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(Note: This blog is in response to a game going on at the 13th Colony on Myspace, the analysis is still relevent though.) 7 Juin 2007 Blog 7 Laura Roslin: Pragmatism vs Idealism Spoilers for through the end of Season III So, as everyone in the room already knows, Laura Roslin is my character of choice. With reference to the elimination game, I am frankly surprised she has made it this far. This is probably a credit to RDM because most of the time, leaders are hated while they're in office and their supporters aren't all that vocal because it is easier to look for greener pastures (oh and no one wants to take responsibility for their votes). Consider our current and past presidents if you need examples. Here, in the greater Seattle area anyway, everyone bitches about whomever is in charge. Without side stepping into our current swamp of political despair, it is very realistic that people have problems with Laura Roslin. That said, I really like how realistically RDM portrayed the short sightedness of the general public, as it is in our reality, with the election of Baltar. It was obvious to everyone watching the show that whatever Roslin's faults, she was certainly the better choice, but people so often think only with their hearts (and information is often so limited). Fatigue is powerful and so is desire for change, any change, when things are bad. (People whined about how horrible Bill Clinton's moral standards were and now here we are with an approval rating of 29%.) Back to my surprise at Roslin's top five status: I think RDM has softened her from what she really might be like because he wants the audience to like her. A pragmatist with her brains and political skills would not win a popularity contest very easily. We are presented with a cleaned up image of Roslin because we are privy to her private moments which the press are not. And, since those private moments don't sell newspapers, the press doesn't want to present a human version of Roslin. They want tar, goo, muck and puke coated Roslin so that people will listen/watch their broadcasts. Scandals make news, not nice people who do their jobs well. I also feel this is very reflective of our society. I think that for all the faults our leaders have and we see in the media, underneath they are human. I am making NO comments about my like or dislike of the current administration when I say that. (not that you all cannot read between the lines about my political affiliations.) If we were the fleet, Roslin would not be in the top five favorite people if this were presented as a popularity contest for our leaders. I think she wouldn't be the first out, but certainly not in the top five. Let's talk pragmatism vs idealism. As mentioned before, the general public, those with the luxury, think with their hearts and want, and rightly so, the very best, most moral outcome in any situation. In a word: perfection. This idealistic perspective often conflicts with pragmatism when the going gets rough. A pure pragmatist could be defined as an evil person because they would ignore all moral considerations for the desired outcome. IE: the ends justify the means. Laura Roslin is not this person. Laura Roslin is a pragmatist, but she is tempered by morality. Consider this: the options available to Laura Roslin surrounding Hera were: 1. Airlock Athena as soon as they returned from Kobol, 2. Airlock her as soon as she discovered the pregnancy was real, 3. Keep her around and see if she could be used, 4. Abort the fetus, 5. Airlock Hera after birth, or 6. Adopt out Hera unbeknownst to everyone. (I'm sure there are other possibilities that would keep fleet security in the forefront but I'm not going to bother coming up with every last one.) Can anyone honestly say that it would have been ok to either tell Athena (at that point in time) and Helo their child was going to be raised by someone else or let them raise her? Think: Roslin was right, if the Cylons knew Hera was alive, they'd go after her and endanger humanity (priority number one). That left the only choices to be: airlock Hera or fake her death. A pure pragmatist would have simply airlocked her and not looked back. Roslin's a pragmatist with heart and so she did the right thing. Yes she did try to abort the fetus, which in my pragmatic opinion was a good idea given the information available. But failing that, the other was the next best option. Bottom line: Hera presented a serious threat to the fleet, it was the duty of the president to eliminate or at least minimize that threat as best she could. Both of her choices reflected sound reasoning and heart. Do I think baby-napping is ok? NEVER. But no one ever said that anyone (myself included) had to be ok with it for it to be the right thing to do. (Do you really think that Roslin herself just felt all warm and fuzzy about kidnapping a child? Hell no! She would really rather not have had to do that.) The luxury of not having to make the decisions ourselves is that we have the latitude to consider a perfect world. It is the job of our leaders to dream of that perfect world with us and then make the decision that is as close as can be to that image. Decision making is hard and many people are really miserable at it. So I have the utmost respect for Laura Roslin because she has the guts to make good decisions whether or not they are ideal. Thus I accept Roslin's decision regarding Hera. Though if it were a perfect world and the Cylons weren't going to destroy humanity, I would give Sharon Agathon a big hug, thank her for her help and let her raise her child. But, the BSG world is not a perfect one and if it were, we wouldn't watch. Heheh. I love BSG. Tags: bsg
Current Location: Cloud Nine Auditorium
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BSG Blog 6 Begun: 14 April 2007 Completed: 29 April 2007 Crossroads Part II Funny how it took me longer to get around to doing this one than to any of the previous ones. I guess without the motivator of a new episode in a week I have just allowed myself to do other things when at home. I have not yet listened to the podcast, but I have read on the boards so the mix of influences on my thoughts is slightly different from the previous. I still am having mixed feelings about this episode and am not really sure how to put my finger on what bothers me about it, but something does. Maybe it will become clear as I write. Recapitulation: I do not think this is the first time they have used new footage to remind us what has come before, though I could be wrong. In my opinion this is a good idea because it allows them to use more of what they would otherwise have cut and lets us see just a smidgen more as well as holding our attention better because we do not remember seeing the footage from before. Again, I am delighted not to see the opening credits. Exposition Scene I: Yum, yum another lovely piece of texture. Adama shaving is not dramatically important, but it goes on for quite a while, in film time, and it sets the mood nicely. This small clip gives the world just a bit more credibility as a place and lends to the real feeling of the show. As previously mentioned, some of the best scenes are filmed in bathrooms in this show. These small pieces of non-dramatic material have an effect I would not have guessed or thought to try myself if I had not seen it work so well on me personally. Seeing this mundane, everyday, routine thing happening, watching Adama's fingers slide across his face looking for rough areas draws me in and I check out instantaneously from the real world. Traditionally, a dramatic hook is used to bring the audience to attention and focus them, in this case, a non-dramatic moment has achieved the same effect. This could be because we know Adama and we are wondering what he is thinking about, feeling, we know recent events and are perhaps projecting those thoughts onto the character as we watch him. Maybe the past we know is doing the job without the writers having to explicitly show it us. If anyone else had that experience, I want to know about it because I would be fascinated to see if that technique could possibly work in any other setting. Or if I am just blowing smoke. Speaking of an inexpensive and subtle way of putting drama into a reasonably static scene, the flickering light got me thinking a little. If I knew Morse code, I might not say this, but since I do no,tI think it is possible that the rhythmic flickering of the lights could be Morse code gone completely unperceived by anyone because we all know the lights sometimes flicker on Galactica. This, and Adama then cutting himself, could be foreshadowing for the rather difficult and painful situation our characters find themselves in at the end of the episode. Remember Adama walking by himself aboard Galactica just before the Cylon occupation of New Caprica. The lights are flickering and then everything goes to hell. Link this with the idea that the music could be a signal from Earth and that possibility gains credibility, I think. To go out on a limb a bit, the music could be linked to the power failure later in the episode. Just a guess. Moving along, judging from the way Adama answers the phone, he was not expecting the president to call him. However, his warm response to her is cute and tender. It is charming to see them banter back and forth with each other. I like the way the writers are building a believable friendship between the two of them rather than just jumping off the cliffs of romance for the increased dramatic jeopardy. The more believably they show us the changing relationship between Roslin and Adama, the less risk of having it turn into a runaway freight train, in my opinion. Roslin's overt confidence in Adama reminds us of what Adama said to Lee in the last episode: Lee is the last person Adama would choose to confide in after what he did to Tigh. This told us that Roslin had confided in him about her cancer and quite likely he confides in her too. We have evidence of this when Roslin is on the stand and tells Lee that she is so sorry for him. This open line of communication between the president and the Admiral about more personal matters is a new development since A Day in the Life where they bring up New Caprica. At least, it is new for us to see it. Even on New Caprica, we did not see Laura complaining about how much it hurt to be replaced by Baltar. Admitting weakness is a demonstration of a new level of trust. Clearly, Bill is not quite sure what to say to Laura after she tells him she does not want to face her day, so he evades with humor. This is nicely true to character, Adama dodges anything he cannot deal with: his son, his wife, having started the Cylon war and shooting down Bulldog. He avoided Laura's direct question regarding what might have happened between them if the the Cylons had not returned. We are still, at the end of the day, left with the question of which “him” and “them” Laura is referring to. I believe the “him” is Cottle and with him her Diloxin treatment, and that the them is everyone in the trial, but it is also possible that she does not want to face Baltar specifically. If anyone has any further light to shed on this I would appreciate it. This is an instance of weak writing, I have to note. We are promised something here that is not delivered upon. It is a dramatic moment when Laura reveals to Bill that she is nervous about something, but we are left guessing as to exactly which thing that is at the end of the episode. That much of a reveal needs to be followed up upon. Here, Laura does not accept his feeble first attempt and pushes him to be more personal. Even though he becomes the Admiral here, he does rise to the occasion. His remark is definitely funny, but I wish they had not recycled what he said to Chief Tyrol in the boxing ring. It would have been more powerful, I think, to use a novel statement. I do like, however, that Laura only calls him “sir” when she is being personal and teasing him a bit. In this way, she maintains the hierarchy between them reserving “Admiral” for when she needs to be formal but can still react appropriately to his teasing her. In a shared scene, there is always still a point of view. But also, there is also the question of which character is actually driving, controlling or steering the scene. In this scene, the viewpoint character is Bill, but from the second she calls, Laura has control. This scene is about Bill's reaction to Laura when she instigates contact. So, in this case, our point of view character is not in control of the scene. We sort of see Laura's point of view, but that is because of the medium of story telling. If this were a written conversation, and in the common limited omniscient form, we would see Laura's words on the page and whatever Bill interpreted from her vocal qualities in his thoughts, depending on how much the writers wanted us to know. This is definitely a benefit of film, I think, because you can use the omniscient perspective more believably and more effectively because we can have visual contact with everyone involved in a scene if the writers so chose. Along those lines, it could be argued that point of view becomes shared and that the lines between who is driving a scene can be blurred. The point of discovery in this case is how Bill feels about what is happening between himself and Laura and what is happening to her. The climax of the scene is that little moment after he hangs up the phone. Adama looks down and blinks slowly. With this minute moment we know he loves her, or is at least beginning to and he is afraid of losing her. Thus the reveal and the point of the scene. All of that said, it is still worth noting Roslin's perspective. Why did she call? We know it is not because she could not get her fat, lazy ass out of her rack. Laura called because she wanted Bill to make her feel better. She too used humor to lubricate the conversation-she wanted him to make her laugh, or smile or distract her from the unpleasantness of her coming day in anyway possible. She called because she needed encouragement and needed a friend. As I noted in A Day in the Life, Laura is more direct and has more guts than Bill does when it comes to their relationship, but both are actively pushing the envelope of late. Here the writers do live up to their promise and give us, and Laura, what we really wanted from Bill: support. We would have felt cheated by the scene without Bill's last line, unless his character was really that much of an ass, which he is not. Just one more odd thing of note: what is with the creepy music? The bell and then the oboe, is that not the same creepy music used for Laura's dream in the opera house? So I just checked, it is not exactly the same, but it is in the same key, I think and definitely of similar style. The creepy music stops when he answers the phone and the next time we here music it is the Roslin/Adama theme we have heard before. Exposition Scene II: (Brief Structural Note: Looking through, scene by scene, the exposition is honestly longer than the rising action, by quite a bit. Because so many story lines are emerging/coming to a head, I have found that the lines between exposition and rising action are notably blurred. If someone else has a better idea about structure here, please enlighten me, maybe there is a name for what is happening here of which I am ignorant.) Following up with the introduction to the music, we tip toe into Chief Tyrol's quarters at night and peep in on Anders and Tory. And, the NICU nurse in me rages see is baby sleeping on his belly!!!! NO! BAD! DO NOT DO THIS! For all the campaigning, teaching, pleading and reasoning we do with new parents, some IDIOT thinks it is still ok enough to show that crap on television. This is NOT ok, not even in fiction, especially fiction that is supposedly relevant to our real lives. Putting your baby to sleep on its belly is a recipe for a dead baby ladies and gentlemen. GRRRRRR. Back to sleep... Ok, coming down off the soap box. Well, almost, when the child is old enough to position itself during sleep, it can sleep however it wants. I do not believe Tyrol's baby is that old. Now, really, Tyrol wanders through the bowels of the ship listening to the music. He seems really peaceful with his head leaning against the giant fan cage. Tory seems disturbed by the music as does Anders. Tigh is being driven crazy by it. But Tyrol, what a strange reaction, he hums happily at work, in his rack, wandering through the ship listening to music. I wonder if we will see why he is not disturbed by it some time later. Because it bears mention, Anders catting around seems so fitting after he complained about Starbuck's similar behavior while she was alive. My one question is, how on Earth, or rather how in the universe did he end up hooking up with Tory? I was under the impression that she did not spend that much time off Colonial One. But then, which ship did she come from anyway, after Billy's death? We know from the podcast that Roslin knows about this affair, but we have not been shown as an audience that, so in our world she does not. What an odd place to find ourselves, as an audience. I do feel badly for Seelix, though, she seems much to sweet to get involved with a guy like Anders. He plays too rough I think. All of that said, I hope the writers do not make too much more trouble of love triangles involving Sam. We really have had enough of that. Especially if Starbuck is about to return to us in some capacity. Exposition Scene III: Oh Lee. How perfect, honestly, that Lee behaves like a college student here. He has a resource and because of that he suddenly thinks he knows how to steer events. Lampkin's protégé, he approaches his master with an idea from a book. Now, even though it turns out that Lampkin uses that idea to his advantage, Lee himself could not have pulled off the stunt that Lampkin does later. He understands the letter, but not necessarily the application of his lecture. I have yet to think of Lee as a mature adult, though he was making progress when he took command of the Pegasus, and still here he is wonderfully juvenile. I applaud this consistency of character. I just have to note that this is one of the few brave moments Gaius Baltar has ever known. We do not see Six whispering in his ear to be strong, this is Baltar himself getting a spine, for once. Here, the writers use a golden opportunity, Baltar's ignorance of legal matters, to lead the audience to a conclusion that they may otherwise might not have made. Because we're winning we're actually losing. Tactical victories are pissing off the judges. Just a thought on acting, I really hate it when actors put their hands over their mouths to show fear or horror. I just never buy it. Anyone else in that camp? What I am wondering about is on what grounds Lee brings up the possibility of a miss-trial. Why was Lee thinking about a miss-trial? A line or two later, he reveals to Lampkin his father's drunken spouting and yet when Lampkin decides to go ahead and use that to their advantage, Lee seems surprised. We do not get enough information about this to make it believable in my opinion. Was he just reading randomly, or did he decide that the fact that everyone in the courtroom hates Baltar was enough of a reason to make the suggestion? It did not occur to Lee in the moment that Lampkin would use the Admiral's words in court because Lee refused to testify about that later. If he had purposefully told Lampkin what his father said so they could go for a miss-trial, he would have been willing to testify. Exposition Scene IV: This scene provides us with some nice depth and texture as we have come to expect from Battlestar. We begin with a news broadcast about the previous day in trial being watched by some of the deck hands. This minuscule amount of time spent serves several purposes. First it gives us an auditory and visual reminder