BSG 3.15 - "A Day in the Life"
At least tonight I don't have to worry about going to bed early. Yay! Time for some BSG chatter.
First of all: more Kara, please? *sigh*
This is another episode which becomes more interesting to me when viewed within the context of spoilers. I first read the Caroline Adama casting sides a couple of weeks before the S3 premiere. The director really chopped Caroline's role to pieces, and though I generally liked the episode we got, I think the final version really changes the way we're meant to view her. She's not quite so harsh or bitchy in the original draft, and we get more of a sense that they loved each other at one point. We also learn some key info:
-- Shotgun wedding, ahoy. Lee was born five months after the wedding. We also saw a few more hints of Lee and Zak's childhoods.
-- The decision to divorce came when Bill missed their 10th anniversary party because he'd been called away to deal with riots on Aerilon.
-- His choice to stay with the military (he'd just been given his first Command) came as a surprise to Caroline, who only found out thanks to a drunken phone call from Tigh.
-- The negative vibe between them is more equal: yes, she's harsh and mood-swingy, but Bill was absent too often and put the military ahead of his family. In the episode itself, Bill comes across as much more of a victim.
If you'd like to read the sides, I've uploaded them here: www.sendspace.com/file/82lkgo
I really do wish we'd seen more of this, because it would've made the episode feel more rounded and complicated. Instead of them *both* having serious issues that even they acknowledge, the aired version had Bill appearing as more of a victim of a shrewish, unpredictable wife. It does lend an uncomfortably Oedipal subtext to Lee's relationship with Kara, who bears a slight resemblance to his mother in both appearance and behavior, though I like to think that Kara's not *that* bad, even at her worst. At least her losses of control tend to be directed inward, whereas Lee lashes out at those who love him. Hmm. I just wish we weren't getting yet another Abusive Mother storyline -- it definitely fits Kara, and I suppose it also fits Lee in a very different way. While I'm glad that the writers have contradicted the fanon view of Caroline as the perfect, mild, Junior League-ish wife/mother, I'd rather her issues have felt like less of a retread -- that she'd been more "hypercritical control freak" instead of "bipolar alcoholic". So yeah, I do wish they'd included all those scenes from the casting sides, if only to make the Bill/Caroline history more nuanced.
That said, I did like the episode, though I'm hard-pressed to explain exactly why. I'm a sucker for introspective episodes like this. I've said before that this season's theme is "coming to terms with your past", and this does play upon that theme. I'm just having a hard time figuring out what we really learn about Bill Adama here. Maybe that's because I've never really had a handle on his character, and hopefully it'll become more clear to me when I rewatch. (And I'll definitely rewatch this one, unlike "The Woman King", which languishes on my TiVo.)
While I really like the hardcore ambiguity in the Roslin/Adama relationship, I feel as if it's getting a bit too wishy-washy. It feels as if the writers want us to think they have an on/off romantic relationship, but they can't quite let the characters make it explicit (in the narrative, not sexual, sense -- though that also applies here.) I also really like the idea of two adults having a casual not-quite-affair without getting hung up on the romance novel aspects, but Roslin and Adama are both such strong individuals that I'm not sure I buy them as just being frakbuddies. Then again, I can see where they'd prefer such a dynamic under the circumstances, both separately and together. Hmm.
I knew the writers were setting up an arc with Lee as a lawyer, but I didn't expect it so soon. I can buy it, for many of the reasons Roslin gave at the beginning. He really is stagnating in his role as CAG, both because the writers can't come up with things for him to do, and because Lee himself seems to need something more out of life. I think Dee's words back in 3.01 are the key: "You're a soldier who needs a war." She got the basic idea right, though she framed it in the wrong context. From his vague backstory, we know that Lee was a reservist and apparently didn't plan to be a pilot for much longer, until the Cylon attack threw everyone for a loop. More than that, the military itself was never the be-all and end-all of his life, unlike the others who live and breathe it. He has grown to enjoy his job and performs it exceptionally well, but he's never seemed (to me) committed to it on a molecular level. He wants something *more*, though he doesn't quite know what that is, nor has he had the opportunities to do something else. The Pegasus was a perfect fit for him, but because he's very good at leading and attacking the various challenges -- he's a born C.E.O. instead of a born Commander. So I can easily see him being attracted to this new role in Baltar's trial, perhaps even leaving the military full-time and entering the government. Not so much out of a deep love for law, but because it presents a new set of challenges he'd be eager to master.
