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beccatoriaSo like...for the first time I was kind of pissed off that nothing happened. Which is a ridiculous complaint considering lots of stuff happened. But really, NOTHING HAPPENED!
So I'm still stuck with every single one of my neurotic worries about the show's endgame that I had in A Disquiet Follows My Soul, and there wasn't anything like awesome nihilism or minor character uprisings or political plots or great characteristion or crazy revelations to distract me like there usually are.
Dammit, I'm tired!
So basically I thought this was a pretty decent episode all told. You know, when ignoring my OMG TELL ME NOW issues.
Adama was a complete fucking jackass who is still incapable about making anything not about him. Cus for real, I've never had a particular problem with Tahmoh Penikett and his acting; he's good enough for the role and he does well in it, but this is the first time I've been really impressed by him. That scene with Adama was painful. Helo is just so hopeful, because that's all he's got, because if he doesn't hope, he will fall down on the floor and not get up again. And then Adama tells him to shut up and follow orders and he apologises to him. Because the poor boy is just so desperate and confused. He's sorry for everything and anything and would agree to anything if he can just get that raptor. Hope is all that's keeping him standing even though he doesn't have any; not really.
I'm not sure what they're doing with Boomer. I liked her interactions with Hera and the confirmation that basically she's just so frakked. She doesn't love Cavil; she doesn't love the Five; she doesn't want to be human; she doesn't want to be a machine; she doesn't want to die but I'm pretty sure there isn't really another option for her at this point. SOMEONE'S gonna kill her. I'd just rather she went out unrepentant than all self-sacrificing because given developments last week it'd be a shitty, "I redeemed myself through DEATH," thing which is...less interesting than, "I REGRET NOTHING, BITCHES!"
Speaking of Boomer: where the hell was Chief? Why wasn't he relaying information to Adama about the repairs? Why did we have random Deck Gang Dude? Did he get found out and put in the brig? WTH is going on with that?
Speaking of Boomer: OMG HERA CAN PROJECT! Awesome. I mean, she was already aware of the Opera House to a degree, but the daydream at the start also looks like she is kind of...in charge of that? I'm betting this isn't the first time she's done it, she just probably doesn't consider it that weird. It's like daydreaming for her? Anyway, that's cool. Also the new actress is growing on me somewhat. Although she's still less cute. But less less cute than last week.
In other plotlines, I continue to be completely fucking devastated by Laura's lack of awesome, especially since with such tiny fucking alterations I'd be okay with it. Like...dudes, have her be awesome during the mutiny because she's angry; have her more explicitly have to hand power over to Lee for health reasons. I WOULD BE OKAY WITH IT THEN. But just...gah.
The silver lining was that while I obviously was not thrilled about her waxing eloquent about MAH CABIN! MAH HOME! WITH YOOOOOU EVEN THOUGH I'M IN CHRONIC PAIN! WE ARE YOUR WIMMMIINZ! I did manage to retain some of my earlier-in-the-series alternate reading skills to the point that I think if I wasn't generally disgruntled, I'd've been fine with the scene.
Mainly because it struck me as classic Laura in a lot of ways. Not that she was lying exactly, but that she knew exactly what she needed to say to make Adama do the right thing. I kind of saw that whole thing as, "Oh Lords, he needs it broken to him gently and explained in small words again, doesn't he?" And when I look at it that way, with Laura using her own story to be kind to this stuck, out-of-touch old man so that he can handle the decisions he has to make because he's never been good at seeing reality, well, then I'm calmer.
I'm not sure what I think of the Anders subplot. On the one hand, forcibly turning people into hybrids is kind of awesome (though obviously it should have been Baltar and it should have involved painfully cutting off his legs). Like, conceptually I love it and I think it was quite beautifully and gracefully executed. But I'm worried that the payoff will go in a direction I don't like for the story?
Like, I 'ship neither L/K nor A/R but was willing to accept both of them as the endgame as of 4x10. A/R has obviously turned out far to obvious and agency-devouring on Laura's part for me to really be okay with anymore. L/K has been wonderfully understated but at this point, it's been so wonderfully understated to the point that up to and including this episode I have nothing but actual honest love for their season four relationship, that I worry the inevitable L/K ending is going to feel really tacked-on and false to me.
This season has sold me, so, so much that her relationship with Anders is true and real and there that I'm honestly not sure I do believe that she loves Lee as much (at least not in that way; as family, then yes, she loves him infinity). I always believed that Anders would probably die before the end/there would be some way of reconciling Kara and Lee.