of the occurrences that would have a profound effect on the crew of the Galactica without having to use the rehashing technique: “Last time on Battlestar Galactica”. It also, as just mentioned, gives us texture. Like the scene with Adama shaving, showing us little pieces of the world that are less significant to the story, or in this case, a rehashing combined with a few visual details, let us sink into world and forget we are watching a television program. I believe that texture is a crucial element in making an audience return to the bar for another drink, so to speak. If the bar patron likes the drink, that's great, but the drink can probably be purchased elsewhere. But if the bar patron thinks the glass it comes in is unique and notices the atmosphere of the bar is intriguing, this bar will make much more money than on that just serves alcohol in a boring glass. Think of the alcohol as the main plot and the glass/bar atmosphere as the texture. Both well done make a sweet joint. Lastly, the camera shot over the shoulders of the deck hands make a nice lead up into the scene with Racetrack. We see her in the background standing on a raptor while we are hearing and seeing the news. She attracts our curiosity because she is a character we know so therefore she is there for a reason. She also starts speaking before she is the subject of the shot. We are still hearing the punch line about Tigh killing his wife when she starts talking. I am sure I am not the only one who was wondering who was going to train new recruits now that Starbuck is dead. I think Racetrack is a good choice as I have liked her since we met her eons ago and am looking forward to learning more about her. That said, I do not want this to be at the expense of more important people, like Zarek and of course Roslin. Her Canadian accent cracks me up though. Did anyone else notice that? Then, for the second time this scene, they layer sounds. Often, if characters are talking over one another, it can be hard to get everything out of the scene, at least I feel it so. But humming and the static sound distract us while still allowing us to hear Racetrack. This distraction is a great way to give us Sam's perspective because clearly, the Chief distracts him and our attention wanders with Sam's. Creative visual cutting makes the scene here. If we had just been focused on Racetrack and started hearing the music, we would have been confused, but repeating a close up of an ear, which we have seen before, lets us know who is listening to what and that others are not hearing the same things. When Sam confronts Tyrol about his humming, I like the way Tyrol seems sleep deprived but still not really worried about the music that has permeated his mind to the point of singing. Only after having watched the scene a few times did I catch the non sequitur line “some way out of here” at the end of Tyrol's line. Sprinkling the lines of the song through the episode is a neat way to expose us to the lyrics and it definitely adds to the creepy factor. The idea that the song is from childhood is, I think, something to pay attention to. Ron Moore tells us that the Final Five are a fundamentally different kind of Cylon. We know that Tigh, at least, has a verifiable long history with Adama which implies that he may have even had a childhood. At least, he ages. Maybe the song is from their childhoods, which were really test tubes or hatching ponds in the far past when humans first started making Cylons. But then, they are all different ages so who knows? It is not until the very last moments of this scene that Tyrol starts to worry about the music he has been hearing. The other three have been concerned about it since they started hearing it, but the Chief has been a little slow. Also, I just love how Anders slides that line in there about not getting excited. It fits nicely and he does not realize, like Tyrol, that what he said is significant. Exposition Scene V This is an interesting decision on the part of our president. She refused Dilloxin when Cottle suggested it the first time around because of some very heinous side effects: hair loss, nausea/vomiting, muscle degeneration... It would seem that Roslin does not want to get another transfusion unless she absolutely has to, and maybe not then, now that she has the choice. Characterization of Roslin here demonstrates a change she has undergone since the original attack on the Colonies. Roslin no longer has any qualms about giving orders, to anyone. She is flippant when she feels awful rather than sentimental or sad. This may change as time goes on but what we are seeing from Roslin now is determination. She wants to live. A little theorizing: When we saw Laura's vision in Crossroads Part I, I immediately thought it was Chamalla. There may be another possibility, though. Cylons can project, so now that Laura has Cylon blood in her, presumably, it had at least some effect other than just curring cancer. Maybe Cylons can share their projections with each other, as Caprica Six implied with her comment about the impossibility of Laura being in their projection/dream. Hera may also have some projecting abilities and since there has, perhaps, never been a Cylon child before, Hera's projections may be a bit odd, immature. That, or she may be able to reach out to humans too: Baltar? These visions could be triggered by Hera herself and not be the projections of Caprica Six or Athena. It turns out I was right about Baltar being the one Caprica Six meets when she goes through the doors with Hera. Apparently the idea of Caprica Six with Hera scares Laura and Sharon both. Though Hera is laughing through both visions. Baltar seems, well afraid, but looks like he knows he needs to do something. Or maybe it is the idea of Hera with Baltar and Caprica Six that is so bad. Sharon would not be afraid of Caprica Six, but she easily could fear Baltar. Laura obviously would fear both. Athena was awake during the vision, I wonder if Six was. And it seems that Laura has to be asleep to share their projection. Maybe Laura will start seeing things when she is awake, as she did the first time around with Chamalla. When she and Athena visit Six, Athena says there is a list of impossible things, aside from Hera herself, does anyone know what else is on that list? Here Six confirms Laura's “feeling” about protecting Hera with her life. We know that Six cares about what happens to Hera, and Baltar? We still do not know how he figures into all of this. Side Note: Finally, Laura gets a scene with women! Mary McDonnell herself noticed and has petitioned RDM to have more scenes with women as she seems to almost exclusively act with men. I wonder how the relationship between Laura and Athena is going to change now that they are sharing visions. Athena has to be more than pissed still that Laura stole Hera, but Laura did not seem to worry at all about being alone with two Cylons behind a locked door. I think her apology about the shackles was even sincere. Exposition Scene VI: Tigh has decided that the music is Cylon sabotage. How he came to that conclusion we do not know, but he drops a few lines from the song during their conversation and his sanity/credibility is in enough doubt that even his friend Bill does not take him too seriously at this point. During this scene, Tigh seems to be hearing the music even though we are not. I like this new take on it. Adama thinks his friend is drunk/overwrought and crazy, so he does not hear the music and we get to see Tigh's behavior as odd as it is when we do not hear the music either. Music in the ship. Hmmm. Tigh cannot accept that it might be in his head, or not real at all. Rising Action Scene I: In the beginning I hated Baltar, hated watching him, hated his story arcs, feared him, thought he should not be on the show at all. That all just goes to show how well he pulled off being completely unlikable. But then, I saw the light. Baltar is a genius. Well, ok, but really, he is a great character! Callis is so talented and he has really grown into one of my favorites. And I still hate him! Callis' performance in this scene is fabulous. I almost bet that his comment about Butterfingers was an ad lib and it is priceless! Callis shows Baltar off his rocker in a very believable way. This is tough to do. Overacting of very intense scenes is a frequent problem for TV but Callis just continually delivers great performances. This character has gone through so much and I really believe him as changed as he is from the cold scientist we met in the miniseries. Another plug I would like to make is for Gaeta, Alessandro Juliani, I think. I have long liked him and I think he also gives a fabulous performance here. And of course, I cannot say enough good things about Lampkin, he is simply great. A smaller detail, the frown Roslin gives lets us know that she knows Gaeta lied, but I do not think she is really sure how she feels about it. She wanted that to be true, if they buy it, it would greatly aid her side, but she knows its a lie... Climax Scene I: A few overall comments about this very long scene. First, even after having seen it several times before getting to this point in my blog, I watched it through beginning to end and beyond before I thought about writing something. That tells me that it did its job well in holding my attention dramatically. Secondly, I am not just sure where to start, or that I have all that much to say that is not plot related. This also speaks well to the execution. I will make the effort anyway, but will likely just nit pick. Lampkin puts Lee on the stand. I am annoyed that they made the prosecution as weak as they did. By having Lampkin able to cite precedences off the top of his head just made the prosecution look incompetent. I really believe that the fight should have been much harder for Lampkin. This was just too easy. A major weakness of this scene is also its strength is other places. Generally, reaction shots of the on lookers are not working well. Half the time, the emotions we see seem over done, and the other half the time the crowd, including Baltar, look asleep, bored. I just do not think this would be boring for those present. Another nit pick there is an overuse of repeated phrases and words. The timing is off and it is done too frequently. For example, Lampkin does not wait long enough for Lee's attention before repeating his name. The other really bothersome one was at the end of Lee's speech when he says “not to me, not to me.” If they had saved the repetition for that line alone, it would have been much better, but since they used repetition through out this scene, it was a problem. When Lee starts his speech, we get a reaction shot of Roslin. Roslin's reactions to this speech are what I was referring to as the strength in reaction shots. I also said earlier that it bothers me when actors cover their mouths when they are afraid, shocked, nervous, horrified... But here, the way Roslin does it surreptitiously works very well. She sees where Lee is going and she cannot believe this is all falling apart before her eyes. Anger and hate and disbelief are behind that hand as well as horror. Maybe that's why it worked here and not other places. Again, a few lines later, the aghast look on Roslin's face when Lee mentions her pardon sells so well! It is a wonder she did not explode by the end of his speech. Then her look shifts to incredulity. He mentions Adama's coup d'etat. She just cannot believe what she is hearing, how could her words, her meaning be used for such an awful purpose? How dare Lee turn her words against her, twist them? She does not see justice here, just rage. Then, disbelief and rage turn to listening as we have seen her character do before. She got pissed about the tylium workers, then she started listening and problem solving. This is one of her greatest strengths. A few odds and ends: Baltar himself started listing to this witness feeling hopeless and desperate, but now he has figured out what Lampkin was up to and he suddenly respects Lee Adama on a whole new level. It should be noted that the Admiral does as well by the end as he vote clearly shows. Also, Baltar's little friend who brought him the photo actually made eye contact with the President. We know how good her memory is and that woman is screwed if she ever gets caught with anything to do with Baltar or anything else. Roslin will nail her ass to the wall. As a general rule, I am not typically a fan of allowing characters to make long impassioned speeches to illustrate to the audience a point. Star Trek made a habit of ending dilemmas with a speech from the highest ranking official present, giving a moral to the story. I feel that that cheats the audience out of the opportunity to consider all of the alternatives and make their own moral decisions about the matter at hand. It is spoon feeding so to speak. I do feel that way about Lee's speech. That said, the scene worked dramatically because Lee's character finally got some spine and came out of his shell. Letting Lee express himself was a wonderfully insightful glimpse into his personality. Here we are given an illustration of Lee's values and Lee gets a chance to prove his integrity to his father. Lee's idealism is both a blessing and a curse to Lee and those around him. Gaeta, too, was an idealist, but his world fell apart when Baltar turned out to be a dead beat. Gaeta sought revenge, became corrupt to the point of lying on the stand. Lee might see more clearly on some issues that perhaps Gaeta did regarding the election, but being unable to see shades of grey is very risky. He alienated those closest to him, his wife, his father, his friend the president, for an ideal. How far will he go the next time? Will he ever really see the balance of things? His speech also voiced what we all were, like Roslin, not wanting to see: the dirty, messy truth of the matter. They do not have evidence of Baltar's actual acts of treason and Lee was totally right that the trial was built on emotion. But he left out a key one: rage. Also, knowing that Baltar is guilty of treason does not make it provable. This was unfortunately an example of telling rather than showing, but it served its purpose. The writers forced the audience to consider a perspective other than that of Laura Roslin's and Admiral Adama's. Our illustrious leaders have always been “right,” well most of the time anyway, but here Laura is clearly shrouded by rage, vengeance and emotional pain inflicted upon her. I want to see Baltar die for his crimes, and I know more of them than Roslin does. But, given the evidence that the fleet could possibly find out, he is not guilty. I am not sure how better the writers could have shown us this short of giving Lee his speech, but it would be neat to see an alternative. Falling Action Scene I: The scene immediately following the verdict was predictable and the character we really feel sorry for is Laura Roslin. Now she has to deal with all of her emotions herself and does not get her “justice”, her vengeance really, to help her start healing from everything that man has cost her. It will take a while for Laura to be ok again. Falling Action Scene II: Yet another stellar performance from James Callis, we almost feel sorry for him. I had been wondering what the writers were going to do to tie up the whole, “well, what do we do with him now” problem. I love how they let us see his thinking about that and the reaction of other characters to that very problem. It makes sense that no one knows what to do with Baltar, or wants to help. Except when we see those odd women. Who are they anyway? Maybe they were his whores on New Caprica. So, five points for not tying that up nice and neatly for us. Baltar really is pitiful at the end of that scene, he is so completely alone that we almost sympathize, but then we remember we hate him and we share the vengeful chuckle of Romo Lampkin and Lee Adama as they turn their backs on this despicable person. I also just loved the cat metaphor. Falling Action Scene III: Even after Lee's speech, he remains rather juvenile. He asks his master if he know what would happen on the stand. Of course Lampkin knew. This is nice character follow through for Lee. He begins to figure out his masters game and then sees the glasses and the discarding of the cane. Lee begins to get the art of the game and realizes that perhaps Romo Lampkin is not anymore honest than Lampkin suggested Lee's grandfather was. Falling Action Scene IV: I just love this emotional little scene between Bill and Laura. We rarely get to see Laura falling apart, but here she is. It just seems so unfair that when she most needs Bill as her friend, to support her, commiserate with her, he is not truly able to fulfill that role even though he wants to. Certainly, part of Adama's difficulty in casting his vote was knowing that he would have to own up to Laura eventually. We can see his empathy and how much this decision cost him personally in his eyes and in how he rubbed the bridge of his nose before she starts talking. Maybe there are those that will disagree with me on this point, but I feel that Laura's reaching out to comfort Bill when she is the one falling apart is a very feminine thing to do. It is easier to deal with someone else's hurt than one's own and I myself do this and have seen other women do it. Is this a stereotype, or just a good observation of female nature? I also appreciate this because often the ideas presented as feminine are way off base from my reality and often very insulting. I do not feel insulted by this one and think it plays into the realism of a friendship between a woman and a man. She seeks to draw him out and comfort him both because she feels empathetic toward him but also so she does not feel so alone in having difficulty coming to terms with events. Not getting the comfort she needs from him, she pushes him away, physically and emotionally. Then she turns her back on him. The shock of learning his vote makes her feel more alone and like he turned his back on her. This is a hard knock. Mary McDonnell's performance in this scene is enthralling. She sells this truly as if she is feeling it; I believe she is because of what she has said about this character. Listening to her interviews makes me think that Mary is very much attached to Laura and that she internalizes Laura's feelings to an extent that I think is rare. I also think that this is part of what makes her such a good actress. I also believe that Olmos shares that ability and that this may be the reason the two of them have such great chemistry. Adama's reaction to her turning her back on him is heartwarming. He truly does want to comfort her, and listening to his voice here makes me wonder what he might do if they were alone. His words clearly do have the intended effect because she opens up to him again and lets him see how badly she is hurting. She takes his encouragement but does not say anything. Perhaps he has diffused her anger just a hair. The long look they share just before the cut seems so real. Neither one knows quite what to say to the other, both are just feeling and sharing pain with each other. What a long way these two have come. From a tentative handshake, to falling in love, to truly being able to confide in one another. They are very fortunate indeed because most people in the fleet have found themselves very much alone. They easily could have fought one another the entire way and never seen daylight, but now they trust each other and are a team. Adama's comment about looking to the future was clearly meant to be optimistic and comforting. He hoped to extend an olive branch to her and hopes she will forgive him. It was also a way of expressing his confidence in her. Falling Action Scene V: This is more a series of short scenes clumped together that I will call one scene for cohesion purposes. Baltar's little walk through the hall was a nice reminder that multiple