Comments | beccatoria: BSG: Revelations

beccatoria

BSG: Revelations

Jun 15, 2008 18:50

So, I watched this Saturday morning, then spent the rest of the weekend going to a Bruce Springsteen concert (which was awesome, and he dedicated the encore to Tim Russert), playing insanely cracktacular games that didn't really help my non-crack objectivity re: this episode, and visiting my aunt in west wales, and my cousin blew my mind. None of ( Read more... )

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pellucid June 15 2008, 23:49:42 UTC

What do you do when you miss the moment you discover you existed for? It's the question of every single person in the Colonial Fleet.

Ah, this is wonderful! Tigh as microcosm of this episode, which is itself a microcosm of the whole show: what happens after? What happens when the climax comes, and you don't die? When the whole world dies, except for this handful of people? When you bet everything on Earth and come up empty? When you find the man you want to be but still have to live with the man you've always been?

And I agree completely with your assessment of Tigh's development as a character and of my relationship with him. Because he was always fine, interesting as far as he went, etc., and then suddenly there's New Caprica, and in the space of four episodes he became my second-favorite character on the show.

A magically changing piece of machinery is a bit weirder. Because it stops being a never ending series of coincidences and subtly manipulated causes and effects and starts being RANDOM MAGIC EVENTS!Yeah, this bothered me ( ... )

beccatoria June 16 2008, 10:48:08 UTC

Tigh as microcosm of this episode, which is itself a microcosm of the whole show:

That whole paragraph is wonderful, but especially this. Because he really is the microcosm of the entire show and holy hell that's...a bizarre thing to realise.

Moving on from that, the comparisons to Farscape have me thinking. I never thought the two shows were that thematically similar, but both are about learning what you do when you find out you can't even go home again. Though the difference is that for John it was a choice, something he'd grown beyond, something we knew he had to grow beyond since late in the first season - since A Human Reaction. He grew up. For BSG, for the Fleet, it was never something we expected. We thought we knew where we were headed: towards a home. We thought we were already grown up. We thought we were living after the "climax" the, after the end of the story, already. Apparently we weren't. It's...gut-wrenching. Even though I'm not sure how the story can continue after this. I'm also not sure what, if ( ... )

pellucid June 16 2008, 14:02:33 UTC

I think I'm going to have faith that whatever the "promised land" ends up being, it will be for the sake of the story rather than a twist for the sake of it. I feel like whatever the hiccups in the middle of this show have been, the endgame has been in sight and that there's somewhere specific they're driving. I may be disappointed, of course, but I hope not. Now where that specific place is, however, I have no idea ( ... )

beccatoria June 16 2008, 23:57:52 UTC

The notion of there being a habitable section of the planet is certainly likely. Parts of the Colonies were still habitable and they got severely nuked, although in this universe there are better anti-radiation meds so it's possible that the Cylon started to decontaminate areas of the Colonies and the Rag Tag Fleet do not have the resources to do so. I worry about them settling there, though. Because it's a space-based show. That would be...strange. Like a few episodes like New Caprica, sure. But I imagine they'll get back in the air again. If only because a more habitable planet that isn't Earth would be preferable to an irradiated home. Though the spectre of whether the Cylon will find them is always present. I think that psychologically the mythic "Earth" offered some sort of religious protection from that possibility ( ... )

pellucid June 17 2008, 02:06:32 UTC

OH TIGH!!!!!!!!! (I like your Tighcon!)

I went looking for Caprica/Tigh icons and did actually find a couple but didn't particularly care for either one. But eventually someone's bound to make one I like, surely.

AND I AM WRITING THE FIC!!!! THERE ARE WORDS!!!!!!

Though I will not guarantee posting of said fic before next week at the earliest, since I'm not really a write-and-post kind of person (I have the World's Best Beta and like to take full advantage of her), and I'm going away for a few days over the weekend anyway. But I started writing, so THERE WILL BE FIC AT SOME POINT!!!!!!!

beccatoria June 17 2008, 23:14:09 UTC

There are icons? Wow, we really aren't as crazy as we thought. Or perhaps it's just the levels of investment that are abnormal... :p

BUT YES! FIC! WORDS! I APPROVE!

