BSG: 1.4 "Act of Contrition"
I am a first-run-USA, Skiffy-only watcher. I do not download. I do not know what will happen after this week's ep and I don't want to know. Spoil me and so help me God, I'll jump through the modem and beat you to death with a blunt object. (A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend.)
Reaction only first, no spoilers. Then, a deeper look.
They said ooo, just wait until the 4th ep, just wait
I said, Yeah, sure, whatever,
They said it's going to blow you away
I said yaaaaawn.
Chalk this one up with my lukewarm response to Mely's rec for The Outlander's Secret.
For the record, it didn't take me until you are the guardians of the fleet before my throat closed up.
*chants to self*
It will lose the shine. They always do. It will lose the shine. The writing will suck. They will cancel it. It will lose the shine. The plots will get stupid. It will lose the shine. They always do. It will lose the shine. The science will drive you insane. It will lose the shine. They always do.
*aww, hellwitit*
Didn't work with all the guys I ever fell in love lust infatuation with, either.
So. I guess I got a new boyfriend show.
*helpless grin*
On the other hand, I get fandoms like Miles Naismith gets women - it's not that I catch so many, it's that the ones I catch, I don't let go.
*happy sigh*
In other news, the Sean Bean skiffy commercials make me very happy, even as I loathe the ground from which the electric cables which power Skiffy's broadcast stations spring.
There will be some musing and some speculation in the following. My musing could be wrong, my observations could be off. This is NOT an invite to jump in and tell me how the following eps will unfold. I do welcome fellow speculators, I do not welcome spoilers. I don't care if it's an explanation for where Jamie got that horrid hair for the Skiffy station ID commericals, Spoil me for *anything* and I swear to God I will jump down the modem and beat you to death with a blunt object.
(A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend.)
There were at least a score of things that grabbed at me, just in the pre-credit tag to this ep. Starbuck's ship coming apart. The technical accuracy of the effects of centrifugal force in an ass-heavy fighter in a terminal spin. Busy busy flight deck with everyone knowing where they're supposed to be. Pilots walking in step while they walked. "The worst CAG in the history of CAGs." Starbuck and Apollo - two rough-housing siblings under papa Adama's fond eye.
Officially, I was hooked when the Chief said "...and nobody tells me? Now we look like idiots!" This world has differences between officers and enlisted, and between pilots and repair crew, but also has greater bonds of unity. And everyone knows how important it is, to keep hold of traditions. To do things the "proper" way.
There is, however, a start contrast between the scattered, somewhat impulsive and regulation-wise optional celebration ceremony that *was* attended to, and the formal safety inspection checklist which *is* required - and it seems, not done. Or pencil-whipped, when done. "Lack of attention to detail" could be put down on the 'cause of accident' report, and perhaps would be more accurate than "metal fatigue". (Note 1)
I'm not sure of Lee's fumbling of the landing celebration is not a sign of the same condition - Galactica was arguably the worst ship to be the shield of the human race, even as she is the last, best hope. Even moreso, her crew. I think it would be reasonable to think that the ship was proportionally understaffed - people transferring out and not being replaced because of the impending decommissioning - and *overstaffed* with those on the verge of departure from service - either from retirement or voluntary separation or *in*voluntary dismissal.
(Looking back at 33 and The First Five Days, I'm scratching my head going - why didn't they set up rotating shifts after the second day? Half the crew up, the other half off, trying to sleep. After all, this is a battleship, and they will be running ops around the clock in wartime. So they should be manned for this. My thought is that they are too short-crewed to support that.)
Certainly the Galactica has her share of highly competent and even brilliant personnel. But this accident, Tigh's comment previously about "letting things slide" (indeed, Tigh and his problems themselves), the breakdown in munitions security, as well as the age of the ship are all indications, I think, that things are going to get worse before they get better.
