I can't believe I don't have a Derek Reese icon
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has eaten my brain and I knew it wasn't going to be too long before it invaded my other true TV love BSG. So here we are: Derek Reese may as well be Saul Tigh. Just give him an eye patch, 30 years, and a lot less hair and Unky Derek is the Tight.
Don't worry, I have evidence (and pictures!), but there be spoilers for all aired episodes of both shows, so beware.
In war, there are no unwounded soldiers. -- Jose Narosky
Okay, so I know what you're thinking. Seriously? Derek Reese and Saul Tigh? They are nothing alike! Derek is young and hot and tattooed. Tigh is old and drunk and eye-patched. Derek is from the future and Tigh represents the past. Different? Surprisingly, not so much.
Before getting into specifics, I need to relate just how I came to see all the similarities between two of my favorites characters from my two favorite shows. Derek Reese made it to episode 2.21 'Adam Raised a Cain' where he rounded a corner during a gun fight and was killed within the first ten minutes of the episode. It was quick and a shock and it was over, the other characters had to move on. I found it to be a perfect way for him to go out, but incredibly sad as he had become, behind Cameron, the most fascinating character on TSCC. I think I put in a review of episode 2.19 how much I had come to adore Derek, so discovering that and then having it taken away so quickly was kind of jarring. So after the AMAZING finale, I went back and rewatched season one. In doing so, I realized how different my response to Derek's first appearance was this time around compared to the first time I watched. I sympathized with his plight and tolerated Derek's glum presence within the Connor family basically until after the first few episodes of season two. That's when my opinion changed the first time around. Now, 'Dungeons & Dragons,' the Derek-centered episode, is hands down my favorite episode of season one. In short, I love Derek Reese.
The same thing happened with the Tight. I hated him at first. Who was this grumpy old drunk invading my cool show? Why does he have to be so damn annoying? Both valid questions and ones I asked for most of season one, but somewhere around 'Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down' I fell for the old drunk bastard. Both he and Derek serve in the same role as Mr. Worse-Case-Scenario, Mr. Gloom-and-Doom, the nay-sayer of their respective groups. In fact, I always called Tigh Gloom and Doom Tigh and Derek Uncle Hard Truth. They both tell it like it is because they believe in what they're saying and they know their leaders need to hear it to make the right decision. It's easy to hate that guy, but he's essential for balance. Yes men and optimists can get you killed in a war, and though the leader may be the one who has to make the hard choice, he needs to know all the possible outcomes, have all the facts.
Love and Loyalty
Besides being soldiers in a post-apocalyptic world made apocalyptic by killer robots, Derek and Tigh both serve in a number two/subordinate position to an adored leader to whom they are loyal to until death. For Tigh it's Admiral Adama, or Bill as he likes to call him. They have been through two wars together and been friends for 40 years, but it's more than just the military loyalty of an XO to his commander. They have their disagreements, but they would die for each other no matter what (see 'The Oath'). The very definition of bromance, these guys often choose each other over loved ones (Ellen and Lee).
For Derek, he is like so many other resistance fighters in 2029 in his adoration of John Connor. But he also has a personal connection to him in his brother Kyle, who saved John's life and seems to have a special connection to him. Of course he finds out later in past, he's also John's uncle by way of Kyle, so his loyalty is essentially to them both. Derek would die for John, would die for Kyle, and they both end up dying for John, one of them knowing he is family. "We all die for you," Derek says to John, and no one who dies for him loved him more than Derek.
Robots Are Bad... Except Maybe They Aren't?
If one had to pick the character that hated robots (be they terminators or cylons) the most on either show, it would be easy to pick out Tight and Derek. Most of their warnings are about their metal enemies and the bitterness they display towards them tastes like bile. Tigh is the old war horse from the first cylon war who seems to have been through too much at the hands of the cylons to ever do anything but hate them. Derek is the soldier who has had to fight machines just to survive for most of his life so trusting them is not an option. But both of these men make discoveries that cause them to take pause and consider their synthetic enemies.
Tigh's change of opinion comes at the ultimate in irony when he finds out he actually is a cylon. He is the thing he hates the most. Trippy. Yeah, that throws him, but he comes around and decides he is still the man he always was and he has to acknowledge that the distance between man and machine isn't all that far.
Derek gets a shock about the humanity of machines in Cameron and John. He is dismayed when John repeatedly defends Cameron and then says "I need her." The realization that his hero and his leader loves a machine throws him, but he's seen Cameron do human things, things machines shouldn't be able to do like eating and dancing ballet. He ultimately has to accept Cameron's help and know that machines really can be on their side.
