Battlestar Galactica .... (spoilers included for latest ep)
I've never watched much TV. My job never really allowed for it. I much prefer a good book, a quiet nap, or writing to watching television. But a few years ago, Mulder and I became part of the host of insanity that has been glued to Battlestar Galactica. It's his fault.
He'll say it's mine.
Four years ago, I was still the newest member of the team, still pulling more on calls and hard cases and studying to stay up to date. I was operating on no sleep and even less sex and it wasn't exactly the strongest point in our relationship. I'd just bought the house. He was feeling useless.
One night, late, I had the TV on while I was studying and didn't realize the Battlestar Miniseries had started. Mulder came out to join me. Three hours later, we were hooked. Mulder started calling me Starbuck (I think it's cause he thinks the actress is hot.) In return, I called him Apollo, although lately I've been thinking Sam is a more appropriate name. After all, he loves me, even through everything.
Of course, right now, the show is hitting very close to home. While I don't like to think I'm much like Laura Roslin, the parallels I am personally striking between her and her cancer and her relationship with Adama are hard for me. The episode Friday night was no different. The final scene, watching them together, seeing her without her hair, seeing the euphoria she feels as the toxic medications leave her body ... I AM there right now. Not to the same extent, but the meds I am taking right now aren't anywhere near as toxic, of course, as the chemo and the radiation. I feel young and beautiful and free and for a little while, I'm going to enjoy it.
It's funny though. Mulder and I fell in love with the show because of the very idea of "alien invasion." Here were these creatures who were on a hunt for Earth. Of course, Mulder and I have bets on who it's going to be who contacts Earth first - Adama or Roslin. It's silly, but it makes us feel better. We know what's coming. We know when. So to watch this band of humans wandering across the universe in search of Earth, it makes us feel better about our own circumstance - the same way that a child feels better when a parent reads a story with a happy ending after a nightmare. We know the nightmare will return, but for right now, we can enjoy the fantasy.
Nights that I can't make it home from the hospital, Mulder records it and we watch together. It's a ritual for us now, to curl up with popcorn and beer and then spend the rest of the night discussing the political implications of what could happen if ...
And we're both really irked at Geata right now, even though mutiny is something either of us could easily pull off. When the rebellion comes, he says, I'll be the leader of the best resistance cell on Earth and he'll be out there, trying to just make contact and get past the secrets of the alliance and the super soldiers. We'll find ways to forge alliances with rebel aliens and soldiers and together we'll take down the invaders and keep Earth for ourselves.
One night, the conversation turned to the importance of certain children in the line of power and survival came up. We passed over it quickly. To compare William to Hera ... it's just too close for comfort. Mulder and I can amuse ourselves with it, but there is a line that has to be drawn.
So, together, we watch Battlestar and amuse ourselves. The fantastic conversation turns into fantastic arguing which then turns into fantastic love making. It's fun. It's a release. And in some ways, it's saved us not only from ourselves but each other. It gives us common ground when everything else seems out of reach. And after the frightening reality of our own lives, a reality that to so many would seem so out there and full of fantasy that if I hadn't lived it I know I wouldn't believe it myself ... it reminds us that sometimes, a story really is just a story.
-Dana Scully-