BSG: Lay Down Your Burdens Part II
Having held an election, I now ignore the result. (No, not completely!)
Hee! Ok, that amused me greatly, given the way the political plot in LDYB Part II played out--one of the most enjoyable aspects of the superlatively wonderful finale.
I really like it when BSG does bigscale. So I loved the shock of the time leap one year forward, and I really adored the segue shot: from Gaius being elected to the Debauched Presidency a year later--it was such a fabulous establishing shot. We'd just heard Gaius say 'I don't have to listen: I'm the president'. And the shot of him in power a year later, surrounded by self-agrandising portraits and prostitutes in the background, made me reflect on how the office of president itself corrupts. I think this is one of the interesting comments that BSG has made--we saw Roslin lose touch with democracy, and Gaius, supposedly the man of the people, predictably did the same once in power. Fascinating and chillingly cynical.
A word on the election-rigging before I go on: It was another fascinating BSG study in the way humans frak up. From the start, it seemed doom to fail, since someone was bound to have second thoughts or stumble across something... Sure enough. I found Gaeta hilarious in his extreme naivety--he only saw the surface level issue 'someone is breaking a rule' and didn't think it through deeper than that. That he became Gaius's minion on New Caprica was very funny--did his thinking just go 'OMG! Someone rigged an election against you! You must be great!' Sheesh. It's an interesting follow-up to him backing Gaius at other times too. I think he's an interesting reflection of the idea that principles alone, without lateral thinking and analysis, are not a good thing.
I loved that it was Tighe who helped rig the elections for his own personal reasons. Nice twist. And it's good to seem him and Kara in more amicable circumstances now.
The scene with Kara, Anders and Lee was HOT HOT HOT in the extreme. Although also, of course, very ouchy for me as a Lee fan. But did I mention the hot? Eep! That Kara is just so naughty! I am continually astounded by the way Kara and Lee are constantly at cross purposes, and this scene was a classic case. So often either Kara or Lee pushes things just too far, so the other one ends up withdrawing, when really the pushing points to an underlying obsession and connection. Witness Kara's bitchiness about Dualla, and proprietary showponying about Anders. I love that Lee stood there for as long as he did. Oh, Kara!
I was fascinated by the flashforward and not that surprised that Kara had married Anders. My reaction was mainly 'oh yeah'! I loved the way everyone looked a bit puffy and scruffy after the time jump, and Kara was no exception. I've heard rumours that there was some fandom backlash against this plot development for Kara, but personally it seemed in character for me. She wanted to marry Lee's brother, she wanted to marry Anders. Unlike Lee, she's not an all-work no-play girl. She wants a happy idyllic relationship. But we also saw that it wasn't that easy, which is, inevitably, what Kara would learn in a marriage like that.
In this case of course, the extra pressure comes from Anders developing pneumonia (was there a small part of me that went 'yay'? *cough* maybe--pretty boys writhing on their death beds are ok with me). That Kara has to turn to Apollo for help is predictable, although I confess I was a bit confused about why she thought Apollo wouldn't help. Was that just her own pride speaking? Was there some rift we didn't see on screen? Is Lee pissed she left the military? This was the one part of the jump forward that didn't feel smooth for me.
I'm still not getting the Lee/Dee. I'm not seeing much chemistry there and it wasn't fleshed out any further. I kind of took evil delight in Dee's bitchy 'it's for you', but apart from that... no. On the other hand, I found them more comprehensible when compared to Kara/Anders. Where Kara/Anders are the fun-loving, excessively demonstrative couple, Lee and Dee are quieter and more practical--supprtive of one another, but not over the top. And interestingly they both stayed in their military roles, whereas Kara and Anders proved to be escapists. So I quite like the couples in opposition to one another, but I still think the Lee/Dee could have been established more successfully.
Hee! Are they going to flash up a new credit in S3? 'They Had a Plan: It Changed' OR 'They Have a Plan: Again'? Hee!
Giggles aside, I loved the revelation of the priest as cylon, and I adored the continuity with the Six/Sharon alliance--it's just brilliant that they were able to sway the cylons. The priest's explanation that 'unlike you, we can admit our mistakes and change our direction' was wonderful. It's seems so true that the cylons are more flexible than the humans. I loved the two priest-cylons, their interaction, and the ultimate irony that they are atheists! Perfect!
I found it interesting to reflect on how the news that they bore--that the cylons were retreating--could have swayed the election had it been a)believed and b)spread to the people by Roslin. Since much of Gaius's argument for settling was the 'stop running' argument, this would have had to change had this news been taken seriously. Did Gaius get told of this? They just skipped over that part, it seems.
