like tiny failed planets fallen from the sky
Let's talk X5-494*.
After the escape in '09, the clones of the escapees were sent to Psy-Ops to make sure they weren't also flight risks. Sam says 6 months in "She Ain't Heavy," doesn't she? (also, I know any weird things should just be attributed to bad writing on this show, but wouldn't she have recognized Alec? Also, wouldn't Zach have mistaken him for Ben in "Some Assembly Required?" I haven't rewatched season 1 except for "Pollo Loco," but hasn't Zach been in touch with Ben? Isn't he aware that Ben's gone off the rails?)
Two year prior to the events of season 2, 494 is sent out on his first deep cover mission, and he fails to complete his mission, and spends another 6 months in Psy-Ops being broken down and reindoctrinated. Fannish theories abound that this is where Alec's wheeler-dealer, care-for-nobody, happy-go-lucky sociopath personality is formed, that prior to Berrisford, he was a true blue soldier (which we see in that episode), and after his stint in Psy-Ops, he was able to give them what they wanted to hear, but was already working the system to his advantage (as we later see in the beginning of "Designate This," where he's trading vitamins for cash and bringing back cigars for the guards, also, presumably for cash, but possibly also for favors). (They talk about this in the commentary on the episode, that originally, Robert Berrisford was supposed to have been that kind of personality, and that 494 adapted it for himself, but then they didn't go that route with the Berrisford character.)
Then, towards the end of season 1 (I really should look up the dates, is this 2019?), Ben's killings escalate to the point that both Manticore and Eyes Only get wind of them, and he comes to Seattle (does he know Max is there? is he luring her out? Or is it just coincidence?), and Max kills him so he doesn't have to go back to Manticore. Manticore recovers the body, and are worried about the psychosis, so 494, his clone, gets hauled into Psy-Ops yet again. How long is he there this time? (and I really would have liked more in "Fuhgeddaboutit" about him and Mia and more acknowledgment of how Mia was really creepy.)
Max has been missing for three months when she returns to Jam Pony in "Bag 'Em;" how much time passes between "Pollo Loco" and "And Jesus Brought a Casserole?" Because Alec has clearly had time to be back in the swing of things, per his trading with the guards etc. But it seems unlikely to me that he'd be sent on other deep cover missions in that timeframe - they're time-consuming and even with all the mental prodding and poking, Renfro et al. still had to be concerned that he would crack or go rogue, given what happened on the Berrisford mission.
Also, it seems likely that Renfro chose him as Max's breeding partner because he's Ben's clone and she knew Max would react to that (and possibly be slightly warmer towards him because of it), rather than (or possibly in addition to) any genetic compatibility (though given that they were breeding for soldiers, it makes sense that they'd want genetic compatibility; of course, you can't think too hard about the breeding program because it makes absolutely no sense *hands*). It also seems likely that she chose him because she knew he would be resentful of the punishment he received because of Ben, and thus, he would be less likely to be swayed by any arguments Max could make. I'm also going on the theory that he was told not to force the breeding partner issue to get her to trust him (I'm also, for the sake of my own peace of mind, going with the idea that he wouldn't have forced her anyway), but he had to lie in public because otherwise the game would be up. (as an aside, I am always amused that it's Grace Park whose partner couldn't achieve mission parameters - spotting all the BSG actors as babyfaces on Dark Angel amuses me tremendously.)
I mean, okay, I'm totally gonna cop to the fact that I love the idea that it's Alec's proximity that makes the runes appear, that he's tangled up in Max's stupid destiny thing, but it makes no sense because there's no way for anyone to know when doing the genetic programming that he's going to be alive and available and in the vicinity.
I think part of my problem is that they're so young. Max is, what? 19? 20? so Alec is maybe a year older, if that? So he's 18 or 19 when Berrisford happens? And then he loses 6+ months to Psy-Ops in the two years between that and the narrative present of that episode. yet he also had time to be in Kazakhstan with Biggs, most likely with his post-Berrisford new personality (see: Lola) and do whatever other things required of him by Manticore in those 15-18 months.
This post is brought to you by the story I want to write, if I can just make the timelines work out in my head. *snerk*
*and yes, I did that on purpose, because it's his life pre-naming that I'm interested in atm.
***
today's poem:
Theory of Lost Things
Because loneliness and beauty are inseparable, one is often
mistaken for the other. As when it becomes difficult to eat
because the tears won't stop coming though you're hungry
and the food, undoubtedly, delicious: the peas, tomatoes,
pink slice of lamb and small round dollop of white beans.
Beauty and loneliness are there in the girl you remember
seated on a bench beside the river waiting for the boy
who will kiss you as he pushes his ice-cream into your face.
They are the chainsaws scattered like orange poker chips
while the work crew takes their break beneath the last cedar,
huddled and begging its shade. Think of your recurring dream
where the bodies of the newly dead turn to diamonds
spread across the ground like tiny failed planets fallen
from the sky and then try to tell me what I say isn't true.
