BSG 3.01 and 3.02
Oct. 10th, 2006 07:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakNow that was a premiere.
Firstly, one worry I had back when s2 finished and some articles mentioned Vichy parallels was that it would be a clear black and white situation, i.e. one of the main reasons why popular tv is so enamored with WWII and WWII allegories. But lo and behold, turns out they're going for something way more interesting. Sure there is some Vichy, but there are also lots of pointed Iraq parallels. With the ethics of suicide bombings being focused on. The scenes with Baltar and Roslin, and Roslin and Tigh dealing with that were among my favourites, and how much did I love that Baltar, despised by humans and Cylons (save Caprica Six and possibly Boomer) alike, gets to make an ethical point? And that we see Roslin, while of course not giving an inch while with him, acting on that later?
The fact Tigh and Tyrol etc. don't get arrested permanently seemed to be a plot hole (obvious ringleaders they), until Cavil's second scene with Ellen, though in retrospect one could see it coming throughout. It makes sense: Caprica Six and Boomer manage to convince the Cylons to try coexistance instead of genocide. The Cavils and the Threes disagree, but go along at first, and now Cavil by letting Tigh stay around to lead the insurgence and provoking him just that much more by taking his eye is adding deliberate fuel to the fire, furthering a situation where there are more and more deaths on both sides and Caprica Six and Boomer are losing more and more ground with the other Cylons. Oppressors and insurgents, literary feeding off each other, though Tigh doesn't know it yet.
While we're talking of the Colonel, let me repeat that I love the Edward Albee relationship between him and Ellen more and more. Back in s1, the explanation Adama and Roslin had as to why these two are still together and Saul puts up with her was that he loves her, no matter how much she cheats on him, but what they missed out is the other reason: that she loves him. Leave it to Ellen to show that clearer than ever by having sex with another man. And even Ellen haters should feel for her when it's made clear she might have saved herself the bother, Cavil was playing her the entire time.
Competing in the field of dysfunctional relationships and a new strong contender: Kara and Leoben. He's not physically torturing her as she tortured him, but he's pulling all the stops, mind-wise, with the child being a masterstroke. (In Flesh and Bone, he made a reference to Kara's mother, so clearly he knows all about her backstory there.) Methinks Ron Moore was envious of that mindfuck Joss wrote for Emma and Scott and decided to go one better. And I think the crowning touch is that part of the mindmessing consists of Leoben letting Kara kill him again and again. For now, the obvious ending seems to be "I love you" followed by a kill he doesn't expect and an escape, but perhaps RDM will come up with a twist.
Moving on to the next dysfunctional couple (is there any other kind on BSG now?): I want to see Baltar and Caprica Six together unobserved, but for now I'm content to wait. (Six-in-Baltar's-head reappearing after Caprica Six got shot probably indicates she's not present when Caprica Six is around.) Doral shooting Caprica Six was a shocker, though logical from the Cylon pov, and now I wonder: what if Sharon (Agathon, I think I'll call her Sharon and the other Sharon Boomer to avoid confusion) gets shot while on New Caprica? The downloading process should happen automatically, unless she gets "boxed" as was threatened to Boomer. Back to Gaius Baltar: like I said, loved his scene with Roslin (and that he brought another chair for her, and the shoes, but mostly that she while giving no square didn't trounce him like I thought she would but that he was allowed to make a point and got her to look away at least once), and the fact he didn't immediately sign. Baltar wouldn't be nearly as interesting if he was all simple, leaning back to enjoy the comfortable life with his now corporial Six who loves him and not giving a damm about what happens to humanity. Because he does give a damm. He's weak, and he can't bring himself to die rather than to sign, but as opposed to the amoral Gaius from the miniseries whose reaction to the news of a planet-wide nuclear attack was "Get me my lawyer!" he actually cares. The irony is that back then, he was popular, whereas no, everyone hates him. More, please.