But seriously, at this point I don't know if I'd buy it. I mean, I desperately want Anders to wake up and be okay. But if he doesn't, I don't want Kara to run off into the sunset with Lee. I kind of want her to hang out with her Hybridized husband having magical goo sex in the hopes it'll make him spout prophecy. And for Kara and Lee to continue this beautiful, accepting, loving, BFFship.
There might be something wrong with me...
I continue to continue to love the encylonment of Galactica - now complete with its own hybrid! - though I hope Sam is detachable cus I don't want him going down with the ship so Adama doesn't have to. (Oh, yeah, that's now my fondest hope for the end of the series, since clearly Galactica's gonna die: GO DOWN WITH YOUR SHIP, DUDE). Although I'm a little sad that the encylonment isn't working. BOO.
IT'S ALL DOWN TO THE CORNER CUTTING AND THE INFERIOR ALLOYS.
Oh, cranky deck gang Six. :( I LOVED YOU. At least you got a kickass funeral. I did like that funeral. I did think it was, like the moment with the memorial wall, a beautiful and understated and real way of expressing the further blending of the ship.
In the midst of all my character-plotline angst, I do continue to love the aesthetic of these episodes. Lost and hopeless until all people have is acceptance and hope even though both feel pretty meaningless. Like Helo. This episode was beautifully titled.
Followed by Baltar's desperate attempt to what? Why did he doe that? Because he'd had it up to here withdestiny the funeral not being about him? Because he was trying to impress Caprica Six? (He did keep staring at a Six I assume must have been her right before hand). How exactly was that supposed to work?
I'm a little disappointed Starbuck didn't punch him, but only a little. I actually think the slap worked in a more...exhausted and broken rather than angry way. I also believe she'd've told him. He has the skills she needs, would be intrigued enough to do it, and at this point, I really don't think fear of discovery is larger than fear of the unknown, so I was cool with that. Even if I did think the pissing thing was a little weird. Kinda funny, but weird. I mean, dude, okay the latch might be busted but you can still close the damn door!
What I'm really wondering about now, though, is how they'll handle it because obviously I'm still fixated on Daniel/Dreilide. Mainly because if they're going with the angel analogy we may never get a clear answer on that which would annoy me. Her potential status as a hybrid doesn't explain her resurrection (well, two resurrections; her ship and body were destroyed in the maelstrom first time). But it does help explain why she's got "destiny" in the first place. Similarly her being an angel doesn't explain her father knowing That Song. So we need two different things to be addressed here. Hopefully they will both be.
Which means I've said everything I want to except about, you got it, Caprica.
While I was grateful we got to see her at all, I'm not thrilled that we got, what, one scene where she says five lines and a few long distance shots.
So. An open letter.
My gods, writers, Tricia Helfer is an un-fucking-believably good actress. This character has un-fucking-believable amounts of issues and material to work with. She is a member of your main cast. Give her some fucking airtime already. I know we see Helfer in a lot of scenes. And I appreciate the way she nuances all the different Sixes, I do (I love Sonja; I loved Deckgang Six), but you're not giving any of them storylines.
Used to be, my only major issue with this season was the way you stole Laura's agency. Used to be, while I hated it, I could also acknowledge that Caprica's quiet storylines; so deeply powerful, so invisible, like riptides that only surfaced occasionally when suddenly she exploded and lead her people to New Caprica, or murdered Boomer and ran off with Hera, or started sharing the the mystic vision of the series, or one day beat the shit out of Saul Tigh, were part of why I loved her. Her lack of attention shaped her character in many ways. Not that she couldn't have been that person with more airtime. But she's quiet, and certain, and patient and full of love.
But guys, listen. Liam's not just about Tigh. Who we've seen comforted by Adama, and defended by Ellen, and now slowly coming to grips with the fact that maybe he lost Liam but maybe he also has the entire Cylon race, and Ellen can still hug him and stuff.
We don't even know where Caprica is living. And it sure as hell looks like she's staying in Sick Bay because she has nowhere else to go, so I assume Ellen moved right back in with Tigh (although she could have been visiting in that scene). That's heartbreaking, guys. Even if that was her choice, that's...awful. Especially after all that crap about how everyone loves everyone. Apparently not enough to give her a damn home after she loses her son. And the only other option she has is Baltar's harem.
Why the hell isn't this storyline about her?
Come on, guys. You can do it. Give her good material in the finale. Don't have her as an extra who goes along for the ride, picks up a kid in an Opera House and has some ambiguous ending. Do right by this exceptional character and exceptional actress.
I KNOW YOU CAN.
With reserved amounts of love,
me.
As to what we actually saw of Caprica in this episode, oh, dudes. :(
It was almost as painful as Helo. They might only give her a handful of lines but she does so well with them.