Significant Others
The ladies in these guys' lives are two very manipulative pieces of work. With their own agendas, whether it be simply to get ahead ala Lady MacBeth or to win a war through betrayal and lies, Tigh's wife Ellen and Derek's girlfriend Jesse do their best to sneak and scheme and do what needs to be done to get what they want. Ellen is ambitious enough for her husband all on her own and uses anyone she can, including the shady Tom Zarek, to make sure they have position and power. Jesse uses a trusting girl to "win the war" for a humanity she no longer resembles.
Betrayal and Blood
Derek and Tigh believe in the causes they are fighting for so wholly, so devoutly that there is no gray area when it comes to treason. Betrayal means death even for the one they love. Both Ellen and Jesse lie to and betray the men they love with good intentions: Ellen to save Saul and Jesse to save them all. Ellen sells out the resistance on New Caprica to keep Saul out of prison and away from torture that would lead to his death. When she is discovered she is not sorry she did it saying she'd do anything for Saul, but the damage is done and he knows a betrayal of that magnitude has to be punished by death. So he kills her with poisoned tea. It nearly kills him, but he does it for the greater good.
Jesse uses and kills and innocent girl to turn John against Cameron, an act she thinks will keep John from trusting any machine in the future. When she is discovered she shows only remorse that her plan didn't work. Again, Jesse believed she was doing what was right, but she betrayed John and Derek by lying to them and in war even she knows betrayal is death. Derek tells her John Connor said to let her go, but he is a soldier and he can't, so he points his gun at her as she runs and pulls the trigger.
Antagonism
These dudes are sympathetic, but definitely not cuddly, so they don't mind if they make a few enemies along the way or in the line of duty. Tigh's main fighting partner is Starbuck. From the very beginning in the miniseries, Kara and Tigh have been at odds with each other though they were always fighting on the same side. They actually have a lot in common what with all the drinking and their love of Papa, and that's possibly why they just can't seem to get along for so long. By the time the colonists settle on New Caprica, Tigh and Kara start to see their similarities and while they might not consider themselves friends, they have respect for and kindness towards each other. Tigh's other strained relationship is with Papa's son Lee. He doesn't like him or understand many of his actions (see the first half of season two), but he lets him slide a lot on account of Papa, the very reason for much of his animosity towards Lee. In the end, though they have many arguments over Papa, they are able to work together without much malice.
Derek clashes the most with Sarah. They both love and want to protect John, but they have different ways of getting things done, and the struggle for control of their group puts them at odds through most of the series. Again, these two are much more alike than they are different, and when Derek gets a peak into how Sarah feels about Kyle he comes to respect her. As warriors and for the sake of the love they have for John and Kyle, these two can work together. Derek's other difficult relationship is with Cameron who often comes between he and John. He doesn't like or trust Cameron because she is metal, and the fact that John trusts her so much unnerves him. He knows he has to defer to John when it comes to Cameron and that goes against everything he believes about machines. They rarely speak civily to each other, but when they have to work together to protect John they do it well, if not always the way Derek would want to. In the end, he grudgingly accepts her as a part of their group and as a weapon John can use in his war.
Mechanisms of Torture
Tigh and Derek's war wounds are both physical and mental. Both locked up and tortured by their mechanical enemies, Derek gains a tattoo while Saul loses an eye. The audience never actually sees how these two are tortured, but by the looks of them afterward it is intense pain on many levels. Both come out of their captivity more determined than ever to fight their enemies in a more ruthless and morally questionable way: Tigh with suicide bombers and Derek with time travel and the murder of his best friend.
Drunks and Drinks
Okay, so this one is stretching it a bit, but these two both like to drink. Tigh is a filthy stinking drunk and I'm not convinced that if I go look up "alcoholic" in a dictionary I won't find a picture of him. Derek just likes beer. We've seen him drinking on more than one occasion and he mentions to John on his 16th birthday when he inappropriately offers to buy him a beer that he spent John's 30th birthday with him very drunkenly.
No Shirt, No Shame, No Problem!
Again, I might be stretching it, but we see both of these men shirtless on more than one occasion. Of course, one looks better than the other sans shirt, but that's just an opinion. :)
And that's it. What do you think? Tigh and Derek separated at apocalypse or am I crazy? I think if our Derek, and by that I mean not the Derek who John encounters in the future, hadn't been killed he would totally lose an eye eventually in the line of duty and more likely than not become an alcoholic what with all the demons he has, so he could easily resemble Tigh in 30 years. Let's just hope he manages to keep most of his hair. :)
Don't worry, I have evidence (and pictures!), but there be spoilers for all aired episodes of both shows, so beware.