Speaking of Boomer, I must say that though I guess I'm supposed to sympathize with Cally more, Boomer comes off better to me. The big stumbling block on seeing the current relationship between Cally and Tyrol as not-dysfunctional remains to me that Cally shot Boomer. (And that Tyrol seems to have married Cally mostly due to guilt after hitting her involuntarily when she woke up him from his nightmare.) I very much doubt that if positions were reversed, Cally would have even tried to help Boomer.
Moving on to Sharon: I'm glad the strange bonding she and Adama did in s2 got build upon, though I still wonder why she forgave him for what she has to believe was the death of her baby. Probably by deciding to blame it all on Roslin, I guess. Anyway, observe the consistency: Adama can still talk better to his "adopted" children - Kara, Dee, now Sharon - than to his son.
Lee: boy, with everyone else having a lobby in the US, how about corpulent people? With "fat" and "soft" flung around as insults so often, I mean. Also, people who regret the loss of Lee as a sex object, you should have watched the first seasons of Cracker, in which Robbie Coltrane as Fitz was one. I kid you not. And good old Bamber with his artificial weight is nowhere near that size. Anyway, Lee for the first time since... Epiphanies, I guess did feel well written again. Also, was I ever glad to see Dee back to her no-nonsense talking self.
And now to the couple who made me giddy, I confess: Zarek and Roslin. Ever since that "And here I shaved extra close in anticipation of getting smacked by you" from Colonial Day I thought that if I want to write one Roslin pairing, it wouldn't be one of the Adama boys but Tom Zarek. Their uneasy alliance in early s2 had been lovely to see, and now Ron Moore gives me that "Tom" and "Laura", and though they're being as ironic as ever when using their first names it's a friendly spar. Not that I don't think if in some hypothetical future where everyone is with the fleet again they won't be political rivals again, but you know, that's part of what I enjoy about their scenes together.
*goes to rewatch![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
k_julia's Zarek and Roslin vid*
Firstly, one worry I had back when s2 finished and some articles mentioned Vichy parallels was that it would be a clear black and white situation, i.e. one of the main reasons why popular tv is so enamored with WWII and WWII allegories. But lo and behold, turns out they're going for something way more interesting. Sure there is some Vichy, but there are also lots of pointed Iraq parallels. With the ethics of suicide bombings being focused on. The scenes with Baltar and Roslin, and Roslin and Tigh dealing with that were among my favourites, and how much did I love that Baltar, despised by humans and Cylons (save Caprica Six and possibly Boomer) alike, gets to make an ethical point? And that we see Roslin, while of course not giving an inch while with him, acting on that later?
The fact Tigh and Tyrol etc. don't get arrested permanently seemed to be a plot hole (obvious ringleaders they), until Cavil's second scene with Ellen, though in retrospect one could see it coming throughout. It makes sense: Caprica Six and Boomer manage to convince the Cylons to try coexistance instead of genocide. The Cavils and the Threes disagree, but go along at first, and now Cavil by letting Tigh stay around to lead the insurgence and provoking him just that much more by taking his eye is adding deliberate fuel to the fire, furthering a situation where there are more and more deaths on both sides and Caprica Six and Boomer are losing more and more ground with the other Cylons. Oppressors and insurgents, literary feeding off each other, though Tigh doesn't know it yet.
While we're talking of the Colonel, let me repeat that I love the Edward Albee relationship between him and Ellen more and more. Back in s1, the explanation Adama and Roslin had as to why these two are still together and Saul puts up with her was that he loves her, no matter how much she cheats on him, but what they missed out is the other reason: that she loves him. Leave it to Ellen to show that clearer than ever by having sex with another man. And even Ellen haters should feel for her when it's made clear she might have saved herself the bother, Cavil was playing her the entire time.
