Dee and the Admiral
I've been re-watching Season 3 of BSG, and one of the cut scenes for "Rapture" struck me as particularly interesting. It's an extended version of the scene where Dee is trying to rescue the morph-addled Starbuck, and Starbuck says, "I love Sam, I hate Sam. I love Lee, I hate Lee. I have to cheat just to keep the pieces all nice and neat." In the aired version, Dee slaps Starbuck and says to stay with her because she needs to help her rewire the avionics system.
In the longer, cut version, she continues with a speech which I'll transcribe as well as my memory allows: "Starbuck, this isn't because you're frakked up because of what Leoben did to you on New Caprica, or because you had a tough childhood. You know how I know? Because the Admiral loves you. That means you're not just a frak-up who can't keep her pants on. If you're frakking around with my husband, it's because you chose to."
Please note that Dee's most awesome, insightful, assertive speech in the entire season got cut. Talk about getting the short end of the Quadrangle stick.
But I also find it interesting that Dee knows Starbuck is responsible for her actions not because of her beliefs, or because of her observation of Starbuck's behavior, but because Admiral Adama loves Starbuck. We know Dee doesn't think the Admiral is always right - she's the one who straightened him out over splitting the fleet - so what's this about?
We know that Dee loves Admiral Adama. She tells Lee that one of the reasons she married him is that he's so much like his father. We also know that the last time she spoke to her father, they argued about her joining the military. So we can guess that maybe Dee, like just about everyone else on Galactica, is looking for a daddy who loves her. And since Adama thinks of the crew as his family... well, there's a reason fandom has nicknamed him Papadama. He fits the bill. And he does approve of Dee - he chose her out of everyone to be with him when he was struggling with the fleet break-up in Season 2, so he must have a high opinion of her.
But. He hasn't ever said she's like a daughter to him, has he? That's Starbuck (and Kat). Dee knows that Adama and Lee would risk the entire fleet to rescue Starbuck - they've done it - and that if he were here, Adama would have backed Lee up in ordering her to go risk her life for Starbuck. Here Dee is, Adama's real daughter-in-law, who is not a frak-up and who has always been there for the Adama boys, even when Adama was angry enough to split the fleet (or had a skeevy pornstache) and Lee was mopey and fat - and what thanks does she get? They still love Starbuck more and consider Dee expendable. Dee's still not part of the family. And Dee knows it.
In the longer, cut version, she continues with a speech which I'll transcribe as well as my memory allows: "Starbuck, this isn't because you're frakked up because of what Leoben did to you on New Caprica, or because you had a tough childhood. You know how I know? Because the Admiral loves you. That means you're not just a frak-up who can't keep her pants on. If you're frakking around with my husband, it's because you chose to."
Please note that Dee's most awesome, insightful, assertive speech in the entire season got cut. Talk about getting the short end of the Quadrangle stick.
But I also find it interesting that Dee knows Starbuck is responsible for her actions not because of her beliefs, or because of her observation of Starbuck's behavior, but because Admiral Adama loves Starbuck. We know Dee doesn't think the Admiral is always right - she's the one who straightened him out over splitting the fleet - so what's this about?
We know that Dee loves Admiral Adama. She tells Lee that one of the reasons she married him is that he's so much like his father. We also know that the last time she spoke to her father, they argued about her joining the military. So we can guess that maybe Dee, like just about everyone else on Galactica, is looking for a daddy who loves her. And since Adama thinks of the crew as his family... well, there's a reason fandom has nicknamed him Papadama. He fits the bill. And he does approve of Dee - he chose her out of everyone to be with him when he was struggling with the fleet break-up in Season 2, so he must have a high opinion of her.
But. He hasn't ever said she's like a daughter to him, has he? That's Starbuck (and Kat). Dee knows that Adama and Lee would risk the entire fleet to rescue Starbuck - they've done it - and that if he were here, Adama would have backed Lee up in ordering her to go risk her life for Starbuck. Here Dee is, Adama's real daughter-in-law, who is not a frak-up and who has always been there for the Adama boys, even when Adama was angry enough to split the fleet (or had a skeevy pornstache) and Lee was mopey and fat - and what thanks does she get? They still love Starbuck more and consider Dee expendable. Dee's still not part of the family. And Dee knows it.