And I understand totally about not wanting to post something until it's ready. I shall wait with grudging patience!

*uses Tighcon again!*

raincitygirl June 18 2008, 21:42:27 UTC

nightxade June 16 2008, 18:50:25 UTC

I appreciate the Farscape comparison, but only to an extent. Crichton was always looking for Earth, but he knew what to expect when he got there and his choice to leave, while hard, was because he also knew what he had here. For him, finding his way back was the dream he followed.

For the colonials, Earth itself was the dream and obviously, the reality proved to be not what they expected.

Furthermore, considering the eagerness to land and colonize (as in: stop wandering the galaxy) New Caprica, I'm not going to offer the colonials too much pity. Ultimately, they have to analyze what it was they wanted to find: earth (or rather, their kindred), or a terra firma.

While I don't want to see it end like this, I am all for the inconclusive endings and could appreciate this one. Well, I have to. Frakking 2009.

pellucid June 16 2008, 20:34:13 UTC

Oh, I certainly agree that it's not a direct match for Farscape--nor would I want it to be. For me it was less the specifics of a return to Earth that made me think of Farscape and more the broader thematic issues of looking for home, realizing that home is always going to be bittersweet and perhaps not where you expected to find it, etc. And also just the power of the thoroughly ambiguous ending is something that Farscape capitalizes on well, and that also resonated for me here. But I definitely see it as both shows poking in their separate ways at some of the same broadly similar issues rather than any sort of close parallel.

beccatoria June 17 2008, 00:02:54 UTC

I very much agree that they're different. I think that's why I was both surprised and delighted by the 'similarity' even though it might not "mean" anything? It's like it's approaching the same issue from opposite ends of the spectrum?

Whether you discover you can never go home again because you've outgrown it, or because someone nuked it, you still get that elegiac and strange period of time afterwards, after that discovery, wondering...what next, then?

John gets home and discovers his dream is the same as when he left and that's the problem. The Colonials discover that the dream is utterly different in reality and that's the problem. Opposite ends of the spectrum: you still end up stuck on Earth, depressed?

Ultimately, they have to analyze what it was they wanted to find: earth (or rather, their kindred), or a terra firma.

You know, for all their searching, I always end up forgetting that Earth isn't just a planet to live on, it might also have more humans on it. *headdesk* So thank you for reminding me! I worry ( ... )

nightxade June 17 2008, 01:07:50 UTC

See that's the thing: John had everything he needed to return to a home unchanged. He then chose not to do so.

The colonials are chasing a dream, not even knowing what they are dreaming about because they aren't returning to anything. They were perfectly willing to accept New Caprica because it meant an end to the wandering. That's what all the people who voted for Gaius wanted.

As for how long till the Cylons find them? Isn't it safe to say that Cavel's team is out for the count without a strong leader? The Cylons to fear then are right there with them, as D'Anna has already proven.

(The comment has been removed)

beccatoria July 10 2008, 09:57:32 UTC

Hi! I totally don't mind, I love new people! :)

I'm just glad you found the discussion interesting, and no, I totally don't hate Lee, though sometimes I wonder if the writers do... ;)

And dude, the idea of Farscape = Odyssey and BSG = Aeneid is...awesome.

It's a great way of expressing the similarities between them in terms of this "home" concept being so powerful while also demonstrating the qualitative difference far more elegantly than I managed with my bumblingly vague attempts to express myself (because I'm not sure even I knew what I meant!)

I'm also still...curious, though, as to how they'll end the series. Because - selfish though it may be - and much as I don't want the entire Fleet doomed to a hopeless future in tin cans in space - the idea of settling somewhere permanently seems so...scary in the wake of New Caprica. Or perhaps just so unglamourous, so mundane, so small. But that's the tragedy, I suppose. That's the best they can hope for - a few generations living in shanty towns while their technology ( ... )

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