Hey, there'll be no WTFing from me in this post, since I know just how individual and subjecting these things are. That said, OMG I love Someone to Watch Over Me! *g* I talk more about why here if you're interested. I think though that it may have something to do with my disillusionment with the show that at that point, I was no longer expecting to get any answers about Kara. I had hopes, but no expectations - and I also had a lot of fears that we might get answers that were both definitive and HORRIBLE. *g* Eddie was hinting at that in interviews, actually. In retrospect I think he was just referring to the scene where she finds her body, which never horrified me all that much. And in even more retro-spect, I think Kara's ~destiny was always mainly about coming to terms with her past, and the sci-fi trappings were just that. And surprisingly I'm pretty okay with that.
I completely agree with you about Maelstrom being sudden and out of nowhere. Well, not quite out of nowhere - it followed pretty well from the first episodes of season three -> Torn, to me, but it was like they hit a re-set back to that point and forgot about everything in the middle. We just had to imagine that she was slowly continuing to break down in between snogging two hotties and hazing Seelix. Which, fine, but meh.
My reaction to Maelstrom was heavily influenced by being incredibly spoiled for it; I knew Kara was going to die, so I was watching (armed with booze and chocolate!) to decide if she was really going to die, and praying the answer was no. And since the episode heavily foreshadowed her return, I was blissfully relieved. (And then promptly horrified by how many people thought she was actually dead!) So the mystical aspects came as a huge relief in that respect. Plus, I have to admit I have a huge weakness for epic story-lines and mysticism, so giving my already-favorite character one of my favorite arcs was like catnip. ;) But it definitely did change her path utterly, and brought an end to her story as a purely human character - which had a lot to be said for it. So I can see where you're coming from, absolutely.
I guess having missed all of the foreshadowing, it really just took my by surprise. At the time, I had all of the thoughts I describe above, but the episode did not seem to be the worst episode ever. Looking back, however, it's like the crack between two great shows. Everything changes after Maelstrom, not just Kara, but the whole show jumps headlong into the cylons world and the mysticism. Maybe I'm too much of a sci-fi readerly geek, but Maelstrom and her return later signify a reduction in reliance on humanity as a race that can problem-solve and survive in deference to a higher power controlling everything. The thing I loved about the show pre-Maelstrom (and maybe a few eps dotted before that) was that humans had to be ingenious, clever, resourceful in order to survive. I feel like that was lost when the show began to sink into mysteries hooded in religious and mysticism. I have no problem with those to things, per se, but for me, someone re-imagined the re-imagined series - right in the middle of the run.
(I hope this all made sense - it's pretty early in the morning here.)
The thing I loved about the show pre-Maelstrom (and maybe a few eps dotted before that) was that humans had to be ingenious, clever, resourceful in order to survive.
x2. Exactly the same thing I loved about "Lost", and exactly the same thing that show forgot about as it started to lose direction.
I completely agree with you about Maelstrom being sudden and out of nowhere. Well, not quite out of nowhere - it followed pretty well from the first episodes of season three -> Torn, to me, but it was like they hit a re-set back to that point and forgot about everything in the middle. We just had to imagine that she was slowly continuing to break down in between snogging two hotties and hazing Seelix. Which, fine, but meh.
My reaction to Maelstrom was heavily influenced by being incredibly spoiled for it; I knew Kara was going to die, so I was watching (armed with booze and chocolate!) to decide if she was really going to die, and praying the answer was no. And since the episode heavily foreshadowed her return, I was blissfully relieved. (And then promptly horrified by how many people thought she was actually dead!) So the mystical aspects came as a huge relief in that respect. Plus, I have to admit I have a huge weakness for epic story-lines and mysticism, so giving my already-favorite character one of my favorite arcs was like catnip. ;) But it definitely did change her path utterly, and brought an end to her story as a purely human character - which had a lot to be said for it. So I can see where you're coming from, absolutely.
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(I hope this all made sense - it's pretty early in the morning here.)
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x2. Exactly the same thing I loved about "Lost", and exactly the same thing that show forgot about as it started to lose direction.
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