Any pre-warned official, knowing what was to come, who did not take steps to put the very best of the Fleet's equipment and personnel on Galactica, would have been criminally incompetent. Indeed, knowing this was to come, contingency planning should have taken many steps. And then Galactica would have had a younger Commander, a sober, more personable XO, more armament. Would have weeded out hotshot pilots with a talent for disruptive insubordination, or lack of interpersonal relationship discipline.
This is not the ship, not the crew, any one would have chosen to save the human race.
But this is the ship they've got. These are the people and the equipment they have to fight with. And all the protests of "not the right person for this" and "only our first day" are so much bullshit. Galactica - the whole race, in fact - is faced with a situation where, I think, if one is not the right person for the job, one must become that person, *now* and meanwhile the rest of humanity makes do with the job one *can* perform. Because there are no other choices, save to give up, and die. And they don't look like they're considering option two yet.
I am loving this show so much more than I thought possible. (Note 2)
Anyway. Back to the ep.
You can put me down for loving the sad instrumental music for the intro, and *hating* the clipshow *for the ep about to come on*. Come *on* people, tell the story right.
Also? Don't know where I'd get the title of the eps without the internet. 33 and Water had titles, since then I haven't seen a one.
Love Adama, love EJO's performance. Give me your eyes. I think Adama is...incredibly honest with any of the emotions he shows. I think he stays closed down, very much of the time, but I don't think he's a "player". He is likely angry and pleased more often than he lets on, I think.
I am intrigued by yet another difference between (RL) old Greek practices,(Note 3) and the religion/culture of the Colonies - the priest referenced "lords of Kobal" collectively, not as a 'priest of Zeus' or Apollo.(Note 4) Also, there is reference to an afterlife (a better world), and a heavier call for repenting sins than I'm used to. (Yes, Catholics have a formal sacrament for confessing sins. No, most parishes I've been in don't talk so much about it, nor did any of my elder relations. And they could go on about some other things, given the chance.) I wounder what sorts of ceremonies they have for that, in the Colonies.
In another place of "interesting differences" - the funeral services for Zack showed an eighteen gun salute. (Three volleys of six.) Which I find *very* intriguing. Seven is a number with a lot (not universal, but a lot) of pan-human significance, not just judeo-christian. I wonder if it was actually a 24 gun salute, and we only heard the first three volleys. (Twelve colonies of Kobal, etc.)
The theme of ceremony is repeated throughout the ep - the landing celebration, the funerals, the toast Adama shares with Starbuck. The picture in the ready room all the pilots touch. Starbuck re-naming the nuggets. All of this, I think, on top of the purely military tradition and ceremony - "call the ball".(Note 5)
Add to the repetition of certain phrases and scenes over and over - Starbuck's crash, Starbuck and Zack together - and it approaches the rhythm of a Mass, or a meditative trance.
Except for the parts where the viewer keeps getting thrown out of staring at the blank wall because of the pretty explosions.
Stackhouse is not blowing me away with her acting chops - she is not in the same class as Claudia Black or Mary McDonald. However, throughout this ep I was watching Starbuck - or Kara Thrace - and not KS at all. So she done good, this go round.
When we got to the funeral, I thought the plane in the spin was Starbuck dreaming/obsessing over with Zack. Love the ship falling apart - so much of a reminder of the opening part of Pitch Black. The use of light and color throughout the ep - wwoooo. These guys are good. CGI is very shiny.
The card playing scene was well done, I think, for relaying info on many levels in a way that didn't seem too heavy on exposition.
As for the Caprica scenes - at this point Helo the scenes are distracting me from the main story line. And there was book abuse! So I don't like them. Even when I watch them again, because Helo is so pretty. And even then Six is delightfully creepy.
Mary McDonnel rawks. "Please close that curtain" and how Roslin points. The ship doc just cracked me up. Yes, a McCoy stereotype. But far more well rounded than I thought. He agreed to try the "alternate therapy" easily enough...You know what would be cool? I'll tell you what would be cool. What would be cool is if they found some of this extract and tried the crap and it didn't work. Only because I am so very weary of science being treated like it typically fails to find solutions.