Competing in the field of dysfunctional relationships and a new strong contender: Kara and Leoben. He's not physically torturing her as she tortured him, but he's pulling all the stops, mind-wise, with the child being a masterstroke. (In Flesh and Bone, he made a reference to Kara's mother, so clearly he knows all about her backstory there.) Methinks Ron Moore was envious of that mindfuck Joss wrote for Emma and Scott and decided to go one better. And I think the crowning touch is that part of the mindmessing consists of Leoben letting Kara kill him again and again. For now, the obvious ending seems to be "I love you" followed by a kill he doesn't expect and an escape, but perhaps RDM will come up with a twist.
Moving on to the next dysfunctional couple (is there any other kind on BSG now?): I want to see Baltar and Caprica Six together unobserved, but for now I'm content to wait. (Six-in-Baltar's-head reappearing after Caprica Six got shot probably indicates she's not present when Caprica Six is around.) Doral shooting Caprica Six was a shocker, though logical from the Cylon pov, and now I wonder: what if Sharon (Agathon, I think I'll call her Sharon and the other Sharon Boomer to avoid confusion) gets shot while on New Caprica? The downloading process should happen automatically, unless she gets "boxed" as was threatened to Boomer. Back to Gaius Baltar: like I said, loved his scene with Roslin (and that he brought another chair for her, and the shoes, but mostly that she while giving no square didn't trounce him like I thought she would but that he was allowed to make a point and got her to look away at least once), and the fact he didn't immediately sign. Baltar wouldn't be nearly as interesting if he was all simple, leaning back to enjoy the comfortable life with his now corporial Six who loves him and not giving a damm about what happens to humanity. Because he does give a damm. He's weak, and he can't bring himself to die rather than to sign, but as opposed to the amoral Gaius from the miniseries whose reaction to the news of a planet-wide nuclear attack was "Get me my lawyer!" he actually cares. The irony is that back then, he was popular, whereas no, everyone hates him. More, please.
Speaking of Boomer, I must say that though I guess I'm supposed to sympathize with Cally more, Boomer comes off better to me. The big stumbling block on seeing the current relationship between Cally and Tyrol as not-dysfunctional remains to me that Cally shot Boomer. (And that Tyrol seems to have married Cally mostly due to guilt after hitting her involuntarily when she woke up him from his nightmare.) I very much doubt that if positions were reversed, Cally would have even tried to help Boomer.
Moving on to Sharon: I'm glad the strange bonding she and Adama did in s2 got build upon, though I still wonder why she forgave him for what she has to believe was the death of her baby. Probably by deciding to blame it all on Roslin, I guess. Anyway, observe the consistency: Adama can still talk better to his "adopted" children - Kara, Dee, now Sharon - than to his son.
Lee: boy, with everyone else having a lobby in the US, how about corpulent people? With "fat" and "soft" flung around as insults so often, I mean. Also, people who regret the loss of Lee as a sex object, you should have watched the first seasons of Cracker, in which Robbie Coltrane as Fitz was one. I kid you not. And good old Bamber with his artificial weight is nowhere near that size. Anyway, Lee for the first time since... Epiphanies, I guess did feel well written again. Also, was I ever glad to see Dee back to her no-nonsense talking self.
And now to the couple who made me giddy, I confess: Zarek and Roslin. Ever since that "And here I shaved extra close in anticipation of getting smacked by you" from Colonial Day I thought that if I want to write one Roslin pairing, it wouldn't be one of the Adama boys but Tom Zarek. Their uneasy alliance in early s2 had been lovely to see, and now Ron Moore gives me that "Tom" and "Laura", and though they're being as ironic as ever when using their first names it's a friendly spar. Not that I don't think if in some hypothetical future where everyone is with the fleet again they won't be political rivals again, but you know, that's part of what I enjoy about their scenes together.
*goes to rewatch
k_julia's Zarek and Roslin vid*
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 05:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 07:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 05:35 pm (UTC)Of all the dysfunctional couples, the one that made me sad was Cally and Tyrol, because Cally loves him, and he doesn't love her...I think she may be doomed. I wonder if Tyrol and Boomer have met yet.
I loved the Tom and Laura bit so much.
I was so drained by the end of the episode all I could think of to say was Holy frack!