What I desperately want for her, by the end of the season, is for someone to see her. Just as her. Just as the amazing person she is. And love her for that. At this point, I think my last hope for that is going to be Gaius Baltar. Which in itself is a little sad.
On the plus side, James Callis played it beautifully and I did find myself remembering a lot of the reasons why, at the start of season three, I really just wanted both of them to save each other.
On the plus side, I love that Caprica didn't just fall back into that. She's not who she was. I'm glad that if Baltar wants some kind of reproachment with her, he'll have to work for it. I think he even starts to understand that.
And you know what, while it pisses me off that this whole story was kept to like, one thirty-second scene, Gaius' face at the end?
You guys, I think we might have just seen the very first time Caprica's ever broken someone else's heart. The first time someone looked at her and loved her with no ulterior motive.
Which is actually pretty mindblowing and beautiful.
It's also where we get to the downside. Which is heartbreaking in itself. I am finally at a point where I really believe Gaius might love her; be able to love her.
But I also completely agree with what Caprica said. He's still the same guy. Yes he wants to do something good, to be loved, to be a good man. But he's always wanted that. Now popularity and adoration comes in the form of "doing good" but how much of that is genuine? How much is Head!Six manipulating him? How long until he runs away to a Lida again? Or regains control to save Dogsville but only because Paulla wounded his pride, not because he honestly wanted to help. Even if he enjoys the byproduct of helping. He's the same guy who wants absolution without ever admitting fault. Maybe that's why I was so moved by his face at the end of this scene: it was the closest thing I've seen to understanding that.
All he does in this episode is prove Caprica right. When she says she's no desire to join his harem, he starts out well. Denying it in a way I believe; it's not even defensive about him, it's honest pain for her because he just wanted to help her and instead he hurt her. And then he stops, and starts his spiel about how they're trying to help people. Yeah, he's trying to explain to her something he kind of believes, but it's just making it about him again. About how important he is. He's never gotten over his fear of being ordinary. "How can you think that of me?" he's saying. "I'm trying to HELP people down here!"
So next time he sees her, he does it again.
He'll never impress her by making it all about how great he is. It's not what she wants. What she wants is for him to see her; not be someone he thinks she'd like to see. The worst part is, I think he does see her, but not well enough to understand that's all he needs to do.
In conclusion: my hopes for the finale are still that everyone dies except Caprica. And maybe Sam.
So I'm still stuck with every single one of my neurotic worries about the show's endgame that I had in A Disquiet Follows My Soul, and there wasn't anything like awesome nihilism or minor character uprisings or political plots or great characteristion or crazy revelations to distract me like there usually are.
Dammit, I'm tired!
So basically I thought this was a pretty decent episode all told. You know, when ignoring my OMG TELL ME NOW issues.
Adama was a complete fucking jackass who is still incapable about making anything not about him. Cus for real, I've never had a particular problem with Tahmoh Penikett and his acting; he's good enough for the role and he does well in it, but this is the first time I've been really impressed by him. That scene with Adama was painful. Helo is just so hopeful, because that's all he's got, because if he doesn't hope, he will fall down on the floor and not get up again. And then Adama tells him to shut up and follow orders and he apologises to him. Because the poor boy is just so desperate and confused. He's sorry for everything and anything and would agree to anything if he can just get that raptor. Hope is all that's keeping him standing even though he doesn't have any; not really.
I'm not sure what they're doing with Boomer. I liked her interactions with Hera and the confirmation that basically she's just so frakked. She doesn't love Cavil; she doesn't love the Five; she doesn't want to be human; she doesn't want to be a machine; she doesn't want to die but I'm pretty sure there isn't really another option for her at this point. SOMEONE'S gonna kill her. I'd just rather she went out unrepentant than all self-sacrificing because given developments last week it'd be a shitty, "I redeemed myself through DEATH," thing which is...less interesting than, "I REGRET NOTHING, BITCHES!"
Speaking of Boomer: where the hell was Chief? Why wasn't he relaying information to Adama about the repairs? Why did we have random Deck Gang Dude? Did he get found out and put in the brig? WTH is going on with that?
Speaking of Boomer: OMG HERA CAN PROJECT! Awesome. I mean, she was already aware of the Opera House to a degree, but the daydream at the start also looks like she is kind of...in charge of that? I'm betting this isn't the first time she's done it, she just probably doesn't consider it that weird. It's like daydreaming for her? Anyway, that's cool. Also the new actress is growing on me somewhat. Although she's still less cute. But less less cute than last week.