As for the rest... Yeah, I doubted they'd actually kill off Cally, but I still kept my fingers crossed. ;)
The Cally-Tyrol subplot was both problematic and intriguing on a meta level. The writers approached it differently than usual, with the climax coming long before the 0:45 commercial break. That really threw off my pacing; I'm used to the narrative action extending much longer. I appreciating them circumventing expectations, but it made Cally and Tyrol's later scenes drag a bit too much.
Nicholas is very cute and chubby. Glad to know that Galactica does have a day-care facility, though I can't imagine how they'd decorate such a grim place. Cute little cartoon viper pilots? Yikes!
Something about Seelix scratched the back of my neck, though I can't pinpoint exactly what set me on edge. I did wonder if we'll find out that she's one of the Final Five.
Also, something about Lee's physical appearance tonight felt "off", but I can't figure that one out either. He actually looked like he'd gained a bit of weight back -- which is certainly not a bad thing! -- but that might've just been the uniform and the lighting around his face. I also noticed that his body looks strange in profile. He has quite a curvy ass, and those tight pants suddenly reminded me of a male ballet dancer. ;)
I did a bit of knitting during the Lee/Dualla scene at the end. I really am fine and dandy with their relationship. Promise. I'm just not particularly interested in watching it. She and Gaeta were quite cute in the deleted scene, though.
The Adamas had a very posh house for a military family. Yeah, that bugs. At least the original script suggested they lived in base housing. The script also included Flashback!Bill staring at ZAK'S tricycle. *sigh*
Hot Dog has a rash... in his crotch. That amuses me more than it should.
Pilots! In the ready room! Buddycops! Excellent.
Who else was distracted by Caroline Adama's freakish resemblance to Six? Hmm? Very interesting! I wonder if this is the real truth behind "Adama is a Cylon." Lee's Mommy was one of the final five! Of course that's it. Why did I not think of this before?
Finally, why do all the beds on Galactica suddenly have gray satin sheets? Or is that only the couples' beds? Maybe I've just answered my own question. ;) Except I just noticed the same sheets on Tyrol's sick bay bed. Hmm. I feel the need to write a fic featuring gray quilted satin sheets.....
First of all: more Kara, please? *sigh*
This is another episode which becomes more interesting to me when viewed within the context of spoilers. I first read the Caroline Adama casting sides a couple of weeks before the S3 premiere. The director really chopped Caroline's role to pieces, and though I generally liked the episode we got, I think the final version really changes the way we're meant to view her. She's not quite so harsh or bitchy in the original draft, and we get more of a sense that they loved each other at one point. We also learn some key info:
-- Shotgun wedding, ahoy. Lee was born five months after the wedding. We also saw a few more hints of Lee and Zak's childhoods.
-- The decision to divorce came when Bill missed their 10th anniversary party because he'd been called away to deal with riots on Aerilon.
-- His choice to stay with the military (he'd just been given his first Command) came as a surprise to Caroline, who only found out thanks to a drunken phone call from Tigh.
-- The negative vibe between them is more equal: yes, she's harsh and mood-swingy, but Bill was absent too often and put the military ahead of his family. In the episode itself, Bill comes across as much more of a victim.
If you'd like to read the sides, I've uploaded them here: www.sendspace.com/file/82lkgo
I really do wish we'd seen more of this, because it would've made the episode feel more rounded and complicated. Instead of them *both* having serious issues that even they acknowledge, the aired version had Bill appearing as more of a victim of a shrewish, unpredictable wife. It does lend an uncomfortably Oedipal subtext to Lee's relationship with Kara, who bears a slight resemblance to his mother in both appearance and behavior, though I like to think that Kara's not *that* bad, even at her worst. At least her losses of control tend to be directed inward, whereas Lee lashes out at those who love him. Hmm. I just wish we weren't getting yet another Abusive Mother storyline -- it definitely fits Kara, and I suppose it also fits Lee in a very different way. While I'm glad that the writers have contradicted the fanon view of Caroline as the perfect, mild, Junior League-ish wife/mother, I'd rather her issues have felt like less of a retread -- that she'd been more "hypercritical control freak" instead of "bipolar alcoholic". So yeah, I do wish they'd included all those scenes from the casting sides, if only to make the Bill/Caroline history more nuanced.
