More on BSG 3.15: Some meta and pretty pilot caps
A bit of meta and equal parts squee-and-rant about Kara/Lee in 3.15:
If I take the interaction between Kara and Lee in this episode as a stand alone--outside the timeline of most S3 events and the general quadrangle storyline--then I love it. It is everything that I enjoy and crave about their relationship:
That's all I ask. Friends + snarky banter + crazy-sexual-tension + angst. That is my ship.
So, in that sense, the K/L in the briefing room scene and the rescue op totally delivered.
But if I take it in context of recent events, I start to get all kinds of frustrated and somewhat annoyed.
So I'm supposed to okay with Lee in a happy, recovering marriage while Kara has no solid emotional companion to help her weather Lee's rejection, her generally lonely social life, the mindfrak potential of her "special destiny" and the INSANE amount of trauma she has been through during/since New Caprica? (side-note about Sam: I think he does provide some emotional support and friendship/companionship, but a) he's not Lee, and b) he doesn't live on Galactica so he can't be there for her all the time).
If I take their interactions linearly and literally as presented on-screen, it goes straight from highly verbalized statements of mutual mistrust in "Taking a break", to Lee's implied/non-verbal rejection of Kara in Joe's bar, to Lee and Kara strutting down the hallway and not talking to each other (or even really looking at each other) but mutually teasing Helo in "The Woman, King", and Lee's overly showy PDA with Dee right in front of Kara at Joe's bar, to a slightly more intimate but nevertheless comparatively care-free and emotionally detached conversation about whipping the Galactica's pilots into shape in this episode.
Maybe, as bop_radar suggested, this conversation was supposed to about subtly establishing trust as Kara approves of something that Lee does (approving of his management technique is a fairly safe compliment and would be hard to misconstrue) and he quietly appreciates her approval by responding with a quip about credit going to his father (a man they both respect and love, another safe topic).
Maybe I'm supposed to think that if the Admiral hadn't walked in, the conversation might have continued and something deeper would have been re-established or we might get more back story on why these two are EVEN TALKING TO EACH OTHER right now without major apologies on both sides.
Maybe I should be taking greater delight in their cooperation in planning and executing the rescue op, and be grateful that they seem to have reaffirmed that they trust each other as soldiers/warriors even if they still don’t trust each other emotionally.
But right now I'm not buying it: from desperately-in-love-but-trapped to publicly-rejected to good-buddies-who-tease-and-eyefrak in a few short episodes, with no other character/relationship development in between, is just crazy.
So. In the interest of my own sanity (and my ability to enjoy my pilots in whatever form they come), I'm just going to say frakkit to the glaring continuity and character-development problems the writers are having and take the fun pilot!banter in this episode at face value.
I'm just grateful that they even had a Kara/Lee scene. It was fun. They were pretty and snarky. I'm happy.
And now a mini-picspam to further illustrate why the briefing room scene kicked ass:
Kara: So...um... Lee.
Lee: WTF, Kara.
Kara: You're pretty hot. For a CAG.
Lee: You think so, eh? You're not so bad yourself...
Kara: So, wanna find an conveniently empty storage closet and frak my brains out?
Oh, never mind--here comes the Admiral to interfere with my pilots!sex. Grrrr argh.
[The caps are mine, but feel free to snag them!]
If I take the interaction between Kara and Lee in this episode as a stand alone--outside the timeline of most S3 events and the general quadrangle storyline--then I love it. It is everything that I enjoy and crave about their relationship:
- A sense of mutual respect and admiration as military professionals and fellow warriors who kick ass side by side
- A finely balanced undercurrent of teasing playfulness
- A hyper-charged electricity and UST between them that looks like it could explode at any given time
- A hint of angst beneath the banter that implies the conversation could turn from snarky to mean very quickly
That's all I ask. Friends + snarky banter + crazy-sexual-tension + angst. That is my ship.
So, in that sense, the K/L in the briefing room scene and the rescue op totally delivered.
But if I take it in context of recent events, I start to get all kinds of frustrated and somewhat annoyed.
So I'm supposed to okay with Lee in a happy, recovering marriage while Kara has no solid emotional companion to help her weather Lee's rejection, her generally lonely social life, the mindfrak potential of her "special destiny" and the INSANE amount of trauma she has been through during/since New Caprica? (side-note about Sam: I think he does provide some emotional support and friendship/companionship, but a) he's not Lee, and b) he doesn't live on Galactica so he can't be there for her all the time).
If I take their interactions linearly and literally as presented on-screen, it goes straight from highly verbalized statements of mutual mistrust in "Taking a break", to Lee's implied/non-verbal rejection of Kara in Joe's bar, to Lee and Kara strutting down the hallway and not talking to each other (or even really looking at each other) but mutually teasing Helo in "The Woman, King", and Lee's overly showy PDA with Dee right in front of Kara at Joe's bar, to a slightly more intimate but nevertheless comparatively care-free and emotionally detached conversation about whipping the Galactica's pilots into shape in this episode.
Maybe, as bop_radar suggested, this conversation was supposed to about subtly establishing trust as Kara approves of something that Lee does (approving of his management technique is a fairly safe compliment and would be hard to misconstrue) and he quietly appreciates her approval by responding with a quip about credit going to his father (a man they both respect and love, another safe topic).
Maybe I'm supposed to think that if the Admiral hadn't walked in, the conversation might have continued and something deeper would have been re-established or we might get more back story on why these two are EVEN TALKING TO EACH OTHER right now without major apologies on both sides.
Maybe I should be taking greater delight in their cooperation in planning and executing the rescue op, and be grateful that they seem to have reaffirmed that they trust each other as soldiers/warriors even if they still don’t trust each other emotionally.
But right now I'm not buying it: from desperately-in-love-but-trapped to publicly-rejected to good-buddies-who-tease-and-eyefrak in a few short episodes, with no other character/relationship development in between, is just crazy.
So. In the interest of my own sanity (and my ability to enjoy my pilots in whatever form they come), I'm just going to say frakkit to the glaring continuity and character-development problems the writers are having and take the fun pilot!banter in this episode at face value.
I'm just grateful that they even had a Kara/Lee scene. It was fun. They were pretty and snarky. I'm happy.
And now a mini-picspam to further illustrate why the briefing room scene kicked ass:
Kara: So...um... Lee.
Lee: WTF, Kara.
Kara: You're pretty hot. For a CAG.
Lee: You think so, eh? You're not so bad yourself...
Kara: So, wanna find an conveniently empty storage closet and frak my brains out?
Oh, never mind--here comes the Admiral to interfere with my pilots!sex. Grrrr argh.
[The caps are mine, but feel free to snag them!]