In other plotlines, I continue to be completely fucking devastated by Laura's lack of awesome, especially since with such tiny fucking alterations I'd be okay with it. Like...dudes, have her be awesome during the mutiny because she's angry; have her more explicitly have to hand power over to Lee for health reasons. I WOULD BE OKAY WITH IT THEN. But just...gah.
The silver lining was that while I obviously was not thrilled about her waxing eloquent about MAH CABIN! MAH HOME! WITH YOOOOOU EVEN THOUGH I'M IN CHRONIC PAIN! WE ARE YOUR WIMMMIINZ! I did manage to retain some of my earlier-in-the-series alternate reading skills to the point that I think if I wasn't generally disgruntled, I'd've been fine with the scene.
Mainly because it struck me as classic Laura in a lot of ways. Not that she was lying exactly, but that she knew exactly what she needed to say to make Adama do the right thing. I kind of saw that whole thing as, "Oh Lords, he needs it broken to him gently and explained in small words again, doesn't he?" And when I look at it that way, with Laura using her own story to be kind to this stuck, out-of-touch old man so that he can handle the decisions he has to make because he's never been good at seeing reality, well, then I'm calmer.
I'm not sure what I think of the Anders subplot. On the one hand, forcibly turning people into hybrids is kind of awesome (though obviously it should have been Baltar and it should have involved painfully cutting off his legs). Like, conceptually I love it and I think it was quite beautifully and gracefully executed. But I'm worried that the payoff will go in a direction I don't like for the story?
Like, I 'ship neither L/K nor A/R but was willing to accept both of them as the endgame as of 4x10. A/R has obviously turned out far to obvious and agency-devouring on Laura's part for me to really be okay with anymore. L/K has been wonderfully understated but at this point, it's been so wonderfully understated to the point that up to and including this episode I have nothing but actual honest love for their season four relationship, that I worry the inevitable L/K ending is going to feel really tacked-on and false to me.
This season has sold me, so, so much that her relationship with Anders is true and real and there that I'm honestly not sure I do believe that she loves Lee as much (at least not in that way; as family, then yes, she loves him infinity). I always believed that Anders would probably die before the end/there would be some way of reconciling Kara and Lee.
But seriously, at this point I don't know if I'd buy it. I mean, I desperately want Anders to wake up and be okay. But if he doesn't, I don't want Kara to run off into the sunset with Lee. I kind of want her to hang out with her Hybridized husband having magical goo sex in the hopes it'll make him spout prophecy. And for Kara and Lee to continue this beautiful, accepting, loving, BFFship.
There might be something wrong with me...
I continue to continue to love the encylonment of Galactica - now complete with its own hybrid! - though I hope Sam is detachable cus I don't want him going down with the ship so Adama doesn't have to. (Oh, yeah, that's now my fondest hope for the end of the series, since clearly Galactica's gonna die: GO DOWN WITH YOUR SHIP, DUDE). Although I'm a little sad that the encylonment isn't working. BOO.
IT'S ALL DOWN TO THE CORNER CUTTING AND THE INFERIOR ALLOYS.
Oh, cranky deck gang Six. :( I LOVED YOU. At least you got a kickass funeral. I did like that funeral. I did think it was, like the moment with the memorial wall, a beautiful and understated and real way of expressing the further blending of the ship.
In the midst of all my character-plotline angst, I do continue to love the aesthetic of these episodes. Lost and hopeless until all people have is acceptance and hope even though both feel pretty meaningless. Like Helo. This episode was beautifully titled.
Followed by Baltar's desperate attempt to what? Why did he doe that? Because he'd had it up to here with
I'm a little disappointed Starbuck didn't punch him, but only a little. I actually think the slap worked in a more...exhausted and broken rather than angry way. I also believe she'd've told him. He has the skills she needs, would be intrigued enough to do it, and at this point, I really don't think fear of discovery is larger than fear of the unknown, so I was cool with that. Even if I did think the pissing thing was a little weird. Kinda funny, but weird. I mean, dude, okay the latch might be busted but you can still close the damn door!
What I'm really wondering about now, though, is how they'll handle it because obviously I'm still fixated on Daniel/Dreilide. Mainly because if they're going with the angel analogy we may never get a clear answer on that which would annoy me. Her potential status as a hybrid doesn't explain her resurrection (well, two resurrections; her ship and body were destroyed in the maelstrom first time). But it does help explain why she's got "destiny" in the first place. Similarly her being an angel doesn't explain her father knowing That Song. So we need two different things to be addressed here. Hopefully they will both be.
Which means I've said everything I want to except about, you got it, Caprica.
While I was grateful we got to see her at all, I'm not thrilled that we got, what, one scene where she says five lines and a few long distance shots.
So. An open letter.
