Some may sleep, some may not
I had a bout of epic insomnia this week, possibly related to the fact that I have hit the first in a series of major deadlines at work, or possibly related to the fact that I haven't been running much thanks to all the rain. So I started taking the sleep medication my doctor had wanted me to try out, and that I had tossed in the back of the medicine cabinet because it destroys my ability to think and do things. And hey, I slept better, but I also had to claw through a thick layer of mental pudding to do anything. To all of you who have had to deal with my incoherent and poorly spelled comments this week, I apologize!
The best part was when I left my laptop at work on Thursday night, and had an early doctor's appointment on Friday morning that meant that if I went in to the office on Friday, I'd lose a bunch of time and have to work this weekend. So I did the 80 mile drive on Thursday night... starting at 10. It was nice to realize I haven't done that drive in several years; that I've been taking the train and not using a huge amount of gas for all that time. But it also meant that I got four hours of sleep on Thursday night and am still extremely exhausted and not thinking well. So, I hope I'm actually making sense here. (The good news is that we're trying another medication that might work better, and that I would only take occasionally, and that--most importantly--is not a hypnotic like Ambien or Lunesta. I know myself, and I would totally cook in my sleep and burn the house down, or boil my hand again.)
Still, not working this weekend! It was worth it. In the meantime, though, it took me twelve tries to get all the links in this post right. *facepalm*
* * * * *
BSG 4.17 - "Someone to Watch Over Me"
This episode was a massive improvement over last week's, in the sense that the characters all behaved recognizably. I particularly liked the scene with the Final Five at the bar, with Ellen being both commanding and weirdly protective of Tigh, and Tigh so distraught and bitter. See what happens when you show instead of telling, Jane Espenson?
I also liked the way the montage of Kara at the beginning captured how much everything is winding down, how much they're changing and trying to get past the bad things, but they're not sure why and they don't really have much to look forward to. It's all habit and routine. The remnants of their civilization--the toothpaste and shampoo, the ships, the things that they can't reconstruct for themselves--are melting away around them. And Kara realizes on one level that, as Doc Cottle says, she needs to let go of Sam; but part of him is still there. How do you move on from something when its physical remnants are all around you, like the ship, reminding you of the past?
(As a side note, I loved that Helo kept Kara's stuff, and that she was touched by that. I have always loved their friendship, and I'm happy to see it resurface.)
But wow, how about Boomer? She conned Tyrol with the illusion of forgiveness and wholeness, when the whole time, all she wanted was revenge. Tyrol is where she was when she got shot and woke up on the resurrection ship: confused about what he is, not used to basic things like Cylon projection. And she used that. She used Tyrol's curiosity about what being a Cylon means, and she dangled the fantasy of a child in front of him--a little girl, like Hera; a Cylon/First Five hybrid, an impossibility, like the child Caprica and Tigh just lost. He kills for her: the Eights aren't interchangeable, except when they are. He can switch another body out for Boomer; Boomer can pretend to be Athena just long enough to have sex with Helo and steal Hera, and all of those scenes were incredibly difficult to watch, knowing the fallout, knowing that Athena can never look at Helo the same way again and Helo was betrayed by someone who looks like his wife and their daughter is gone. Tyrol goes to Roslin and begs for Boomer's life, and she and Adama look harsh and unfeeling for turning her down, but they're right. Though none of them know it at the time, the cycle here is about vengeance, not forgiveness.
I picked up very early that nobody but Kara was seeing the piano man, and that he was somehow connected to her father. (Her father, who disappeared and never came back, whose betrayal might have been much more complicated than it seemed.) And because of that, I bought the way she opened up to him, and started remembering the music of her childhood. And while I have sometimes been iffy on the "All Along the Watchtower" device, it was absolutely stunning here, a shorthand way of conveying a wealth of associations and meanings: Kara's connection to Hera, the other Cylon/human hybrid (at least that's my guess, and I think it's a pretty sure one); their connection to the First Five; Kara flailing around for some meaning and direction and coming up with this. I also thought it was an interesting choice to re-introduce Cylon projection in an episode where Kara starts interacting with someone in her head, and sees her own dead body again.
In so many ways, this episode was about family: the family Tyrol wanted with Boomer; the family Helo and Athena have, and the complications of a blended home, where one of the members has so many identical twins; Bill and Laura, the stern parents, not letting one of the kids have what he wants because it's for his own good; Kara's memories of her absent father, the Cylon. It was all one piece with different parts, and the parts locked together seamlessly.
