Yes, I think Lee's depression is circumstantial, but I guess watching the Kara ep after this highlights just how different they are as personality types--her breakdown takes a very different form. So it was interesting to me that Lee was the type of person who, under pressure, would tend towards depression and internalising his pain, rather than externalising through anger and aggression or self-destructive behaviour. I feel my love of Lee does say a lot about what *I'm* like. I guess this ep just left me feeling rather exposed! ;)
So, this is one of the 'problem' episodes in Season 2. It wasn't well received, and the writers came out and admitted that it wasn't as successful as they would have liked. I think they *do* show that all characters are being drawn into ethically shady areas--clearly that was something they wanted to explore. Evidently they also wanted to show other layers to Lee, who they felt was seen as the 'good guy' all the time, when he's meant to be flawed and human like everyone else--they had always wanted him to be flawed like this. The fan verdict, which I largely agree with, is that they didn't integrate this well--they had one episode which showed Lee's 'dark side' and then it was like it hadn't happened. There was a lot of anger in fandom. I didn't have it quite as much, but I agree that this section of Season 2 is a bit fragmented and patchy. I don't think the BSG writers are as good at 'character' eps as they are at ensemble eps.
I do think they made the bad guy a bit OTT bad. Child sex slaves?! I guess that was to let Lee off the hook a bit, but I did find him shooting the guy confronting. However I didn't find it that out of character. He's a very passionate person, and when pushed he'll put personal loyalties over political or moral ones. Unlike other characters, he doesn't have a strong religious grounding. The only 'higher law' he believed in was a secular and non-military democracy, and that's been eroded, so yes, I can see him taking the law into his hands this way.
Lee choosing what is possible over what should be is a perfect description of where he is at at this stage in the season. I think they also tried to show that with Kara in the next ep.
I knew straight off that the prostitute was not a cover, but others have said they were surprised, and supacat didn't believe she WAS a prostitute initially. My heart sank, but I found it in character, not because of the commitment thing, but because he has no outlet for his emotions on Galactica--to gain privacy, he has to go elsewhere, and the relative anonymity of a prostitute would allow him to hide somewhat. To me, it seemed clear that what he really wanted was a real connection with someone, but he was too afraid/guilt-ridden/in pain for that. It was definitely a sign of just how black a place he's in right now.
Yes, a good aspect of this ep was seeing something about the ordinary passengers.
The fan reaction is interesting to read about, but it makes me realize I'm kind of glad to have a fandom that is all about the source text rather than the fandom itself. I mean, I love SV fandom, but sometimes navigating the currents between the Lana haters and the Chloe haters and the Clark haters and the Lois haters can seem like a lot of work, you know? And it's kind of interesting to just engage with the text without any presuppositions.
Huaha! So true! I have deliberately only shied around the edges of the BSG fandom. I do find the fan reactions interesting (largely because they're unpredictable) but I agree it's good to have a text-based fandom. SV can be an emotional rollercoaster that way--everyone is so emotionally invested. I think BSG *is* a bit different because it is *cough* a more intelligent show textually.
::Pauses to think what SV would be like if the BSG writers were writing it::
Damn. I mean, the writing on BSG is light-years ahead of SV in terms of plot continuity, characterization, women's roles, nuanced villains--thinking about they ways they would rip out our hearts and stomp on them if they were writing the epic tragedy that is SV is almost a little terrifying to think about, you know?
And what a writing challenge that would be: the ficathon for "if the BSG writers were writing SV."
Eh, yes... *ponders* ... yes, that would make for quite the writing challenge. There would be the ripping out of hearts, the stomping, the flaying, the torture... come to think of it, I'm not sure SV could be shown on TV if the BSG writers wrote for it! And I don't want to imagine the pain! But what a great idea!
Yes, I think Lee's depression is circumstantial, but I guess watching the Kara ep after this highlights just how different they are as personality types--her breakdown takes a very different form. So it was interesting to me that Lee was the type of person who, under pressure, would tend towards depression and internalising his pain, rather than externalising through anger and aggression or self-destructive behaviour. I feel my love of Lee does say a lot about what *I'm* like. I guess this ep just left me feeling rather exposed! ;)
So, this is one of the 'problem' episodes in Season 2. It wasn't well received, and the writers came out and admitted that it wasn't as successful as they would have liked. I think they *do* show that all characters are being drawn into ethically shady areas--clearly that was something they wanted to explore. Evidently they also wanted to show other layers to Lee, who they felt was seen as the 'good guy' all the time, when he's meant to be flawed and human like everyone else--they had always wanted him to be flawed like this. The fan verdict, which I largely agree with, is that they didn't integrate this well--they had one episode which showed Lee's 'dark side' and then it was like it hadn't happened. There was a lot of anger in fandom. I didn't have it quite as much, but I agree that this section of Season 2 is a bit fragmented and patchy. I don't think the BSG writers are as good at 'character' eps as they are at ensemble eps.
I do think they made the bad guy a bit OTT bad. Child sex slaves?! I guess that was to let Lee off the hook a bit, but I did find him shooting the guy confronting. However I didn't find it that out of character. He's a very passionate person, and when pushed he'll put personal loyalties over political or moral ones. Unlike other characters, he doesn't have a strong religious grounding. The only 'higher law' he believed in was a secular and non-military democracy, and that's been eroded, so yes, I can see him taking the law into his hands this way.
Lee choosing what is possible over what should be is a perfect description of where he is at at this stage in the season. I think they also tried to show that with Kara in the next ep.
I knew straight off that the prostitute was not a cover, but others have said they were surprised, and supacat didn't believe she WAS a prostitute initially. My heart sank, but I found it in character, not because of the commitment thing, but because he has no outlet for his emotions on Galactica--to gain privacy, he has to go elsewhere, and the relative anonymity of a prostitute would allow him to hide somewhat. To me, it seemed clear that what he really wanted was a real connection with someone, but he was too afraid/guilt-ridden/in pain for that. It was definitely a sign of just how black a place he's in right now.
Yes, a good aspect of this ep was seeing something about the ordinary passengers.
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Damn. I mean, the writing on BSG is light-years ahead of SV in terms of plot continuity, characterization, women's roles, nuanced villains--thinking about they ways they would rip out our hearts and stomp on them if they were writing the epic tragedy that is SV is almost a little terrifying to think about, you know?
And what a writing challenge that would be: the ficathon for "if the BSG writers were writing SV."
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