Battlestar Galactica 3.17 Maelstrom (Part 1)

[bop_radar]

I started writing last night and then (thankfully!) fell asleep. I still have a lot of sleep to catch up, and I think I'm only about halfway through what I want to say. *frowns at post* Anyway, here's for starters... ('scuse any typos--I was molto tired!)

Comments

[brokenmnemonic]

If I wasn't up to my neck in writing fanfic at the moment, I'd respond in all sorts of detail. For now, I'll have to resort to brevity; you've summed up everything I was feeling about the episode and much more, and far more eloquently than I have. I'm glad latteaddict pointed out your LJ to me - it's always a fascinating read.

I think what got me most about this was that even in Kara's final moments, Lee kept saying "we can still get out of this." Not you, but we. I'm pretty sure Kara will be back in S4 - and I can only hope that like a stage play, this Act III was the darkest, and that for the ship, Act IV will show things improving steadily.

[bop_radar]

Thank you so much for the lovely comment! (Good to meet you too! And fanfic? *perks*)

Not you, but we.
Such a beautiful point and one I perhaps took for granted a little--thank you for highlighting it. I do think it was very signifcant. Lee did a lot of signalling to Kara, in this episode, that despite everything they were a team, a partnership, paired. There IS an 'us'. (Oh, Kara! Oh, Lee!)

I can only hope that like a stage play, this Act III was the darkest, and that for the ship, Act IV will show things improving steadily.
I hope so with all my heart. It does have that 'arcing' feeling about it. As a viewer, in no way did I feel like this was The End, but it may have been the darkest hour.

(Aside: hey, your icon is like mine except with bonus groping!)

[brokenmnemonic]

I've just re-read your meta here, and the second part - and I'm seriously impressed still :) Not just because your thinking on them is so... objective, perhaps? A lot of people in fandom are lapsing into "it's all Lee's fault" or "it's all Kara's" fault when it comes to these two, and that sort of thinking gets negative and close-minded very fast

[bop_radar]

Thank you! *G* I'm very flattered that you felt I achieved any form of objectivity, because I love Lee so passionately, I'm not sure that's always possible... But I do try! ;-) I know just what you mean about fandom's tendency to make it 'all Lee's fault' or 'all Kara's fault' and I definitely never like doing that. I was lucky enough to watch the first two seasons with my best friend, who had an instinctive understanding of Kara, whereas I was instinctively drawn to Lee. We found that we could 'explain' the characters to each other after eps--and initially we did just rant at each other at times--but it forced me to be aware of the subjectivity of my emotional reaction to the show/the characters, and so now I watch knowing that I'm biassed, seeing things from Lee's perspective.

I agree with you on the resonant tones. I think that's a huge reason I loved it despite its flaws and despite its unsettling nature.

It almost felt as if Kara had worked out what her feelings were for Anders, and as if he was becoming a sort of version of

[brokenmnemonic]

I think that perhaps the reason the episode got to me even with the Leoben-squick and the presence of Anders is the fact that for the first time this season, much more so than Unfinished Business, it showed that whatever else is going on in their lives there is always a part of Lee and Kara that is always "Lee and Kara" - something that the others just can't intrude on. And it's those moments that made me love the ship from the first, so it's no wonder that when this episode played on that connection, it pulled me in. The friendship was so strong between them here that it made me want to demand where this was before the mid-season cliffy, because it's from that connection that I thought the ship would start again, not frantic making-out with guilt moments. Lee's been saved by Kara before, starting right back in the mini. In this, it felt up until the end as if he was saving her, this time - he didn't hesitate to give her his full support, as if he knew exactly how much she could take and just how strong she is. As wisteria_ said, there's

[bop_radar]

Oh, your lovely long comments give me so much to respond to! *beams* And I'm responding to you over my lunch--how funny! (I'm in Australia, so timezones are a curse.) Ack! It made me cut my response...

it showed that whatever else is going on in their lives there is always a part of Lee and Kara that is always "Lee and Kara" - something that the others just can't intrude on
I agree with that wholeheartedly and I was so swept away by that. It's definitely what drew me to them in the first place too and I'm glad they came full-circle with them, but at the same time it was breaking my heart that they do this now in the episode where she diesI'm probably less troubled by the Eye of Jupiter frantic groping and guilt: it made some instinctive sense to me. In many ways, they were avoiding true intimacy then still, whereas it's only in taking a step back (or Lee doing so), that they've been able to reach a place of equality and not just lose themselves in a cycle of attraction and rejection again. (Extremely abbreviated version of my take on

[bop_radar]

we saw that both of them seem to want more, but have accepted where they are.
Yes! That's so encouraging from a shipper perspective. I clung to hope all season because I could see that (big picture) they were levelling the playing field between them, and that made me feel it was in preparation for something. The hardest times for me as a shipper have been when there's been a chronic power imbalance in their relationship---with Lee being the lovesick puppy. But I am so proud of the strength in him this season, so proud of him for being himself despite that meaning he 'lost' Kara. And in the end he found her again, not as a (physical) lover, but at a far deeper, intimate level. And I'm sure it's not over... they're paired so tightly. This was all so circular, bringing us back to the mini, and then signalling that there was going to be a new chapter. 'I'll see you on the other side, Lee...' *sniffles*

Silly pilots icon is AWESOME!! *g* (And I'm sure Kara will be first and on top.)