~Keetje Kuipers
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/160724.html.
people have commented there.
After the escape in '09, the clones of the escapees were sent to Psy-Ops to make sure they weren't also flight risks. Sam says 6 months in "She Ain't Heavy," doesn't she? (also, I know any weird things should just be attributed to bad writing on this show, but wouldn't she have recognized Alec? Also, wouldn't Zach have mistaken him for Ben in "Some Assembly Required?" I haven't rewatched season 1 except for "Pollo Loco," but hasn't Zach been in touch with Ben? Isn't he aware that Ben's gone off the rails?)
Two year prior to the events of season 2, 494 is sent out on his first deep cover mission, and he fails to complete his mission, and spends another 6 months in Psy-Ops being broken down and reindoctrinated. Fannish theories abound that this is where Alec's wheeler-dealer, care-for-nobody, happy-go-lucky sociopath personality is formed, that prior to Berrisford, he was a true blue soldier (which we see in that episode), and after his stint in Psy-Ops, he was able to give them what they wanted to hear, but was already working the system to his advantage (as we later see in the beginning of "Designate This," where he's trading vitamins for cash and bringing back cigars for the guards, also, presumably for cash, but possibly also for favors). (They talk about this in the commentary on the episode, that originally, Robert Berrisford was supposed to have been that kind of personality, and that 494 adapted it for himself, but then they didn't go that route with the Berrisford character.)
Then, towards the end of season 1 (I really should look up the dates, is this 2019?), Ben's killings escalate to the point that both Manticore and Eyes Only get wind of them, and he comes to Seattle (does he know Max is there? is he luring her out? Or is it just coincidence?), and Max kills him so he doesn't have to go back to Manticore. Manticore recovers the body, and are worried about the psychosis, so 494, his clone, gets hauled into Psy-Ops yet again. How long is he there this time? (and I really would have liked more in "Fuhgeddaboutit" about him and Mia and more acknowledgment of how Mia was really creepy.)
Max has been missing for three months when she returns to Jam Pony in "Bag 'Em;" how much time passes between "Pollo Loco" and "And Jesus Brought a Casserole?" Because Alec has clearly had time to be back in the swing of things, per his trading with the guards etc. But it seems unlikely to me that he'd be sent on other deep cover missions in that timeframe - they're time-consuming and even with all the mental prodding and poking, Renfro et al. still had to be concerned that he would crack or go rogue, given what happened on the Berrisford mission.
Also, it seems likely that Renfro chose him as Max's breeding partner because he's Ben's clone and she knew Max would react to that (and possibly be slightly warmer towards him because of it), rather than (or possibly in addition to) any genetic compatibility (though given that they were breeding for soldiers, it makes sense that they'd want genetic compatibility; of course, you can't think too hard about the breeding program because it makes absolutely no sense *hands*). It also seems likely that she chose him because she knew he would be resentful of the punishment he received because of Ben, and thus, he would be less likely to be swayed by any arguments Max could make. I'm also going on the theory that he was told not to force the breeding partner issue to get her to trust him (I'm also, for the sake of my own peace of mind, going with the idea that he wouldn't have forced her anyway), but he had to lie in public because otherwise the game would be up. (as an aside, I am always amused that it's Grace Park whose partner couldn't achieve mission parameters - spotting all the BSG actors as babyfaces on Dark Angel amuses me tremendously.)
I mean, okay, I'm totally gonna cop to the fact that I love the idea that it's Alec's proximity that makes the runes appear, that he's tangled up in Max's stupid destiny thing, but it makes no sense because there's no way for anyone to know when doing the genetic programming that he's going to be alive and available and in the vicinity.
I think part of my problem is that they're so young. Max is, what? 19? 20? so Alec is maybe a year older, if that? So he's 18 or 19 when Berrisford happens? And then he loses 6+ months to Psy-Ops in the two years between that and the narrative present of that episode. yet he also had time to be in Kazakhstan with Biggs, most likely with his post-Berrisford new personality (see: Lola) and do whatever other things required of him by Manticore in those 15-18 months.
This post is brought to you by the story I want to write, if I can just make the timelines work out in my head. *snerk*
*and yes, I did that on purpose, because it's his life pre-naming that I'm interested in atm.
***
today's poem:
Theory of Lost Things
Because loneliness and beauty are inseparable, one is often
mistaken for the other. As when it becomes difficult to eat
because the tears won't stop coming though you're hungry
and the food, undoubtedly, delicious: the peas, tomatoes,
pink slice of lamb and small round dollop of white beans.
Beauty and loneliness are there in the girl you remember
seated on a bench beside the river waiting for the boy
who will kiss you as he pushes his ice-cream into your face.
They are the chainsaws scattered like orange poker chips
while the work crew takes their break beneath the last cedar,
huddled and begging its shade. Think of your recurring dream
where the bodies of the newly dead turn to diamonds
spread across the ground like tiny failed planets fallen
from the sky and then try to tell me what I say isn't true.
~Keetje Kuipers
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/160724.html.
people have commented there.