BSG 'Pegasus' reaction post
Apr. 14th, 2008 12:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhia_starsongYes, I know this is an old episode. Yes, I watched it when it first aired. But I was fleeing homework today, so I rewatched it. There wasn't going to be a reaction post. Really. My laptop futzed out on me, so I took my stuff off to the campus library, and the wonderful video viewing rooms, reasoning that there wouldn't be many legit people in there on a Sunday afternoon. Yeah, I was right. Just in case someone came in and wanted the room, though, I had a notebook out so I could look like I was analysing the episode. And then I started analysing the fucking episode. Kaylie's comment was, "I'm so proud. It's like you're a real film student."
So here it is. Here's me going on for five pages about one television episode.
Damn, even when you know how the whole Cain arc ends (badly), you really can't help tearing up a little hearing those first static-filled challenges between Galactica and Pegasus. It's the same sort of response I have when I hear decades-old recordings of the Apollo astronauts--hope, a feeling of coming home, a sense of history. Maybe the fact that they're so clearly vulnerable/uncertain is what makes it more poignant. Ironically, this scene is more important to me than the one following it when Cain actually comes aboard and welcomes Galactica back to the Colonial Fleet. Perhaps it's because that scene implies an end--of Adama and Roslin's new-found cooperative command, of the Fleet's fragile balance--whereas the contact scene is incomplete on purpose: it leaves anticipation. The viewer gets the feeling after seeing Cain come aboard Galactica for the first time that maybe that anticipation/hope will end in disappointment after all.
What begins as illustrating differing command styles between Cain and Adama is rather underscored by Cain's (sincere, I believe) statement to Adama: "This is your ship, and I have no desire to interfere with Galactica's internal affairs." (Oh, I do love the XOs getting drunk together: "I'm sorry. No-one gets to insult your ship but you.")
It's interesting that Cain, who we learn tends to promote female officers faster than male officers, almost immediately distrusts/dislikes Roslin. It's clear she disdains the former Secretary of Education who is now Madam President, but it also seems that she doesn't take the time to look at Roslin closely before dismissing her as incompetent. Perhaps, though, she really views Roslin as a threat; it's unclear in this episode.
(I know the teevee movie Razor explains so much of Cain's behaviour, but I hadn't seen it (obvs) when this first aired, and we'll ignore it for the sake of continuity. Also because I've only seen it once.)
Fisk's 'story' of how he became XO after the previous guy refused to carry out one of Cain's orders and she shot him on the bridge--he then undermines this perfectly serious accusation by laughing at Tigh and treating the whole thing as a joke, but I'm pretty sure the story was true. Tigh is certain enough of the veracity of Fisk's tale to take it to Adama, who isn't as convinced. Tigh really has no reason to believe Fisk; he doesn't know this man from Adam, and they were both, as Adama points out, drunk.
It seems the only friendly group on the entire Battlestar Pegasus are the deck-crew, who send over badly-needed spare parts with a nice note. Oh, well, the one Lt. who curries over tech stuff for Gaeta seems nice; nice enough for Gaeta to ask, after being informed the Galactica's erased ship's library will be replaced (thus restoring an entire culture's history), "Got any porn on there?" Oh, foxy Felix! lolz.
I do think the threat--both real and perceived--that Cain presented to Roslin and Adama's command of the Fleet they had with them contributed greatly to the increased bonding those two underwent during this arc, starting with the episode 'Pegasus.'
(Ohh, Larry the Pegasus Deck Chief totally fanboyed Tyrol over the Blackbird!)
Head!Six' reaction to Gina is another wonder, and a bit of a tear-jerker all in itself, even before you see what she's seeing (Oh my God, Gaius, it's me." "Can't you stop being a scientist for one moment and look at the abused woman lying in front of you?"). Baltar actually responds beautifully, dealing with Six reasonably and with more insight than he usually displays around her when she's this upset/intense about something.
Cain strikes very close to home asking Baltar if he's lost perspective by becoming too close to his subjects (the Cylons--he has); but of course the irony here is that she herself has allowed emotion to coud her thinking on this matter quite a lot, as well.
(Oh, the penis-lamps on the Pegasus! heehee They even talk about them on the commentary.)