In war, there are no unwounded soldiers. -- Jose Narosky
Okay, so I know what you're thinking. Seriously? Derek Reese and Saul Tigh? They are nothing alike! Derek is young and hot and tattooed. Tigh is old and drunk and eye-patched. Derek is from the future and Tigh represents the past. Different? Surprisingly, not so much.
Before getting into specifics, I need to relate just how I came to see all the similarities between two of my favorites characters from my two favorite shows. Derek Reese made it to episode 2.21 'Adam Raised a Cain' where he rounded a corner during a gun fight and was killed within the first ten minutes of the episode. It was quick and a shock and it was over, the other characters had to move on. I found it to be a perfect way for him to go out, but incredibly sad as he had become, behind Cameron, the most fascinating character on TSCC. I think I put in a review of episode 2.19 how much I had come to adore Derek, so discovering that and then having it taken away so quickly was kind of jarring. So after the AMAZING finale, I went back and rewatched season one. In doing so, I realized how different my response to Derek's first appearance was this time around compared to the first time I watched. I sympathized with his plight and tolerated Derek's glum presence within the Connor family basically until after the first few episodes of season two. That's when my opinion changed the first time around. Now, 'Dungeons & Dragons,' the Derek-centered episode, is hands down my favorite episode of season one. In short, I love Derek Reese.
The same thing happened with the Tight. I hated him at first. Who was this grumpy old drunk invading my cool show? Why does he have to be so damn annoying? Both valid questions and ones I asked for most of season one, but somewhere around 'Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down' I fell for the old drunk bastard. Both he and Derek serve in the same role as Mr. Worse-Case-Scenario, Mr. Gloom-and-Doom, the nay-sayer of their respective groups. In fact, I always called Tigh Gloom and Doom Tigh and Derek Uncle Hard Truth. They both tell it like it is because they believe in what they're saying and they know their leaders need to hear it to make the right decision. It's easy to hate that guy, but he's essential for balance. Yes men and optimists can get you killed in a war, and though the leader may be the one who has to make the hard choice, he needs to know all the possible outcomes, have all the facts.
Love and Loyalty
Besides being soldiers in a post-apocalyptic world made apocalyptic by killer robots, Derek and Tigh both serve in a number two/subordinate position to an adored leader to whom they are loyal to until death. For Tigh it's Admiral Adama, or Bill as he likes to call him. They have been through two wars together and been friends for 40 years, but it's more than just the military loyalty of an XO to his commander. They have their disagreements, but they would die for each other no matter what (see 'The Oath'). The very definition of bromance, these guys often choose each other over loved ones (Ellen and Lee).
For Derek, he is like so many other resistance fighters in 2029 in his adoration of John Connor. But he also has a personal connection to him in his brother Kyle, who saved John's life and seems to have a special connection to him. Of course he finds out later in past, he's also John's uncle by way of Kyle, so his loyalty is essentially to them both. Derek would die for John, would die for Kyle, and they both end up dying for John, one of them knowing he is family. "We all die for you," Derek says to John, and no one who dies for him loved him more than Derek.
Robots Are Bad... Except Maybe They Aren't?
If one had to pick the character that hated robots (be they terminators or cylons) the most on either show, it would be easy to pick out Tight and Derek. Most of their warnings are about their metal enemies and the bitterness they display towards them tastes like bile. Tigh is the old war horse from the first cylon war who seems to have been through too much at the hands of the cylons to ever do anything but hate them. Derek is the soldier who has had to fight machines just to survive for most of his life so trusting them is not an option. But both of these men make discoveries that cause them to take pause and consider their synthetic enemies.
Tigh's change of opinion comes at the ultimate in irony when he finds out he actually is a cylon. He is the thing he hates the most. Trippy. Yeah, that throws him, but he comes around and decides he is still the man he always was and he has to acknowledge that the distance between man and machine isn't all that far.
Derek gets a shock about the humanity of machines in Cameron and John. He is dismayed when John repeatedly defends Cameron and then says "I need her." The realization that his hero and his leader loves a machine throws him, but he's seen Cameron do human things, things machines shouldn't be able to do like eating and dancing ballet. He ultimately has to accept Cameron's help and know that machines really can be on their side.
