Special Topic #6 -- In Defense of Lee Adama

[dianora2]

I volunteered to write one of these "sprinkles" posts for the community, and since zinke already claimed my favorite subject -- arms -- I'm going to go with my second favorite subject: Lee Adama

Comments

[zinke]

I see him making compromises all over the place

I do think he's capable of compromising - as long as in doing so his moral compass isn't disturbed (if that makes sense). Lee does what he thinks is right (as Laura has said) which is in no way a criticism, but I think he tends to do what he thinks is right regardless of the context, with mixed results.

Yes, he intervenes to keep Zarek and Adama from killing (metaphorically or otherwise) one another, and I think that was indeed the right thing to do. He believed his questioning of Roslin during Baltar's trial was the right thing to do to preserve the integrity of the system - but was it the 'right' thing to do? Did he achieve the outcome he'd desired?

I do think he's moving away from this apparently genetically inherited tunnel vision thing as he's becoming more certain of who he is and what he wants, but it's always been something that bothered me for no legitimate or sensible reason.

I find Bill's lack of pragmatism frustrating at times

And I know that I should as well, but instead I find it maddeningly, inexplicably endearing. I am a sick, sick woman. *g*

[dionusia]

I think he tends to do what he thinks is right regardless of the context, with mixed results.

Turning his back on democracy, accepting the need for a black market...I don't see him as inflexible. The stability of the fleet and the security of humanity are paramount with him, so he will sacrifice both his ideals and his loved ones in the name of that -- and personally I think that's a good thing. But YMMV. (In the case of Gaius, it's hard to say how exactly he poses a threat to humanity by his very existence...but if she'd wanted to, Roslin could have executed him easily without trial.)

He believed his questioning of Roslin during Baltar's trial was the right thing to do to preserve the integrity of the system - but was it the 'right' thing to do? Did he achieve the outcome he'd desired?

Isn't his whole point when he gets put on the stand that there isn't a real system anymore? He yells that at Romo, after all. He's trying to point out that the trial is a sham, and that forgiveness is is the way they've collectively muddled forward this far, not ruthless persecution. Now we, the audience, know exactly how much Gaius is guilty of, but he wasn't guilty of doing anything wrong on NC besides being a coward (IMO anyway). So I think Lee did achieve the outcome he desired -- he wanted people to realize they were scapegoating one man because they felt so much collective rage and shame for all their failures and suffering.

I think he also wanted to check the power of Roslin and Adama to do anything they wanted. It was unfortunate it had to come out that way, but I think Laura ought to have been upfront about her cancer and her chamalla use with the fleet long before that.

instead I find it maddeningly, inexplicably endearing. I am a sick, sick woman. *g*

Aww, no, I can understand that! After all, all that saved my girl Kara was ADAMA LOVE. I just think Lee deserves more credit for his pragmatism. But you take Bill in the maddening-yet-endearing category, and I'll take Lee. *g*

[zinke]

Isn't his whole point when he gets put on the stand that there isn't a real system anymore?

Very true, but I think he doesn't realize this until after he's questioned Roslin. He has such a revelatory moment when he undermines Laura's credibility and she does it right back to him, and I think that's what he carries with him on the stand when Romo questions him and he launches into his speech of awesome.

But you take Bill in the maddening-yet-endearing category, and I'll take Lee. *g*

Everyone wins! Woot! *g*

[dionusia]

Very true, but I think he doesn't realize this until after he's questioned Roslin.

I think his revelatory moment is when Bill tells him Gaius is guilty and total scum, and that's why Lee has no business being "on his side." Because Bill is a judge in the trial who says that, Lee is utterly disgusted (and so was I -- I lost all respect for him right there). Bill doesn't even have the pretense of impartiality at that point. It's only until the end that he realizes Lee is right, that emotion was driving this charge, and the prosecution didn't make their case. (Laura, by contrast, doesn't come face to face with her deeply personal desire to kill and punish Baltar until "The Hub.")

But if Lee did believe in the system prior to that -- is that a bad thing? He believes in a person's right to a fair trial, and as Gaius was supposedly getting one, he hoped/assumed Roslin and Adama would be able to deliver on that promise. He gave them more credit than they initially deserved.

[zinke]

He gave them more credit than they initially deserved.

I would rephrase this to say that he gave the system more credit than it deserved. Yes, Bill and Laura both clearly went into the trial with a heavy bias - but I suspect they were not the only ones directly involved in the trial to feel that way. How can you ensure a fair trial to a man who's actions caused injury to almost everyone in the exisisting population? I would argue that Laura, Bill and Lee all believed themselves to have had good intentions at the outset of the trial, but that in each case their emotions initially got in the way of their being able to follow through on that.

I do agree with you that Laura was the only one of the three to not acknowledge this before the end of the trial - but I think her hatred of Gaius was much more deep-seated than any of the baggage either Lee or Bill brought with them. She blamed him for New Caprica, yes, but he was also a living breathing embodiment of - what was to her - her failure to protect her people (by not stealing the election).