Battlestar Galactica 3.17 Maelstrom (Part 2)
No, 'Part 1' was not a typo, I always intended to write more, but it's taken me a while to get there because this half is a lot more challenging for me to write about.
Hmmm. So, this will be the less glowing part of my Maelstrom review. If you noticed in the first half of my review, I concentrated on everyone other than Kara. In part, that's because I don't feel as confident talking about her. It's also because I had quite seriously conflicted emotions regarding her plot in this episode.
rivkat pointed out the self-contradiction in Kara accepting her 'special destiny' as ... death, and this gets to the heart of what felt odd about this episode. Yes, I do think Kara's destiny is bigger than this. Yes, we got a lot of anvilly moments about 'all this has happened before and will happen again', but Kara herself in this episode really seems to be accepting DEATH. Death, death. Not going forward into some 'special destiny' other dimension-y 'death'. Until those last final ambiguous moments, she acts like someone who is going to commit suicide: she gives away precious tokens, she talks about how she wants to be remembered, she (unconsciously perhaps) touches base one last time with those important to her, she talks wistfully of what will never be... And most controversially of all, she reconciles (?!) with her abusive mother.
While I didn't share it, I can understand why some viewers will share mskatej's total hatred of this episode. I do think this episode will only fully make sense in the larger context of the season (and series) overall. But since I'm unspoiled, I'll leave that aside for now. (I already speculated extensively in Part 1 anyway!)
I found the abuse scenes very challenging to watch. I was surprised they went as far as they did and I think I would have found them gratuitous were it not for the fact that they reflected Kara herself opening up to others more than ever before. It made me so happy to hear her talk to Sam about her past (and only I tiny bit jealous on Lee's behalf, I swear!). Sam is an absolute sweetheart and he has an important role in Kara's life: it was good to have that confirmed by the implication that they'd already discussed it. But it's only right before death that Kara tells Sam about her fingers being broken and about the revenge on her mother that led to that. That indicates the weighty signficance of those events. To be honest, I felt sick when Kara said 'it was worth it'. So she's learnt that cruel (and comic) revenge is worth any amount of pain and punishment. That explains a lot about Kara.
What troubled me most was the implied validation of what Kara's mother did to her. The oracle says that her mother was trying to teach her that she was 'special'. Well, that's the world's worst way. Yes, it has made Starbuck a knife-sharp killer who doesn't flinch in the face of pain, but how is that connected to her 'destiny'? (And in a broader sense, how is that good? Especially to the Cylons, if that's where her destiny is leading her.)
The episode also argued that she was afraid of death. I don't know if I'm convinced by that because Starbuck's always seemed so fearless. However, there were moments while watching the episode that I did feel that yes, perhaps she's just taken herself to the edge of death so so many times that she superficially appears blase, but actually she's testing herself because she's afraid. I think I gleaned that largely from Katee's spectacular performance, because the writing felt odd in places.
Her reconciliation with her mother is very difficult for me to write about. It definitely contributed to my sense that there was a kind of validating of all that Kara had gone through--that old 'suffer to be stronger' idea. I really wasn't convinced that reconciling with her mother was something Kara needed to do. I think we're meant to believe it helped her, but ... I don't know. While I do understand that despite everything, an abused child may wish to reconnect with their parent and not abandon them before death, I don't think that it's always constructive. Is it constructive for Kara? I don't know. Head!Leoben argued that facing her mother's death would help Kara face her own. Frankly I don't see the connection at all. Dealing with grief about a parent who hurt you that much is not the same as facing your own mortality. But the episode seemed to assert that yes, Kara was 'ready' for death and revisiting her mother was part of that.
*frowns* I don't really have any answers on all of this--just a whole lot of questions and an unsettled feeling in my stomach. I hope that this will all be clearer in light of the episodes ahead.
Meanwhile I have (surprise!) been thinking some more about Lee and how he'll handle his grief for Kara. As I mentioned in Part I, I think Lee is in a stronger position emotionally than we've ever seen him before. But no, he's not prepared for this. However, I do think we will see him do absolutely everything in his power to 'manage' his grief. To be the perfect CAG, to be the perfect son, to shoulder other people's burdens, to make something of his life. I can see him driving himself harder than ever before. I'm not even sure we'll see him completely lose it in grief before he drives himself forward. I think it's more likely that he'll push it down. Even if he goes through formal grieving processes like placing her photo where she asked, I don't think that will be superficial at best. Nothing could reflect the true depths of his grief for Kara, other than burning himself alive with her; I think instead he'll burn himself out in living.