Significant Others
The ladies in these guys' lives are two very manipulative pieces of work. With their own agendas, whether it be simply to get ahead ala Lady MacBeth or to win a war through betrayal and lies, Tigh's wife Ellen and Derek's girlfriend Jesse do their best to sneak and scheme and do what needs to be done to get what they want. Ellen is ambitious enough for her husband all on her own and uses anyone she can, including the shady Tom Zarek, to make sure they have position and power. Jesse uses a trusting girl to "win the war" for a humanity she no longer resembles.
Betrayal and Blood
Derek and Tigh believe in the causes they are fighting for so wholly, so devoutly that there is no gray area when it comes to treason. Betrayal means death even for the one they love. Both Ellen and Jesse lie to and betray the men they love with good intentions: Ellen to save Saul and Jesse to save them all. Ellen sells out the resistance on New Caprica to keep Saul out of prison and away from torture that would lead to his death. When she is discovered she is not sorry she did it saying she'd do anything for Saul, but the damage is done and he knows a betrayal of that magnitude has to be punished by death. So he kills her with poisoned tea. It nearly kills him, but he does it for the greater good.
Jesse uses and kills and innocent girl to turn John against Cameron, an act she thinks will keep John from trusting any machine in the future. When she is discovered she shows only remorse that her plan didn't work. Again, Jesse believed she was doing what was right, but she betrayed John and Derek by lying to them and in war even she knows betrayal is death. Derek tells her John Connor said to let her go, but he is a soldier and he can't, so he points his gun at her as she runs and pulls the trigger.
Antagonism
These dudes are sympathetic, but definitely not cuddly, so they don't mind if they make a few enemies along the way or in the line of duty. Tigh's main fighting partner is Starbuck. From the very beginning in the miniseries, Kara and Tigh have been at odds with each other though they were always fighting on the same side. They actually have a lot in common what with all the drinking and their love of Papa, and that's possibly why they just can't seem to get along for so long. By the time the colonists settle on New Caprica, Tigh and Kara start to see their similarities and while they might not consider themselves friends, they have respect for and kindness towards each other. Tigh's other strained relationship is with Papa's son Lee. He doesn't like him or understand many of his actions (see the first half of season two), but he lets him slide a lot on account of Papa, the very reason for much of his animosity towards Lee. In the end, though they have many arguments over Papa, they are able to work together without much malice.
Derek clashes the most with Sarah. They both love and want to protect John, but they have different ways of getting things done, and the struggle for control of their group puts them at odds through most of the series. Again, these two are much more alike than they are different, and when Derek gets a peak into how Sarah feels about Kyle he comes to respect her. As warriors and for the sake of the love they have for John and Kyle, these two can work together. Derek's other difficult relationship is with Cameron who often comes between he and John. He doesn't like or trust Cameron because she is metal, and the fact that John trusts her so much unnerves him. He knows he has to defer to John when it comes to Cameron and that goes against everything he believes about machines. They rarely speak civily to each other, but when they have to work together to protect John they do it well, if not always the way Derek would want to. In the end, he grudgingly accepts her as a part of their group and as a weapon John can use in his war.
Mechanisms of Torture
Tigh and Derek's war wounds are both physical and mental. Both locked up and tortured by their mechanical enemies, Derek gains a tattoo while Saul loses an eye. The audience never actually sees how these two are tortured, but by the looks of them afterward it is intense pain on many levels. Both come out of their captivity more determined than ever to fight their enemies in a more ruthless and morally questionable way: Tigh with suicide bombers and Derek with time travel and the murder of his best friend.
Drunks and Drinks
Okay, so this one is stretching it a bit, but these two both like to drink. Tigh is a filthy stinking drunk and I'm not convinced that if I go look up "alcoholic" in a dictionary I won't find a picture of him. Derek just likes beer. We've seen him drinking on more than one occasion and he mentions to John on his 16th birthday when he inappropriately offers to buy him a beer that he spent John's 30th birthday with him very drunkenly.
No Shirt, No Shame, No Problem!
Again, I might be stretching it, but we see both of these men shirtless on more than one occasion. Of course, one looks better than the other sans shirt, but that's just an opinion. :)
And that's it. What do you think? Tigh and Derek separated at apocalypse or am I crazy? I think if our Derek, and by that I mean not the Derek who John encounters in the future, hadn't been killed he would totally lose an eye eventually in the line of duty and more likely than not become an alcoholic what with all the demons he has, so he could easily resemble Tigh in 30 years. Let's just hope he manages to keep most of his hair. :)