Regardless, I loved the chain of events that led to the cylons return--the explosion, facillitated by Gaius in the first place. What is their plan now? What do they want? So many questions to ponder over the long seven-month hiatus. It seems like they're setting up a situation where Kara leads the resistance on the surface, with Apollo in the sky. And I really enjoyed the history-repeats aspect: the ships jumping away from New Caprica. supacat pointed out that it shows how far Adama has come, since he was far more willing to do it this time, then in the initial attack on Caprica, when he needed to be persuaded.
I loved that New Caprica was a dump! And how great was Kara's 'yeah, that wears off' line. It was great to see Roslin thrust into the role of a teacher--a role that has far more practical importance than the presidency in that frontier world. What a great twist for her, who was mocked for being 'just a teacher', but had never taught in that way before.
The Chief and Cally--well, I don't like either of them much, and I found the scene where Cally talks through her wired jaw to the Chief quite chilling (though very effective). But I had a good giggle at the flashforward reveal of Cally as pregnant beside the Chief as a political rabble rouser! Hee. It's interesting to see, in vignette, the ways that the Galactica crew found meaning or failed to in the new settlement.
Oh the baby! The time bomb awaits. I was not surprised to see Sharon lose it--it seemed clear that she would only go along with the humans so far and no further, but perhaps Adama felt she was never truly cooperating with the humans anyway, so they're always taking a risk. And perhaps fair enough.
All in all, I'm very happy with the way it ended--it seems like a return to what BSG does well: the big scale, the frak ups, the twists. There's a lot unknown in the future, but lots of possibilities. Of course I'm not happy about the long wait, but if that means a solid Season 3, I'll be very happy.
Some brief Kara/Lee speculation, because I'm obsessed: Anders seems marked for death. Will Kara blame Lee to some degree? And how long will we have to wait for their reunion this time? It's going to be painful--I can tell. Kara's adoption of settled life implies she's turned her back on her 'Starbuck' identity, but people instantly looked to her for leadership when the cylons arrived. I think that for Kara, her life as Starbuck is a way to create meaning when there's nothing else in her life. But to everyone else, this is where her ultimate strength lies. Apollo's different, and I think he'd be pissy about Kara abandoning that role. He'll be happy if she returns as a leader of the resistance, but Kara herself would be annoyed that he doesn't recognise how important that life was to her. It could become just a footnote in her life, a brief interlude of attempted idyll, but this will piss Kara off, even if they don't go the Anders-death route.
Ah, I have to wrap it up. Parentals arriving.
The votes were overwhelmingly for PCB, and I will listen to that, for all my kidding above. And then Lois essay. And so on... thanks for the votes all!
Hee! Ok, that amused me greatly, given the way the political plot in LDYB Part II played out--one of the most enjoyable aspects of the superlatively wonderful finale.
I really like it when BSG does bigscale. So I loved the shock of the time leap one year forward, and I really adored the segue shot: from Gaius being elected to the Debauched Presidency a year later--it was such a fabulous establishing shot. We'd just heard Gaius say 'I don't have to listen: I'm the president'. And the shot of him in power a year later, surrounded by self-agrandising portraits and prostitutes in the background, made me reflect on how the office of president itself corrupts. I think this is one of the interesting comments that BSG has made--we saw Roslin lose touch with democracy, and Gaius, supposedly the man of the people, predictably did the same once in power. Fascinating and chillingly cynical.
A word on the election-rigging before I go on: It was another fascinating BSG study in the way humans frak up. From the start, it seemed doom to fail, since someone was bound to have second thoughts or stumble across something... Sure enough. I found Gaeta hilarious in his extreme naivety--he only saw the surface level issue 'someone is breaking a rule' and didn't think it through deeper than that. That he became Gaius's minion on New Caprica was very funny--did his thinking just go 'OMG! Someone rigged an election against you! You must be great!' Sheesh. It's an interesting follow-up to him backing Gaius at other times too. I think he's an interesting reflection of the idea that principles alone, without lateral thinking and analysis, are not a good thing.
I loved that it was Tighe who helped rig the elections for his own personal reasons. Nice twist. And it's good to seem him and Kara in more amicable circumstances now.
The scene with Kara, Anders and Lee was HOT HOT HOT in the extreme. Although also, of course, very ouchy for me as a Lee fan. But did I mention the hot? Eep! That Kara is just so naughty! I am continually astounded by the way Kara and Lee are constantly at cross purposes, and this scene was a classic case. So often either Kara or Lee pushes things just too far, so the other one ends up withdrawing, when really the pushing points to an underlying obsession and connection. Witness Kara's bitchiness about Dualla, and proprietary showponying about Anders. I love that Lee stood there for as long as he did. Oh, Kara!