My gods, writers, Tricia Helfer is an un-fucking-believably good actress. This character has un-fucking-believable amounts of issues and material to work with. She is a member of your main cast. Give her some fucking airtime already. I know we see Helfer in a lot of scenes. And I appreciate the way she nuances all the different Sixes, I do (I love Sonja; I loved Deckgang Six), but you're not giving any of them storylines.
Used to be, my only major issue with this season was the way you stole Laura's agency. Used to be, while I hated it, I could also acknowledge that Caprica's quiet storylines; so deeply powerful, so invisible, like riptides that only surfaced occasionally when suddenly she exploded and lead her people to New Caprica, or murdered Boomer and ran off with Hera, or started sharing the the mystic vision of the series, or one day beat the shit out of Saul Tigh, were part of why I loved her. Her lack of attention shaped her character in many ways. Not that she couldn't have been that person with more airtime. But she's quiet, and certain, and patient and full of love.
But guys, listen. Liam's not just about Tigh. Who we've seen comforted by Adama, and defended by Ellen, and now slowly coming to grips with the fact that maybe he lost Liam but maybe he also has the entire Cylon race, and Ellen can still hug him and stuff.
We don't even know where Caprica is living. And it sure as hell looks like she's staying in Sick Bay because she has nowhere else to go, so I assume Ellen moved right back in with Tigh (although she could have been visiting in that scene). That's heartbreaking, guys. Even if that was her choice, that's...awful. Especially after all that crap about how everyone loves everyone. Apparently not enough to give her a damn home after she loses her son. And the only other option she has is Baltar's harem.
Why the hell isn't this storyline about her?
Come on, guys. You can do it. Give her good material in the finale. Don't have her as an extra who goes along for the ride, picks up a kid in an Opera House and has some ambiguous ending. Do right by this exceptional character and exceptional actress.
I KNOW YOU CAN.
With reserved amounts of love,
me.
As to what we actually saw of Caprica in this episode, oh, dudes. :(
It was almost as painful as Helo. They might only give her a handful of lines but she does so well with them.
What I desperately want for her, by the end of the season, is for someone to see her. Just as her. Just as the amazing person she is. And love her for that. At this point, I think my last hope for that is going to be Gaius Baltar. Which in itself is a little sad.
On the plus side, James Callis played it beautifully and I did find myself remembering a lot of the reasons why, at the start of season three, I really just wanted both of them to save each other.
On the plus side, I love that Caprica didn't just fall back into that. She's not who she was. I'm glad that if Baltar wants some kind of reproachment with her, he'll have to work for it. I think he even starts to understand that.
And you know what, while it pisses me off that this whole story was kept to like, one thirty-second scene, Gaius' face at the end?
You guys, I think we might have just seen the very first time Caprica's ever broken someone else's heart. The first time someone looked at her and loved her with no ulterior motive.
Which is actually pretty mindblowing and beautiful.
It's also where we get to the downside. Which is heartbreaking in itself. I am finally at a point where I really believe Gaius might love her; be able to love her.
But I also completely agree with what Caprica said. He's still the same guy. Yes he wants to do something good, to be loved, to be a good man. But he's always wanted that. Now popularity and adoration comes in the form of "doing good" but how much of that is genuine? How much is Head!Six manipulating him? How long until he runs away to a Lida again? Or regains control to save Dogsville but only because Paulla wounded his pride, not because he honestly wanted to help. Even if he enjoys the byproduct of helping. He's the same guy who wants absolution without ever admitting fault. Maybe that's why I was so moved by his face at the end of this scene: it was the closest thing I've seen to understanding that.
All he does in this episode is prove Caprica right. When she says she's no desire to join his harem, he starts out well. Denying it in a way I believe; it's not even defensive about him, it's honest pain for her because he just wanted to help her and instead he hurt her. And then he stops, and starts his spiel about how they're trying to help people. Yeah, he's trying to explain to her something he kind of believes, but it's just making it about him again. About how important he is. He's never gotten over his fear of being ordinary. "How can you think that of me?" he's saying. "I'm trying to HELP people down here!"
So next time he sees her, he does it again.
He'll never impress her by making it all about how great he is. It's not what she wants. What she wants is for him to see her; not be someone he thinks she'd like to see. The worst part is, I think he does see her, but not well enough to understand that's all he needs to do.
In conclusion: my hopes for the finale are still that everyone dies except Caprica. And maybe Sam.
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Date: 2009-03-07 06:58 pm (UTC)I hated Adama breaking his heart like that but there were a few tiny moments that made me like Bill again this episode. (Shocked by that I was.)