There are many things that lead me to suggesting this. He's limited in the amount of grief he can show for her publicly by self-consciousness about the fact he's married to Dee. And he's finally in a place where he won't want to hurt Dee by losing it over Kara. And then there's his father who will also be grieving. I think Lee will be determined to handle his grief for him. (I actually think it will be interesting to see whether they actually talk about it or whether it becomes a huge gaping silence between them--could go either way, I reckon, despite their relationship being more communicative than ever before.)
I'm not saying we'll never see Lee demonstrate grief--on the contrary, I think everything he does from now on will be in some way coloured by Kara's death. And I think he will have to deal with her death at a deeper level at some stage. I'm just not sure it will be immediate--or alternatively, what he does in the immediate term won't be the end of the story.
brokenmnemonic mentioned how Lee kept saying 'we can still get out of this' (emphasis mine). This episode paired them in such a strong way--stronger than all the shippy to-ing and fro-ing--it paired them at a destiny level as having connected fates. And I think that will continue to be true after Kara's death--I think Lee's fate, whatever it is, will be linked to Kara's. (Of course, everyone's may be linked to Kara's if she finds Earth...) And that's partly why I'm thinking more big-picture about his grief for her--it won't be a one-off Lee-completely-loses-it-and-binges-on-noodles (*snerk*) scenario, it will be long and complicated and it will resonate throughout his whole life.
I could be completely wrong. This show is good at taking twists that I never saw coming. *glares at it reproachfully* And now, having once again, talked more about Lee Adama than anyone ever wants to hear, *g*, I'm off to listen to some comfort music because my heart's still aching.
ETA2: queenofthorns says some wonderful things about the parallel with Zak's death and the way Lee's and Kara's deaths are contrasted which I wholeheartedly agree with.
ETA: If I type 'Battelstar' instead of 'Battlestar' one more time, I'm going to shoot myself. My typos are really irritating me!
Hmmm. So, this will be the less glowing part of my Maelstrom review. If you noticed in the first half of my review, I concentrated on everyone other than Kara. In part, that's because I don't feel as confident talking about her. It's also because I had quite seriously conflicted emotions regarding her plot in this episode.
rivkat pointed out the self-contradiction in Kara accepting her 'special destiny' as ... death, and this gets to the heart of what felt odd about this episode. Yes, I do think Kara's destiny is bigger than this. Yes, we got a lot of anvilly moments about 'all this has happened before and will happen again', but Kara herself in this episode really seems to be accepting DEATH. Death, death. Not going forward into some 'special destiny' other dimension-y 'death'. Until those last final ambiguous moments, she acts like someone who is going to commit suicide: she gives away precious tokens, she talks about how she wants to be remembered, she (unconsciously perhaps) touches base one last time with those important to her, she talks wistfully of what will never be... And most controversially of all, she reconciles (?!) with her abusive mother.
While I didn't share it, I can understand why some viewers will share mskatej's total hatred of this episode. I do think this episode will only fully make sense in the larger context of the season (and series) overall. But since I'm unspoiled, I'll leave that aside for now. (I already speculated extensively in Part 1 anyway!)
I found the abuse scenes very challenging to watch. I was surprised they went as far as they did and I think I would have found them gratuitous were it not for the fact that they reflected Kara herself opening up to others more than ever before. It made me so happy to hear her talk to Sam about her past (and only I tiny bit jealous on Lee's behalf, I swear!). Sam is an absolute sweetheart and he has an important role in Kara's life: it was good to have that confirmed by the implication that they'd already discussed it. But it's only right before death that Kara tells Sam about her fingers being broken and about the revenge on her mother that led to that. That indicates the weighty signficance of those events. To be honest, I felt sick when Kara said 'it was worth it'. So she's learnt that cruel (and comic) revenge is worth any amount of pain and punishment. That explains a lot about Kara.
