BSG Squee on 2.11
Here's what I learned from Resurrection Ship 1
1. I've grossly over-reacted to spoilers that threatened my 'ship.
I thought that I would be miserable without Kara/Lee flirting and playing; but, this ep didn't have any K/L flirting and I was still totally satisfied. After contemplating this strange phenomenon I've determined that the K/L time I love so much is like dessert. I love it and long for it, but if the meal is excellent I don't really miss the dessert. The dessert would make the meal perfect but it's not necessary in all circumstances. So I'm MUCH more chilled out about the season and I'm ready to sit back for the ride. It's refreshing not to dread Lee/Dee.
2. The honeymoon is over
Don't get me wrong, I still love and adore BSG. I'm committed and like Buffy before it, I will watch until the bitter or sweet end. As great as RS1 was on Friday, I saw flaws in how TPTB set up conflicts for this season. An example:
Kat as CAG/Lead Pilot on Galactica.
When I saw that KAT was lead pilot for Galactica my response was Are they joking? . The last I remembered she was a nugget that still had problems with her landings. If I hadn't listened to the podcast I would have taken the "Kat as CAG" to mean that Cain took everyone and anyone experienced and good away from Galactica and left the rejects. But RDM says that he meant to show that Kat was the next hotshot pilot after Kara and they intend to have Kat's badassitude come into play in future episode(s). WTF? I would believe Hotdog fit that role of badass before Kat.
This sloppiness is only disappointing because TPTB set up the first season so well. Everything from Kara's role to the Cylons, Lee's ambivalence about military vs. civilian authority, the Kara/Baltar attraction etc. were set up very early and patiently. They didn't have Lee perform mutiny in KLS out of the blue, they telegraphed his divided loyalties from Water, if not the Mini. So, I know they can do better and I expect better.
3. Michael Rymer can direct like a motherfucker.
I love how he makes the scenes on Pegasus look clinical. This ep really had a different tone than any other BSG before. It seemed to move forward aggressively and coldly, like the Pegasus herself. Amazing how well they can change tone while keeping the essential BSG qualities. Bravo. I wish Rymer could direct every episode.
Since he wrote this ep too, I would add that he could write like a mofo if not for the line "Let's all be friendly". The line was hokey and didn't work. But, the plotting in the rest of the ep was perfect and I liked "How many different kinds of stupid are you?"
4. I hate 2 parters.
The difficult thing about a two-parter is that things get set up in ep one subtlety and become clear only after watching the second part. Like Kara's behavior in RS1. I think her emotional reticence will be explained in part two, but for now we're left guessing whether she has really fallen for Cain's manipulations or if Kara is playing the game too. leda13 has an interesting discussion on the Kara topic here. Since I know Katee Sackhoff is an amazing actress, I believe that she has a reason for tamping down the fire, but she was really hard to read in that episode.
5. Cain's a player
Wow. She played Kara like a flute. This makes me think Cain is a Cylon because the manipulation was so discrete and we've only seen the game played that well by Cylons. Caprica was the perfect carrot to hang in front of Kara and even if she didn't fall for the act, she now has a little bit of respect for Cain and that's a starting point.
As far as promoting Kara while demoting Lee even though he partnered in the mission, I think it makes sense. One, Lee is an Adama and Cain doesn't trust Adamas. (I don't think Cain understands that everyone on Galactica is part of the Adama family, but that's another discussion) Two, while Kara's unauthorized ventures result in tangible and sometimes heroic results, when Lee rebells the consequences are usually ambiguous if not negative. This is because Lee rebells for idealistic reasons and you don't usually get tangible results from that. Just look at the difference:
Kara: Goes off to Caprica against orders-->comes back with Arrow of Apollo and Helo (bringing back Sharon kinda negates the Helo but whatever).
Lee: Performs mutiny--->thrown in brig and no clear positive results.
Lee is not the kind of hothead that Cain respects and she doesn't want someone that ponders the legality of decisions (gods forbid). Plus, Cain is a little bit in love with Kara. It's true. She was totally blown away by Kara's awesomeness.
6. Lee is more fun than I previously thought.
There's a clear role reversal between Kara and Lee and I wouldn't be too surprised if it continues through the season. This reversal makes Lee much more interesting to me, at least it did in RS1. I love hearing Lee question Kara's compliance with Cain's orders. We're in bizzaro galactica when Kara is the pragmatic/realistic one and Lee is the hothead. I mean, Kara was right when she told Lee that there's nothing they can do because Cain is in command. It's more important to take out the Resurrection Ship than to waste their time trying to free Helo and Tyrol. I'm not clear what Lee wanted Kara to do. I think Lee has gotten so used to Kara being the hotheaded one in their relationship and he lives vicariously through her. Now that she's trying to simmer-down, he's going to have to express his emotions for himself. It's gonna be fun to see how much of a freak Lee really is :-)
7. Tricia Helfer is amazing.
I've been blown away by the Baltar/PegaSix ( Gina ) scenes. They are both such fine actors that it's a pleasure to watch, even when it's painful. And James Callis is looking really hot recently.">
1. I've grossly over-reacted to spoilers that threatened my 'ship.
I thought that I would be miserable without Kara/Lee flirting and playing; but, this ep didn't have any K/L flirting and I was still totally satisfied. After contemplating this strange phenomenon I've determined that the K/L time I love so much is like dessert. I love it and long for it, but if the meal is excellent I don't really miss the dessert. The dessert would make the meal perfect but it's not necessary in all circumstances. So I'm MUCH more chilled out about the season and I'm ready to sit back for the ride. It's refreshing not to dread Lee/Dee.
