I find this episode and scene troubling for Lee's character. I don't feel like the show did a very good job of actually showing Lee's hatred for the cylons, although I suppose we are supposed to know that? And Lee seems so gleeful about the whole thing. :/
I agree that it felt startling for his character, but unlike Kara with Leoben or Adama and Helo with Boomer or even Gaeta and Gaius, Lee never had an arc that brought him into close enough contact with a Cylon to have to feel empathy for them. Not that that justifies how unilateral he is here (when else is Lee Adama ever unilateral about anything?) but it at least seems reasonable that from a military viewpoint he'd be on board for taking out all his enemies if he doesn't really think of them as alive/human in his sense. All of that's just rationalization, though, it didn't really work for me either :)
(Also: black t-shirts were a good look for him! /shallow)
*nod nod* I agree with all that you've said, and agree that it still doesn't play right. (And gets worse later). I'm not sure why they made Lee the hawkish figure, although it seems possible that he was simply there so Helo could be the voice of morality for the Fleet. I always felt that Lee would be closer to Helo's side than the other genocidal view.
I'm not sure why they made Lee the hawkish figure, although it seems possible that he was simply there so Helo could be the voice of morality for the Fleet.Yes, I think you're right about this, and also there's the whole plot arc they were planning for Lee where he was going to recommit to the army and become a lot more militaristic/ruthless/hardcore this season, in reaction to his "soft" stage with the weight problems and his disconnection from any 'warrior' mentality at the start of the season. But ultimately they scrapped that plotline, so his behavior in this episode no longer fits in with anything. It was intended as character development but then it never developed anywhere, so it just looks a bit random and out of character now. Rather like Black Market
( ... )
I mean there was the Sharon hate in Home but that always felt like it was about how she shot his Daddy rather than anything beyond a typical distaste for the enemy. Later in S4 he was pissy at Tigh during the mutiny but I remember that feeling like ??? too. And I again I was wondering if this was about how Tigh had hurt his Daddy.
I think sometimes the writers just needed someone to do something and so they'd bring out an aspect of the character that they'd not really shown much of before (or after) and for those of us who are obsessive compulsive about character it's crazy making.
yeah, we've seen Lee be angry at Cylons but that's usually in response to something they've done to him/people he cares for (interesting that he never really got a one-on-one with Leoben after the New Caprica dollhouse for Kara, though his own feelings for Kara were plenty muddled between Exodus and UB). And he's unbent enough towards Sharon to work with her, but as a rule he's really wary of them....and still, the ruthlessness here is a bit odd.
I think sometimes the writers just needed someone to do something
I think that's precisely the problem here. This isn't Black-Market levels of inconsistent with Lee's character, but it still sits weirdly.
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(Also: black t-shirts were a good look for him! /shallow)
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I think sometimes the writers just needed someone to do something and so they'd bring out an aspect of the character that they'd not really shown much of before (or after) and for those of us who are obsessive compulsive about character it's crazy making.
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I think sometimes the writers just needed someone to do something
I think that's precisely the problem here. This isn't Black-Market levels of inconsistent with Lee's character, but it still sits weirdly.
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