Good point about Chief! I wondered where he was and why we were getting this guy. I bet podcast explains it. He probably did get caught when they found the knocked-out (not dead I hope) eight in the brig.
Re: Laura, while the "your women" stuff creeps me out a bit still. (Cause can you imagine any other female on this show, maybe aside from Ellen, saying that to a man "I'm your woman."...I really can't. And that they're putting those words in Laura's mouth, even just to be ironic, sorta blows.) BUT, I've seen a lot of hardcore Laura lovers lamenting the fact that she's showing any vulnerability at all in what's essentially her final moments. She's a woman and she has a heart and I don't quite get why people who love her automatically hate if she indulges a little bit in her love for Bill. I've heard the arguments about how all we're getting is that love and not her business side anymore, but I think the timing is pretty key. Maybe it's just they're feeling it's been so out of balance this whole season. That we didn't get enough of Laura's businesslike side, but if you take the whole series into consideration, her time indulging herself and being romantic is but a small blip on the dradis.
I was touched by the Kara/Sam scenes tonight and they have indeed done a great job showing the depth of love Kara feels for Sam. And I was feeling a little like, holy crap, she loves him so much how is she ever going to get over him, because Katee just twists my heart. But...then the K/L scene came and it was so utterly open and accepting and beautiful. Kara gets a real peace whenever she is around Lee that she doesn't get from Sam ever again after New Caprica (which is a reverse of the early days when Sam gave her peace and Lee gave her angst). Do you really want Kara to stay with her essentially braindead/mechanized husband in hopes he'll someday be a person again? I think that would be such an utterly sad place for her. To condemn her to a purgatory like that. And if the places were switched and Lee was in the tub, I still wouldn't want her to hang around waiting for him to wake up. (Of course then I'd probably want her to put a bullet in him and chase it with one for her so they could have a tragic Romeo/Juliet kind of end. Because I'm a sappy shipper.)
Caprica and Baltar are so not my people, but I was really impressed and moved by their scene together. And I really frakking wish Sonja looked different or at least had different wardrobe from Caprica because I never know who it is until they say a name!
Oh and my sneaking suspicion about Kara's true nature: That's it. Daniel was a red herring, as was her knowing the song. We aren't going to find out. Like Lee, we are not supposed to care. And this episode closing her storyline with putting her dead chick to rest, makes me OK with that. Because Kara finally doesn't need the answers. So neither do I. (It fits with Katee's recent LA Times interview too, her saying some people will still think she's a cylon after the show ends.)
no subject
Date: 2009-03-07 07:20 pm (UTC)Regarding Laura, it's not that she's showing vulnerability. One of the things I love best about Laura is her vulnerability and her ways of negotiating that area of herself without losing it. What pisses me off is the timing and the handling of it. Firstly, the entire story of her dying is basically being told from Bill's perspective. It's All About Him. Putting these words ironically in her mouth ceases to be ironic when there's nothing around to contextualise them as being so. It's not the plot that bothers me: Laura enters a relationship with Bill; in the wake of her failing health and the disaster of the mutiny (during which she rises to the occasion), she retires from politics and lets Lee take over. It's the way it was handled. Her behaviour in the mutiny, at least in the second episode aboard the basestar was presented as being so overwhelmingly about Bill Adama to the point that she appeals to the Cylon nation in a manner that suggests if they don't agree, Bill won't like them any more and how will they like that?
And then, her retirement seems so much more to do with her previous "I want a break" spiel than her illness...I just...
I want to see her vulnerable. I want to see her feel. But I want to see her feel. I don't want to see only Adama. And I certainly don't want her declaring stuff like, "It's only since I started dating YOU that I feel I've had any kind of home!" I know it's not literally true, but the word "home" evokes a lot and it skirts close to suggesting she was never really happy or fulfilled before she knew the love of Bill Adama.
And yeah. I have a HUGE problem with that because one of the things I loved best and forever about Laura was how much she loved her people. How hard she fought for them. And that she thought it was worth it. For other people, maybe, it's okay. She deserves "a little happiness." But the Laura I fell in love with couldn't be happy if she wasn't defending her people - her people - with every fibre of her being.
Thus I am emo! ;)
As to Kara, well firstly, in my hypothetical scenario I wouldn't want Sam to be braindead, no. I was thinking more, conscious and aware if a little like he was in No Exit so really it'd be more like being married to someone physically disabled in some way. If he was actually braindead, then no, I wouldn't want her to stay with a vegetable forever.
I'm just not sure I'd want to see her running into Lee's arms as anything other than a best friend/sister any time soon or it'll feel...arbitrary and unworthy of both of them? They love each other. Yes. (Although I think Sam also gives her that acceptance and peace). But I don't know... If there were a season left maybe. But just hooking up in the finale cus it's the finale? Meh.