(Roslin had a family history of breast cancer and failed to get regular check ups? God, I love how *everyone* on this ship has these frelling big marks against them in the brains/judgment department.)
Completely OT, but off Starbuck's description of the Mark II - They have jackrabbits on the Colonies? Huh. Maybe they have cows, too. Maybe they have cows in the fleet! Ahem. Moving on.
Watching Adama and Apollo in Adama's quarters - my god, the wounds these two deal each other. Just being around each other makes them bleed. And they keep going - you can see the cuts open up, but they keep on moving. We know each other very well - Adama's only partly blind. But it's a willful blindness. And I think he knows how his closeness to Thrace hurts Lee. And Lee's not without his own weapons - "Dad" is not a word Adama has any defense against. I think he's armorless against his children.
I wonder, was he always like that, or is it something that grew out of Zack's death? It would make sense for Apollo's anger to be directed against someone other than the man Starbuck knew - that Zack's death brought Adama to a realization of how much he had lost. But Apollo was too wounded himself - and locked into the pattern of dealing with the old Adama - that he can't make that mental shift to understand Adama has changed. (Assuming he did.)
Apollo's retreat in the face of realizing Adama doesn't know about Starbuck's culpability in Zack's death - he won't deliver that message for maybe two reasons - he doesn't want to face Adama's anger over this, any more than Thrace, *and* he doesn't want to be the one that damages Starbuck in Adama's eyes. He does care for them both, I think.
I think Starbuck knows how vulnerable Adama is, and I wonder how much of her reluctance to come clean is based on this. Id like to say a lot of it is - how much the words your son didn't have the chops to be a fighter pilot, and her own failure of duty were going to hurt Adama. (Note 6) But I don't think that fear weighed near as heavy on her as did the foreknowledge of walk out of this cabin while you still can. It was warm there, under his arm, subject to his protection, pride, and love. She wasn't out there alone. And now things are never going to be the same.
And damn, but she knows it. And throws herself back into the job. Goes to the nuggets, herself. Tells them they get a second chance. And then wholeheartedly goes to work. (I don't think the line about "pounding divots out of the deck" was going too far, myself. Sliding aircraft scare the beejeebers out of me. But (I am told) learning how to land on a carrier deck is the hardest part of navy flight training (there are entire services of fighter jocks who never have to master this skill) so I do think Starbuck was going over board in testing them on that, first. Even though it's a skill they're going to have to get a grip on immediately, due to the actual physical situation.)
And as soon as Adama walks back out to the CIC, both Tigh and Apollo know it, too. Tigh even tries to compensate, talking up Starbuck's performance for Adama's ears, trying to get Adama to ease up. (That's the problem of having open door conferences - the whole ship might not know the exact details of the conversation, but tone carries miles further than actual words.) Apollo - I'm not sure if his silence is entirely because the subject is so painful, personal, and not something handled well in public, or if there is not a little bit of will he love me now, then, instead. (hmm. That's putting it a bit baldly and more base than it sounded in my head.) Thinking it over, I don't think Apollo has gotten to that point - assuming he ever would.
There were a number of things about the actual Cylon fighter attack that I want to address later - starting with the "they could have launched a squadron, why only two T-fighters" notion and going on to the accelerations required to move past a planetary body that fast (they have *got* to have anti-grav in those fighters - it just doesn't make sense otherwise) and Starbuck's crazy, comeandgetme, motherfucker grin as she dives back into the fight. And oh, yeah, all the lines stolen used without permission from Top Gun. (Except the ones they stole from Farscape.) But it was great. And I did NOT know it was to be continued, which I was very glad of, except that if it had NOT been TBC, and if it had been, say, Hotdog that had fallen, I would have known he was dead. But it's tbc, and Starbuck, so I know she's not. And I already know that Adama's forgiven her, thanks to the previews for next week. And I'm not sure how happy I am about that.
So. Yeah. I like this show a little bit.
(Note 1) - No, I'm not 100% percent sure of this - that there was an inspection checklist, that the strap was showing enough wear to catch visually, or even that there was an actual accident report. But, from what I've seen of this universe, it would totally make sense if there were all of those things.