things were taking place at the same time. My one regret is that I could not hear what they said to him. Back in the CIC Laura seems to have taken Adama's words to heart because her posture is that of someone determined rather than someone feeling lost as she felt a moment ago. Many of us have been wondering about Laura's sudden headache, or perhaps nausea, just before the power goes out. My personal theory is that she is about to join Six, Baltar and Hera in the opera house, which she has not yet done while awake, to our knowledge. Another possibility is that she is affected by the nebula. The reason for the power outage could be a spiritual one which would affect her as well. A third possibility is that she hears the music too, whether or not she is a Cylon. She has her hands over her ears briefly just before we cut to Tigh with his ear against the bulkhead. Now the sixty-four thousand dollar question: who are the women abducting Baltar? I have no idea. Cut to Six: She, Baltar and Hera get to visit the Final Five whether or not they can recognize them from that distance remains to be seen. I really want to visit the Orpheum, by the way. What a beautiful place! Cut to our new Cylons just before they meet: Anders has a headache, Tory gags into the toilet and they are all reciting lines from the song. Could Anders' headache and Tory's nausea be related to the president's? Hmmm. (For the record, I do not believe Roslin is a Cylon, but there is evidence that points that direction.) Cut to the gym: Tigh says it all: Whoah! I would just like to take this moment to plug Michael Hogan. While I do not like Tigh personally, I believe that Hogan does an outstanding job with him and that he is a great character even though I do not like him. I wish they had varied the dialog just a little more, their speeches were just a little to similar. The delivery award goes to Tigh, again! Cut to CIC: It has finally become obvious to me that I have been suspending my disbelief for my entire film watching career and did not realize it. Actions that are auditory are almost never layered. For example, Gaeta would have picked up the phone immediately after Adama gave the order for condition one. But we wait until there is audio space for him to do so. If they ran that inefficiently in real life, they would never have survived the initial attack. This avoidance of layering is clearly a workable tool, or maybe we have just been conditioned to accept it as necessary for practicality's sake. One instance of sound layering that does come to mind had a very distinct feel and effect. Roslin is interrogating Baltar and the two yell and each other simultaneously. This gave a very believable texture to the scene and the message was communicated no matter which person the audience chose to listen too. I however, watched that several times to hear both sides of the conversation and because I am such an auditory person, I was bothered that I could not get it all in one whack. This is not to say it should not be done, I think it was a great idea, but it was more difficult for me to tolerate. A character note: Roslin has learned a thing or two from hanging out in the CIC. It is she who reads the dradis console and alerts everyone to the threat. Often, characters are not allowed to step outside their usual roles, but here, we are privileged to see that Roslin is capable of learning and changing. She came to Galactica wanting a networked computer system and needing a tour guide to understand ship's systems. Now she has picked up on a thing or two and can interpret a dradis reading. This is also progress in the portrayal of women in general, she does not remain ignorant of technical details and dependent on the men around her. Thank you RDM for granting us just a little more realism! Cut to Gym: This decision I believe, comes as a relief to the fans who are thinking: NOOOO! My favorite character is now a fracking toaster!! EEK! Well, yes boys and girls, they are Cylons, maybe, but they are still the people we have known and loved from the start. We were told the Final Five would be different, and so far, RDM has lived up to this promise. Ok, I admit it, Tigh is growing on me, I love watching him even if I cannot stand him. Maybe he, like Baltar will become a closet favorite. Now Cally: I loved her up until she became whiny and was shown to not see shades of grey. I am referring to Dirty Hands. I am ok with characters being blind to things, but not unrealistically so. Not to the point of stupidity when they have not otherwise been stupid. So, here in the hanger bay when Cally steps into the Chief's roll when he is gone, she redeems her self in my eyes just a little. For once, she is the Cally I remember and she is not whining. I also just love the Chief's “I'll tell you later.” I can't wait to see that conversation! Cut to Apollo in the Hall: This superman move seems widely loved by the boards. I am sure it must not be unintentional. Maybe the change in Lee is going to last, will he continue to have a spine??? We shall see! Cut to Tigh and Tory entering the CIC: Ooo! Yay for good use of auditory time and yay for realistic texture! Tigh and Tory hear the Admiral speaking before we can see him! This is rare! Or at least I think it is, someone will inevitably point out other instances of this, but I cannot think of one. I think this method of maintaining a point of view while giving us necessary information should be used more often because it feels so real. Often in life we come in to a scene partway through a conversation and have to surmise the details for ourselves, no one narrates neatly for us. I would also like to applaud the creepy factor of the conversation between the Admiral and Tigh and then Tory and the President. This is when it really hit me what RDM had done. The right hands of our leaders are Cylons. Gods help us all! I was just shivering and thinking eeewww! That and I started praying for Adama and Roslin, if these Cylons decide to change loyalties, they are going to be in a world of hurt to say the least. Cut to External Environment: Everything was ok, story wise, until Starbuck said she had been to Earth and that she would take us there. I grumbled and suspended my disbelief consciously in spite of my joy and seeing her. But then BSG jumped the shark. WE SHOULD NEVER EVER HAVE SEEN EARTH! They ruined their documentary style, destroyed the dramatic tension that had been our curiosity about whether Earth really existed or not and added MAGIC to this universe. GODS DAMN IT! BAD MOVE. Can you tell I am upset about this? General Commentary: The first time I watched it, I giggled in delight to see Starbuck and yes to see Earth. But then I realized what they had just done and have fumed about it since then. I was mildly ok with the mythos surrounding Gods and God, prophecy and the like, but now, we have this magical element of the camera just going to Earth? What the FRACK. This just became a fantasy. That said, I love fantasy, but they broke their world! They broke it! That wonderful real feeling is gone. The feeling that this could really happen is shattered, destroyed, wrecked. ARGH! Ok, down off the soapbox for a moment at least. Let us discuss Starbuck. I have two beliefs that are existing more or less in equal measure at the moment: one, she is in his head and Lee now has a Head Starbuck. Two: she is a Cylon and she resurrected some how. I am not of the camp that thinks she might have survived that explosion. The pressure would have crushed even a Cylon's body in an environment suit even if she could have been picked up by the heavy raider-which I also believe was not really there. The resurrection theory is a bit more problematic than the Head Starbuck one. The Cylons themselves do not know, except for Three, who the Final Five are and therefore might be slightly surprised if their goo suddenly made another body. Now, we do not know for sure how the bodies are made. It could be that the goo just accepts the program of the downloading Cylon and selects the appropriate body. If that is the case, then none of the Cylons would have seen the Final Five because they have never downloaded, until now. During the Pegasus arc we do see what appears to be a stock pile of Six bodies, however, those bodies have to be made somehow. There would not have been a need for a stockpile of Final Five bodies, so whatever that mechanism is could have created a Starbuck body and put it in the vat of goo. What a surprise to the Cylons that would be, don't you think? With a lot of guessing, it seems she could have resurrected. She did appear with the Cylon fleet after all. Thoughts? Now, on to music: Sigh! This was also a deal breaker for me. BSG music has been a little odd since day one and I have grown to appreciate that and expect it from BSG. Something that is so clearly of our world was also a shattering point. The world broke at that point as well. If they had done that song in the style of the rest of the music, say as a folksong that might be reminiscent of familiar Celtic themes would have gone over much better I think, as that was established early on and carried through. We had seen no music of this style previously. I also want to gripe because, as an auditory person, lyrics are important to me and I could not understand the lyrics in places which made me feel like I was missing something, which I was. But then, I am not a rock fan so perhaps I am just unwilling to accept it (dives for cover against the rotten fruit barrage). Closing Thoughts: Ok, I cheated. I wrote up to this point, then I went and listened to the podcast. Really, I have forgotten a bunch of what I intended to write here and hoped that I could remember if I listened to RDM's version of events. Nothing else came to mind, so if I think it up later, I will add it later. But I need to get this published already. It's worse than late. After listening to the podcast, some of what I thought was so bad, was a little more palatable because I understand the reasons behind it. I still hate being shown Earth, but I may be able to forgive it because RDM says he really wants to deliver on a promise. Ok, I understand about making promises to the audience and then the requirement of living up to them.... but it could have been done better. I also still dislike the use of All Along the Watchtower, but at least this was done for artistic reasons, was thought out and considered carefully. Fine, not my choice and I don't have to like it but, fine. Lastly, really this time, I am excited about season four, I believe that the writers, while they make a lot up as they go, do have a plan, an over arching road map and at least, with all that has happened, I have not lost my trust in them. This season certainly had some bumps and rough places, but I am still on the bandwagon. Tags: bsg
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21 Mars 2007 BSG Crossroads Part 1 Yet again I have been hung up on this episode emotionally for the past few days. I suppose that is just a sign of good drama. But I find myself unable to back away enough to even think about writing these for several days after I see the episode. As you may have guessed from my previous blogs, I have a definite leaning toward Laura Roslin so you can see why I was upset by recent events. I remain undecided whether this was a good dramatic move or not because I knew it was coming and because I had decided long ago that if she were my character, that is what I would do with her. That does not make it hurt less. I have decided that reading the boards is ok, but that I will not listen to the podcast until after I have written these anymore because I am too heavily influenced by what RDM says. That said, let's dive in. Last week I got so distracted by what I was writing that I forgot to label my parts after the exposition. I will try to do better this week. Recapitulation: Laura as history keeper is not a new idea, but I have a feeling that she has continued to write history as it happens and will compile it someday. Assuming she lives that long, and if not she will give her work to someone else to do. Some complained about her narrative when we saw it originally, but I found it compelling. This may be because I am a very auditory person, decidedly not visual, and because I just love listening to her voice. But I also believe that monologues can be very useful when well done to give us valuable character insights and to allow them to develop in ways we might otherwise never have time to see in this medium. In brief, this recapitulation was effective without being overly deceptive like the previous one. We were reminded of New Caprica, were introduced to Lampkin, and brought the Lee/Adama argument to the forefront without taking up too much time about it. Exposition: Scene I My first reaction to seeing Laura in the Opera House on Kobol was: “I knew it!” But what I thought I knew was that she was still taking chamalla. Partially true, but not for the reason I had hoped. I wanted us to see Laura as flawed enough to suffer an addiction to that stuff because I thought it would put an interesting strain on her character. She would be opposed to being a drug addict, but she became rather attached to her visions and the withdrawal was clearly unpleasant. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of her dream. This is the second visually gorgeous dream Laura has had. The first was in the forest with Leoben. I adore her suit, but I wonder why they straightened her hair. She is lovely either way, but why? I have been curious about Laura's feelings toward Hera since she gave her to Mia. I remember how she touched the baby's head, asked to come and visit from time to time then kept her at the school. Laura spent more than a year in close contact with Hera. Knowing how I touch babies' heads, how much I miss them when they leave my care and as a woman who does not have a baby herself, I think I have an inkling of how Laura might feel. She probably feels a little like a parent to Hera herself and after deciding to let her live, feels ultimately responsible to her for her well being and upbringing. She probably also felt that Hera was taken from her, almost as much as Sharon and Helo feel it, when Hera was presumed left on New Caprica. In a few words, Laura loves Hera as the child she never had. With the appearance of Hera in Laura's dream, I thought that Laura was trying to protect Hera both from Sharon and ultimately from Six. Both she and Sharon fail to keep Hera from Six, but Six picks up Hera in such a loving way that I then wondered if she was really a threat to Hera. And who was standing next to Six in the light? (Just a guess, I think it may have been Baltar.) Now that I know the ending, Laura knows that getting another transfusion from Hera may be difficult to obtain considering the parent factor. All kidnapping aside, I wish that Sharon and Helo could see Laura's motives outside their own emotional cloud because I believe Laura did the right thing initially. I believe that Laura made a morally repugnant decision in order to save a baby who she finally had come to realize as just that. A baby. Hera would not have been safe if the Cylons had known she was alive. And she could not really trust Sharon to raise her and by default, not Helo either. So, rather than airlocking a baby, which I was wanting her to do and might well have done if I were her, she came up with a better solution. This capacity to make decisions outside of her emotions has been one of the most wonderful to watch developments a female character has had in recent memory of TV. Granted, my television watching is VERY limited and has been for a long time. I can't stand most of the garbage put out over the airwaves. I wanted that development from Janeway or Voyager and she remained pinned by her emotions until I quit watching the show. Scully of the X-Files also tended to make more emotional decisions, though she showed more capacity for pragmatism than many female characters. Laura is much more like the real women I know and work with. We consider our emotions, but are not ruled by them like many seem to think women are. Or at least, popular media seems to portray us that way. Thank you RDM for making a real woman out of Laura Roslin! (Thank you Mary McDonnell for making her come alive for us.) Corruption. That word has been tossed around the boards lately with Roslin's name following. I intend to write a blurb about that sometime in the near future; it is a juicy enough topic to justify its own blog. But it certainly relates to this issue of Hera. The Lack of opening credits is a relief but also leaves me somewhat guessing where the end of the exposition is. For now, I believe the break is the beginning of the trial. I was so shocked to see the names during the action that I got distracted from what was going on because I am so accustomed to the music and visual beauty of the opening credits. THANK THE GODS there was no stupid spoiler track in fast forward for this episode. I think I have mentioned that I hate those. I also think it was wise to tell us a story rather than spoon feeding new audience with two opening sequences that are exactly the same each time. Exposition Scene II: Gaeta tells us that we are finally approaching the nebula they saw on Kobol. That is two references to Kobol in the exposition, something is definitely up. Tigh is tuning a radio, why? Hearing the music was really odd because I doubted anyone in the fleet has enough of a collection, or the time, to have a music radio station. Now, having read the boards, and realizing that only certain people are hearing/acknowledging the music, I have other thoughts on the matter. First, I do not believe Tory heard the music, I think she was at the bar for other problems and we will find out later what they are. Secondly, hearing music does not make Tigh and Anders Cylons. But it certainly adds to the case in the affirmative. That said, remember, both are basically psychotic after their losses, and just because Anders heard the music someone might have been broadcasting over the wireless once in the presence of a radio does not mean he hears it elsewhere. It also does not exclude Tigh from having a psychotic break. He may be hearing that music because he has lost it entirely, he was in sorry shape in this episode start to finish. So, while only two characters acknowledge the presence of the same music, we do not have damning evidence that either is a Cylon. Though I would personally love it if Tigh were. Seelix cuddling with Anders, cute, but it pisses me off that Anders cannot wait even a month before he starts womanizing again.... Beside the point. Seelix does not hear the music, Anders and Tigh do, but it is a noisy bar and the music is fading in and out of static. We still do not have ANY proof. Exposition Scene III: As I mentioned last week, Tory got the evil eye from Roslin about those papers and here again we see her mishandle a meeting badly. She is clearly off her rocker. I'll theorize about this later Exposition Scene IV: I am not so sure about this blessing business with the press bringing pictures of their kids for Baltar. Baltar thinks that they are crazy. Six thinks Baltar is holy. I think this seems largely irrelevant. Maybe they will prove me wrong, but this has no link to any of the rest of the episode what so ever. Exposition Scene V: Racetrack and her unnamed (to my knowledge) ECO go back to cover the rear and play cards. Necessary set up and necessarily brief. In this snippet they gave us some pretty effects and some of that delightful pilot chatter we have all come to enjoy as well as another glimpse into some minor characters. I think these peripheral characters will gain importance now that we have lost Starbuck. Especially Seelix and Racetrack because of the distinct lack of female characters now available. End Exposition: Five little scenes to give us a foundation. It moved