That said, I did like the episode, though I'm hard-pressed to explain exactly why. I'm a sucker for introspective episodes like this. I've said before that this season's theme is "coming to terms with your past", and this does play upon that theme. I'm just having a hard time figuring out what we really learn about Bill Adama here. Maybe that's because I've never really had a handle on his character, and hopefully it'll become more clear to me when I rewatch. (And I'll definitely rewatch this one, unlike "The Woman King", which languishes on my TiVo.)
While I really like the hardcore ambiguity in the Roslin/Adama relationship, I feel as if it's getting a bit too wishy-washy. It feels as if the writers want us to think they have an on/off romantic relationship, but they can't quite let the characters make it explicit (in the narrative, not sexual, sense -- though that also applies here.) I also really like the idea of two adults having a casual not-quite-affair without getting hung up on the romance novel aspects, but Roslin and Adama are both such strong individuals that I'm not sure I buy them as just being frakbuddies. Then again, I can see where they'd prefer such a dynamic under the circumstances, both separately and together. Hmm.
I knew the writers were setting up an arc with Lee as a lawyer, but I didn't expect it so soon. I can buy it, for many of the reasons Roslin gave at the beginning. He really is stagnating in his role as CAG, both because the writers can't come up with things for him to do, and because Lee himself seems to need something more out of life. I think Dee's words back in 3.01 are the key: "You're a soldier who needs a war." She got the basic idea right, though she framed it in the wrong context. From his vague backstory, we know that Lee was a reservist and apparently didn't plan to be a pilot for much longer, until the Cylon attack threw everyone for a loop. More than that, the military itself was never the be-all and end-all of his life, unlike the others who live and breathe it. He has grown to enjoy his job and performs it exceptionally well, but he's never seemed (to me) committed to it on a molecular level. He wants something *more*, though he doesn't quite know what that is, nor has he had the opportunities to do something else. The Pegasus was a perfect fit for him, but because he's very good at leading and attacking the various challenges -- he's a born C.E.O. instead of a born Commander. So I can easily see him being attracted to this new role in Baltar's trial, perhaps even leaving the military full-time and entering the government. Not so much out of a deep love for law, but because it presents a new set of challenges he'd be eager to master.
As for the rest... Yeah, I doubted they'd actually kill off Cally, but I still kept my fingers crossed. ;)
The Cally-Tyrol subplot was both problematic and intriguing on a meta level. The writers approached it differently than usual, with the climax coming long before the 0:45 commercial break. That really threw off my pacing; I'm used to the narrative action extending much longer. I appreciating them circumventing expectations, but it made Cally and Tyrol's later scenes drag a bit too much.
Nicholas is very cute and chubby. Glad to know that Galactica does have a day-care facility, though I can't imagine how they'd decorate such a grim place. Cute little cartoon viper pilots? Yikes!
Something about Seelix scratched the back of my neck, though I can't pinpoint exactly what set me on edge. I did wonder if we'll find out that she's one of the Final Five.
Also, something about Lee's physical appearance tonight felt "off", but I can't figure that one out either. He actually looked like he'd gained a bit of weight back -- which is certainly not a bad thing! -- but that might've just been the uniform and the lighting around his face. I also noticed that his body looks strange in profile. He has quite a curvy ass, and those tight pants suddenly reminded me of a male ballet dancer. ;)
I did a bit of knitting during the Lee/Dualla scene at the end. I really am fine and dandy with their relationship. Promise. I'm just not particularly interested in watching it. She and Gaeta were quite cute in the deleted scene, though.
The Adamas had a very posh house for a military family. Yeah, that bugs. At least the original script suggested they lived in base housing. The script also included Flashback!Bill staring at ZAK'S tricycle. *sigh*
Hot Dog has a rash... in his crotch. That amuses me more than it should.
Pilots! In the ready room! Buddycops! Excellent.
Who else was distracted by Caroline Adama's freakish resemblance to Six? Hmm? Very interesting! I wonder if this is the real truth behind "Adama is a Cylon." Lee's Mommy was one of the final five! Of course that's it. Why did I not think of this before?
Finally, why do all the beds on Galactica suddenly have gray satin sheets? Or is that only the couples' beds? Maybe I've just answered my own question. ;) Except I just noticed the same sheets on Tyrol's sick bay bed. Hmm. I feel the need to write a fic featuring gray quilted satin sheets.....