(Note 2) - Part of my appreciation for the show is similar to my love for Farscape - it can and does show the characters (people we love, even though we know they aren't real) doing stupid or counter-productive or harmful things even as both us the viewer and them the character know perfectly well that the character knows better and does that wrong thing anyway - because it made (emotional, character-true) sense at the time. By the time I started watching FS, they were doing this on a regular basis. I'm delighted that BSG is jumping into that so quickly. And I expect that there will be (like there was at least one notable part in FS S3) where the character's (imo incredibly stupid and wrong) actions are NOT *obviously* shown as bad and wrong, or shown so to my satisfaction, and it's going to piss me off.
Also? I love this show so much because losing both FS and FF taught me to love what I got, while I got it. Bastards.
(Note 3) In response to my hissy-fit last week about the mis-use of "hunt god" as a description of Apollo-the-lord-of-Kobal (why yes, every school report I ever had to do on Greek or Roman mythology was on Artemis or Diana (or both) - why do you ask?)
- anyway, several people point out that it's not that huge of a handwave to assume that the cultures, traditions and legends shifted differently between our world and the Colonies. And they're perfectly right.
(This opens up a string of discussion about how "mainstream" culture changes faster than that of "ex-pats", because colonials tend to be want to hold to the old ways, but we don't have any examples of Kobal to use for comparison, so I'm going to leave that alone.)
And if the purpose of the show is to explore other options in human history, other paths we might have gone down, that would be great. That's one of the strengths of SF, to say (whisper it in my ear, Sean) "What if?".
However, I'm thinking that BSG might be closer to the ST mold than some fans would like to think - in addition to the military trappings and the one captain as Master and Commander and the "purpose-drive" life of the characters (vs, say, Farscape, where the characters' only purpose was to run, and they didn't even do that all together, or in a straight line) - in addition to all that, BSG might just turn out to be not about these other people in a spaceship very far away in another century, but be about us, here, now, USA/Western civ, deliberately, in the analogy way that ST would (occasionally) do so well.
Which could be great, if done well, and if not done well - damnit, we already have a mediocre ST sequel, we don't need any more.
Above all else, if I'm right about that, it means that BSG is not going to be in the FS model, and that makes me a little sad.
(Note 4)...hmmm. A thought here - even though we've not seen any ref to any recognizable (non-modern Western) culture other than Greek, can we rule out the possibility that one of the Lords of Kobal is Shiva, or Kali? Just a thought...
(Note 5) - I'm having trouble sorting out in my mind how much "military" ceremony depends on military reg and how much of can operate completely outside those regs. I'd say that a thing doesn't have to be in the regs at all to be military, but I'd say some of the things shown - touching the photo, the landing ceremony - were only military because we saw them done by people who happened to be in uniform. They would be the same ceremony if they were done by, oh, coal miners. The rending of honors to the president, though, *is* military, both because it's in the regs and because it symbolizes the military commander's subordination to the civilian president. (Not always the case, but imo BSG is playing it heavily off the USA model here.)
(Note 6) - The Catholic Act of Contrition (the version I learned) goes like this:
O my God,
I am heartily sorry for
having offended Thee,
and I detest all my sins,
because I dread the loss of heaven,
and the pains of hell;
but most of all because
they offend Thee, my God,
Who are all good and
deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve,
with the help of Thy grace,
to confess my sins,
to do penance,
and to amend my life.
Amen.
Te makes jokes (and she's not the only one) about having Cass and Tim (DC comics Batman) get together because "they honor the great Bat-God with their union". I agree and the notion cracks me up and delights me for the same reasons Kara's worship of Adama does.
...in my brain the connections are very clear. Don't look at me like that, sometimes it is very odd inside my brain.
***
themonkeycabal has done recaps for 33 and for Water and they are hysterical. Go, read. (Icons are NOT completely SPOILER FREE! Proceed at your own risk.)