fast enough, but not too fast, I was interested and curious about what I was seeing and they set up where they were going with the rest of the episode. Overall, effective, excepting the Baltar/Six bit. (Keeping my assumption that it will not be followed up upon.) Side note: James Callis is brilliant even in a short and irrelevant scene, he draws interest into his character and for once we do not have to suffer through watching him and Six have sex every time we see them. I have gotten SO tired of that. Rising Action: Scene I: Opening arguments. Each side tries to make an impact and sway the judges to their favor. I heart Romo Lampkin. He is just such a cool character. The prosecutions arguments were obvious and we knew what they would be before she opened her mouth. This is not to say she did not do a compelling job of presenting them, but they were not a surprise. The real dramatic high point was certainly Lampkin's speech. I loved his request to change their plea. How funny. I laughed. We all know he is full of shit about Roslin, she would have surrendered and probably died honorably in their Cylon detentions for refusing to collaborate. But then, they would never have created a permanent settlement on New Caprica if Laura Roslin had been president. Lampkin is right though, this trial is really about demons and hate. Especially those of Laura Roslin. He opens with a discussion about war. Payback. Righteous. Those are almost the words Roslin used about herself following the torture episode. She said that she genuinely wanted an admission of guilt, the righteous part, and, though she had told him she did not want to see him suffer, she admitted that she was willing to see him suffer a great deal to obtain that tiny admission, the payback part. Oh dear. No one really wants to admit that what they are doing is wrong, but Lampkin here throws it in our faces. Killing our enemies for righteous payback is WRONG. Ladies and gentlemen, war is abhorrent and morally wrong. Uh oh. Now I've stepped in it. That would mean that killing Cylons by airlock is wrong. That would mean that going to Iraq and bombing Afghanistan was wrong... hmm. Well, this comes down to pragmatism does it not? Humanity will not survive if it does not fight the Cylons. Airlocking a machine is not wrong, they're machines. Right? Hmm, well, not sure about that one either, now are we? Reasons matter. Justice matters. Airlocking Leoben was the right decision and while killing is wrong, it was the pragmatic decision. It is like Adama said: context matters. So, when we go to commit that HORRIBLE SIN, let's just hope we are justified by the context. Oh, and that there's a god or gods who will forgive us. The trial exists because Laura Roslin has demons she needs to get off her chest. She needs to feel that she did right by Baltar in the moral sense. Torture weighs heavily on Laura's mind and maybe, just maybe, by giving Baltar his trial, she can forgive herself and hang on to her humanity for just a little longer. I mentioned this in my last blog as well. Though it is much less glamorous, she hates Baltar and wants to be justified when she exacts her vengeance. How did Cavil put it? Something about covering her existential ass? Ah yes, Laura needs to cover her existential ass. And yes, she has been waiting for this day since she lost the election. He is right about that too. It is also a nice touch to remind us just how much Laura Roslin owes Baltar. Rising Action Scene II: Back to the raptor. I had a hard time catching what they said, but I think Racetrack was teasing her ECO about masturbating in his rack. Chuckle. If that's not the case, please correct me and tell me exactly what they did say. I hate it when I cannot catch dialog exactly. Good move Adama for making them stay longer. The Cylons are following. This is the only “action” bit in the entire episode. Good. Action is fun, but it is kind of like candy, sweet but short lived in the digestive tract. Rising Action Scene III: Laura outs herself here telling us she thinks Six would lay her life down for Hera, a direct reference to her vision. I do not think Adama means to be antagonistic when he questions her about her “feeling,” but she storms off shaking her head to the surprise of the others. Her outburst, “just do it, it doesn't hurt to ask,” is certainly an overt clue that something is up. Using this weak of a leadership tactic is very unlike Roslin. This is actually our third clue that all is not right with Laura Roslin. The first was the vision, then during court, she is gone for part of the opening arguments. If she had not felt it absolutely necessary, she would have been present for those I think. Lee is finally becoming observant, taking a lesson from his master, the Sith. He notices the president being brought tea at their meeting. I am certain she has not done this before. He also sticks around to watch his father go and talk to a clearly distraught Roslin in private behind the glass. It is at this point that he really notices the tea. It probably smells a little funny. Remember that Lee has come in contact with chamalla before when they were in jail together and she offers him some. He probably smelled it then. I think he sniffs the tea to show us that he smells it and to confirm the smell is what he remembers. (It would have been dramatically more difficult to show that Lee probably recognized the scent of chamalla long before putting his nose in Roslin's drink, but I believe he knew as soon as he could smell the tea in the room.) At this point, I think he is genuinely concerned about the president, and not really thinking about using this against her, though it may very well dawn on him at this point. Rising Action Scene IV: Bless her sunny optimistic soul indeed, Tigh, that's close to blaspheme, referring to her so. Tigh does not like Roslin, but he likes her better than the alternative so he'll put up with her. This is certainly not a cozy relationship. It will be interesting to see him react when he figures out his best friend the Old Man loves her. Sorry Six fans, I think Tricia Helfer needs MUCH more seasoning before she'd be tolerable to watch next to the others on this show. She just lacks. I have yet to be impressed with her acting abilities and this scene's opening is particularly bad. She has learned how to do somethings convincingly along the way, I'll give her that, but this is borderline painful to watch. I cannot figure out what she is feeling and what she is emoting with her face is not believable. However, hitting Tigh was entirely convincing. She has promise, but needs a few more years on the job. Climax Scene I: What was the question? Sigh, he's drunk again. From the look on Roslin's face, here, we know that Adama told her about Ellen. This is a sign of their deepening trust for one another. Bill would not tell just anyone about how his best friend murdered his own wife. Poor Lee! Daddy sees him talk to Lampkin just before Lampkin nails Tigh and Adama is so blinded by his anger and grief that he cannot take Lee at his word. This is one of the more heart breaking moments. So many demons flying free in that courtroom! Adama is nursing his grief over Kara and Laura both in addition to his anger at Lee, Laura is sitting on the secret of her cancer, and Tigh is drunkenly admitting to a very sad murder. Climax Scene II/Rising Action Scene V: Tory goes into the bar, sits down, does not know what she wants and watches Anders cuddling with Seelix. At first I thought Tory was just jealous and that maybe she wanted Anders herself. Anders looking back at her in the presence of the music adds more fuel to the fire that they both may have something funny going on and it may not be that they just had a romp a while back. I am just guessing based on the look about the romp. This is arguably rising action as we are not really seeing a conflict here, but it directly follows a climactic moment. It may be interjected here to link Tigh, Anders and Tory. I think I am more and more convinced that this is really rising action. Climax Scene IIa: Roslin on the witness stand, testifies that Baltar sent her off to be slaughtered. Did anyone else notice Baltar nodding in agreement when she said that he ordered her execution? I think he might actually have truly desired her death on New Caprica and while he did not think it was right to kill the other 200, gee, it might have been nice if Roslin were dead. Perhaps Baltar realizes, in the next moment, when Lampkin says they should talk, that not only did he actively seek Laura Roslin's death, but that she has got him pinned like a bug. Hence the next scene. Climax Scene III: Lee acting like an eager college student. I cannot praise the writing of Romo Lampkin enough. He is fantastic, fantastic, fantastic! Ok, so really, I love how he pushes Lee in any way he can to serve his ultimate purpose, doing his job. Lampkin is a moral person, but his morals are not idealistic morals like most of us would like to have, he has big picture morals and weighs his values one against the other using always the one that matters the most. This is the same pragmatism we have also been watching develop in Laura Roslin. (We think Romo Lampkin is slimy, what will Laura Roslin become?) Callis here is also wonderful. He calls Roslin a fanatic but we know he is scared shitless of her. It is as he says, unless he can discredit her, he is screwed. His desperation is right there in our faces and feels so real. A+ for Callis. Idealism. Lee is guilty as charged. Belief in the system. Lee's naivety is never more apparent and glaring than here. He wants justice, the real thing, as if it actually exists. Unfortunately, justice lives with the gods and the gods do not live with humanity. Poor Lee just does not know that yet. Lampkin knows, Dee knows. Even Roslin, who is more idealistic than she wants to be, knows that. Hell, even Baltar, maybe especially Baltar, knows. This large pile of steaming poo is just waiting for Lee to learn this horribly painful lesson. We shall see if he learns it or if he is just going to come out smelling wretchedly. Darkness is beckoning Lee Adama. Here he begins to see that there is an enormous price to be paid if one wants to clutch and cling to ultimate Justice. It requires a piece of Lee Adama's soul. He must betray a friend, hurt her in a way he is not even quite aware of yet. Climax Scene IV: Adama pours Tigh into bed and comforts him. Adama is almost as drunk as Tigh. Strangely, as time goes on, Adama seems to believe more and more in Earth and is clinging to it more and more as he loses people he is close to. Bill tells his friend he has to go when he does not know how to comfort him about Ellen. He simply has too much pain running around his head to be of much use to his friend right then. Climax Scene V: The still drunk Admiral keeps right on drinking during his meeting with Lee. And I was concerned about seeing Laura with the cup in her hand more frequently than we had previously. But Adama! Yikes, he has truly lost it. We have never seen him really drunk and having lost his judgment. Here, Adama goes too far. He is blind and makes a poor decision. He is reeling from Kara's death, reeling from the pressures of the trial and then Lee has the nerve to ask about Laura, his latest grief. Lee, is honestly worried about her. He might have chosen not to go after her in court if Adama had confided in him, I believe. Likely, Lee would have researched chamalla and gathered enough evidence, at least for himself, to prove to himself that her being on the drug would not discredit her testimony. Betrayal is just not Lee Adama's style, at least not intentional betrayal. He may have sided with Roslin over Kobol, but that was about the system. We know just how passionately Lee believes in the system and it is one of his greatest assets as well as his greatest flaw. Lee does not consider the Kobol incident a betrayal of his father, but rather an upholding of the system. He also considered his questioning Laura about chamalla to be upholding the system, but I think after he betrays her unwittingly, he begins to see that there is more to life than absolutes. Up until that point his world has been very black and white. In his accusations, Adama is not referring to Tigh when he calls Lee a coward about not having the guts to go after a man himself, but handing that shift to a stranger. Yes, it was Tigh who suffered, but Adama feels that Lee sold out Tigh to get to his father out of spite. This uncharacteristic short sightedness on Adama's part scares me. We have relied on his big picture thinking to, in concert with Roslin, ferry out the best way to act after careful consideration. Here, he just blindly rants. Anger and hate and grief have turned Adama into an unreliable monster. I was wondering how much more broken Adama could be after last week's episode. I guess I found out. He is running low on confidants. He just booted Lee, who had extended an olive branch by asking about the President, even if he did have ulterior motives. Tigh is MUCH too far gone to be of any use and now Roslin has her own worries. Maybe he will turn again to Dee. I think that would be a good development of that relationship. Particularly now that she sided with Laura Roslin over Lee and his precious system. Climax Scene VI: The steaming pile of poo is directly in front of Lee, and he takes a nose dive into it. Lee does not have a clue about being a lawyer and depends on Lampkin to bale him out. We have another moment here where we can question the integrity of our Madame President. She puts her glasses back on and avoids the truth about medications because she sees where Lee is going with his line of questioning. I bet she could probably write down and spell correctly the vast majority of the drugs she was on and since she knew the only one he was interested in, she stayed away from perjury by only the narrowest of margins. Or perhaps I am just so uncomfortable with that potential corruption that I do not want to see what is right in front of my face. Clearly an evasion, Laura puts her glasses back on, changes her posture and avoids looking Lee in the eye for a moment. None of this is proof of a lie, but it is highly suggestive of one. She may have told a half truth, but it is also possible that she plain ass lied. I hate that idea because I want to think that while she's on the stand, Laura Roslin, as president, will stand up for the system. After all, she represents it and after all, she is out to reclaim her morality. At this point Laura does not see a way out from where Lee is going, but she does try to protect her credibility regarding the visions, perhaps successfully. After that she gives a little “hmm” at Lee because she knows he will not take her hint to drop it. That look on Lampkin's face is horrible. He smells blood and escaping demons and he thinks it smells delicious. Note however, that aside from Tory and Adama, who know the truth, Lampkin is the only one who gets where Lee is going at this point. Baltar is lost and so is the prosecution. The Sith is also quite proud of his pupil at this point. And Dee! I think she smells blood too, but she does not quite know why. Through this whole scene, we see Lee torn between his loyalty to the president, perhaps we could call it friendship, and his moral pursuits. Laura can read his face loud and clear so she makes a last appeal to his decency as her friend. I was expecting either a hard angry look or a poker face from Laura but what I got was much more satisfying. We all know that she is thinking, “please don't do this.” But to have her whisper to him, in front of a mic, and actually beg is so humbling for her character. By now I had pretty much guessed what was up as I am sure most others had, but we finally got to see a little piece of Laura's humanity on display. She is hurting, badly. Badly enough that she is willing to beg. This is not manipulation of Lee, it has nothing to do with Baltar or his trial, hate or anger. It has to do with something deeply personal and deeply painful to Laura. From the look on Adama's face, he reads her lips or hears her do this and his rage is ill concealed. He is clearly wondering if Lee will go and stab one of the last friends he has left in the universe. Considering Lee's question to Adama about Laura earlier, I think Lee may suspect what has been changing between the Admiral and the President. He all but got confirmation in Adama's answer if he was present enough outside his anger to listen. Adama, knowing this, probably also considers this attack on Laura an attack on him as well. As illustrated by the defiant look Lee gives his father in response to Adama's rage, after Laura confesses, Adama considers this to be proof that he sold out Tigh too and that this is really about Lee's anger toward him. Adama thinks that Lee will go after anyone close to Adama in order to get back at him, previous loyalties be damned. We know this is not Lee, but Adama cannot see it. Lee himself wants to die as soon as it dawns on him why Laura is on chamalla. He knows he's hurt her, but he feels very much between a rock and a hard place. Laura, with her comment about Captain Apollo, knows why Lee is doing what his is doing and pities him for it. Laura is watching Lee lose a piece of his soul, a shred of his humanity, and even in her pain, she is genuinely compassionate. (If it had been me, I think I would have been way to angry to be compassionate at that moment.) But that does not stop her from using the situation he put her in to express her anguish. She knows she will have to own up to the question sooner or later, so she takes the opportunity to teach Lee not to go fishing in the future when he cannot handle the catch. The look exchanged between them after her announcement is so painful for both of them. Lee just wants to crawl in a hole and never come out for shame and guilt. Laura does not want to die. And of course, she wants to rub his nose in the steaming pile because she is angry with him for this even though she understands completely why he did it. Laura values the system as much as Lee does, maybe more, but she is not naive. She knows that selling out your friends for the sake of the system is a fast way to end up alone, as happens to Lee. As mentioned previously, Laura is capable of weighing the alternatives and most of the time, she comes up with the “right” decisions even though they may not always support the system she so fervently believes in. In the reversed roles, I believe Laura would have sat on her secret or at least ferried out the reason the witness takes the drug before coming to a decision. She also probably would have known that chamalla will not be the deciding factor on whether Gaius Baltar lives or dies because she believes in the ability of the judges to make a fair decision. Lee just cannot see that many moves ahead in the game. This is a clear demonstration of Laura's ability to see the big picture and part of what makes her a great leader. Adama should not be a judge in this case. He just should not be there. He loses his sangfroid and tries to protect Laura in a very obvious way. Lampkin calls him on it but he does not stop there, at that point in time all he cares about is Laura. They should dismiss him. When the other two judges call him down for his behavior he does shut his mouth but he looks to be on the point of violence. The real question is whether or not the sympathy factor for Roslin is enough to keep the rest of the court from going after Adama. It may be. She dropped a large enough bomb on the fleet with her announcement and I bet that will consume their attention, at least until the next time Adama screws up. With his emotions that close to the surface, he very nearly declared to the fleet his romantic intentions toward her, a rather risky prospect. For anyone who is looking, the signs are there. (Remember Gaeta and Dualla's conversation in