TSCC 2.16 - "Some Must Watch While Some Must Sleep"
I'm probably going to have to watch this episode again to really get it, but I twigged right away to the fact that the hospital was the dream and being held prisoner by the supposedly dead guy was the reality. Both realities were strange and dreamlike, but--and I think this says something about the show's sensibilities--it seemed much more likely that Sarah was being held prisoner by a not-dead guy she thought she'd killed than that she would put herself in the hands of a medical institution. And apparently I trust the show, because that really was the first tip-off. It was also a very strong echo of Terminator 2: nobody believing her, everybody treating her like she's gone off the rails. That's an experience that would haunt your dreams for a long time.
And her behavior with Winston made much more sense as reality; she tries to reach out to him, to connect to him through her knowledge of his wife, to warn him about SkyNet. She's able to defend herself against him, to fight, to escape, to kill him for real this time. Her first, again. And the Connors destroy people's lives along the way, even though SkyNet would destroy them anyway if it had the chance.
And what do her dreams tell us about Sarah at this point? That she trusts John to help her, no matter what he thinks of her. That SkyNet is everywhere, hunting them. That she's afraid John will die trying to help her, that she'll get him killed. That she can't find outside help, because SkyNet will always be there first. That she's afraid of Cameron's ability to mimic the human qualities that John might like--companionship, better pancakes. That in her mind, at least, she can show John her fear and vulnerability, that she can talk to him when she can't talk to anybody else.
I was really pleased that this episode was about Sarah, and that it was really about Sarah: what makes her tick, how she sees the world.
And then, I capped off a night of excellent television by not watching Dollhouse. It worked really well.
* * * * *
Some random links:
The best part was when I left my laptop at work on Thursday night, and had an early doctor's appointment on Friday morning that meant that if I went in to the office on Friday, I'd lose a bunch of time and have to work this weekend. So I did the 80 mile drive on Thursday night... starting at 10. It was nice to realize I haven't done that drive in several years; that I've been taking the train and not using a huge amount of gas for all that time. But it also meant that I got four hours of sleep on Thursday night and am still extremely exhausted and not thinking well. So, I hope I'm actually making sense here. (The good news is that we're trying another medication that might work better, and that I would only take occasionally, and that--most importantly--is not a hypnotic like Ambien or Lunesta. I know myself, and I would totally cook in my sleep and burn the house down, or boil my hand again.)
Still, not working this weekend! It was worth it. In the meantime, though, it took me twelve tries to get all the links in this post right. *facepalm*
* * * * *
BSG 4.17 - "Someone to Watch Over Me"
This episode was a massive improvement over last week's, in the sense that the characters all behaved recognizably. I particularly liked the scene with the Final Five at the bar, with Ellen being both commanding and weirdly protective of Tigh, and Tigh so distraught and bitter. See what happens when you show instead of telling, Jane Espenson?
I also liked the way the montage of Kara at the beginning captured how much everything is winding down, how much they're changing and trying to get past the bad things, but they're not sure why and they don't really have much to look forward to. It's all habit and routine. The remnants of their civilization--the toothpaste and shampoo, the ships, the things that they can't reconstruct for themselves--are melting away around them. And Kara realizes on one level that, as Doc Cottle says, she needs to let go of Sam; but part of him is still there. How do you move on from something when its physical remnants are all around you, like the ship, reminding you of the past?
(As a side note, I loved that Helo kept Kara's stuff, and that she was touched by that. I have always loved their friendship, and I'm happy to see it resurface.)
But wow, how about Boomer? She conned Tyrol with the illusion of forgiveness and wholeness, when the whole time, all she wanted was revenge. Tyrol is where she was when she got shot and woke up on the resurrection ship: confused about what he is, not used to basic things like Cylon projection. And she used that. She used Tyrol's curiosity about what being a Cylon means, and she dangled the fantasy of a child in front of him--a little girl, like Hera; a Cylon/First Five hybrid, an impossibility, like the child Caprica and Tigh just lost. He kills for her: the Eights aren't interchangeable, except when they are. He can switch another body out for Boomer; Boomer can pretend to be Athena just long enough to have sex with Helo and steal Hera, and all of those scenes were incredibly difficult to watch, knowing the fallout, knowing that Athena can never look at Helo the same way again and Helo was betrayed by someone who looks like his wife and their daughter is gone. Tyrol goes to Roslin and begs for Boomer's life, and she and Adama look harsh and unfeeling for turning her down, but they're right. Though none of them know it at the time, the cycle here is about vengeance, not forgiveness.