I'm also worried about the thing with Kara. I honestly wouldn't care if they never answered the Daniel question or where she came from if the SHOW ITSELF hadn't posed it. Had they not dangled both Daniel and Kara's father as GIANT RED HERRING LOOSE ENDS, I really would be championing the "it doesn't matter what she is, it was a miracle!" team. But as things stand, no, I need answers.
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Date: 2009-03-07 08:58 pm (UTC)Hmm I haven't seen that so much in her story. I mean not the way Caprica's story is all being told from Tigh's perspective and she totally has no agency. Laura is saying she wants these things. She wants to stop leading. She wants to just live for a change. So I think she does believe it. And it was her choice not to take the medicine and her choice to step back from leadership. And though I get that they're unpopular choices and possibly inconsistent with her previous choices, they're still her choices.
I see her having agency but not the same kind of agency she's had in the past.
it skirts close to suggesting she was never really happy or fulfilled before she knew the love of Bill Adama. ... And yeah. I have a HUGE problem with that because one of the things I loved best and forever about Laura was how much she loved her people. How hard she fought for them. And that she thought it was worth it.
But...what if she's changed her mind? What if she no longer thinks it's worth it? What if it truly is his love that makes her feel whole and home at this point? Why couldn't that be the case? (It bugs me a bit that people think she can't be her own strong woman AND still a sap about love. I don't find the two things contradictory.)
OTOH, and with me there's always another hand, I didn't hate her emotions for Bill here, but I hated the precise dialogue they gave her about "his women" and I've hated some of her precise reactions in the past--that bit on the baseship about the cylons falling in line because of Bill, as you point out. So I do still have quite a few issues with the way they're writing Laura.
I guess I'm conflicted. You make goodly points as always. I might be getting a little fatigued by the rage at all of Laura's emo moments. Everyone else gets to be emo and broody and kinda useless occasionally, so why shouldn't she too? Hee.
I don't see L/K as the default anything so while I do think it would be really weird for them to be hooking up so soon (and I don't think they will), I'm fine with them returning to how much in love with each other they've always been. Kara's feelings for Sam have always been such a separate thing from her feelings for Lee in my mind. And I just don't think we're going to see sentient Sammy again (unless it's a flashback).
I was pretty sure last night that that was it for answers about Kara's identity. I still strongly believe they might not but that last scene with Sam where she says we're going to figure this out. It's hard to imagine that they'll figure it out without also figuring HER out. But...I think they might based on Katee interviews and Ron interviews I've read.
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Date: 2009-03-07 09:22 pm (UTC)But against a backdrop of social media where these are considered the "correct" and "best" choices for a woman to make, I find them highly suspect from a storytelling perspective. She's a fictional character. She didn't change her mind, the writers decided to change it. And apparently change it so that it was more in keeping with the old stereotype that a woman can have a career, but it's when she finds a man that she really gets fulfilled. I don't want to dismiss that as character agency when she's using her agency to conform to sexist stereotypes.
I've long been a defender of BSG and its treatment of women and have been happy to let them run around doing things that might seem, on the surface, to be sexist - like the way Six dresses, or pre-occupation with babies - because I thought there was so much awesome out there that it was just another side to things.
But the way Laura is falling into such enormous cliches so quickly and completely is just depressing.
What if it truly is his love that makes her feel whole and home at this point? Why couldn't that be the case? (It bugs me a bit that people think she can't be her own strong woman AND still a sap about love. I don't find the two things contradictory.)
My problem is that the show treats these things as contradictory. I certainly don't believe them to be so.
Kara is a good example of someone who is both. Laura was.
It could simply be bad timing that her relationship with Bill coincides with her medical need to step away from her duties, but I'm honestly tired of making excuses for this show when the end implication is that it's better this way.
Why can't she have these moments with Bill while still being the same character we've always known; the one who would gladly bleed to death for her people?
It's not that she considers Bill Adama to be a "home" to her. That's absolutely fine. It's the weird need to suggest he is her first ever "real" home, and that all homes prior this have been transitory, temporary, meaningless.
The implication not that she's happy and fulfilled, but that she was never happy or fulfilled before.
And yes, no matter how you slice it, I'm going to have a hard time reading a powerful woman who has accomplished AMAZING THINGS, like ensuring the survival of her entire race, only finally being happy when she gets to stop working and have a Man, as anything other than deeply sexist. Certainly I don't find, "Oh but the character just changed her mind," to be a compelling arguement to the contrary. :(
Sorry if I'm going on here. It's certainly not my intention to attack you, neither do I feel attacked by you. I just...am realising how deeply I feel about this and am using this comment as a chance to get my thoughts in order?