the bonus scene for A Day in the Life?) I wonder how everyone will react when they do find out. Falling Action Scene I: Dualla leaves Lee. Some have complained that this scene was not sufficiently justified. I disagree. Dualla is very loyal to President Roslin. She went up against Adama for her AND helped her steal an election. She believes in Roslin and in keeping loyalties. As opposed to Lee, she thinks the system can only be fixed from the outside, by dismantling it as necessary and replacing broken parts. Lee, and Roslin too, believe that the system's cohesion is vital to the survival of humanity and that it must be altered from the inside. That is what Roslin has been up to since day one. She has put the system back together from the ground up. We now know that she was successful in moving back to a currency based economy and that she works with labor to make things better rather than tearing them apart because they do not do their jobs. I am not saying that Dee's perspective is wrong, certainly fixing the system from the outside is a possible and perhaps a good solution. (It is the solution citizens use by firing their leaders-the fleet fired Roslin, remember?) But taking down an infrastructure requires very careful consideration and planning, which Roslin, and maybe Lee, understands. Dee might understand this as well, but her anger at the system is deep and slightly short sighted. She thinks the system is to blame for the election of Baltar. This is not the case, desperation is to blame. It is that simple. Anyway, Dee's feelings on the subject are absolutely strong enough to justify her walking out on Lee. He sold out someone she believes in, for what, Gaius Fracking Baltar? (and yes, I do not care that the official spelling of frack is frak, I think that looks stupid and goes against grammatical convention, so frack off.) She sees Lee much more clearly than he can see himself. For that matter, even though Lee did not lie about not knowing about Ellen, Adama is right in a very real way, Lee's integrity is very much in question and Lee does not understand why, nor see a way around it. Lee sees justice as absolute and the shades of grey are lost to him. Dee also sees how this is all related to Kara Thrace. Dead as she may be, she is still alive in Lee and Lee is trying to find justice in a dark place where he has no business. Lee feels lost now that Kara is gone so he goes to try to find a purpose in life, something else to care passionately about. Dualla, rightfully so, thinks it should be her, but she knows darn well that she still plays second fiddle to the now dead Starbuck. That's gotta burn! Falling Action Scene II: The writers' friend the Press Conference is back to provide us with yet another juicy scene. I think press conferences are so much fun because they give an excuse to see poor behavior. The press is notoriously rude, malicious, unscrupulous, obnoxious, nosy, vicious, malevolent and... pick your adjective. They can be worse than lawyers at times. But like lawyers, their sense of duty can directly conflict with decency. (no offense to the lawyers I know and love, but take this as a reference to Lee and Lampkin's behavior recently.) Roslin's strength of person here is beautifully apparent. We were privileged enough to see her come as close to falling apart in public as we likely ever will in the courtroom, but now she has pulled herself together and is off to face the unpleasant music. (not the Cylon music :) She has only known about this for a week and as we saw, things are pretty raw for Laura right now, still she manipulates the press with alacrity. Giving them the impression that she is at their disposal allows them to be more comfortable and gives her the edge she needs to keep things where she wants them. Refusing to answer questions is a sure way to generate more of them and she knows that. She also knows how to get them to back off. Roslin steers them exactly the way she wants to and gets understandably pissed when Tory steps out of line and then loses it. I sure would not want to be on the receiving end of that look. Roslin dismisses Tory and then delivers a line that is becoming a favorite, “How long do you have to live, Karen?” Laura's manipulation of the press worked on me too. She said they were working on a game plan and that she would let us know. I felt hope there, just as I am sure she intended to give the press hope. This is skillful writing and skillful acting. Likely, McDonnell knows the end of this arc, or at least the direction it is headed, but she understands her character's motivation in giving hope so she does this beautifully. I have mentioned before that whenever Laura says aloud that things are going well, she is invariably proven quite wrong. She said that about Six last episode, then the world fell down for her. I have a feeling that Laura is not very optimistic about this herself. She's scared and she thinks she will die for sure this time. She is also concerned about the potential of another transfusion from Hera, can she get one considering the parent factor? Does she want one considering the fear and hate factors? Laura has a lot on her plate and still she manages the press with grace. There are not very many scenes between just women on this show, this episode has provided us with two! That makes it rich. Having Roslin for a boss would be more than a little intimidating, but I would trust her. Tory is in hot water. This is the second time we have seen Roslin reprimand her and RDM uses Roslin's line to tell us a little bit about why we saw it the first time in The Son Also Rises. We know Tory is upset about something, she went to the bar, snapped at the bar tender, bit the prosecuting attorney, and now ranted at the press. More than PMS I think. While I do not think Roslin delivered an empty threat over firing her, I think Roslin knows that finding people who are loyal that she can trust is difficult. Tory knows way too much to be just tossed aside casually. Roslin knows this, but she still trusts Tory enough not to betray her. I wonder if this trust is well placed. I have been wondering that since we met Tory. Falling Action Scene III: This is really a splicing of Scenes III and IV, but we'll call it scene three. Tigh is drunk on the floor, we then realize that he's listening to the floor. Cut to CIC. Helo the wonder-boy, replacement officer du jour. I personally think Helo makes a good EXO and he tends to see things clearly and make moral, if not always right, decisions. Helo's little prophecy is an interesting twist on his character, but I would argue a believable one. Getting vibes about the future is a very human thing and it happens to me all the time. Some might argue that this is religious or Cylon-esque, but I think it is simply human intuition. Now Gaeta, he must feel a bit of contempt for Tigh at this point, but also feel vindicated. Tigh is a loser. There is just no way around it. Some say that he is a good EXO and can pull it out of the fire, but he makes more bad decisions than good ones in my opinion. He is Adama's character flaw. Adama's loyalty to his friend makes him VERY short sighted. Ok, off the rant about Tigh... Gaeta is glad to see Helo whom he can actually respect as a commanding officer. Cut to poor drunk, again, Tigh. He hears music and it is driving him crazy. Oh wait, he is already crazy, so I guess I better just amend and say he is annoyed by it. I would also just like to point out that the music is only present in the company of Drunk Tigh. Not that we have seen him sober the entire episode, but this is a strike against the final five theory. fin Continued next week. Just so it's in print, I am sure that the Cylons are waiting for them at the nebula. Cylons are capable of much longer jumps, and if they have tailed Galactica through multiple jumps, they certainly could get a general heading from that. Overall impressions: I'm pissed about Laura's cancer. I knew they were going to do it and it is logical. Blood cells (even half Cylon half human ones) have a life time and when one has a genetic predisposition to cell mutation and a history of it, well folks, that just equals screwed. It would be entirely too fairy tale if that was all it took to save Laura Roslin. Sigh! She may dodge the bullet again this time, but eventually, cancer will get her. I love where they are taking Adama's character. It make sense. If Adama always made good decisions and was never affected by his pain, he would belong in Star Trek. (Don't get me wrong, I love Star Trek for what it is, but this is better.) Kudos RDM for your characters living more real lives. Besides, we know they do crap, where the bathroom is and what kinds of conversations they have in them. Have I mentioned I love that about BSG? On that note, I think it is time to finish this blog. Any comments and questions are always welcome. Discuss with me! Tags: bsg
Current Location: Cloud Nine Auditorium
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13 Mars 2007 BSG Blog 4 And the Son Also Rises This episode has had me thinking for the past few days. I think it is one of the more issue laden episodes we have had in quite some time. The most recent one of this caliber, I think, was the one dealing with the suicide bombings. Directly confronting morality and its shades of grey, this episode also talks about the ultimate topic of love. So, along with structural commentary, I intend to include some major issues and some of the real world relevance as well. I should mention that I have avoided the boards and not listened to the podcast before writing this. In the past, I have listened to my usual sources of commentary and read some on the boards before working on this, but I decided to try something different. Exposition/Falling Action from Maelstrom First of all, the recapitulation bothered me this time. Instead of showing us Starbuck committing suicide, it implies that she was shot down. Yes she did get a hole in her windshield somehow, but it seemed up for debate whether that was Cylon doing or not. We all know that she was perfectly conscious and talking to Lee moments before buying the farm, it was suicide. And the Son Also Rises opens with Adama going through Kara's file. I found this scene touching and cried through it twice. A tribute to Olmos' performance. Splicing rising and falling action together seems bold to me. Two otherwise unrelated bits of narrative are married to make connections that would not otherwise exist. Roslin is picking names out of a glass bowl for a tribunal while Adama takes a trip down memory lane. (sidetrack) I usually do not put that much thought into the symbolism or objects, but I think here it is rather important. The bowl from which Tory is choosing names is glass. The press, the military and members of her cabinet are present for this event and the names are all folded. The fact that the bowl is glass seems to represent the idea that Roslin is going to so much trouble to exhibit. She wants at least the appearance of transparency of government and process. They could have used a hat, or a box, or a bag or anything, but they chose a glass sphere. It's resemblance to a fish bowl I find humorous, but also symbolic. We spoke recently about an entrenched political class and a disenfranchised working class. The aristocracy is on the inside of the fishbowl with everyone else on the outside looking in. A very clear and physical way to make the distinction plain. I have always pitied the fish being watched for entertainment, but the fish, what do they think? They are comfortable and fed, provided with a habitat and toys, and, do they serve any real purpose but to make work for their owners? Some are ornamental, pretty to look at, like royalty. Sound like government to you? The owners dance around the fish doing what they need to keep them alive. I sure hope our government is worth more than a pretty fish. In the BSG world we know Roslin is worth more than an ornamental fish, but still the parallels are there. She's pretty to look at and makes a lot of people work very hard to meet her needs. Those needs blend with those of the people she protects, but still. (This idea also links in with the stolen glasses bit later.) I think the point here is that we need to carefully examine just what kind of work we do for our government, how comfortable we make it and weigh its worth against what we put into it. Roslin is worth it, is Bush? Ah, a question for another blog somewhere else. Of course, all that said, I fully acknowledge that it could be just a glass bowl that looked nice. IE there could have been zero intent behind that choice and I could be completely out in left field. Shrug. Back to the idea of putting two unrelated things together into the exposition and thus linking them. Tory pulls the last name out of the bowl and hands it to Roslin who trips when she starts to read it. I did not get it the first run through and did not know until Tigh told Adama he was going to be a judge. I think this is because I was wrapped up in Adama's grief (my grief) and was therefore much less present for the other scene. Did anyone else find themselves in that boat? It is for this reason that I question the wisdom of putting those two things together. We cut from the president stumbling over someone's name to Adama looking at a birthday card which says “you were always like a father to me.” I was so completely drawn in by the card, that I forgot about the more subtle scene with the president. That link failed in a dramatic sense. (Unless of course that was the point and we were supposed to find out with Adama what had occurred. That's a hell of a gamble if that's the case.) After that we cut to a very drunk Sam grieving further taking away attention from what the president was up to. He falls on his ass and breaks himself. Lee tells Sam she's dead. I feel that Sam ( I do not know who plays him) did some quality work here and that Bamber seems to have continued in the same vein as the previous episode as far as acting goes. Cut to Tigh admitting that he's grieving too. It is here that Tigh delivers another one of his delightful lines which he does so well. One fifth owner of Baltar's Skinny Ass your honor... I chuckled. But Adama's reaction here is very telling. Not only was he not tuned in to events in the fleet, he does not care. He doesn't care. Or, at least he is thinking that that's the last thing he needs right now. Winning the lottery, what a fabulous prize. Everyone grumbles about justice and hates Baltar's current lawyer. Someone blows him away. I have to say, I love how we get so much insight into this character in just a few lines that I actually found myself drawn in by him. I was actually curious about the guy. But then he exploded. Damn. Of course the concern is for Racetrack, and I would be SO pissed if they axed her, because I think she's fixin' for Starbuck's chair as alluded to later. End exposition. Mixing falling and rising action. Hmmm. Workable or not? The jury is still out. I wanted that little memorial service for Starbuck and would have been sincerely disappointed in BSG if they had denied us seeing it or even referring to it. This was very necessary continuity and I am glad the writers made the right choice about this one. But was the exposition the write place for it? I am not sure where else it could have gone, but dramatically, this exposition seemed disjointed and was difficult to follow. Rising Action: The press conference is a tool. It allows them to get a reaction from President Roslin without have to to stoop to a monologue. It also gives a peek into what the fleet thought about her lottery for the judges, which was apparently not regarded all that highly, or at least regarded with some sarcasm. Here we, in few words, are told that the fleet as a whole does not believe in the justice Roslin is trying to achieve. “Do you think that it is in the best interest of the fleet to proceed with this trial?” That is the question, isn't it? Zarek does not think so. Both Roslin and Adama would have rather airlocked him, or “given him back to the Cylons.” But still they are doing this anyway. Roslin tells us why in her answer, which is not the answer the reporter wanted. Roslin point blank ignores the “best interest” idea and tells us she will not cave to terrorist tactics and that justice must be served regardless of the cost. This is the fruit of Laura's moral decision after nearly losing her humanity while she tortured Baltar. This may not be the right decision for the fleet, but it is perhaps the moral high ground, which is what Laura cares about at the moment. Laura needs to believe she's a good person so she's going ahead with this trial regardless of the cost. Side note: I am glad to see that sometimes the writers are dispensing with the annoying and often way too obvious “rule of threes” in drama. It can be effective, but overused it just makes the audience groan when they see it. Or, it makes me groan because I do not like being able to see that clearly the literary devices being employed. I prefer they are more subtle as I think they are more effective the less overt they are. We should be drawn into the moment rather than being tricked into following along. Lee falls on his butt as CAG. How refreshing! Grief is actually has consequences for these people. YAY! I get so tired of characters being unrealistically strong. Human beings break, screw up and otherwise trip and fall when things get too bad. Things are bad here in Galactica land. Lampkin. I have not verified this name yet, but I am referring to Baltar's new lawyer. Gods! What a character. I am so impressed. He is suitable creepy, but I do not know who's side he's on. This is one of those exquisite shades of grey. This seems to be the episode for symbols. His sunglasses? They seem an obvious ploy to make us think he is shady. But then, he has a thing for glasses as he steals Laura's. This leads me to believe that there is perhaps something real and character driven behind the glasses rather than just a plot device. Perhaps he truly has eye problems. Side note: I rode the same bus as some guy for quite a while and I always wore my tinted bike glasses because I always had my bike with me. When other people on the bus would talk to me, I left the glasses on, but eventually this guy sat next to me and I took off my glasses to talk to him. I remember doing this, but it was unconscious. He pointed this out sometime later. Removing glasses, be them prescription or not, has meaning. Remember that Adama takes off his glasses as soon as he realizes that Kara is dead and then again while he goes through her file. Glasses are much more than tools in the BSG world and here. They can be used to hide behind, to attract attention, to shut out, to gain insight, to make an unwelcome reality less sharp or many other things. This “interview”. I would not want Roslin staring at me that way, it looks like she's looking through the back of Lampkin's head or perhaps like he would taste good with garlic and onions. Decidedly dragonesque. We know she sees through him, but why the hell would they hire some guy who said he was in it for the fame and glory? Roslin opens with a snide comment about his not being afraid to die and Adama's question seems half hearted as well. We know they had already decided to hire him before the point in the interview which we saw, but at the end of the scene, Lampkin made it seem as though he was pushing them into hiring him. We all know that those two are not pushed around by anyone, so why him? Maybe that list was shorter than Roslin led us to believe, or maybe they think they really need and can use someone whose moral ground is questionable to their advantage. It would make more sense that Roslin and Adama had figured out how to use him as well as Lampkin himself having decided to take them for a ride. His qualifications: he was a lawyer on Caprica, he was “born” for