BSG: Eye of Jupiter

[beccatoria]

Hmm. So, I think I'll know what I think of this episode on the whole once I've seen the second half. What I have to say about this episode at this time isn't so much an overal critique as a serious of comments on various moments / characters.

Comments

[beccatoria]

Maybe the reason Roslin didn't tell Adama about the dead baby swap was excatly the reson we saw, She Knew that Adama wouldn't have allowed it.

I never thought she told him, pretty much because, yes, Adama wouldn't have allowed it.

I think that the baby situation could be argued both ways. The kid could be a superb high profile hostage vs the Cylons - "Hey - don't shoot at our ship, we have your messiah!"

On the other hand, thinking about this logically, as distasteful as it may sound, Roslin couldn't (and can't) trust Sharon. When she's pissed she does stuff like refuse to tell people who Cavil is. Is she having an incredibly rough time and having prove everything a million more times than everyone else? Totally, but given that her species destroyed billions of humans - and she isn't even particularly remorseful about that - I can understand the caution. To be honest, while I do trust her now, and while I find her character interesting to watch and empathise with her - were I in Roslin's place, I'd worry that I shoudln't.

One could also look at the fact that while Roslin made the decision to disregard Sharon & Helo's feelings rather callously, she appears genuinely fond of the child and one of her main motivations in removing it was to protect Hera. One has to wonder what kind of life she would have had had she been raised with her parents. How long until someone got a gun and Cally'd her for being a freak. I'm not saying it's not distasteful and harsh. I'm just saying it's completely in keeping with Roslin's willingness to make decisions like that, considering how best to keep everyone, including the kid, safe.

It's tough. On an emotionally simple level it's much easier to sympathise with Adama - as a man who has also lost a child - as you note - he is in a strong position to sympathise with his friends. On the other hand, I do think I often come down on the side of Roslin and not Adama because, while they both make bad calls sometimes, Roslin looks at the big picture and doesn't let her personal feelings get in the way. That's something I appreciate in someone taking care of me - knowing that I matter as much as every other person even if they don't know me personally.

Would Adama have been so mad if Roslin had stolen the child of two people he despised or just plain didn't know? If not would that be hypocritical?

Alas...I have no answers.

Thanks for commenting. :)

[weissman]

Good analysis, I still think that after all the Sharon has done, she is probably more trustworthy then half the crew of the Galactica at this point (RM has pretty come out and said that Sharon is on the side of the humans for good). Plus if the humans have any chance of surviving, those chances go up exponentially with Sharon's help, (as eveidenced by the episode PAS), Adama realizes this only too well, and it probably adds to his anger over the baby swap.

I agree Adama goes out of his way for his friends, i.e, burning up a ton of fuel looking for Kara in season I.

After everything though, I still think Hera would have been better off and safer with Sharon and Helo.

Bob

[nightxade]

I thought Adama was in on the switch? Note that when Adama confronted Roslin, he specifically demanded to know if she had the baby "in plain sight." I gathered from this that it was the security issue of not hiding the baby as planned. Consequently, the Cylons recognized the baby and took it and then passed on this information to Athena. Adama then has to deal with the fact that he has a Cylon on board whom he has come to trust very much, but it is now revealed to her that the trust she has given to him has been unjustified because he has been a part of an ultimate betrayal.

As for his level of sympathy at losing a child - yes he can sympathize there, but he argues that their child is alive. What use is that when they are not being allowed to see her, especially when they have heard she is sick? Add to that the immense betrayal of the entire situation... much more weighing in here than a not-so-dead baby.

Now. What I would like to see is how a reunion between Hera and Roslin would play out.