I love this scene so much! Gah. Bill actually is the best he's ever been with Lee in this scene. Really encouraging him, being sentimental in all the right ways, actually saying he wasn't the greatest father. Oh, show, why do you tug on my heart the way you do. For once, Bill reads him so well. I love it so much I can't even form proper sentences.
I do feel a little awkward about the "because you're my son" line. I don't think that's something that would actually help Lee at all, because Bill's not putting confidence in Lee's abilities for any reason other than because he's related to Bill? It's not "I know you can do this because I know you're an amazing pilot" or "because I trust you" or anything like that. It's another way of telling Lee that his worth is because he's related to Bill, which I think would just make Lee feel ... I don't know, overlooked again? Kara's trusted because Kara is awesome, but Lee is only trusted because he's Bill's son
( ... )
I see what you are saying, but I really do think that Lee took a lot from that statement, even if it is not directly related to his abilities. I think Lee didn't have the belief that his skills weren't up to snuff, but instead that he was lamenting that no one had confidence in him, maybe not even his father. I see Bill's words as saying, I am proud that you are my son and I have faith in you. I think that if Bill had said something about his mission skills that it would have seemed too impersonal. Bill said something to him that made it intensely personal and meaningful. Lee never felt that Bill was proud of him. In that moment, I feel like it all changed (albeit short-lived).
I agree with Bill seeing Lee as an extension of himself, but I also see that for Lee, in this moment of personal crisis, that Bill is supporting him. Bill has likely NEVER said anything like this to Lee before and I think his heart must have been singing. <3<3<3
Aw, no, I'm happy that that's the way you see him taking it, because that's wonderful, and I really do want them to have those connective moments sometimes. And you know Lee far better than I do! Anything that bonds them more closely together is good in my book ♥
I think your read on Bill is completely accurate and he doesn't get any parenting awards. I guess I am taking it into context thus far in their relationship. It's a bit of too little too late, but in this case, for this mission, it works well. Lee does what he needs to do and I even imagine him following his father off the hangar deck and have a few hours of sleep. His father's approval, one of the things he has sought forever, must have been very sweet.
Later, of course, Bill is careless and selfish and downright mean. Grrr. I can't wait to hear more of your thoughts on Bill then, too. You read him so well. (and more grrr! LOL)
It's interesting to look at this scene and think about all the different father-son or father-child relationships in the show. Bill & Zak vs. Bill & Lee are such different dynamics; Lee kind of parented Zak in Bill's absence. To see Bill really rising to the occasion and being both a good commander and a good father here is tremendous. The look of vulnerability in the 3rd screencap--oh JB. <3
I see Bill's parenting of Zak as far more distant most of the time, since Bill was off on a battlestar during Zak's formative years, then overcompensating when they did spend time together. Kind of like how the less-involved parent in a divorce sometimes showers the kids with presents to try to overcompensate for absence. What's your headcanon on this one? :)
I think it all depends on when Bill left the family. My thoughts are that he wasn't really around much for either of them, as he was stationed on Battlestars most of the time. I think the problems in the marriage, which led to the dissolution, probably came when Lee was a young adolescent and Zak was 10-ish? And I am not as much a fan of Lee taking care of Zak as fanon seems to portray. I think Lee comes out way to self-centered to have been the wonderful caregiver I often see in fic. I tend to see Lee being protective of Zak (keeping him safe from dad and mom), but that he'd probably expect Zak to do a lot of things for himself. Lee is kind of a hands-off person, so I can see that extending to Zak as well. As for Bill's involvement, I think maybe Zak had less anger towards Bill and so their relationship was less conflicted. I don't imagine Bill was any less hard on Zak than he was on Lee, just maybe that Zak's temperament was more easy-going? Bill was pretty much a hard-ass absentee parent who thought he was doing better than he was.
I think Bill should get an A for effort here. It was probably one of the few times in their whole lives when he did something like that. Not because he didn't have it in him, but simply because he wasn't around much. And that is such a fundamental part of the problem, IMO. His "Because you're my son" would have been the absolutely perfect thing to say if he had been around more. Because then it would mean "Because you're my son and I KNOW you. That's why I have faith in you." The way things were, though, it loses much of the emotional empowering it was intended to have because it is more about expectation than real knowledge. "You're my son, and I have/had what it takes to do this. Therefore, you must have it, too. I trust you because you're a part of me. Trust yourself, for the same reason
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I agree with Bill seeing Lee as an extension of himself, but I also see that for Lee, in this moment of personal crisis, that Bill is supporting him. Bill has likely NEVER said anything like this to Lee before and I think his heart must have been singing. <3<3<3
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Later, of course, Bill is careless and selfish and downright mean. Grrr. I can't wait to hear more of your thoughts on Bill then, too. You read him so well. (and more grrr! LOL)
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