BSG Blog 4: The Son Also Rises
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.
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.