Ah, here we go: Cain's first meddlesome move. Remember how she told Adama (and Roslin) that she wouldn't interfere? Yeah, just kidding. She's taking Lee. (Personally, I think she saw the clip of him in the slipping towel from 'Final Cut.') And going down the list of Adama's Problem Children, Starbuck, Helo, and even Tigh gets a mention. The viewer knows it looks bad on paper--evidently the Admiral didn't read in context--but that it works in RL. Cain can see from looking at the day-to-day of Galactica that Adama's team functions well for the most part. Adama is not pleased with this news. He protests, but Cain is firm: Lee and the others are transferring, and it's for Adama's own good. The thing that keeps Cain from being a villain is that she is sincere. Most of the things she does are done for the right reasons, or are the result of understandable paranoia.
Of course, then Lee and Kara proceed to not be the epitome of military discipline in the next scene, but I guess this is a bit like A Few Good Men: surely a soldier can be trusted to figure out which are the important orders and obey them.
Adama is astute enough to warn the two of them that they should be very careful on Pegasus--"They're gunning for you both." Smart Lee is even more astute, realising that the Pegasus want to get rid of all of them.
I really do identify with Kara in the briefing in Pegasus' pilots' ready-room--if I had somehow landed in the military, I suspect I'd act a lot like her (or at least think it very loudly!). Yay, Lee! "Go get the Blackbird, and take some pretty pictures of our Cylon ship."
Oh, the doomful part with Tyrol and Helo... Knowing what's coming does not help here. Tyrol and Helo are in the right, morally speaking, and while the Chief certainly did not intend to kill Thorn, the man died and he was responsible. But you know nothing good is coming out of this, and, indeed, we soon find out that they will be tried on Pegasus rather than on Galactica. It all looks fairly reasonable, from Cain's POV, yet the viewer is with Adama--we know a miscarriage of justice when we see it.
I've never liked Baltar more than when he's trying to help Gina. I love what he does to gain her trust, and how he ends up telling Six that he loves her.
Everyone on Galactica was already sullen and angry, and the news that Tyrol and Helo are essentially to be executed without a real trial sends Adama launching two Vipers and a Raptor with Marines to rescue his men. There's a rather inspired exchange on comm channels between Adama and Cain where they're both snippy and Adama declares he won't leave Tyrol and Helo on Pegasus to die. Cain orders Fisk to launch the alert fighters to counter the Galactica fighters. The episode ends with 'to be continued...' leaving Kara still out on her sooper sekrit mission and Lee stuck on a Raptor with the smug Pegasus CAG.
Now, if only I had put that much effort into my research...
In other news, amazon.com continues to pwn my bank account, as I ordered about five Doctor Who novels, one serial (The Invasion!), and two BSG soundtracks in the last two days.
So here it is. Here's me going on for five pages about one television episode.
Damn, even when you know how the whole Cain arc ends (badly), you really can't help tearing up a little hearing those first static-filled challenges between Galactica and Pegasus. It's the same sort of response I have when I hear decades-old recordings of the Apollo astronauts--hope, a feeling of coming home, a sense of history. Maybe the fact that they're so clearly vulnerable/uncertain is what makes it more poignant. Ironically, this scene is more important to me than the one following it when Cain actually comes aboard and welcomes Galactica back to the Colonial Fleet. Perhaps it's because that scene implies an end--of Adama and Roslin's new-found cooperative command, of the Fleet's fragile balance--whereas the contact scene is incomplete on purpose: it leaves anticipation. The viewer gets the feeling after seeing Cain come aboard Galactica for the first time that maybe that anticipation/hope will end in disappointment after all.
What begins as illustrating differing command styles between Cain and Adama is rather underscored by Cain's (sincere, I believe) statement to Adama: "This is your ship, and I have no desire to interfere with Galactica's internal affairs." (Oh, I do love the XOs getting drunk together: "I'm sorry. No-one gets to insult your ship but you.")
It's interesting that Cain, who we learn tends to promote female officers faster than male officers, almost immediately distrusts/dislikes Roslin. It's clear she disdains the former Secretary of Education who is now Madam President, but it also seems that she doesn't take the time to look at Roslin closely before dismissing her as incompetent. Perhaps, though, she really views Roslin as a threat; it's unclear in this episode.
(I know the teevee movie Razor explains so much of Cain's behaviour, but I hadn't seen it (obvs) when this first aired, and we'll ignore it for the sake of continuity. Also because I've only seen it once.)
