Battlestar Galactica: The Son Also Rises
Mar. 14th, 2007 05:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccatoriaLate because I had...episode procurement issues... ;)
This episode was full of beautifully moving moments - the pen, the story about love, Adama stating that he's through giving Lee orders (oh did I love that moment; it felt like their relationship of old, not the more angsty, posturing scenes of later, just the cold, hard, blunt Adama facts), Roslin behind the glass, Lee and Romo's discussions, Anders on the Viper, Lee calling Racetrack Starbuck - all these beautiful moments underscored by a horrible knowledge that they're all wrong. Each one of them is saying something, but all the evidence is lies. It's like learning the most important lesson of your life and then realising your teacher is a screwed-up bastard who's manipulated you and fabricated all the principles underpining the lesson. It's like learning about beauty from the devil. Or something. I can't explain why I feel that way, but I do.
I should be more detailed, I know. Talk about the truth of Romo's love story even though it was intended to deceive. Roslin's world falling apart as she spies on a witness. The beauty of Gaius' imagined love for Six through the lie of the pen. Lee's sorrow revealed by accident and his falling out with his father being real and inevitable but the catalyst being Romo's manipulation. There...I guess maybe that was detail enough.
I think the episode successfully said all the things I want to say about the rights of individuals to trials. I think there was some interesting disucssion in there about what you do when someone isn't getting a fair trial, how far will you break the system and play dirty yourself?
It's an interesting question usually asked in a one sided way. If our sympathies lie clearly with the accused then we'll support the dirty tricks aspect; if with the defendent we'll be appalled. By getting Lee to make that journey, he takes us with him - and it's a strange feeling to see it from the other side. It's the problem with playing devil's advocate; if you don't commit to it and use every tactic at your disposal, are you disrespecting the system? I'll be interested to see what I make of the trial and verdict, but they've certainly set it up nicely.
I enjoyed seeing Roslin conceding Lee's point about Adama. It's a point I agree with.
I enjoyed Romo Lampkin's scenery-chewing accent which I'm going to assume was Aerilon mixed with...Irish?
Anders damn near broke me. Oh, that boy is beautiful and I don't mean his looks. When I first met him I was so utterly indifferent to him. But Michael Trucco proved that he is an extremely talented actor here. From the perfect drunken coin tossing to the brief, perfect sob, to the way it was all cut off so quickly with that sharp, real fall from the viper and the broken leg. Like Starbuck's life, I guess, if I wanted to be philosophical.
Lee - FINALLY you have an episode about who you really are. But![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
asta77 will talk about that with far more eloquence than I, I think.
Adama continues to annoy me with his hypocrisy re: the trial and his attendence at Six's interview. Though I loved his saying he was through giving Lee orders, because he basically capitulated to his son but in a very Adama way. It was much more like their season one relationship I think. I can't express why properly though.
Baltar is actually going mad. Awesome.
I have a whole bunch of nitpicks. I wish I didn't. I don't think the episode deserves them, but maybe that's why I have them. Slight, pointless moments that confused me or pulled me out of the moment. Perhaps I think the episode was so good I'm less tolerant of these matters?
So, they are:
1. Jamie Bamber was so wonderful in the scene where he accidentally calls Racetrack "Starbuck" that I didn't realise what he'd said until a second too late and the impact was all the greater for it. But the impact was lessened by the unnecessary and very amateur whisper "ZOMG! Did he say Starbuck?" The silence would have been more powerful.
2. I'm only half going to add Captain Kelly. On the one hand I do think that he was an "easy out". On the other hand this episode had so much going on maybe that was the best choice. And his speech at the end was a lot more powerful and understandable than I was expecting.
3. Romo Lampkin's character. In general, I loved him. And I understand what I think the writers were trying to do with him (see above - that whole honest goal with providing Baltar a decent defense, with ignoble means - that whole lying and manipulating). But I wasn't sure his opening line was worthy of the character. Also I don't get why he stole stuff. I like the idea that he's a pickpocket and using that to his advantage (like the pen from Baltar and then the guards), but the other things I don't really get. I mean, okay, the prosecuting lawyer drags her heels - what is this meant to say about her and why does he need to keep the shoe? It seemed like an idiosynchratic character trait tacked on to a) provide a means of implicating Kelly (why would he have stolen from him anyway? It's not like Kelly was "important"), and b) give him "character" - which he already had more than enough of. Or possible I was just too horrified by the theft of the glasses to really concentrate on the justification (that and in that scene I found the character harder to understand). One of the things (seriously) that I always think about when thinking about the Colonial Fleet is, "Shit - if I were there, what would I do if my glasses broke! I couldn't replace them!" I don't actually mind wearing glasses, but I do sometimes feel uncomfortable due to being so utterly dependent on such a fragile piece of equipment.
4. Did Romo Lampkin really have to know Joseph Adama personally and "hate" him (I thought that turn of phrase was a bit trite, honestly; I could see the reveal coming a mile away)? I really think it would have been more powerful if he'd known him by reputation and had learned a lot from his book and, ultimately, knew the guy maybe better than Lee did. I mean, it's a hell of a coincidence, knowing his grandpa - I'd think that sort of thing should be amazing in the remains of the fleet.
5. Why the sunglasses? I mean, they look cool, but seriously, I spent half the episode wondering if he was blind.
6. Cally. I want to like her, but I'm slowly deciding I don't. It's not just hypocrisy - which isn't hypocrisy really if she sees very clear delineations between human and cylon and their various rights - it's that I don't think the actress is all that great.
And that's it. Summing up? Far too many nitpicks for such a great episode; I am a bad fan. Also - I'm now psyched for the trial. What other truths will we discover only to have their wonder soured by the bad taste of their deceptive, screwed-up underpinnings? What will we learn from the devil next week?
