BSG: Dirty Hands
I was tempted not to review this episode, because there were some concepts addressed that I'm not sure I'm eloquent enough to discuss, even if I had thoroughly contemplated them, which I haven't. Still, I'll give it a go, and maybe the discussion will get me a little closer.
This episode brings me right back to the very first night of the miniseries. Adama asks:The cost of wearing the uniform can be high, but -- Sometimes it's too high. You know, when we fought the Cylons, we did it to save ourselves from extinction. But we never answered the question, why? Why are we as a people worth saving?
Is a society who resorts to child slave labor to win a war worth saving? For me, that's the real issue that this show addresses. Unfortunately, I feel like they intended to address something else. (The podcast isn't out yet, so I can't be sure.)
I was also left wondering if Adama was really willing to start executing people, and if so, how many? He said ten. What if the strike continued. Would he kill twenty? A hundred? At some point, it would stop mattering.
I got that the Admiral would want/need to address the "strike" by military personnel differently from a strike by civilians. However, I did not understand the leap made by Roslin. When Xeno Fenner wanted to talk about the horrid working conditions, she was all, "Off with his head!" but she encouraged Tyrol to become the union leader, so she could talk about the horrid working conditions with him. WTF? Is she really letting her personal feelings toward Baltar affect her so greatly that she'll jail someone simply for mentioning him? I can't help but think that the whole situation could have been avoided had she, at the beginning, said, "Gee, this is an important issue. I'd like to bring Tyrol in to act as an intermediary." That makes the episode seem rather pointless.
We're getting to a point where Baltar seems "righter" than Roslin, and that's a scary thought. We've seen her compromise in the past, because drastic times call for drastic actions. This doesn't feel like compromise to me. It feels like going over to the "dark side." I'm wondering if this is a story arc that we're going to see addressed. Is Roslin going to become the new human bad guy? Are we going to see her come back around? Is this truly a character development, or is it just weird writing?
This episode brings me right back to the very first night of the miniseries. Adama asks:The cost of wearing the uniform can be high, but -- Sometimes it's too high. You know, when we fought the Cylons, we did it to save ourselves from extinction. But we never answered the question, why? Why are we as a people worth saving?
Is a society who resorts to child slave labor to win a war worth saving? For me, that's the real issue that this show addresses. Unfortunately, I feel like they intended to address something else. (The podcast isn't out yet, so I can't be sure.)
I was also left wondering if Adama was really willing to start executing people, and if so, how many? He said ten. What if the strike continued. Would he kill twenty? A hundred? At some point, it would stop mattering.
I got that the Admiral would want/need to address the "strike" by military personnel differently from a strike by civilians. However, I did not understand the leap made by Roslin. When Xeno Fenner wanted to talk about the horrid working conditions, she was all, "Off with his head!" but she encouraged Tyrol to become the union leader, so she could talk about the horrid working conditions with him. WTF? Is she really letting her personal feelings toward Baltar affect her so greatly that she'll jail someone simply for mentioning him? I can't help but think that the whole situation could have been avoided had she, at the beginning, said, "Gee, this is an important issue. I'd like to bring Tyrol in to act as an intermediary." That makes the episode seem rather pointless.
We're getting to a point where Baltar seems "righter" than Roslin, and that's a scary thought. We've seen her compromise in the past, because drastic times call for drastic actions. This doesn't feel like compromise to me. It feels like going over to the "dark side." I'm wondering if this is a story arc that we're going to see addressed. Is Roslin going to become the new human bad guy? Are we going to see her come back around? Is this truly a character development, or is it just weird writing?