this and he has a pulse. Hmm. The cat. I was as surprised as Laura. You will note that she had taken off her glasses when we get another look at her. (Perhaps she does not want to look too closely at this man.) This is the opportunity for Lampkin to steal them. When he puts the cat back in the bag. Side note: When I saw this the first time I just thought they had done a lousy job with Laura's eye makeup, but now I understand that they clearly wanted us to notice she was not wearing her glasses. I think this worked with me, but I was annoyed by the too much makeup thing. The cat's out of the bag. This phrase is just screamed silently in this scene. Lampkin next says he “despises the cat as much as you do-pause-having to hire me.” So Lampkin knows how much they hate the idea of him, how much they hate Baltar and how much they would rather not have this trial at all. No surprise there, but I am wondering if there is more to it than that. He also implies that he knows the president hates cats. Her reaction here was somewhat of a surprise because I would have thought of Laura as a cat person. But whether or not Laura hates cats, this little double-entendre is meant to clue us in to the exceptionally observant nature of this man. By the way, if I get something wrong that Lampkin says, I hope you will be forgiving. I have a terrible time understanding him through his accent. But then, sometimes I have a tough time with Baltar. Cut to Adama grounding Lee. Neither Lee nor the audience buy Adama's excuses, but I feel this came a little out of left field. Without us being aware of Adama's noticing Lee's inadequacies, we do not have a reason for Adama to do this. If the worst Lee is doing is screwing up a preflight briefing, that just does not strike me as enough of a reason to ground him. A few days RnR perhaps, but Adama's reaction seemed extreme. This could be a symptom of Adama's own inability to make decisions as well as he usually does. He tells Lee directly that he's not ok and we do continue to see this through the episode. I also think that Adama just wants Lee on the ship and as safe as possible. He wants to minimize the chances of losing Lee too. He intimates this later in the episode. Lee orienting Lampkin to Galactica's facilities is an amusing way to illustrate how Lee feels about this very mundane chore he's been assigned to perform. I am glad to see that even though Lampkin starts the episode by saying he hates the cat, he is gentle with it. I do hate seeing violence against animals in film. This little tour guide bit is a neat little tool to introduce us to a character we never see in this episode but know exists and are curious about. The prosecutor. She apparently lives just down the call. And the bathrooms are co-ed. I am not sure why Lee apologizes about this though, he's clearly used to it as is everyone on Galactica and elsewhere. This was implied when President Roslin walks into the bathroom to find Baltar in order to ask him to be her vice. Lampkin thus begins his manipulation of Lee. He demands to see Baltar and when Lee questions him he starts prodding into Lee's life. In a few words, he hits Lee where it hurts and enforces his will. He recognizes that Lee is so distracted by having been grounded, being in mourning and otherwise pissed about his detail that with a few carefully placed words, Lampkin can get whatever he wants out of Lee. As previously mentioned, very observant. Slight Aside: “Whoever cares the most, wins.” Joe Adama. Long dead and still he has the power to wreck Bill Adama. Adama is so distracted right now that Lampkin has the tools he needs to force Adama into a corner. Adama does not care about what is happening outside his emotional world right now. He proved it by not paying attention to who was selected as judges. Something Adama would most definitely have cared about if not for a certain untimely death. He and Roslin would have been working quite closely on this and he might have even been present for the drawing, or at least listening. This leaves Roslin alone in this and makes him malleable to all kinds of unfortunately influences. Adama's apathy is dangerous. He tells Lee, later, the time frame for the beginning of the trial and that he has to pull his act together before then. But I think he is talking as much to himself as to Lee. I may add more to this idea later. These scenes commonly used of the unknown bad guy making a bomb are so trite. They are a dramatic device used to remind us of jeopardy and I think they are a waste of time. Thumbs down. I think it is funny that Baltar thinks Lampkin is as creepy as everyone else thinks he is. Maybe this is part of why Adama and Roslin chose him. Baltar has no faith in Lampkin and had none in his previous lawyer either. He keeps using the word “pathetic,” first when Laura has his cell searched, just before he realizes she's there too, and now again to his lawyer's face. Baltar has no hope, he sees no way out and his insanity is growing. If Baltar was mentally stable before the attack on the Colonies, we did not see it, but we know from the moment of the attacks on that he has been slowly losing a battle with insanity. He bounces on Lee's bed for gods' sake. He's lost significant control over his emotions and seems to be losing, bit by bit, his gentlemanly, high society manners we have seen him use in public before. Think back to his speech about Roslin and politics on Cloud Nine during Colonial Day; eloquent, charismatic and articulate. This is not the same Baltar. Watch his body motions, he is visibly nervous and restless. Lee's look of scorn as Baltar reaches down his pants for his pen is hysterically funny, and Baltar looking back. He has just quit caring as much about being humiliated; it seems Laura managed to beat that out of him. James Callis is becoming a fast favorite. I hated him for the first two seasons, but now, I see the light. Callis is very, very talented. He is playing subtle changes in his character and through him we get to see Baltar's fall into blackness. Talk about a dynamic character! Most evil characters are just evil, Baltar is just screwed up and insane. I cannot call him evil. I can call him all manner of ugly names from coward and weakling to traitor, but not evil. He is truly bending to the pressures of his circumstances. He cannot handle responsibility, cannot handle stress and he lacks the guts to do what is right instead of what is necessarily convenient for Gaius Baltar. This book of his is probably a desperate plea to God for forgiveness. Perhaps he has finally realized that his humanity is long since disappeared. He probably started losing it before the attacks, but he now knows it's gone. He probably knows that he can never restore humanity's faith in him, but perhaps he can regain his humanity in the eyes of God. This coming from a former atheist is a profound movement toward complete faith and I wonder if it is conscious. Head Six has made enough headway into Baltar's psyche that he now believes in God and prays, but I still am not sure if Baltar sees his book as anything other than a political instrument. Lampkin certainly saw instantly that it is a cry for forgiveness, I wonder how he will use that. This plea is aside from his obvious desire to rock the boat politically and get at Roslin in any way he can. Somehow I do not think he hates Adama as much as he hates Roslin. She wrote him a very honest letter just before he resurrected her and he has never forgiven that sting, nor learned from it. Baltar's very vocal disdain for the process he is being given is further evidence of this hate. Next to self preservation, which we all know is at the top of his list, he demanded this trial in an attempt to knock Roslin out of her tower and start dynamiting her moral foundation. He has tried to trap her between her own morals and the best interests of humanity. We'll see if it works. From his point of view, if she loses either, it counts as a job well done. Personally, if Roslin loses her humanity, comes to his level, I do not think he will be exclusively responsible. She started down a dark path a long time ago and has just kept marching steadily whether she knows it or not. We know she saw a bright flag when she realized she was being complicit in torture, but with all the hate and desperation running around in Laura Roslin, she runs the risk of becoming blind to future flags. Laura Roslin hazards becoming what she beholds, a fallen. Because it was spoken aloud, and it pertains to my previous statements about Roslin, Baltar's latest line for his book is worth mentioning. “The nature of modern life is obsession.” Even insane, Baltar points out a central theme for the audience to consider. Let's make a list of obsessions and their owners shall we? I'll list some I consider to be shades of grey; possibly good, possibly not. Roslin: hate of Baltar/the Cylons, morality Adama: guilt, protecting others Apollo: Kara Thrace, being not quite good enough Baltar: self preservation, political change, hate of Roslin, love of Six, being in control Zarek: power Think up more and apply as necessary. Every one of those obsessions has the potential to corrupt its owner. Notice how the most corrupt character has the longest list off the top of my head. He's also the author of the phrase so I guess it makes sense that he would know. If we were to bar graph each of the above characters we could see where they are on a continuum of corruption. I think this is meant to show us that all of us have our obsessions and as innocent as some might seem, they are all potentially dangerous. I have to confess, even after re-watching this scene multiple times I have not figured it out yet. Lampkin tells Baltar that he's not helping himself, but that his writings are keeping other guessing. Somewhere in there is a lie that Lee sees and I don't, just before Lampkin takes Baltar's pen. Lee looked confused by the interchange and so did Baltar just before he mentions his concerns about Six. (Note: Baltar's obsession with self preservation definitely outranks his obsession with Six.) Flattering Baltar works as well for Lampkin as flattering Lee did. He is excellent at the art of manipulation. (I do not think Baltar knows which papers Lampkin is referring to and I am guessing he is talking about the files he intends to appropriate from Colonial One.) Then, they leave and he nails Lee squarely in the heart. It has exactly the intended effect and Lee just can't see Lampkin through his own pain. After that he appeals to Lee's sense of morality and duty to drag him around by his toenails. Poor Lee! Then Lampkin just turns the screws with that off-handed “Father factor,” as he gets on the raptor. I am still wondering if Lampkin let his cat escape on purpose. I am inclined to think in the affirmative. He is about to steal two other objects in this scene and he used the cat to steal the president's glasses the last time. Though, not to steal Baltar's pen. Cut to irate Bill. Here we see just how far over the edge the admiral has slid. Out of control, Bill berates his son for incompetence and disobedience. The Adama we have seen before this has always found more subtle ways to put people in their place and get what he needs out of them. Here he betrays his true motives for keeping Lee on Galactica. “You could have died.” That is all Bill really cares about right now. Lee, Kara Thrace and if push came to shove, probably Laura Roslin too. Bill barely sees past the end of his own nose because of it. I am not sure if Bill knows this, but his words are just as much for himself as for Lee. Pull it together Bill/Lee. They are both walking disasters. As I mentioned earlier, Bill's apathy is dangerous. He's been blinded by grief and barely functions enough to get dressed in the morning. (It took him quite a while to figure out he was missing a button.) He is constantly distracted and barely notices what is going on around him. We've known Lee to make excuses for himself before, but this one seems really low. Taking a swing at his father and accusing Bill of being heartless because Lee can't do his job and because he recognizes that his father is in a very bad space. He does this to win an argument. That's just low. The tactic ultimately fails and Lee feels shame about it. This shame I think is what ultimately pushes Lee to go and find himself apart from his father. Here Bill is rolls over Lee like a tidal wave in his anger and grief. There is something about Olmos' face here that had me just riveted. I have often been dissatisfied because Olmos' has not emoted much in the past with his face. But here, it almost seems worth it to save for a special occasion when Adama has really gone off the deep end. Even Adama's voice takes on overtones (meaning a second pitch appears where normally there is only one) here. These intense performances from Olmos are such a treat to watch they speak toward the actor's investment in this show. He cares passionately about it and he is living it with Adama. Bill perhaps finds the mirror in the end of this scene while he tells Lee that he will do what he's been chosen to do. He does not care right now, but he knows he has to find a way to care in order to do his job. I wonder if he will succeed. He also wonders if Lee will succeed. Cut to the knuckledragger's meeting. Cali's little speech here is quite telling about how much bitterness she is accumulating. I know that sounds obvious, but Cali has been fiery day one. She shot Boomer, remember? I think that if Cali does not find a way to blow off steam, we're going to see her in the brig or dead over a lot more than killing the Cylon that tried to off Adama. She's going to blow. There is a message here that is slowly seeping through my thick skull, BSG is preaching again: hate will tear the fleet apart before the Cylon's ever get the chance. They told us that with the Sagittarons, with Zarek warning Roslin, with Roslin refusing to prosecute over wrongs done on New Caprica... Over and over... They just keep getting more overt about it. It might be interesting to see it actually happen. Cut to Lee warning Lampkin about assassination attempts. Lee is demonstrating his obsession with his own incompetencies here. He is so desperate to do his job and not fail again in the eyes of his father that he resorts to saying, “Look you have to do what I say.” This is just about as weak a command as anyone can ever give. It's more a plea. Again, Lampkin exploits Lee's weakness to get what he wants. He does not have to bribe anyone, Lee is such a push over that Lampkin knows he can get anything he wants from him. Cut to Baltar losing his pen. Cut to Laura losing her glasses. It is nice to see Laura rattled and distracted. We rarely see this as she is usually more put together than those around her. She could use more humanizing moments like this one. As further illustration of Adama's lack of restraint, he takes a chance to dig at Lee in public and continues to humiliate him when he next gets the chance. Just a point of interest: I do not believe that Laura has ever called Adama by his first name in public before this conversation. (Someone correct me if I am wrong.) At first I thought it was just Lee present but then we address Tory so that makes this definitely a public conversation. I think she noticed his dig at Lee and is admonishing him for it. Lee, to his credit, maintains his dignity and does not rise to the bait. This is also the first time I've seen the president cast a doubtful glance at Tory. I have felt Tory was a little on the shifty side since she appeared after Billy's death, maybe we are finally going to see it. I got the impression that Roslin intended to dig deeper about why those files had been difficult to locate. At the end of the scene we get a look at Adama who as again refocused inward and I think we are looking at him from Laura's perspective because she has noticed his wandering attention. Cut to Caprica Six. Everyone enters and just as Lampkin reveals, perhaps for the first time to the listeners, that Baltar had a romantic relationship with Six, we cut to Adama not paying attention and pacing around the observation booth. Six flays Baltar and Roslin murmurs that things are looking up. I know from past experience that when Roslin thinks things are going to go well, they usually change rather drastically for her. (Remember her starting the race for president very much ahead in the polls and then having to resort to thievery in an attempt to hold on to it. This was perhaps one of Laura's lowest moral points on the show. I anticipate another shortly.) Now the topic of topics. Love. They're machines, right? You can't love a machine, can you??? The ultimate question, can a created intelligence experience legitimate emotion, love? Or, deep down, is it all just programing? Where's the line? RDM seems to think it has to do with what a person would do for love and how much it hurts. RDM sees Cylons as people, maybe, but he definitely wants us to consider the possibility that they have real emotion and the potential for person-hood. Back to the glasses thing for a beat. Lampkin tells his story about his wife with them on. Then he tells several partial truths mixed with lies with them off. Note that he pointedly looks over his glasses at Lee when he answers him about whether the story is true or not. Perhaps this is a tell for Lampkin. He lies with his glasses off, or even if it is not technically untrue, he intends to deceive. This reversal of our expectations is a neat idea. He hides less when he's lying which perhaps lends more credibility to the lie and he knows it. There is another possibility here though. He puts his glasses on the table and then puts the pen on the table in front of Caprica Six after she says she knows they'll take it from her. That leads me to believe that Lampkin's glasses have something to do with his love. Maybe both somehow. A complex ritual to a dead wife. Hmmm. I would not be surprised with a character like him. “Does your love hurt as much as mine?” Or really, how far would you go for Baltar? Answer: all the way. Roslin: “I feel like part of our world just fell down.” Adama: not paying attention, he's lost his button after all. Lampkin puts his glasses back on with a dramatic splash of music. The glasses might be some kind of embroidered hanky. A banner he's carrying to his lost love. “I feel like part of our world just fell down.” This was so chilling to hear from Roslin. Roslin doesn't speak her thoughts all that often, but she is genuinely shocked her. Not only does she not have Six as a tool, Cylons are just a little more difficult to hate after this moment. Laura now has to question many of her past decisions regarding them. As I mentioned earlier, when Roslin thinks things are going to go well, they don't. Lee's little chat over a drink with is old buddy Lampkin: Lee is finally beginning to see just a hint of the puppet master that is Lampkin. Why does Lampkin do anything? To get done what he needs to get done to his best advantage. But are his motivations so ugly at the end of the day? What's he really up to? Well, he's a priest ladies and gentlemen. For anyone who has seen The Exorcist, in the end the priest makes a decision, which I won't spoil, but for those who know the film, you know what I'm referring to. Lampkin sees Joseph Adama and himself that way. There is a price to pay and that price is HIGH. Lampkin implies that Joseph Adama gave up his humanity to determine what makes humanity. That he has done the same. “What are you doing in my business?” Lampkin knows that Lee is torn between duty, honor and pursuing this same curiosity. He also knows the cost, but Lee remains naive in spite of Lampkin's warning. Lampkin knows he's the moth and that the flame is real. Lee just sees a light in the distance and wants to go and find it. Also knowing he will one day get burned, he makes one last appeal to Lee before telling