Flipping gender or point of views; multifandom musings (including BSG, Star Wars, DS9 and Carnivale)

[selenak]

Firstly, American readers, if the ramblings on these humble pages or anything else has made you interested into the new Battlestar Galactica, the Sci-Fi Channel is running a marathon on Tuesday of the first five episodes starting at 7 p.m. EST, so you should have a chance to catch up. A fan of the old show - proving that loving both is far from

Comments

[buffyannotater]

seems to indicate the key might be that Sofie does not believe herself to be doomed, as opposed to Justin who does.

That's an aspect I've found very interesting about the show: both the "hero" and the "villain" both believe themselves to be doomed, or inherently wicked in some way, even though they were both raised in diametrically opposed situations--the hero was raised by his mother to believe he came from the Devil, and the villain was raised by a priest to believe he was a child of God.

As S2 progresses, I'm thinking more and more that Sofie will play a huge role in the upcoming battle (maybe Ben and her are brother and sister), and Ruthie, as well, in some capacity, who had an affair with Scudder. What I find really fascinating is that it is so hard to tell whose side the previous generation is on. Is Management "good" and Scudder "evil," or is Management manipulating Ben to bring a "good" man to him that he will destroy? Or is Management still "good" but a greyer shade who believes the ends justify any means? Was Management working with Lodz, or was he just using hiim? And where does Apollonia fit into all of this? At the present, it's almost impossible to definitely answer these questions, which makes it even more interesting.

And a bit random, but I love everything you've been saying about Stumpy, Rita Sue, and Libby. I love their entire family dynamic. It's so fascinating to watch.

[smashsc]

I think Sofie's role will be key too. My thought is that she'll be key in continuing the battle beyond Justin & Ben. I know [info]karbonkid has some interesting theories about Sofie, I'll have to find where he spelled those out agin.

The 2.04 knowledge (which selenak doesn't have quite yet) about Scudder/Ben's family really raises flags to me about who was good and who was evil in the previous generation. Esp when compared with the Russian's past. More and more it seems to me that it doesn't matter who is good and who is evil. That is, what matters is that the two fight. Both Justin & Ben seem to have more potiental for good/bad than their fathers. The fight keeps escalating and that is the driving force. Management wants the battle to continue. And maybe Apollonia didn't which is why she tried to kill Sofie. Both sides are doomed to continue the fight no matter which side they fall on.

[selenak]

The 2.04 knowledge about Scudder/Ben's family really raises flags to me about who was good and who was evil in the previous generation.

Just saw the episode. Yes, the Klan connection and the fact Grandma Scudder killed everyone upon Henry's birth definitely does not sound like a family of metaphorical white knights, even if we didn't know about Scudder's own more questionable deeds (i.e. Babylon, and possibly raping Apollonia).

Management wants the battle to continue. And maybe Apollonia didn't which is why she tried to kill Sofie. Both sides are doomed to continue the fight no matter which side they fall on.

Now that is a fascinating interpretation, and I love it. It would also explain why Apollonia tried to kill Sofie now, as opposed to the many times she could have done so previously. (I mean, the woman was great with telekinesis. Sofie could have gotten her neck twisted at any point.) What was different about the present time was that now Ben was there, and had made contact with Management, meaning the next step on the fight was to begin. Yes - I like it!

[buffyannotater]

Another point I just remembered is that, when Sophie gets food poisoning from the burrito, she also had an "every prophet in his her house" dream, too.

[selenak]

True! She's definitely a player. However, as Apollonia is dead now and Lodz, whom she told, as well, nobody knows. Unless Ruthie is able to communicate with the dead as well as seeing them...

[kernezelda]

Just finished watching 2.5 - I want to talk about Sofie and Ben and Ruthie, dreams and visions and blood.

Gah, I haven't nearly the analytical bent that you do, but oh, do I want to talk.

[selenak]

I've just watched it as well. Am working on an lj entry, somewhat revised from what I wanted to write about 2.03 and 2.04 because of my complaints has been somewhat adressed. Also? Excellent episode.

[selenak]

As S2 progresses, I'm thinking more and more that Sofie will play a huge role in the upcoming battle (maybe Ben and her are brother and sister), and Ruthie, as well, in some capacity, who had an affair with Scudder.

And who now sees dead people, thanks to Ben resurrecting her. I wonder if she can communicate with them? Sofie's storyline is intriguing, and I find what happened to Ruthie captivating. Otoh, I do have some issues with a lack of subtlety in the depiction of several aspects of the show this season (the Scudder clan and Justin, alas, come to mind), but I'll expand on this in the next entry. (Have just watched eps 3 and 4.)

Was Management working with Lodz, or was he just using him?

Definitely just using him. Which doesn't tell us about Management being good, evil or shades of grey, but I think Lodz was always a means to an end and to be disposed of as soon as Management had direct access to Ben and didn't need him anymore.

[buffyannotater]

Otoh, I do have some issues with a lack of subtlety in the depiction of several aspects of the show this season (the Scudder clan and Justin, alas, come to mind), but I'll expand on this in the next entry. (Have just watched eps 3 and 4.)

I see what you mean re: lack of subtlety, although I am liking this season a great deal, maybe more than the first so far, because the more prominent tone of the bizarre in this season really ratchets up the tension, as the meeting between Ben and Justin grows closer. It feels like things are coming to a head.

[selenak]

Yes, but see, this season, they don't leave us in doubt how this meeting is going to end. As Justin is now completely evil (tm) and set on his course, and as he got a vision of Ben trying to kill him, he will attempt to kill Ben first, thereby relieving Ben of the responsibility of being the one to start with the fighting. Ben then can kill him without having ambiguous feelings about it, especially since by then he'll undoubtedly be informed not just of Justin's body count (after all, he has killed as well) but of Justin raping serving girls and the like.

Now if they had met last season? Complete unpredictability. Both not sure about their roles, both struggling to understand, both morally ambiguous. Alas.

Now I do understand the loss of subtlety comes with the approach of the grand good vs evil battle, but as I said to smashcj, I guess Babylon 5 has spoiled me once and for all in this regard. They kept their morally ambiguous characters morally ambiguous even during the grand battle scenarios, and took them unpredictable ways in the end.