation of *why* each potential life is more important than ever (and I'm surprised her usual glibness and political acumen was missing at the press conference), she might have been able to sell this point better. The Gemionese would still not have been happy, but the average Fleet citizen might have found it more palatable.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-23 07:46 am (UTC)Also, thank you!
no subject
Date: 2006-02-27 07:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-27 07:32 am (UTC)It's going to be an interesting election, and I shudder to think about how Baltar as president would affect the chances of survival of the fleet.
At this point, my speculation is that he'll win the elections but will be forced to either concede the race or resign because by then Roslin will have gotten hard evidence of either his relationship with Six on Caprica or of the fact he freed Gina and supported her secretely.