This episode was full of beautifully moving moments - the pen, the story about love, Adama stating that he's through giving Lee orders (oh did I love that moment; it felt like their relationship of old, not the more angsty, posturing scenes of later, just the cold, hard, blunt Adama facts), Roslin behind the glass, Lee and Romo's discussions, Anders on the Viper, Lee calling Racetrack Starbuck - all these beautiful moments underscored by a horrible knowledge that they're all wrong. Each one of them is saying something, but all the evidence is lies. It's like learning the most important lesson of your life and then realising your teacher is a screwed-up bastard who's manipulated you and fabricated all the principles underpining the lesson. It's like learning about beauty from the devil. Or something. I can't explain why I feel that way, but I do.
I should be more detailed, I know. Talk about the truth of Romo's love story even though it was intended to deceive. Roslin's world falling apart as she spies on a witness. The beauty of Gaius' imagined love for Six through the lie of the pen. Lee's sorrow revealed by accident and his falling out with his father being real and inevitable but the catalyst being Romo's manipulation. There...I guess maybe that was detail enough.
I think the episode successfully said all the things I want to say about the rights of individuals to trials. I think there was some interesting disucssion in there about what you do when someone isn't getting a fair trial, how far will you break the system and play dirty yourself?
It's an interesting question usually asked in a one sided way. If our sympathies lie clearly with the accused then we'll support the dirty tricks aspect; if with the defendent we'll be appalled. By getting Lee to make that journey, he takes us with him - and it's a strange feeling to see it from the other side. It's the problem with playing devil's advocate; if you don't commit to it and use every tactic at your disposal, are you disrespecting the system? I'll be interested to see what I make of the trial and verdict, but they've certainly set it up nicely.
I enjoyed seeing Roslin conceding Lee's point about Adama. It's a point I agree with.
I enjoyed Romo Lampkin's scenery-chewing accent which I'm going to assume was Aerilon mixed with...Irish?
Anders damn near broke me. Oh, that boy is beautiful and I don't mean his looks. When I first met him I was so utterly indifferent to him. But Michael Trucco proved that he is an extremely talented actor here. From the perfect drunken coin tossing to the brief, perfect sob, to the way it was all cut off so quickly with that sharp, real fall from the viper and the broken leg. Like Starbuck's life, I guess, if I wanted to be philosophical.
Lee - FINALLY you have an episode about who you really are. But
asta77 will talk about that with far more eloquence than I, I think. Adama continues to annoy me with his hypocrisy re: the trial and his attendence at Six's interview. Though I loved his saying he was through giving Lee orders, because he basically capitulated to his son but in a very Adama way. It was much more like their season one relationship I think. I can't express why properly though.
Baltar is actually going mad. Awesome.
I have a whole bunch of nitpicks. I wish I didn't. I don't think the episode deserves them, but maybe that's why I have them. Slight, pointless moments that confused me or pulled me out of the moment. Perhaps I think the episode was so good I'm less tolerant of these matters?
So, they are:
1. Jamie Bamber was so wonderful in the scene where he accidentally calls Racetrack "Starbuck" that I didn't realise what he'd said until a second too late and the impact was all the greater for it. But the impact was lessened by the unnecessary and very amateur whisper "ZOMG! Did he say Starbuck?" The silence would have been more powerful.
2. I'm only half going to add Captain Kelly. On the one hand I do think that he was an "easy out". On the other hand this episode had so much going on maybe that was the best choice. And his speech at the end was a lot more powerful and understandable than I was expecting.
3. Romo Lampkin's character. In general, I loved him. And I understand what I think the writers were trying to do with him (see above - that whole honest goal with providing Baltar a decent defense, with ignoble means - that whole lying and manipulating). But I wasn't sure his opening line was worthy of the character. Also I don't get why he stole stuff. I like the idea that he's a pickpocket and using that to his advantage (like the pen from Baltar and then the guards), but the other things I don't really get. I mean, okay, the prosecuting lawyer drags her heels - what is this meant to say about her and why does he need to keep the shoe? It seemed like an idiosynchratic character trait tacked on to a) provide a means of implicating Kelly (why would he have stolen from him anyway? It's not like Kelly was "important"), and b) give him "character" - which he already had more than enough of. Or possible I was just too horrified by the theft of the glasses to really concentrate on the justification (that and in that scene I found the character harder to understand). One of the things (seriously) that I always think about when thinking about the Colonial Fleet is, "Shit - if I were there, what would I do if my glasses broke! I couldn't replace them!" I don't actually mind wearing glasses, but I do sometimes feel uncomfortable due to being so utterly dependent on such a fragile piece of equipment.
4. Did Romo Lampkin really have to know Joseph Adama personally and "hate" him (I thought that turn of phrase was a bit trite, honestly; I could see the reveal coming a mile away)? I really think it would have been more powerful if he'd known him by reputation and had learned a lot from his book and, ultimately, knew the guy maybe better than Lee did. I mean, it's a hell of a coincidence, knowing his grandpa - I'd think that sort of thing should be amazing in the remains of the fleet.
5. Why the sunglasses? I mean, they look cool, but seriously, I spent half the episode wondering if he was blind.
6. Cally. I want to like her, but I'm slowly deciding I don't. It's not just hypocrisy - which isn't hypocrisy really if she sees very clear delineations between human and cylon and their various rights - it's that I don't think the actress is all that great.
And that's it. Summing up? Far too many nitpicks for such a great episode; I am a bad fan. Also - I'm now psyched for the trial. What other truths will we discover only to have their wonder soured by the bad taste of their deceptive, screwed-up underpinnings? What will we learn from the devil next week?