*hugs this wonderful show*
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 08:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 06:03 pm (UTC)But the show is so fabulous with the angst and the stress and the gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. *waits anxiously for Friday for crack show to reappear*
I love that we seem to like so many of the same characters: Emma Frost, Six, Gaius. That's awesome :-)
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 08:08 pm (UTC)Gaius meta (http://selenak.livejournal.com/191337.html), written mid-season 2, and Downloaded review with Six meta (http://selenak.livejournal.com/206418.html).
Did you see
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 06:20 pm (UTC)"And here I shaved extra close in anticipation of getting smacked by you" from Colonial Day I thought that if I want to write one Roslin pairing, it wouldn't be one of the Adama boys but Tom Zarek.
. . .well, do I have to say what I think about this? Now we'll see if Tommy boy actually survives next week.
Also, Kitty's fake baby/Kara's fake baby = OTP.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 08:14 pm (UTC)Baby/Baby: also, Kitty's fake baby is really Cassandra's body, so chances are she'll kill it, and I think Kara will kill hers in the end, which will contribute to gaining her freedom but will mess her up even more once she's free. Also the reason why I think Anders is not doomed to get killed off in order to placate shippers: I think Kara after regaining her freedom will probably not be able to live in a family-like union with anyone, including poor Sam, for quite a while. And thus he'll survive (because causing her even more angst by killing him off would feel redundant after putting her through infanticide).
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 08:24 pm (UTC)There are parallels of Kara's situation and Kitty's, though at least Kara can blame the "bad guys" for putting her in that situation (even if you view it as twisted vengeance for Flesh & Bone); Kitty's hell may well turn out to have been inflicted by her own side, for the "greater good."
I just hope they keep Anders around as a character who is interesting in his own right; he and Zarek could definitely have a lot to talk about.
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Date: 2006-10-11 03:49 am (UTC)Re: Kitty, no matter whether Emma is secretely working for the greater good or not, the hell scenario was inflicted by Cassandra Nova via Perfection, so Kitty has someone squarely to blame/wreak vengeance on. (I think Cassandra's fate, again independent from Emma's motivations, really rests on whether or not Joss has permission by Marvel to kill her off, but do not doubt it's going to be nasty.)
no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 03:58 am (UTC)I like that essay, especially Roslin's impersonal and ruthless love of humanity.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 06:29 pm (UTC)anyway, this is a drive-by smooching. *smooches you* i missed your birthday - i am a bad friend. bad, bad victoria. many belated happy returns, my dear. is there anything your little heart might desire that would make up for it? i could provide naked boys a-plenty, or possibly fic. yeah, it's probably gonna be fic.
*smooches you some more*
WHEN ARE YOU COMING BACK TO LONDON???
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 08:17 pm (UTC)London? Is expensive. When are you people going to adopt the Euro so I can come more often?
no subject
Date: 2006-10-14 07:37 pm (UTC)*scribbles diligently*
London? Is expensive. When are you people going to adopt the Euro so I can come more often?
For the last time - it's on my 'to do' list! Sheesh, I have many demands on my time as Grand High Dictator, you know...
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 07:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 03:06 am (UTC)I guess Jonah Goldberg does not like to be rattled.
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Date: 2006-10-10 08:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 08:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 08:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 04:09 am (UTC)Is Jamie Bamber's weight really fake? It's pretty convincing. That towel shot was deeply unsettling, although on reflection I guess it could have been a body double.
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Date: 2006-10-11 04:15 am (UTC)Weight: yes. Even in Hollywood, they haven't invented miracle diets that work within days yet, and as later season clips show Lee sans weight, I think you're safe to assume Jamie Bamber is as slim as ever. *g*
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Date: 2006-10-11 06:20 am (UTC)It's a fat suit! There was a video clip on the BSG site showing him getting made up. He was really quite funny about it, and assured us that eventually, he finds his inner Jenny Craig. LOL.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 04:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 07:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 07:54 am (UTC)