If you have fic recs that are safe for the unspoiled, please leave them, if you have site recs that divide speculation and images by ep (so I can go look at iconses without spoilage) I'd love to hear about those, too.
Reaction only first, no spoilers. Then, a deeper look.
They said ooo, just wait until the 4th ep, just wait
I said, Yeah, sure, whatever,
They said it's going to blow you away
I said yaaaaawn.
Chalk this one up with my lukewarm response to Mely's rec for The Outlander's Secret.
For the record, it didn't take me until you are the guardians of the fleet before my throat closed up.
*chants to self*
It will lose the shine. They always do. It will lose the shine. The writing will suck. They will cancel it. It will lose the shine. The plots will get stupid. It will lose the shine. They always do. It will lose the shine. The science will drive you insane. It will lose the shine. They always do.
*aww, hellwitit*
Didn't work with all the guys I ever fell in love lust infatuation with, either.
So. I guess I got a new boyfriend show.
*helpless grin*
On the other hand, I get fandoms like Miles Naismith gets women - it's not that I catch so many, it's that the ones I catch, I don't let go.
*happy sigh*
In other news, the Sean Bean skiffy commercials make me very happy, even as I loathe the ground from which the electric cables which power Skiffy's broadcast stations spring.
There will be some musing and some speculation in the following. My musing could be wrong, my observations could be off. This is NOT an invite to jump in and tell me how the following eps will unfold. I do welcome fellow speculators, I do not welcome spoilers. I don't care if it's an explanation for where Jamie got that horrid hair for the Skiffy station ID commericals, Spoil me for *anything* and I swear to God I will jump down the modem and beat you to death with a blunt object.
(A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend.)
There were at least a score of things that grabbed at me, just in the pre-credit tag to this ep. Starbuck's ship coming apart. The technical accuracy of the effects of centrifugal force in an ass-heavy fighter in a terminal spin. Busy busy flight deck with everyone knowing where they're supposed to be. Pilots walking in step while they walked. "The worst CAG in the history of CAGs." Starbuck and Apollo - two rough-housing siblings under papa Adama's fond eye.
Officially, I was hooked when the Chief said "...and nobody tells me? Now we look like idiots!" This world has differences between officers and enlisted, and between pilots and repair crew, but also has greater bonds of unity. And everyone knows how important it is, to keep hold of traditions. To do things the "proper" way.
There is, however, a start contrast between the scattered, somewhat impulsive and regulation-wise optional celebration ceremony that *was* attended to, and the formal safety inspection checklist which *is* required - and it seems, not done. Or pencil-whipped, when done. "Lack of attention to detail" could be put down on the 'cause of accident' report, and perhaps would be more accurate than "metal fatigue". (Note 1)
I'm not sure of Lee's fumbling of the landing celebration is not a sign of the same condition - Galactica was arguably the worst ship to be the shield of the human race, even as she is the last, best hope. Even moreso, her crew. I think it would be reasonable to think that the ship was proportionally understaffed - people transferring out and not being replaced because of the impending decommissioning - and *overstaffed* with those on the verge of departure from service - either from retirement or voluntary separation or *in*voluntary dismissal.
(Looking back at 33 and The First Five Days, I'm scratching my head going - why didn't they set up rotating shifts after the second day? Half the crew up, the other half off, trying to sleep. After all, this is a battleship, and they will be running ops around the clock in wartime. So they should be manned for this. My thought is that they are too short-crewed to support that.)
Certainly the Galactica has her share of highly competent and even brilliant personnel. But this accident, Tigh's comment previously about "letting things slide" (indeed, Tigh and his problems themselves), the breakdown in munitions security, as well as the age of the ship are all indications, I think, that things are going to get worse before they get better.
Any pre-warned official, knowing what was to come, who did not take steps to put the very best of the Fleet's equipment and personnel on Galactica, would have been criminally incompetent. Indeed, knowing this was to come, contingency planning should have taken many steps. And then Galactica would have had a younger Commander, a sober, more personable XO, more armament. Would have weeded out hotshot pilots with a talent for disruptive insubordination, or lack of interpersonal relationship discipline.