What troubled me most was the implied validation of what Kara's mother did to her. The oracle says that her mother was trying to teach her that she was 'special'. Well, that's the world's worst way. Yes, it has made Starbuck a knife-sharp killer who doesn't flinch in the face of pain, but how is that connected to her 'destiny'? (And in a broader sense, how is that good? Especially to the Cylons, if that's where her destiny is leading her.)
The episode also argued that she was afraid of death. I don't know if I'm convinced by that because Starbuck's always seemed so fearless. However, there were moments while watching the episode that I did feel that yes, perhaps she's just taken herself to the edge of death so so many times that she superficially appears blase, but actually she's testing herself because she's afraid. I think I gleaned that largely from Katee's spectacular performance, because the writing felt odd in places.
Her reconciliation with her mother is very difficult for me to write about. It definitely contributed to my sense that there was a kind of validating of all that Kara had gone through--that old 'suffer to be stronger' idea. I really wasn't convinced that reconciling with her mother was something Kara needed to do. I think we're meant to believe it helped her, but ... I don't know. While I do understand that despite everything, an abused child may wish to reconnect with their parent and not abandon them before death, I don't think that it's always constructive. Is it constructive for Kara? I don't know. Head!Leoben argued that facing her mother's death would help Kara face her own. Frankly I don't see the connection at all. Dealing with grief about a parent who hurt you that much is not the same as facing your own mortality. But the episode seemed to assert that yes, Kara was 'ready' for death and revisiting her mother was part of that.
*frowns* I don't really have any answers on all of this--just a whole lot of questions and an unsettled feeling in my stomach. I hope that this will all be clearer in light of the episodes ahead.
Meanwhile I have (surprise!) been thinking some more about Lee and how he'll handle his grief for Kara. As I mentioned in Part I, I think Lee is in a stronger position emotionally than we've ever seen him before. But no, he's not prepared for this. However, I do think we will see him do absolutely everything in his power to 'manage' his grief. To be the perfect CAG, to be the perfect son, to shoulder other people's burdens, to make something of his life. I can see him driving himself harder than ever before. I'm not even sure we'll see him completely lose it in grief before he drives himself forward. I think it's more likely that he'll push it down. Even if he goes through formal grieving processes like placing her photo where she asked, I don't think that will be superficial at best. Nothing could reflect the true depths of his grief for Kara, other than burning himself alive with her; I think instead he'll burn himself out in living.
There are many things that lead me to suggesting this. He's limited in the amount of grief he can show for her publicly by self-consciousness about the fact he's married to Dee. And he's finally in a place where he won't want to hurt Dee by losing it over Kara. And then there's his father who will also be grieving. I think Lee will be determined to handle his grief for him. (I actually think it will be interesting to see whether they actually talk about it or whether it becomes a huge gaping silence between them--could go either way, I reckon, despite their relationship being more communicative than ever before.)
I'm not saying we'll never see Lee demonstrate grief--on the contrary, I think everything he does from now on will be in some way coloured by Kara's death. And I think he will have to deal with her death at a deeper level at some stage. I'm just not sure it will be immediate--or alternatively, what he does in the immediate term won't be the end of the story.
brokenmnemonic mentioned how Lee kept saying 'we can still get out of this' (emphasis mine). This episode paired them in such a strong way--stronger than all the shippy to-ing and fro-ing--it paired them at a destiny level as having connected fates. And I think that will continue to be true after Kara's death--I think Lee's fate, whatever it is, will be linked to Kara's. (Of course, everyone's may be linked to Kara's if she finds Earth...) And that's partly why I'm thinking more big-picture about his grief for her--it won't be a one-off Lee-completely-loses-it-and-binges-on-noodles (*snerk*) scenario, it will be long and complicated and it will resonate throughout his whole life.
I could be completely wrong. This show is good at taking twists that I never saw coming. *glares at it reproachfully* And now, having once again, talked more about Lee Adama than anyone ever wants to hear, *g*, I'm off to listen to some comfort music because my heart's still aching.
ETA2: queenofthorns says some wonderful things about the parallel with Zak's death and the way Lee's and Kara's deaths are contrasted which I wholeheartedly agree with.
ETA: If I type 'Battelstar' instead of 'Battlestar' one more time, I'm going to shoot myself. My typos are really irritating me!