us he has to take a crap. Nice touch. So Lampkin gets caught by yet another bomb. Good, if he had escaped unscathed, I would think it unrealistic. The thieved items: The president reminds Lampkin of his dead wife so he steals her glasses; somehow I find that oddly rather sweet. Remember how he said his wife was so serious, walked around like she was walking to her own execution. Sound like anyone we know? We see another side of Laura from time to time, but does the public? Doubtful. Considering that we know that Lampkin is an adept liar, he well could have been talking about the president and never had a love/wife at all. Maybe he thinks she will collapse under the weight of duty. The button he stole from Adama bares little explanation beyond what Lampkin says I think, other than to just note that again, Lampkin sees through Adama. In spite of his warning, Lampkin sees potential in Lee, a potential ally and student with many uses. That is the reason for this show and tell, and to tell us who-done-it after all with the bombings. I do like though that Lampkin really does not know what the last item is. Even after all this, I am not certain Lampkin is truly morally corrupt. At least not utterly corrupt, yet. He clearly sees the things he stole as demons. The president, he thinks is breaking slowly under her own demands on herself, Adama is broken by his grief, Miss Prosecuting Attorney drags her feet (why this is a demon I'm not sure). Kelley makes bombs because he can't handle his demons (again with the word “serious,” this is what Lampkin thinks happens when people are too serious). One stupid, little act of compassion: he did not steal Kara from Lee's pocket. Lee aids the enemy of Humanity with one stupid little act of compassion... And he crosses over. This episode is about the breaking point and showing us how close, or how far away everyone is. Kelley broke. Adama is broken. Lee is broken. The president is hot on their heals. Tigh broke a while ago... Sam is broken. Adama makes one last attempt to keep his son away from a dark place, but he knows ultimately that the cause is lost. Luke went to the dark side of the force, it seduced him and now Vader has given up. Afterall, he is just as broken. Dona eis Requiem, dona nobis pacem. Rest in peace Kara Thrace. This has been the monstrous blog from hell. There was just WAY too much to talk about in a reasonable length of pages, so if you're still reading, wow. As I've said before, this blog is really just a focal point for my learning. It forces me to think about technique, style, literary devices and a million other little things in order to hopefully one day apply them. I know that if I did not write this, I would not consider half of what I just wrote down. Maybe someone else will gain some insight too. Oh, and one more thing. I am probably ass wrong about 80 percent or more of my little theories. But that is not the point, is it? I need to think deeply about what makes a story engaging so I can eventually do it myself. Besides, making theories and going as far as one dares is most of the fun of literary critique. Tags: bsg
Current Location: Cloud Nine Auditorium
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9 Mars 2007 BSG Blog “Maelstrom” I still have very mixed feelings about this episode. Taken alone, as a short story, there are some truly beautiful moments here. It is the arc I am much more concerned about. I have found it difficult to get motivated to do this blog because I have not decided whether I support this story decision or not. Here goes anyway. Theories: I am toying with several theories surrounding the mythology. First: is Kara crazy or is she an implement of the Gods? Second: is Leoben in this episode the Cylon god or a Lord of Kobol god rather than Leoben the Cylon? Regarding Kara: the evidence that she is mentally ill is substantial. She point blank tells Helo she thinks she's cracking. She's hallucinating and acting on her hallucinations publicly. She is having nightmares which are clearly reflecting past traumas. She has a mountain of horrific events in her life leading up to this point which I will not bother to name. She is suffering from sleep deprivation, exhaustion and burnout. She has been under considerable strain for a long period of time with little rest. Evidence of Divine intervention: The mandala. Leoben telling her all about her special destiny. The oracle in Dogsville, without any prior knowledge, parrots Leoben the Cylon. Her mother told her she was special. Sharon (Agathon) also told her, in The Farm, that she's special and has a destiny. Someone else on the boards I think, mentioned the President's dealings with Leoben too. Leoben appeared to Laura in a nightmare and is the reason she went to Kobol. Whether Kara and Laura are linked by Leoben or not I am not sure, but it seems possible. Especially if Leoben is a god, or even an instrument of god. Which leads me to my other theory. Is Dream Leoben the Cylon god or a Lord of Kobol? Clearly, the Leoben that Starbuck interrogated at Roslin's behest was a Cylon, like the Leoben Adama met on Ragnar Anchorage (I cannot remember the precise name of that station, but I think that's close). Also, the Leoben we saw keeping Kara on New Caprica was a Cylon. But when we are talking about dreams, there is a possibility that Leoben is not simply Leoben the Cylon, but Leoben the Lord or God. We know that Leoben the Cylon considers himself knowledgeable about God's plan and that he likes water metaphors. He sees the future, even if not as clearly as he would like. I say that because I am not sure he really expected Kara to kill him after saying she loved him. I think that the Cylon Leoben confuses the message from God with his own desires. He truly seemed to hope when Kara touched his hand over Casey's bedside and he seemed to truly want Kara's kiss immediately before she killed him and escaped. To me that implies that his knowledge of the future is incomplete at best, maybe like the Oracle figures we have seen among the Colonials. Some have mentioned that Leoben of New Caprica was just crazy. We have heard multiple times that to know the face of God is to know madness. I think Leoben the Cylon might very well know the face of God and be at least slightly mad. I don't know about you, but both Oracles we have seen strike me as slightly mad too. Dream Leoben appeared to both Laura and Kara. In Laura's chamalla induced vision, she is walking through a forest, then starts running away from what look like Galactica Marines and then Leoben protects her and keeps them from finding her before he shows her a snippet of the future. She also sees him while she's awake in her mirror. It is then because of what Leoben tells Kara that Laura decides to break from Adama's fleet and go after the Arrow of Apollo and Kobol. For Kara, Leoben seems to really play a comforting role in her dream. We know Kara is a pilot that just can't keep her pants up, so this erotic dream makes sense for her. But later when she is unconscious, Leoben is compassionate when he offers her another chance with her mother and ultimately helps her to die. (Here the idea of God's love seems to be relevant-mentioned by Caprica Six. If Leoben is God, then he is showing Kara God's love in her dreams.) Dream Leoben takes both women from one place to another. He takes Laura from being largely secular to being religious and spurs her on her path toward Kobol. He takes Kara from the living to the space between life and death-through the next door. We do not yet know what that means. Dream Leoben is a catalyst for major changes in lives of these to characters. They are both the instruments of the Gods/God. Other acts of God have been seen through Head 6 with Baltar. Baltar, who was an atheist, also finds religion and acts as an instrument of God. Clearly the mythos of Battlestar is quite serious about their phrase: “All of this has happened before and will happen again.” What remains in question is, are the Gods on the side of the Colonials? Or is God working for the Cylons? Now that I've rambled about theory for quite some time, lets look briefly at the construction of the episode. Exposition: If I remember correctly, and I cannot verify at the moment, the exposition in Flesh and Bone also begins with a dream, Laura's dream about Leoben. Kara paints over the mandala and then has sex with Leoben in a slippery mess of white paint. I am so curious about the poetry on the wall. I have not yet been able to assign any meaning to it at all but somehow I refuse to believe it is meaningless. Please comment if you have insight. Laura's dress is white, many of the Cylon women wear white a lot. Kara's shirt is white. Leoben is wearing shades of grey and black, frequently seen among Cylon men. I have been wondering about the colors we see in clothing pertaining to the Cylons-looking for patterns really. The white/grey/black pattern may or not hold any water. I know Head Six wears colors and sometimes so do others, but has anyone else noticed that we frequently see Cylons in either white, grey or black? I wonder if it has anything to do with their setting. I will try to verify if, as I think, they were white, grey or black while on the base stars and colors on Caprica or when they are dealing with unsuspecting humans, at least sometimes. (I am not suggesting that either Laura or Kara are Cylons by the color of the their clothing, just to be clear.) The point I am fumbling toward is that the colors and textures presented to us in visual form are an interesting technique to convey a message. I wish I knew what message, but then, it would be less of a mystery if I did know. A good device for keeping me as an audience member. But I am detail oriented so maybe this kind of thing escapes others, or they may feel it unimportant. If Dream Leoben represents a Lord or God, it makes more sense for Kara to be willing have sex with him because she knows he loves her. It is kind of an odd notions that what we think of as God's Divine Love could be sexual, but I do not see why RDM might not put forth that idea. Christianity tends to think of God as perfect, but perfect might not exclude sex. I think we really do not know. We are then treated to yet another fantastic bathroom scene. Have I mentioned that I just love bathroom scenes because no one else does them? Well, not no one else, Ally McBeal did some bathroom scenes. They do seem to be a rarity though. I feel they are great places to set drama because the audience is already uncomfortable. This was particularly true for two scenes in the past that come to mind: one being Baltar and Gaeta and the other between Roslin and Baltar. Kara Thrace is openly crazy in this scene. She's hallucinating and discussing her craziness with Helo. I also want to take this opportunity to address what someone posted on a board about Hera and the shrink. It may surprise you to know that child psychiatry starts with VERY early. I learned a little about it in nursing school, enough to know that even tiny children can communicate when things are wrong. For example, we were shown a video of a one year old (younger than Hera is now) who was neglected and kept in a non-stimulating environment. She was in a daycare facility and she refused to touch her food. This is VERY remarkable because at that age, babies are supposed to be exploring things with their hands and mouths and this baby would not touch her food or put anything in her mouth. She only got one bite of food because someone fed her. So, be not mistaken, this child needed a shrink and yes there are shrinks with this specialty. Just a little more on the soap box and I'll quit. As a NICU nurse I am here to tell you that PREMIES have personalities. They are born with temperament and distinct likes and dislikes. All babies are different and I get to know them by their behavior which communicates volumes to those who can look for patterns and read body language. Some babies I fall instantly in love with and others I wish I did not have to work with while others just love them. It has NOTHING to do with their parents either. As I work nights, I often never meet the parents of my patients and still I have these attachments to certain babies. Climbing down from the off-topic soap box. Kara sees herself as a child in a hallucination and Helo recommends the Oracle in Dogsville. The Oracle is of course a somewhat confusing scene. I still don't understand the bit about confusing the messenger with the message probably because I am still not completely sure what the message is. Any thoughts? So the gods speak through people tripping on chamalla and chamalla is addictive. I wonder if Laura is still taking it. I would guess she at least tried to get off it, but I wonder if she was successful. She says Leoben is coming for Kara and that Kara cannot escape him. Then we see Leoben in a dream who is not Leoben. I want to say that these confusing bits of mythology are an attribute of good writing, but I am not sure that is the case here. I am primarily not sure because I have not yet decided that Kara was not just simply destined to kill herself because God/the Gods want her too. If, on the other hand, she's not really dead, and she's a Cylon of some form or other, then this is such a cool path to take her down. Giving us this much doubt about what is really going on with her is only going to be fruitful if the audience is patient enough to put up with it and if they can skillfully write themselves out of the corner they seem to have just created. I posted on the boards that I it well could be that Kara is just crazy. This could be her special destiny, but then I feel unsatisfied with all the build up and the mandala with which the writers have been hitting us over the head. I think that if Kara were just crazy, it would make a wonderful story in itself to just have her crack and kill herself. What this has done to many of our major characters will be a pleasure to watch play out. It has certainly created a rich texture to play on and paint with. So, I am still ambivalent about whether killing Starbuck was a good idea or not. Or whether it was done well. I just don't know. Rising Action: I feel the expression of Kara's child abuse was powerfully portrayed and touching. I flinched and did not want to watch the fingers in the door. I felt Kara's vengeance and saw in my mind the bugs bouncing around in with the shoes and her mother screaming her frackin' head off. Nicely played by Katee here. Others have commented on the beauty of the CGI here. I must say that I agree. I felt so calm up there in the clouds, right up until the heavy raider showed up. I also am glad to see the Mark VII's again, they are cool. This episode is also linguistically delightful start to finish. The talk between the pilots felt real to me because I am so accustomed to having to change between medical lingo and common words when speaking to my cohort and non-medical people. They did do a nice job of bringing us along for the ride though. They say things about turkeys and sparrows and then Tigh tells us Starbuck sees a heavy raider with no escort. We are logically presented with the evidence of Starbuck's craziness through the gun camera footage, the lack of dradis contact and also the lack of damage to her ship though she says she took a hit. I still had a hard time until later in the episode disbelieving Starbuck about the heavy raider. This is probably because she has been so reliable in the past. Ok. I HATE it when the character talking is out of focus. This method of keeping our attention on one character's reaction instead of the speaker is just plain DUMB. It is visually bothersome and half the time, it prevents us from getting the full picture of the interaction because the subtleties of the speaker's body language are lost! GRRR! If I had my way, no one would ever use this cheap ass trick in the place of more creative camera work. I have been touched by the walls of pictures since they first showed us this idea. Equally, I found the scene about who goes where after they die moving and satisfying because I have always wanted Starbuck to admit that Kat was worth something. Though I have to say, I was expecting Lee to say he wanted to go next to Starbuck. He still loves her after all. I also am in love with the mandala in candle wax. It is beautiful visually and very nicely lined up with Lee's comment about seeing things. Humor in an otherwise dark scene added to beauty makes a well rounded and lush scene. Sigh. I wish I knew what the “What do you hear?-Nothing but the rain.-So grab your gun and bring in the cat.” exchange was about. That and the “hard six” and that picture that the pilots touch and which hangs behind Laura's head on Colonial one. If anyone has insight into these little bits of trivia, I would be very appreciative of an explanation. Aside from that, I noticed in the acting throughout this episode that everyone had this intensity about them, this longing on their faces even though they were not supposed to. Given Edward's behavior at the end with that damn expensive ship, I'd say the cast is going to miss Katee. Having the President on Galactica for that interaction between Starbuck and Adama seemed largely unnecessary to me. It seemed like an excuse to remind us of the Roslin/Adama relationship that is changing and perhaps just a moment for Mary and Katee to say goodbye. It is also Roslin's only appearance in this episode. Maybe her contract says she must appear in every episode. And just because I am enamored with the idea, the tiny scene between Adama and Laura where he just reaches his hand out to touch her is so nice. Because it is his left hand, we are reminded that he's still married in his head. I think this is a good example of a very short amount of time being spent to convey several large ideas and keep our attention on a point of interest. Aurora, huh. Goddess of the dawn. This is arguably foreshadowing and support for the theories that we will see Starbuck again in some capacity. This implies very strongly that she has a purpose, a major purpose. Maybe, now, after she's dead, she will be a sort of figurehead for the Galactica, as well loved as she is. But again, that could be just a figurative role and we may never see her again. I really hope we get to see her funeral, or at least get to see Lee post her picture. They better not cheat us out of that release. I usually am not on the Jamie-Bamber-is-hot band wagon because up till this episode I just have not been all that impressed with him as an actor. He's done a fine job, but nothing eye catching. Till now. This scene between Apollo and Starbuck is very indicative of the intensity I mentioned before. There is much more on the actors faces than just concern that a friend/lover is losing it. I would love to credit Jamie for this performance, but I just think it is his emotions over losing his costar showing through. Don't get me wrong, it adds to the moment and this grief makes it so much more immediate and powerful. Same with Adama's ending scene. I am not sure if RDM planned on this kind of reaction from the cast, but he certainly got wonderful performances in this episode from everyone involved. I have already made extensive comments on Dream Leoben, but I want to add just one more observation. In her second dream, Kara is wearing black, so is Leoben, and her mother is wearing white. Climax: Our rather long climax scene starts with Kara waking up in the apartment and then finally being present with her mother at death and finally ends with her viper exploding. My first pass through, I lived in the scene with Kara and Leoben and I was very much present with Lee when she died. I was sold on every word Leoben said about the next door and the space between life and death, but I held out hope right up to the bitter end when that ship went up. And I cried. Dramatically, this climax and falling action were beautifully executed. They flowed together and I found nothing distracting or unbelievable. I believed that Starbuck was changing, somehow, even if I just could not accept it as death. I kept thinking, come on Kara! Wake UP! You've gotta fly yourself out of here! Falling Action: Edward James Olmos is the man. What more do I have to say? Knowing that he was just in the moment when he destroyed that ship just adds to my enjoyment of the scene, but it is too bad about the ship. It was such a beautiful model. Of course, I was in tears right there with him. And thank you! Finally, a man on TV who cries with real tears! I got so sick of dry sobbing because it is so unconvincing. A heavy episode to say the least. Now that I've written this, I feel over all like it was an excellent piece standing by itself. I remain uncertain about how they will write themselves out of this corner though. But structurally and dramatically, a precisely tuned work of art. Tags: bsg