This is not the ship, not the crew, any one would have chosen to save the human race.
But this is the ship they've got. These are the people and the equipment they have to fight with. And all the protests of "not the right person for this" and "only our first day" are so much bullshit. Galactica - the whole race, in fact - is faced with a situation where, I think, if one is not the right person for the job, one must become that person, *now* and meanwhile the rest of humanity makes do with the job one *can* perform. Because there are no other choices, save to give up, and die. And they don't look like they're considering option two yet.
I am loving this show so much more than I thought possible. (Note 2)
Anyway. Back to the ep.
You can put me down for loving the sad instrumental music for the intro, and *hating* the clipshow *for the ep about to come on*. Come *on* people, tell the story right.
Also? Don't know where I'd get the title of the eps without the internet. 33 and Water had titles, since then I haven't seen a one.
Love Adama, love EJO's performance. Give me your eyes. I think Adama is...incredibly honest with any of the emotions he shows. I think he stays closed down, very much of the time, but I don't think he's a "player". He is likely angry and pleased more often than he lets on, I think.
I am intrigued by yet another difference between (RL) old Greek practices,(Note 3) and the religion/culture of the Colonies - the priest referenced "lords of Kobal" collectively, not as a 'priest of Zeus' or Apollo.(Note 4) Also, there is reference to an afterlife (a better world), and a heavier call for repenting sins than I'm used to. (Yes, Catholics have a formal sacrament for confessing sins. No, most parishes I've been in don't talk so much about it, nor did any of my elder relations. And they could go on about some other things, given the chance.) I wounder what sorts of ceremonies they have for that, in the Colonies.
In another place of "interesting differences" - the funeral services for Zack showed an eighteen gun salute. (Three volleys of six.) Which I find *very* intriguing. Seven is a number with a lot (not universal, but a lot) of pan-human significance, not just judeo-christian. I wonder if it was actually a 24 gun salute, and we only heard the first three volleys. (Twelve colonies of Kobal, etc.)
The theme of ceremony is repeated throughout the ep - the landing celebration, the funerals, the toast Adama shares with Starbuck. The picture in the ready room all the pilots touch. Starbuck re-naming the nuggets. All of this, I think, on top of the purely military tradition and ceremony - "call the ball".(Note 5)
Add to the repetition of certain phrases and scenes over and over - Starbuck's crash, Starbuck and Zack together - and it approaches the rhythm of a Mass, or a meditative trance.
Except for the parts where the viewer keeps getting thrown out of staring at the blank wall because of the pretty explosions.
Stackhouse is not blowing me away with her acting chops - she is not in the same class as Claudia Black or Mary McDonald. However, throughout this ep I was watching Starbuck - or Kara Thrace - and not KS at all. So she done good, this go round.
When we got to the funeral, I thought the plane in the spin was Starbuck dreaming/obsessing over with Zack. Love the ship falling apart - so much of a reminder of the opening part of Pitch Black. The use of light and color throughout the ep - wwoooo. These guys are good. CGI is very shiny.
The card playing scene was well done, I think, for relaying info on many levels in a way that didn't seem too heavy on exposition.
As for the Caprica scenes - at this point Helo the scenes are distracting me from the main story line. And there was book abuse! So I don't like them. Even when I watch them again, because Helo is so pretty. And even then Six is delightfully creepy.
Mary McDonnel rawks. "Please close that curtain" and how Roslin points. The ship doc just cracked me up. Yes, a McCoy stereotype. But far more well rounded than I thought. He agreed to try the "alternate therapy" easily enough...You know what would be cool? I'll tell you what would be cool. What would be cool is if they found some of this extract and tried the crap and it didn't work. Only because I am so very weary of science being treated like it typically fails to find solutions.
(Roslin had a family history of breast cancer and failed to get regular check ups? God, I love how *everyone* on this ship has these frelling big marks against them in the brains/judgment department.)