I picked up very early that nobody but Kara was seeing the piano man, and that he was somehow connected to her father. (Her father, who disappeared and never came back, whose betrayal might have been much more complicated than it seemed.) And because of that, I bought the way she opened up to him, and started remembering the music of her childhood. And while I have sometimes been iffy on the "All Along the Watchtower" device, it was absolutely stunning here, a shorthand way of conveying a wealth of associations and meanings: Kara's connection to Hera, the other Cylon/human hybrid (at least that's my guess, and I think it's a pretty sure one); their connection to the First Five; Kara flailing around for some meaning and direction and coming up with this. I also thought it was an interesting choice to re-introduce Cylon projection in an episode where Kara starts interacting with someone in her head, and sees her own dead body again.
In so many ways, this episode was about family: the family Tyrol wanted with Boomer; the family Helo and Athena have, and the complications of a blended home, where one of the members has so many identical twins; Bill and Laura, the stern parents, not letting one of the kids have what he wants because it's for his own good; Kara's memories of her absent father, the Cylon. It was all one piece with different parts, and the parts locked together seamlessly.
TSCC 2.16 - "Some Must Watch While Some Must Sleep"
I'm probably going to have to watch this episode again to really get it, but I twigged right away to the fact that the hospital was the dream and being held prisoner by the supposedly dead guy was the reality. Both realities were strange and dreamlike, but--and I think this says something about the show's sensibilities--it seemed much more likely that Sarah was being held prisoner by a not-dead guy she thought she'd killed than that she would put herself in the hands of a medical institution. And apparently I trust the show, because that really was the first tip-off. It was also a very strong echo of Terminator 2: nobody believing her, everybody treating her like she's gone off the rails. That's an experience that would haunt your dreams for a long time.
And her behavior with Winston made much more sense as reality; she tries to reach out to him, to connect to him through her knowledge of his wife, to warn him about SkyNet. She's able to defend herself against him, to fight, to escape, to kill him for real this time. Her first, again. And the Connors destroy people's lives along the way, even though SkyNet would destroy them anyway if it had the chance.
And what do her dreams tell us about Sarah at this point? That she trusts John to help her, no matter what he thinks of her. That SkyNet is everywhere, hunting them. That she's afraid John will die trying to help her, that she'll get him killed. That she can't find outside help, because SkyNet will always be there first. That she's afraid of Cameron's ability to mimic the human qualities that John might like--companionship, better pancakes. That in her mind, at least, she can show John her fear and vulnerability, that she can talk to him when she can't talk to anybody else.
I was really pleased that this episode was about Sarah, and that it was really about Sarah: what makes her tick, how she sees the world.
And then, I capped off a night of excellent television by not watching Dollhouse. It worked really well.
* * * * *
Some random links:
- NOOOOOOOOOO! Not the Tonga Room!
- Interesting trend in the operating system market. I wonder if Microsoft is going to be able to ship the next OS in time to salvage its market share after the Vista disaster. I'm guessing no. People don't trust them anymore; they're looking for alternatives.
- John Rogers answers questions about Leverage's "The Second David Job," and, among other things, gives us a list of episodes in intended order, which is the order they'll be on in the DVDs. Which, for some reason, I totally plan to buy. Somewhere along the line, I developed an enormous affection for this show, the kind of affection that makes me want to rewatch it. It's not the plot; it's the characters.
- This week, my co-worker referred to this one incredibly messed-up feature we're both working on as "the Sarlac pit of dumb." This amused me a lot, because (a) he's right and (b) it's a small comfort that the people I work with often resort to Star Wars metaphors.
- Ten of the world's greatest metro stations. Notice how none of them are on the BART system. Oh BART, you are so utilitarian.
- Someone is developing software that will show a location's transit shed. I like the idea of a transit shed--a range of how far a person can travel on transit in 30 minutes.
- A lot of these cake recipes look really, really good.
One of these days, I will get it together enough to post about The X-Files and Babylon 5 (Season 4 is made of awesome!). One of these days.