Current Location: Cloud Nine Bar
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4 Mars 2007 “Dirty Hands” It is my opinion that last time, in my sleep deprived state, I missed the forest for the trees. We'll see if I can learn anything this time. Music: Handel's Messiah Drink: About to get wine-Cotes de Rhone Rouge de france Mood: Depressed-just watched Brokeback Mountain Exposition: This is our second Tyrol centered episode in a row. I am pleased with that because I happen to like Tyrol, but I do believe that mixing and matching is a good idea. I hope they share the wealth with the character studies because they have such a rich cast. Characters I feel need more character development: Roslin, Dualla, Gaeta and Zarek. These characters top the “needs work” list because I feel they have been neglected. I'm going to side track just a bit here from the episode by the way. Roslin... at first I wondered why she had come to mind for this list but then it occurred to me that it really has to do with what I had become accustomed to for her. In seasons one and two we watched a major change and adjustment period for this character. We saw her go from a nobody to savior of humanity in a relatively short period of time. We also saw her struggle with keeping her secret about her cancer as well as becoming religious where she was probably rather secular before. Season two also brought her break from Adama and her stealing an election. This is busy for one character. Season three has shown us Roslin again as our leader who will make hard decisions and usually the “right” ones, but she has not changed all that much from the way we left her after she lost the election. She went through heroic transformation in seasons one and two and now she is playing her role. Granted she has faced some serious events from dealing with suicide bombings to torturing Baltar to considering a relationship with Adama, but now that she has an established underpinning for coping with these difficulties, we are not as surprised by how she reacts. We know she's tough as nails and are not surprised when she strip searches Baltar, arrests someone for pissing her off or slaps Tigh for pushing her buttons. I think characters need arcs as much as stories do Laura Roslin completed several major arcs at the end of season two and needs to begin new ones because people are not static. She should not be either. For the other two, the reasons for their being on my list are more obvious, I think. Dualla has a central and yet silent role. We have seen only bits and snatches of who Dualla is through Lee, but I think we need to know her better to believe her as a character. I have appreciated her dealings with Kara on the algae planet and her reading Lee the riot act about his cheating, but I have a hard time predicting her behavior because I do not know her well as a person. I could not do a mental status exam on her as an audience member. I believe that all characters, once they reach a certain level of importance, should stand up to this litmus test of personhood. (I will consider posting the MSE on my page somewhere for reference if I get around to it.) We know Gaeta slightly better than Dualla because of New Caprica and his questionable collusion and quasi-trial post Exodus. I think he is on this list simply because I am curious about him and would like him to be a little more important. I would like to know what his ambitions are, know more about his personal relationships and generally how he feels about politics. And Zarek. Oh Zarek. He has undergone a massive change behind the scenes. He tried to assassinate Roslin mid season one and now he is the Vice President of the Colonies. I need to see what happened to his personality in the interim. We've been given hints along the way, his little heart to heart with Roslin when facing the firing squad and his clear conflict at his introduction about wanting to die versus wanting to return to active politics. Lee asks him if he wants an election or the bullet and I think the only reason he doesn't chose the bullet is because suicide is a difficult thing to pull off. Granted, Zarek had four months in a cylon holding cell to change his mind about Roslin, but he spent every waking moment up till that point trying to get her out of the way. I want to know see the process of his rather dramatic change. I am just not convinced that even with everything that happened, Zarek, who made a deal with Ellen to murder his own accomplice, would be ready to give up his personal agenda of “Me, myself and, oh-I,” so quickly. I could see him taking orders from Roslin as a means to that end, but he seems to follow her genuinely now. Going from thinking only about himself to the more selfless position that Roslin holds is a LONG road. Baltar will never stop thinking about himself first. How did Zarek stop doing just that so easily when faced with many of the same challenges? This heroic transformation of Zarek is much less believable than that of Roslin. Now that I am completely off track and clearly haven't learned anything from my last attempt at this... back to Dirty Hands. Exposition Continued: This episode populated with some really beautiful little details. I took a loud breath when I saw the guy with the prosthetic hand. This level of detail is savored! This technique of setting the tone for the story if both effective and touching. It sucked me in right there. The whole rather mundane scene of fueling the raptor gives the mood. Effective storytelling has all the academic elements right in front of us without hitting us over the head with them. This scene is just subtle enough to be well executed, any more overt tone or mood hints would be too much I think. Interestingly, the entire story is contained neatly in this little expository package. All of our conflicts are set up and ready to present in more detail: working conditions, class structure, oppression and organization against it. I am not sure if this is my favorite method, but it seems effective. Maybe in a future blog I will just compare a few expositions and see if I can pick a favorite method. Honestly, I am not sure why they chose Colonial One for the raptor to crash into. Jeopardy could have been established using another ship, just about any other ship. It seemed unrealistic to me that there were no fatalities and that the President did not have so much as a bruise. Why would they miss an opportunity to put blood on Roslin's face? That is just so much fun! Maybe they just needed to move Roslin's office so they could use the stage for something else. And facilitate that little comment by Adama. Rising Action: One thing that has pissed me off about television from the time I began to actually follow series' on a weekly basis as a child was the consistent lack of continuity between episodes. A character makes an offhanded remark that should cause a change in the relationship between two characters one week, and the next it is as if that remark never occurred. Thank you Battlestar for at least remembering what happened the previous week. That tiny moment between Roslin and Adama regarding beds is really all it takes to acknowledge the past and move forward while not pretending that what you intimated the previous episode did not occur. Very nicely played between Olmos and McDonnell by the way. It felt very in character for both of them and it would certainly be something I would expect from Adama under his breath. I was surprised, like Roslin, to hear hope in Adama's voice regarding Earth. I did not expect that genuine a comment from him. I now think he wants to believe. I think his little speech about living life again as people, enjoying one another's company and whatnot was a real shift for him, a turning point. Now that he's been given a solid maybe from Roslin, he has a reason to stop being miserable and has something to live for, to look forward to. Maybe even he'll move past some of his problems with Carolanne. Again, a nod toward well done attention to detail. Adama could have given Laura that little speech and then the writers just drop it and have it be yet another empty speech from a commanding officer used to giving inspirational speeches as so often Adama has been wont to do. But this time they actually have given us reason to believe that Adama actually changed in that moment. Fenner. I was really concerned for a moment that Roslin was going to fall off her pedistal, hard. This conversation seemed uncharacteristically compassionless for her. Especially considering that in Epiphanies, she goes out on a limb for labor against Aidar. Perhaps this is simply trying to communicate the desperation of their situation. One jump?? That seems like not much to me considering 33. I expected Adama to back her up and to be as hard nosed as he was, however. I was also surprised to hear that Roslin was not returning Fenner's calls. I would have thought she had enough staff to take care of some of those things for her. I think she could have deferred his anger by having one of her staff call the guy back and give him a place in her line of priorities. Not returning phone calls seems unlike Laura Roslin even though she has a history of it. I cracked up about the book. I would not want to be on the receiving end of Laura Roslin's temper here. I love Bad Ass Roslin (BAR). She's my favorite! BAR appeared to us while torturing Baltar and strip searching him later in the episode. It is so refreshing to see that that behavior is not reserved for men only. Women can be steely, vicious and pragmatic to get things done and pragmatism is an important part of Roslin. So, thank you RDM for making Roslin just a little more believable. Aggressive and assertive tendencies are often things that writers just don't want to write for women. Perhaps this is in part because they don't want the character to be disliked or it could be that they don't believe that women can possess these things. Let me tell you, we can. I also do not see this behavior as negative. This is a reflection of strength of character and belief in self. Two very necessary traits for a leader to possess. Laura Roslin could not be President if she lacked guts. She would not be a believable character if we never saw those guts because someone thought she should be likable. Strip searching Baltar is a horrible thing to do and I felt it was morally repugnant to stand there and watch just to maintain dominance. I do not think Laura enjoyed it, but the appearance of doing so was necessary to intimidate Baltar. Roslin is becoming increasingly dark as she moves through the events in her life. She is now an accomplished liar, as Baltar comments upon later. Her threshold for engaging in morally repugnant behavior is gradually getting lower as she is pushed harder and harder. Her soul is in danger and while I think she knows this, she does not know where the line is. I still do not see this as negative. I see it as a logical progression of her character. Moving right along. I am disappointed with the direction this episode takes Cali. It just doesn't make sense for her to buy anything that Baltar says after having been in the cylon prisons and facing a firing squad. Her being disappointed about Selix is one thing, but it just does not justify bothering with Baltar after all he put her though. I also wish they would have discussed where she and Tyrol are from. I think that would add a richness to her perspective. Her bitterness just seems to come out of nowhere. I liked Cali or at least was neutral toward her till this episode. I just love Adama telling Tyrol that Fenner got arrested because he pissed off the president. It may be useful here to interject my own feelings about the union. As a nurse I have to deal with it. I have ambivalent feelings about the whole idea because I think that nurses are professionals, but also workers and I feel that unions behavior these days feels more and more corrupt. Now that you know where I am coming from, my coloring into this analysis might make sense. I am also of the opinion that there is no place in the military for unions. So Cali's reference to it as a member of the military wearing the uniform is inappropriate. She has no business being a member of a union. That said, the other workers in the fleet certainly do. I am not certain how I feel about Tyrol being the one to bargain on their behalf, but I think he is competent and has a good moral compass. This little scene with Baltar was one of my favorites and also one of the most difficult for me to watch. Even as much as I hate Baltar, I have trouble seeing his abuse. And yes, I feel Roslin is abusing him here. And yes, I think she's doing the right thing up to the point where she watches them strip search him. I think at that point, if it had been me I would have left or turned around. It was necessary to get the papers, but humiliation of another human might be where I draw the line. But I am not Laura. Either way, strip searching Baltar and continuing to intimidate him is necessary for her and the right thing to do. I think that maybe being the bigger person might have demanded that she turn around while they did it, but she clearly doesn't agree with me on that fine point. Or maybe the Laura that was would agree with me. But the Laura that is is getting darker. Her anger in this scene is a little frightening. I am beginning to wonder if she will see the edge before she steps over and loses her humanity. Hate is clouding her morality. The next little bit is exposition: we learn what the conditions are like, we see child labor and we learn that they have basically gone on strike by hiding part of the equipment in order to get their needs met. Again with BAR. She is very clear that she will not budge an inch from her position regarding extortion. And again, I think she is right. If she bends, she loses the ability to keep the fleet safe and to govern effectively. I wonder if she realizes that that was the position Aidar thought she put him in when she agreed to negotiations with the teachers on Caprica. The bit with the stemware and the implication of Roslin and Adama eating dinner together in his quarters enforces the idea being presented of an aristocracy. To take just the least look at the larger picture of the episode, I think that Baltar is right about an entrenched aristocracy. But he's a damn hypocrite. Do you remember the booze, women, leather, pills, smoking and his general refusal to care about the commoners under his leadership on New Caprica? I do. Of course we all know that Baltar is full of shit, but he is right about the divide between the working class and the aristocracy regarding the impossibility of vertical movement. I was still worried at this point in the episode that Roslin had slid down a bad path and truly had begun to ignore these issues. Then Tyrol goes and gets the seals put back on the tillium ship and puts everything back into motion and we see just a little reminder of the effects of New Caprica on the survivors. Returning to Tyrol discussing with Roslin conditions and begging her to do something, up until Roslin says Tyrol has a point about inherited jobs I thought we had lost a major part of Roslin's character. Laura maybe hard nosed, but she is reasonable, compassionate and she listens. Up till that point in the episode we had only seen BAR without her compassion. She lambasted Baltar in her letter to him in Epiphanies about ruling with compassion. Losing that, we would lose Laura and be stuck with BAR. I don't know about you, but BAR frightens me. Still Laura's solution to the chief's worries about relief for workers does not really address the problem he brought up about inherited jobs. It's a band-aid and she knows it. Oh Baltar. I'm in love with him. No, I hate him. No, he's a great character. I am not convinced that Baltar comes from Aerelon. I think he's an accomplished liar and therefore we can't take anything he says at face value. But what he said worked on me and it worked on the chief. I had actually given thought to the conditions on the fleet before this episode, but I did not believe they could be as bad as they really are because I did not believe that Roslin would allow it. But realistically, what choice does she have in the matter? My hero worship does not give her superpowers. Baltar is right, to a point. Yes there is an aristocracy. Yes there is a working class. His little book, which Roslin is so pissed about, might have just saved humanity because Laura read it. I still believe in the compassion that exists in Adama and Roslin and will until I'm given proof that I no longer can. Baltar no longer believes in Laura's compassion. Is that really a surprise though? Would you in his shoes? Yes, Laura Roslin has absolutely failed in compassion toward Baltar, she tortured him. Could she really have done otherwise? I don't think so, she's human. I do not know anyone who, with that much anger and hate, could have done better. Do you? It is still a failure in morality and compassion to torture another human being, no matter why. Climax: So Chief starts a strike. As I mentioned earlier, unions have no place in the military, so in this Tyrol is wrong. Adama helps him know this. Falling action: Adama's loss of humanity happened long enough ago that I expect this sort of behavior from him much more so than from Roslin. I think this loss of humanity occurred probably for the first time during the first cylon war. This man has seen so many horrific things that he has truly lost large chunks of his soul to impossible decisions. It is not that Adama lacks compassion, it is simply that he has stopped using it as much. He'll feel compassionate after whatever horrible deed is done, or not in Baltar's case, but he knows how far down the bad path he's gone and feels justified with his actions. Morality for him is a clouded issue and he sees it as an ideal rather than something he can actually apply to all situations. Shooting Cali is morally abhorrent, but he'll do it for the greater good he sees. Adama has left his humanity on the sacrificial alter in order to be what the fleet needs him to be. Is that ultimately the moral choice here? I am really not sure. That really begs a question for me. Can, after all this is said and done, Adama regain his morality? Or is his humanity lost forever? Is his soul so blackened by the choices he has had to make that it is irretrievably damaged? If they landed on Earth tomorrow, could Adama go back to leading a moral life with the ideal set of values we would all like to have? So for now, Laura Roslin keeps her humanity. She listens to Tyrol and makes the moral decision because it is available to her. And next time? Where is the point where one survival trumps morality? Can we ever come back from that? The touchy-feely bit at the end with Starbuck is nice. And gives us hope, but things are awfully bleak in this world. Tags: bsg
Current Location: Cloud Nine Auditorium
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