Fisk's 'story' of how he became XO after the previous guy refused to carry out one of Cain's orders and she shot him on the bridge--he then undermines this perfectly serious accusation by laughing at Tigh and treating the whole thing as a joke, but I'm pretty sure the story was true. Tigh is certain enough of the veracity of Fisk's tale to take it to Adama, who isn't as convinced. Tigh really has no reason to believe Fisk; he doesn't know this man from Adam, and they were both, as Adama points out, drunk.
It seems the only friendly group on the entire Battlestar Pegasus are the deck-crew, who send over badly-needed spare parts with a nice note. Oh, well, the one Lt. who curries over tech stuff for Gaeta seems nice; nice enough for Gaeta to ask, after being informed the Galactica's erased ship's library will be replaced (thus restoring an entire culture's history), "Got any porn on there?" Oh, foxy Felix! lolz.
I do think the threat--both real and perceived--that Cain presented to Roslin and Adama's command of the Fleet they had with them contributed greatly to the increased bonding those two underwent during this arc, starting with the episode 'Pegasus.'
(Ohh, Larry the Pegasus Deck Chief totally fanboyed Tyrol over the Blackbird!)
Head!Six' reaction to Gina is another wonder, and a bit of a tear-jerker all in itself, even before you see what she's seeing (Oh my God, Gaius, it's me." "Can't you stop being a scientist for one moment and look at the abused woman lying in front of you?"). Baltar actually responds beautifully, dealing with Six reasonably and with more insight than he usually displays around her when she's this upset/intense about something.
Cain strikes very close to home asking Baltar if he's lost perspective by becoming too close to his subjects (the Cylons--he has); but of course the irony here is that she herself has allowed emotion to coud her thinking on this matter quite a lot, as well.
(Oh, the penis-lamps on the Pegasus! heehee They even talk about them on the commentary.)
Ah, here we go: Cain's first meddlesome move. Remember how she told Adama (and Roslin) that she wouldn't interfere? Yeah, just kidding. She's taking Lee. (Personally, I think she saw the clip of him in the slipping towel from 'Final Cut.') And going down the list of Adama's Problem Children, Starbuck, Helo, and even Tigh gets a mention. The viewer knows it looks bad on paper--evidently the Admiral didn't read in context--but that it works in RL. Cain can see from looking at the day-to-day of Galactica that Adama's team functions well for the most part. Adama is not pleased with this news. He protests, but Cain is firm: Lee and the others are transferring, and it's for Adama's own good. The thing that keeps Cain from being a villain is that she is sincere. Most of the things she does are done for the right reasons, or are the result of understandable paranoia.
Of course, then Lee and Kara proceed to not be the epitome of military discipline in the next scene, but I guess this is a bit like A Few Good Men: surely a soldier can be trusted to figure out which are the important orders and obey them.
Adama is astute enough to warn the two of them that they should be very careful on Pegasus--"They're gunning for you both." Smart Lee is even more astute, realising that the Pegasus want to get rid of all of them.
I really do identify with Kara in the briefing in Pegasus' pilots' ready-room--if I had somehow landed in the military, I suspect I'd act a lot like her (or at least think it very loudly!). Yay, Lee! "Go get the Blackbird, and take some pretty pictures of our Cylon ship."
Oh, the doomful part with Tyrol and Helo... Knowing what's coming does not help here. Tyrol and Helo are in the right, morally speaking, and while the Chief certainly did not intend to kill Thorn, the man died and he was responsible. But you know nothing good is coming out of this, and, indeed, we soon find out that they will be tried on Pegasus rather than on Galactica. It all looks fairly reasonable, from Cain's POV, yet the viewer is with Adama--we know a miscarriage of justice when we see it.
I've never liked Baltar more than when he's trying to help Gina. I love what he does to gain her trust, and how he ends up telling Six that he loves her.
Everyone on Galactica was already sullen and angry, and the news that Tyrol and Helo are essentially to be executed without a real trial sends Adama launching two Vipers and a Raptor with Marines to rescue his men. There's a rather inspired exchange on comm channels between Adama and Cain where they're both snippy and Adama declares he won't leave Tyrol and Helo on Pegasus to die. Cain orders Fisk to launch the alert fighters to counter the Galactica fighters. The episode ends with 'to be continued...' leaving Kara still out on her sooper sekrit mission and Lee stuck on a Raptor with the smug Pegasus CAG.
Now, if only I had put that much effort into my research...
In other news, amazon.com continues to pwn my bank account, as I ordered about five Doctor Who novels, one serial (The Invasion!), and two BSG soundtracks in the last two days.
