BSG 3:18 The son also rises

[hazelk]

If this episode was supposed to be about who blew up Saddam Hussein Gaius Baltar’s lawyer I’d give it at best a C but it really wasn’t. It also wasn’t a single-focus eulogy to Starbuck’s passing. I think she would have preferred it that way and so do I. I liked that the whole ship wasn’t united in mourning and that those who did mourn her did so each in their own way. And that it didn’t make better people of them. It split Lee from his father because Bill couldn’t help making the whole thing into a manpain contest. Lee, on the other hand, either hadn’t yet reached or rose above the 'pissiness' stage of grieving. That moment when he didn’t realise he’d used the wrong call sign was excruciating and it was good to see him and Sam finding common ground in the one thing that had previously set them against each other.

Gaius seems to have crossed a line. He can hold it together when other people are around, even imaginary people but when all by himself he’s gone completely batshit insane. Maybe he always was, just never alone enough for us to see it. Or it could be those writings, with the self-examination involved he’s finally caught sight of his own mind in the mirror and to know the face of God is to know madness.

I liked Cally in her one scene. The voice of reason until it turns out to be a front for anti-cylon rantings. She doesn’t blame Baltar for signing her death warrant because that would mean it wasn’t all their fault.

Last but not least, Gaius’s new lawyer is a piece of work. Something Shelley Godfrey-like about him, it wouldn't feel at all surprising if he suddenly disappeared as inexplicably as he came cat, sunglasses, miscellaneous pilferings and all. Could be just that he’s the first truly competent civilian to appear but he knows people’s weak points a little too well. Is he really old enough to have worked for Lee’s grandfather? I think it works though, the whole trickster thing because there’s been that sense of something playing everyone for so long. Maybe the final fifth D’Anna recognised was Wiley E Coyote under that robe. The native American one not the cartoon.

Comments

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

She doesn’t blame Baltar for signing her death warrant because that would mean it wasn’t all their fault.

What a sharp observation!

[abrakadabrah.livejournal.com]

Maybe he's the first competent actor, so that makes him seem like the first competent civilian.

His acting is so outstanding, it really sets him apart.

I liked that the whole ship wasn’t united in mourning and that those who did mourn her did so each in their own way. And that it didn’t make better people of them. It split Lee from his father because Bill couldn’t help making the whole thing into a manpain contest. Lee, on the other hand, either hadn’t yet reached or rose above the 'pissiness' stage of grieving.

I like this observation. But as for Lee, I think even here he can't stand up to his father; and instead of competing, he's learned to withdraw. Though it's spectacularly unobservent for Bill to have missed that whole interaction between Lee and Starbuck.

I liked the Anders-Lee moment, though. They recognized each other, even if Bill didn't recognize Lee.

And no Dualla at all - except a glimpse or two - featured in this episode. A telling absence.

[abrakadabrah.livejournal.com]

Whoops, close italics.