igrockspock

So the boy and I have been devouring Battlestar Galactica as quickly as we can, but halfway through season 2.5, I am beginning to run into problems liking my favorite characters...or, more accurately, my favorite characters are not acting like themselves. I think someone on the production team said, "we need Adama to show more emotion" or "Kara Thrace needs a softer side" or whatever, and it's not working for me.



You know what, Sam Anders is a good-looking guy. If I were stranded in the wilderness, on the run for my life, and looked like Kara Thrace, hell yeah, I'd hit that too. No judgment there. I can even believe that Kara has been lonelier and in more pain that she'd like to admit, so her one-night stand might mean more to her than it would to other people. Again, no judgment. What I can't accept is the level of angst, and the accompanying self-absorption, self-destruction, and alcohol abuse that come with leaving Sam Anders. And what makes me particularly angry is that the writers want all her pain to be about this man when she was kidnapped by Cylons to be part of a baby farm. That would be horrifying for any woman, but for an abuse survivor like Kara? Someone for whom control of her body is probably very important? Someone who was probably emotionally manipulated a lot as a child, and then had that used against her by Cylon agents while she was physically incapacitated? That is so much worse than not getting to be with a guy! And the show wants to pretend that nearly being turned into a breeding machine never happened because Kara's problem is all about a MAN. I did not think I could get any angrier than I was...and then Kara has this beautiful moment where she lists the names of every pilot who's died since the beginning of the series, which exposes that she really does care and she was completely lying when she said she didn't even know their names, and I let out a huge sigh of relief because this was not about a man at all. Kara was just pretending it was because she did not want to acknowledge the pain of losing so many comrades and yes, being a little scared for her own life. And then came the last scene of the episode, and Kara has to say, "yeah, it sure sucks all those pilots died, but the real problem is Sam Anders." And I wish I were more articulate than this so I could say exactly how angry that makes me feel. But I can't. Instead I just have to say how fucking predictable and how fucking disappointing it is that after all Kara has been through, it really is about a man.

My only (and admittedly very vague) consolation is that Kara is not the sole prisoner of ridiculous angst. WTF Lee Adama? Seemed to be just fine and then tried to kill himself in his space suit and now mopes around being all dark and broody. I feel like some network exec just told the writers that one broody Adama was not enough, so do what you have to to get a second one. And also a big WTF to his back story with the girl. I don't even get it. Was she pregnant and he told her to fuck off? Did he tell her/pressure her to get an abortion? The boy and I both think the writers decided it would be interesting if he had an ill-advised affair with a prostitute, but they couldn't just make him be a lonely but sexual person who wanted to go to a prostitute, so they had to cough up some angsty back story to justify his decision. Except the story of Lee Adama with a prostitute would have been far more interesting if it had been about them and not his sweet, sad ex-girlfriend back on Caprica.

Honorable mention wtf's to Laura Roslin, who wanted to abort the Cylon baby for apparently no reason (not to mention the weird prophet/Christ figure thing she's got going) and Admiral Adama crying over Sharon's dead body. Really, Sharon is the only reason I've been watching this show lately, and they need to quit beating the trust angle over the head. We get it, she's an eeeeeeeevil Cylon and no one trusts her no matter how many times she saved the ship. Let's move on already.


I just hope the show hasn't completely jumped the shark and that more good episodes will be in store...eventually. I'm going to watch the whole series anyway because I would like to write some fic for it, and I probably need to know the whole canon to do that.