TV watched during the week

Oct 03, 2020 08:34

BSG 1.5 Bastille Day

So, after the broad, set-up ‘previously’ and the more episode-speciifc one, we get a flashforward to flashpoints in this ep.

This episode was more about Lee as the battleground for various sides (my response to the continual question of ‘who’s side are you on?’ was ‘can’t it be humanity right now? Oh, apparently not.’ The prison ship came into play as they now faced the job of extracting the water that they need to survive (it is marvellous to watch a show that deals with this sort of stuff, instead of handwaving ‘and now they have water’). Military vs civilian clashes between Adama and Roslin, partly over his lead pilot/son being her adviser, but also how to treat the prisoners. Lee came up with a neat plan, which of course hit the bumpers when implemented, with a terrorist/freedom fighter (oh noes, he made the potential babymaking couple quarrel on this point). I thought he was a narcissist who failed to grasp that the prisoners were a diverse bunch, certainly not all likely to have been jailed for the same reason or to have responded to incarceration in the same way, and lo and behold, one of his lieutenants was creepy over a girl.

Who bit him in the ear, but got shot. I LIKE YOUR SPIRIT, KALLIE.

Meanwhile the Galactica’s marines and Kara came to rescue the hostages, but again, Lee was clever (also VERY interesting stuff about his callsign and how it tied into religion, not just the father/son dynamics) and right about the election and the rule of law, which both Adama and Roslin had to concede. The stuff about having read the book and questioning some things was also promising, (though in the moment loudly proclaimed his privilege) but the final scene with Roslin was absolutely fascinating.

My hackles always raised when Adama dismissed Roslin as ‘the schoolteacher’ but here she proved she was a politician to her fingertips. But also a human one. Maybe in part she told Lee because she needed someone else to know (and he is pretty and smart), but it was on some level to get him on side even more (because it clearly gets under Adama’s skin,and is another means of getting military support). Maybe there’s a touch of grooming him for a political role because she can work with him and Billy is still quite young. Has she even appointed ministers already? I mean my first esponse to the demand for an election was ‘Right this second, SRSLY?’

Anyhow, otherwise, there was some development of nearly everything else, most interestingly Kara stepping in for her absent CAG in her own style - loved her having taken on the kid - observed by Tighe and the continual tension of styles and knowledge of each other’s weaknesses between them. He also told Sharon that Everyone Knows About Her and the Chief. (Though based on what Tighe knows, shouldn’t ‘fine, make babies’ override military discipline? Or is that jst Adama?) On Caprica, Fake!Sharon (and that nickname makes me think about how the two Cylons adopting the same identity, one of them not knowing it, are going to come out of this journey wrt identity and their relationships) wandered around making Tyrrel feel like the experienced, protective male.

But I was glad we didn’t linger on the rats.

Six shouted at Baltar - does she really want him to detect Cylons on board the fleet, though? What is her endgame? Where do her loyalties lie (if she isn’t a projection of his subconscious), while he gave Adama reason to think he was mentally unstable.

Apart from the value of water, there were references to the period of sleep depravation also. So, it continues to developintriguingly…

Ghosts 2.2. About Last Night

A bit more ambitious structurally, opening with a flashback to how the plague got to the village (I am fighting the urge to repeat the snarky 2020 coments that came to mind, because not helpful), which the victims only found out in this episode, meaning the downstairs hosts came upstairs and there was interaction, with Julian enjoying holding an inquiry, not causing one. Alison and Mike woke up hungover, needing to tidy Button House up in a few hours to sell it as a wedding venue and gradually piecing together what had happened.

Considering it all ended on gross-out comedy (by thies show’s standards), it was funny, especially the awkwardness after their version of flirting between Robin and Mary (did not see that coming) and actually Pat and the Captain falling out. Meanwhile everyone does seem to have a soft spot for Fanny, even though she’s awful. But there was time for attention to Alison’s relationship with Kitty and Thomas.

And how long is Humphrey’s head going to be on the roof?

This entry was originally posted at https://shallowness.dreamwidth.org/440544.html.

uk, battlestar galactica, ghosts, tv in 2020, tv pre-2020

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