Completely OT, but off Starbuck's description of the Mark II - They have jackrabbits on the Colonies? Huh. Maybe they have cows, too. Maybe they have cows in the fleet! Ahem. Moving on.
Watching Adama and Apollo in Adama's quarters - my god, the wounds these two deal each other. Just being around each other makes them bleed. And they keep going - you can see the cuts open up, but they keep on moving. We know each other very well - Adama's only partly blind. But it's a willful blindness. And I think he knows how his closeness to Thrace hurts Lee. And Lee's not without his own weapons - "Dad" is not a word Adama has any defense against. I think he's armorless against his children.
I wonder, was he always like that, or is it something that grew out of Zack's death? It would make sense for Apollo's anger to be directed against someone other than the man Starbuck knew - that Zack's death brought Adama to a realization of how much he had lost. But Apollo was too wounded himself - and locked into the pattern of dealing with the old Adama - that he can't make that mental shift to understand Adama has changed. (Assuming he did.)
Apollo's retreat in the face of realizing Adama doesn't know about Starbuck's culpability in Zack's death - he won't deliver that message for maybe two reasons - he doesn't want to face Adama's anger over this, any more than Thrace, *and* he doesn't want to be the one that damages Starbuck in Adama's eyes. He does care for them both, I think.
I think Starbuck knows how vulnerable Adama is, and I wonder how much of her reluctance to come clean is based on this. Id like to say a lot of it is - how much the words your son didn't have the chops to be a fighter pilot, and her own failure of duty were going to hurt Adama. (Note 6) But I don't think that fear weighed near as heavy on her as did the foreknowledge of walk out of this cabin while you still can. It was warm there, under his arm, subject to his protection, pride, and love. She wasn't out there alone. And now things are never going to be the same.
And damn, but she knows it. And throws herself back into the job. Goes to the nuggets, herself. Tells them they get a second chance. And then wholeheartedly goes to work. (I don't think the line about "pounding divots out of the deck" was going too far, myself. Sliding aircraft scare the beejeebers out of me. But (I am told) learning how to land on a carrier deck is the hardest part of navy flight training (there are entire services of fighter jocks who never have to master this skill) so I do think Starbuck was going over board in testing them on that, first. Even though it's a skill they're going to have to get a grip on immediately, due to the actual physical situation.)
And as soon as Adama walks back out to the CIC, both Tigh and Apollo know it, too. Tigh even tries to compensate, talking up Starbuck's performance for Adama's ears, trying to get Adama to ease up. (That's the problem of having open door conferences - the whole ship might not know the exact details of the conversation, but tone carries miles further than actual words.) Apollo - I'm not sure if his silence is entirely because the subject is so painful, personal, and not something handled well in public, or if there is not a little bit of will he love me now, then, instead. (hmm. That's putting it a bit baldly and more base than it sounded in my head.) Thinking it over, I don't think Apollo has gotten to that point - assuming he ever would.
There were a number of things about the actual Cylon fighter attack that I want to address later - starting with the "they could have launched a squadron, why only two T-fighters" notion and going on to the accelerations required to move past a planetary body that fast (they have *got* to have anti-grav in those fighters - it just doesn't make sense otherwise) and Starbuck's crazy, comeandgetme, motherfucker grin as she dives back into the fight. And oh, yeah, all the lines stolen used without permission from Top Gun. (Except the ones they stole from Farscape.) But it was great. And I did NOT know it was to be continued, which I was very glad of, except that if it had NOT been TBC, and if it had been, say, Hotdog that had fallen, I would have known he was dead. But it's tbc, and Starbuck, so I know she's not. And I already know that Adama's forgiven her, thanks to the previews for next week. And I'm not sure how happy I am about that.
So. Yeah. I like this show a little bit.
(Note 1) - No, I'm not 100% percent sure of this - that there was an inspection checklist, that the strap was showing enough wear to catch visually, or even that there was an actual accident report. But, from what I've seen of this universe, it would totally make sense if there were all of those things.