As to Lee and Kara, don't worry, I do think they'll end up with some kind of continuing (and probably romantic) relationship, so hopefully at least one of us will get the ending we want! :) I will try to be happy for you!
And we'll be seeing Sammy again in The Plan at least.
I think given where we leave Kara and Sam there has to be some payoff for still leaving him plugged in.
Speculation: Sam gives them a reason to go after Hera?
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Date: 2009-03-07 10:19 pm (UTC)The thing is she can change her mind if the writers change it because she doesn't exist outside of the writers/show like you say. (And every single character has changed so much over the course of the show, it makes sense to me that she's not the same person she was 4/5 years ago. Perhaps saying "she changed her mind" was bad phrasing on my part. Better would be "fundamentally she is a changed person, and not the Laura who was so single-minded and black-and-white and all about rolling the hard six that she was in the early days.")
For me there's hints of sexist stuff/sterotypical choices, but there's also mainly a lot of other things going on. And I'm one of the folks who felt that for a lot of s3.5 and s4.0 Laura was not a fully realized character. She felt fairly one-dimensional to me as her emotional life seemed fairly barren. Not nearly as complex and interesting as she'd been in the mini, season one and two.
Just out of curiousity, what were your thoughts on UB and the Adama/Roslin storyline there?
Maybe I am too forgiving of the show as a whole. On one hand I can understand looking at some of her dialogue and the timing of things and seeing her backing away from her leadership role and yet still being really happy as a stereotypical or sexist or anti-feminist decision. But for whatever reason, that seems like too easy a criticism and like it's not the whole picture. Not the way Caprica has been so utterly marginalized and that's all we get of her. But then, everything is degrees I suppose.
Interesting food for thought.
Oh I forgot about The Plan! I'm happy for Trucco that Sam's end is not his final notes in the BSG universe sorta. Sam's going to give them the answers and probably jump the ship. I just wonder what happens to him after that.
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Date: 2009-03-07 10:58 pm (UTC)To be honest, whether we talk about her having changed her mind or simply being a changed character, I still feel that by choosing to change her in this fashion the writers are doing something harmful.
I mean, partly I didn't have these issues with her in 4.0, but that's a matter of opinion, obviously.
To be honest, a lot of my disatisfaction isn't coming from the plot, or the shape of the conversation, which might described as, "Laura gently convinces Bill that it's okay to abandon ship." My issues are with the blatantly sexist and ridiculous language they choose to put in my girlfriend's mouth in a completely unnecessary fashion, which changes the scene from the above outline to, "Laura gently convinces Bill that it's okay to abandon ship by becoming a complete frakking cliche."
So like, we both hate some of the lines of dialogue. I think I just find them more harmful in the wider context of her character.
To be honest, I consider myself very forgiving of this show too, but in some ways that makes me MORE angry when they pull something this unnecessary and blatant.
I'm angry about Caprica's treatment, sure. But at the same time (not that this justifies it) she has always had these issues and has always been a B-list character. It's not quite the same as turning Laura Frakking Roslin into someone's "woman."
Regarding Sam, mainly I just hope they can detach him before the Galactica inevitably goes down in flames...
ETA: Sorry - you asked me about UB. Obviously I wasn't thrilled with it because I don't like A/R. But I didn't have a huge problem with it because at that point there really wasn't anything better Laura should be doing other than teaching kids and getting on with her life. And as soon as the Cylon arrived, she was right in there with the resistance being...resisty. So like, at that point, her role as Awesome Leader of Humanity had been taken away from her by circumstance and the entirety of humanity wasn't in like, current mortal peril and need of leadership. Which has not been the case from 4x12 until now.
At that point, Adama was also struggling with not having the purpose of his old life or as much purpose to his role as Admiral. As was everyone else on the show. Settling down and grabbing some happiness was what everyone was doing, including Laura, not what Laura was doing while everyone else was having a breakdown.
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Date: 2009-03-08 04:26 am (UTC)The thing about Caprica is that I can never really grab onto her because she's everyone's prism. And so when she said that she'd changed to Baltar, I couldn't quite grasp it because I never knew who she was to begin with I guess. I actually think the writers did a terrible job giving (or failing to give) both Caprica and Boomer distinct personalities, because I could never tell where the lines were between Caprica/Head!Six and Boomer/Athena. But admittedly I am way less fascinated by the cylons.
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Date: 2009-03-11 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 04:27 pm (UTC)Dude. What? WHAT? WHERE??
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Date: 2009-03-10 06:20 pm (UTC)