I was fascinated by the flashforward and not that surprised that Kara had married Anders. My reaction was mainly 'oh yeah'! I loved the way everyone looked a bit puffy and scruffy after the time jump, and Kara was no exception. I've heard rumours that there was some fandom backlash against this plot development for Kara, but personally it seemed in character for me. She wanted to marry Lee's brother, she wanted to marry Anders. Unlike Lee, she's not an all-work no-play girl. She wants a happy idyllic relationship. But we also saw that it wasn't that easy, which is, inevitably, what Kara would learn in a marriage like that.
In this case of course, the extra pressure comes from Anders developing pneumonia (was there a small part of me that went 'yay'? *cough* maybe--pretty boys writhing on their death beds are ok with me). That Kara has to turn to Apollo for help is predictable, although I confess I was a bit confused about why she thought Apollo wouldn't help. Was that just her own pride speaking? Was there some rift we didn't see on screen? Is Lee pissed she left the military? This was the one part of the jump forward that didn't feel smooth for me.
I'm still not getting the Lee/Dee. I'm not seeing much chemistry there and it wasn't fleshed out any further. I kind of took evil delight in Dee's bitchy 'it's for you', but apart from that... no. On the other hand, I found them more comprehensible when compared to Kara/Anders. Where Kara/Anders are the fun-loving, excessively demonstrative couple, Lee and Dee are quieter and more practical--supprtive of one another, but not over the top. And interestingly they both stayed in their military roles, whereas Kara and Anders proved to be escapists. So I quite like the couples in opposition to one another, but I still think the Lee/Dee could have been established more successfully.
Hee! Are they going to flash up a new credit in S3? 'They Had a Plan: It Changed' OR 'They Have a Plan: Again'? Hee!
Giggles aside, I loved the revelation of the priest as cylon, and I adored the continuity with the Six/Sharon alliance--it's just brilliant that they were able to sway the cylons. The priest's explanation that 'unlike you, we can admit our mistakes and change our direction' was wonderful. It's seems so true that the cylons are more flexible than the humans. I loved the two priest-cylons, their interaction, and the ultimate irony that they are atheists! Perfect!
I found it interesting to reflect on how the news that they bore--that the cylons were retreating--could have swayed the election had it been a)believed and b)spread to the people by Roslin. Since much of Gaius's argument for settling was the 'stop running' argument, this would have had to change had this news been taken seriously. Did Gaius get told of this? They just skipped over that part, it seems.
Regardless, I loved the chain of events that led to the cylons return--the explosion, facillitated by Gaius in the first place. What is their plan now? What do they want? So many questions to ponder over the long seven-month hiatus. It seems like they're setting up a situation where Kara leads the resistance on the surface, with Apollo in the sky. And I really enjoyed the history-repeats aspect: the ships jumping away from New Caprica. supacat pointed out that it shows how far Adama has come, since he was far more willing to do it this time, then in the initial attack on Caprica, when he needed to be persuaded.
I loved that New Caprica was a dump! And how great was Kara's 'yeah, that wears off' line. It was great to see Roslin thrust into the role of a teacher--a role that has far more practical importance than the presidency in that frontier world. What a great twist for her, who was mocked for being 'just a teacher', but had never taught in that way before.
The Chief and Cally--well, I don't like either of them much, and I found the scene where Cally talks through her wired jaw to the Chief quite chilling (though very effective). But I had a good giggle at the flashforward reveal of Cally as pregnant beside the Chief as a political rabble rouser! Hee. It's interesting to see, in vignette, the ways that the Galactica crew found meaning or failed to in the new settlement.
Oh the baby! The time bomb awaits. I was not surprised to see Sharon lose it--it seemed clear that she would only go along with the humans so far and no further, but perhaps Adama felt she was never truly cooperating with the humans anyway, so they're always taking a risk. And perhaps fair enough.
All in all, I'm very happy with the way it ended--it seems like a return to what BSG does well: the big scale, the frak ups, the twists. There's a lot unknown in the future, but lots of possibilities. Of course I'm not happy about the long wait, but if that means a solid Season 3, I'll be very happy.
Some brief Kara/Lee speculation, because I'm obsessed: Anders seems marked for death. Will Kara blame Lee to some degree? And how long will we have to wait for their reunion this time? It's going to be painful--I can tell. Kara's adoption of settled life implies she's turned her back on her 'Starbuck' identity, but people instantly looked to her for leadership when the cylons arrived. I think that for Kara, her life as Starbuck is a way to create meaning when there's nothing else in her life. But to everyone else, this is where her ultimate strength lies. Apollo's different, and I think he'd be pissy about Kara abandoning that role. He'll be happy if she returns as a leader of the resistance, but Kara herself would be annoyed that he doesn't recognise how important that life was to her. It could become just a footnote in her life, a brief interlude of attempted idyll, but this will piss Kara off, even if they don't go the Anders-death route.
Ah, I have to wrap it up. Parentals arriving.
The votes were overwhelmingly for PCB, and I will listen to that, for all my kidding above. And then Lois essay. And so on... thanks for the votes all!