(Note 2) - Part of my appreciation for the show is similar to my love for Farscape - it can and does show the characters (people we love, even though we know they aren't real) doing stupid or counter-productive or harmful things even as both us the viewer and them the character know perfectly well that the character knows better and does that wrong thing anyway - because it made (emotional, character-true) sense at the time. By the time I started watching FS, they were doing this on a regular basis. I'm delighted that BSG is jumping into that so quickly. And I expect that there will be (like there was at least one notable part in FS S3) where the character's (imo incredibly stupid and wrong) actions are NOT *obviously* shown as bad and wrong, or shown so to my satisfaction, and it's going to piss me off.
Also? I love this show so much because losing both FS and FF taught me to love what I got, while I got it. Bastards.
(Note 3) In response to my hissy-fit last week about the mis-use of "hunt god" as a description of Apollo-the-lord-of-Kobal (why yes, every school report I ever had to do on Greek or Roman mythology was on Artemis or Diana (or both) - why do you ask?)
- anyway, several people point out that it's not that huge of a handwave to assume that the cultures, traditions and legends shifted differently between our world and the Colonies. And they're perfectly right.
(This opens up a string of discussion about how "mainstream" culture changes faster than that of "ex-pats", because colonials tend to be want to hold to the old ways, but we don't have any examples of Kobal to use for comparison, so I'm going to leave that alone.)
And if the purpose of the show is to explore other options in human history, other paths we might have gone down, that would be great. That's one of the strengths of SF, to say (whisper it in my ear, Sean) "What if?".
However, I'm thinking that BSG might be closer to the ST mold than some fans would like to think - in addition to the military trappings and the one captain as Master and Commander and the "purpose-drive" life of the characters (vs, say, Farscape, where the characters' only purpose was to run, and they didn't even do that all together, or in a straight line) - in addition to all that, BSG might just turn out to be not about these other people in a spaceship very far away in another century, but be about us, here, now, USA/Western civ, deliberately, in the analogy way that ST would (occasionally) do so well.
Which could be great, if done well, and if not done well - damnit, we already have a mediocre ST sequel, we don't need any more.
Above all else, if I'm right about that, it means that BSG is not going to be in the FS model, and that makes me a little sad.
(Note 4)...hmmm. A thought here - even though we've not seen any ref to any recognizable (non-modern Western) culture other than Greek, can we rule out the possibility that one of the Lords of Kobal is Shiva, or Kali? Just a thought...
(Note 5) - I'm having trouble sorting out in my mind how much "military" ceremony depends on military reg and how much of can operate completely outside those regs. I'd say that a thing doesn't have to be in the regs at all to be military, but I'd say some of the things shown - touching the photo, the landing ceremony - were only military because we saw them done by people who happened to be in uniform. They would be the same ceremony if they were done by, oh, coal miners. The rending of honors to the president, though, *is* military, both because it's in the regs and because it symbolizes the military commander's subordination to the civilian president. (Not always the case, but imo BSG is playing it heavily off the USA model here.)
(Note 6) - The Catholic Act of Contrition (the version I learned) goes like this:
O my God,
I am heartily sorry for
having offended Thee,
and I detest all my sins,
because I dread the loss of heaven,
and the pains of hell;
but most of all because
they offend Thee, my God,
Who are all good and
deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve,
with the help of Thy grace,
to confess my sins,
to do penance,
and to amend my life.
Amen.
Te makes jokes (and she's not the only one) about having Cass and Tim (DC comics Batman) get together because "they honor the great Bat-God with their union". I agree and the notion cracks me up and delights me for the same reasons Kara's worship of Adama does.
...in my brain the connections are very clear. Don't look at me like that, sometimes it is very odd inside my brain.
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themonkeycabal has done recaps for 33 and for Water and they are hysterical. Go, read. (Icons are NOT completely SPOILER FREE! Proceed at your own risk.)
If you have fic recs that are safe for the unspoiled, please leave them, if you have site recs that divide speculation and images by ep (so I can go look at iconses without spoilage) I'd love to hear about those, too.