2. The honeymoon is over
Don't get me wrong, I still love and adore BSG. I'm committed and like Buffy before it, I will watch until the bitter or sweet end. As great as RS1 was on Friday, I saw flaws in how TPTB set up conflicts for this season. An example:
Kat as CAG/Lead Pilot on Galactica.
When I saw that KAT was lead pilot for Galactica my response was Are they joking? . The last I remembered she was a nugget that still had problems with her landings. If I hadn't listened to the podcast I would have taken the "Kat as CAG" to mean that Cain took everyone and anyone experienced and good away from Galactica and left the rejects. But RDM says that he meant to show that Kat was the next hotshot pilot after Kara and they intend to have Kat's badassitude come into play in future episode(s). WTF? I would believe Hotdog fit that role of badass before Kat.
This sloppiness is only disappointing because TPTB set up the first season so well. Everything from Kara's role to the Cylons, Lee's ambivalence about military vs. civilian authority, the Kara/Baltar attraction etc. were set up very early and patiently. They didn't have Lee perform mutiny in KLS out of the blue, they telegraphed his divided loyalties from Water, if not the Mini. So, I know they can do better and I expect better.
3. Michael Rymer can direct like a motherfucker.
I love how he makes the scenes on Pegasus look clinical. This ep really had a different tone than any other BSG before. It seemed to move forward aggressively and coldly, like the Pegasus herself. Amazing how well they can change tone while keeping the essential BSG qualities. Bravo. I wish Rymer could direct every episode.
Since he wrote this ep too, I would add that he could write like a mofo if not for the line "Let's all be friendly". The line was hokey and didn't work. But, the plotting in the rest of the ep was perfect and I liked "How many different kinds of stupid are you?"
4. I hate 2 parters.
The difficult thing about a two-parter is that things get set up in ep one subtlety and become clear only after watching the second part. Like Kara's behavior in RS1. I think her emotional reticence will be explained in part two, but for now we're left guessing whether she has really fallen for Cain's manipulations or if Kara is playing the game too. leda13 has an interesting discussion on the Kara topic here. Since I know Katee Sackhoff is an amazing actress, I believe that she has a reason for tamping down the fire, but she was really hard to read in that episode.
5. Cain's a player
Wow. She played Kara like a flute. This makes me think Cain is a Cylon because the manipulation was so discrete and we've only seen the game played that well by Cylons. Caprica was the perfect carrot to hang in front of Kara and even if she didn't fall for the act, she now has a little bit of respect for Cain and that's a starting point.
As far as promoting Kara while demoting Lee even though he partnered in the mission, I think it makes sense. One, Lee is an Adama and Cain doesn't trust Adamas. (I don't think Cain understands that everyone on Galactica is part of the Adama family, but that's another discussion) Two, while Kara's unauthorized ventures result in tangible and sometimes heroic results, when Lee rebells the consequences are usually ambiguous if not negative. This is because Lee rebells for idealistic reasons and you don't usually get tangible results from that. Just look at the difference:
Kara: Goes off to Caprica against orders-->comes back with Arrow of Apollo and Helo (bringing back Sharon kinda negates the Helo but whatever).
Lee: Performs mutiny--->thrown in brig and no clear positive results.
Lee is not the kind of hothead that Cain respects and she doesn't want someone that ponders the legality of decisions (gods forbid). Plus, Cain is a little bit in love with Kara. It's true. She was totally blown away by Kara's awesomeness.
6. Lee is more fun than I previously thought.
There's a clear role reversal between Kara and Lee and I wouldn't be too surprised if it continues through the season. This reversal makes Lee much more interesting to me, at least it did in RS1. I love hearing Lee question Kara's compliance with Cain's orders. We're in bizzaro galactica when Kara is the pragmatic/realistic one and Lee is the hothead. I mean, Kara was right when she told Lee that there's nothing they can do because Cain is in command. It's more important to take out the Resurrection Ship than to waste their time trying to free Helo and Tyrol. I'm not clear what Lee wanted Kara to do. I think Lee has gotten so used to Kara being the hotheaded one in their relationship and he lives vicariously through her. Now that she's trying to simmer-down, he's going to have to express his emotions for himself. It's gonna be fun to see how much of a freak Lee really is :-)
7. Tricia Helfer is amazing.
I've been blown away by the Baltar/PegaSix ( Gina ) scenes. They are both such fine actors that it's a pleasure to watch, even when it's painful. And James Callis is looking really hot recently.">