I liked the character: she had an odd reserve to her that was quietly powerful and she seemed to hold her own counsel in a way that made her inscrutable. She ultimately lived and died by her own conscience, making decisions that were incredibly difficult to live with as well as at least one that was extremely heroic. I liked the restraint in her character a lot--she was haunted by her actions but she carried that privately. Even her drug use wasn't over-dramatised.
Her restraint and reticence are interesting in a general sense, while also frustrating for us being able to identify or just get to know a new character. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, though. As with many things, it's a fine line to walk. (And yeah, I liked her too.) She definitely changes after she watches Cain shoot the original XO, and understandably so. Throughout the rest of the episode, I got a clear sense that the emotional/empathic part of her brain had simply shut down -- both by a conscious choice and her own reflexive way of coping with what she'd seen and done. She seemed almost like she was, well, on autopilot.
Kara's life is at stake several times as a result of decisions Lee makes or supports but the two of them retain an air of having an intimate understanding of one another. She's even able to joke about it when she tells him she's requested to be reassigned. Can you call that trust? It's not trust that they won't put each other's lives at stake if the military situation demands it. It's not trust that they won't fight, argue and hate each other at times. But there's a tie binding them despite all that. But when it comes down to it Lee trusts Kara to complete the mission--but fate decides otherwise.
Agreed, though I have a slightly different interpretation, especially with regards to that last scene. While Kara understands the hard choices Lee made and doesn't at all blame him for them, I think she felt a little bit of (self-protective) distance from him there. "If things had been different -- if Kendra hadn't stepped up -- I would now be dead." She joked with him, but I caught an edge in her voice and eyes. Just a small one. Again, she is NOT mad at him, and I don't want you to think I'm attacking Lee here! She probably knows that, in his position, she might've made the same call. But she seemed a bit rattled by it. She chooses to put that distance between them (through the transfer) because she doesn't want either of them to be in that position again.
The parallels in the personality stakes are far more obvious. Both are tough and wilful and demand respect from others. However where Kara is inclined to emotional explosions and mouthing off, Kendra is silent, bordering on sullen.
Hmm! I think a big part of it also comes from their own respective comfort levels on their ships. Kendra has nobody to trust and, from the looks of things, no friends or even social companions. Cain forced her to become hardcore -- a razor -- and even after Cain's death, she has remained closed off and private, by both circumstance and choice.
Imagine Kara on a ship where she was completely new. Knew nobody. Was forced to deal with a, well, razor-edged commander. How much of her personality would remain the same? Would she still have that insouciance and be so willing to test boundaries? I think she would, to an extent. But she'd also be slightly more careful as she sussed out this new environment, until she found that same comfort level that she has on Galactica. She can mouth off and chatter on comms and act however she damn well pleases because, even though she's on Pegasus, she knows her place and just how far she can go.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-11-05 06:21 am (UTC)I liked the character: she had an odd reserve to her that was quietly powerful and she seemed to hold her own counsel in a way that made her inscrutable. She ultimately lived and died by her own conscience, making decisions that were incredibly difficult to live with as well as at least one that was extremely heroic. I liked the restraint in her character a lot--she was haunted by her actions but she carried that privately. Even her drug use wasn't over-dramatised.
Her restraint and reticence are interesting in a general sense, while also frustrating for us being able to identify or just get to know a new character. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, though. As with many things, it's a fine line to walk. (And yeah, I liked her too.) She definitely changes after she watches Cain shoot the original XO, and understandably so. Throughout the rest of the episode, I got a clear sense that the emotional/empathic part of her brain had simply shut down -- both by a conscious choice and her own reflexive way of coping with what she'd seen and done. She seemed almost like she was, well, on autopilot.
Kara's life is at stake several times as a result of decisions Lee makes or supports but the two of them retain an air of having an intimate understanding of one another. She's even able to joke about it when she tells him she's requested to be reassigned. Can you call that trust? It's not trust that they won't put each other's lives at stake if the military situation demands it. It's not trust that they won't fight, argue and hate each other at times. But there's a tie binding them despite all that. But when it comes down to it Lee trusts Kara to complete the mission--but fate decides otherwise.
Agreed, though I have a slightly different interpretation, especially with regards to that last scene. While Kara understands the hard choices Lee made and doesn't at all blame him for them, I think she felt a little bit of (self-protective) distance from him there. "If things had been different -- if Kendra hadn't stepped up -- I would now be dead." She joked with him, but I caught an edge in her voice and eyes. Just a small one. Again, she is NOT mad at him, and I don't want you to think I'm attacking Lee here! She probably knows that, in his position, she might've made the same call. But she seemed a bit rattled by it. She chooses to put that distance between them (through the transfer) because she doesn't want either of them to be in that position again.
The parallels in the personality stakes are far more obvious. Both are tough and wilful and demand respect from others. However where Kara is inclined to emotional explosions and mouthing off, Kendra is silent, bordering on sullen.
Hmm! I think a big part of it also comes from their own respective comfort levels on their ships. Kendra has nobody to trust and, from the looks of things, no friends or even social companions. Cain forced her to become hardcore -- a razor -- and even after Cain's death, she has remained closed off and private, by both circumstance and choice.
Imagine Kara on a ship where she was completely new. Knew nobody. Was forced to deal with a, well, razor-edged commander. How much of her personality would remain the same? Would she still have that insouciance and be so willing to test boundaries? I think she would, to an extent. But she'd also be slightly more careful as she sussed out this new environment, until she found that same comfort level that she has on Galactica. She can mouth off and chatter on comms and act however she damn well pleases because, even though she's on Pegasus, she knows her place and just how far she can go.