Battlestar Galactica 2.16: Sacrifice

[bop_radar]

Mixed emotions
What a relief that the reversed-time-sequence episodes are over! That was the first emotion of many I felt in watching Sacrifice. This was an old-skool BSG episode for me and I was pleased to see nearly the whole cast involved (no Six, no Gaius). The concept itself, that word of Sharon helping the military would get out to the fleet and unsettle people, was an interesting one, and I really liked that the hostage situation went to hell. BSG does frak-ups so well. It shows people really torn, making real mistakes and suffering the consequences.

But I didn't love everything about the episode, and as I'm incredibly predictable, the bits I *didn't* like related to (the destruction of) Lee/Kara.

Now that we're back into episodes that progress the overall plot (i.e. cylon conspiracy) it's interesting to look back on Black Market and Scar and see what they've achieved. And in retrospect, they're frustrating. I don't feel like the discoveries from either episode have been tied well into the continuing plot. Lee dating Dee? Well, he's made a remarkable bounce back to cheeriness if he feels he's ready to do that. I didn't get the sense of that in Scar, where he was still drowning his (or rather Kara's) sorrows. And Kara being troubled about Lee being with Dee? Hang on, isn't she in love with Anders? Maybe I'm just cranky (I have a headache) and perhaps when I rewatch it will make more sense, but I didn't expect this much of a disconnect from the previous two episodes.

I'm neutral on the Lee/Dualla thing. I don't think it was set up that well, as until this episode I didn't see what the attraction of Dee was to Lee, other than at the simple physical level. (She did look stunning! But then so did Kara and Lee himself. Everyone was just glowing in their off-duty clothes!) Part of me is glad that Lee has someone who wants him to live and who will be supportive, but the diehard Lee/Kara shipper in me is crying. I really felt for Kara at her not being able to go to Lee's bedside, particularly since she shot him. In this episode *she* seemed like the one more invested in their connection and that's just baffling to me.

I never was a big Billy fan but I warmed to him after seeing the cut scenes from Season 1. I liked him when he spoke up and was not the silent meek secretary, so this episode I enjoyed seeing him stand up to Adama. That made his death more tragic for me, though I admire the show for doing the hard hitting. I found the actual proposal to Dualla a little baffling as I couldn't work out if we were meant to think they'd reached a committed stage in their relationship but she was having cold feet, or he was simply really stupid at dating. It seemed too much, and I almost feel it was unnecessary in retrospect.

Having said that, I was moved for Roslin. Billy's death is a big loss to her. Of the three--Roslin, Tigh and Adama--with loved ones in the hostage situation, she was the one that lost someone, and she was the one who advocated against negotiation. I am so angry it wasn't Ellen Tigh! Grr. I was not surprised that Adama would 'negotiate' to save Lee as we've seen him put family first before. And his trick, or 'calculated risk', could have worked. But I'm really glad that it was shown to be dangerous and resulted in unforeseen casualties, because that seems realistic.

I think the thing I am most frustrated about in the episode is that Lee and Kara didn't save the day. At first that seemed to be what they were setting us up for. It was the classic Lee-and-Kara plan whereby they each contribute their own skills: Lee from inside setting up the situation to allow Kara to infiltrate. But it ended in the shooting and then Adama wouldn't let Kara help. It was BSG being hard-hitting and tough, and I love that, but OUCH: they hit me where it hurts with the Lee/Kara rift. More than just the death of any romantic possibility between them in the short-term (which I'm ok with), seeing them fail as a team really hurt. I wonder what the message is in this? For the first half of this season they built them up as the Destined Two, whose powers combined protected the fleet. Now I feel like that's been torn down. And I'm not sure where the writing is going with that or why.

Time will tell?

Comments

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

I really felt for Kara at her not being able to go to Lee's bedside, particularly since she shot him.

Well, I think it's BECAUSE she shot him that she doesn't feel she has a place at his bedside.

I was irked that Roslin seemingly had absolutely no interest in the fact that LEE was a hostage - hello, WTF? Yes, I get that she's close to Billy, but once upon a time (LOOK IT UP WRITERS!) she was pretty close to Lee too. Remember "if it weren't fo rhim, I'd be in a jail cell on Galactica"? And yet she doesn't seem to care at all that he's dying.

I am most frustrated about in the episode is that Lee and Kara didn't save the day

I think that's mostly because Kara frakked it up - Adama ORDERED her to do a recon and she decided to be all Miss "Die Hard" with that ludicrously inadequate disguise and she made a bad situation much worse, and I think she knows that REALLY well, too poor thing.

I've decided that the things I dislike the most about "Black Market" and "Scar" is that if they had never happened at all, this episode would still make perfect sense right after "Epiphanies." Which is one of the reasons why I think they were both such terribly weak episodes - I said this after I watched 'Scar' but the fact that they could have come at any time in the season kind of means they shouldn't have come in at all, IMO. If there's no follow-through other than ones we have to infer like Lee's given up on seeing Kara romantically (but then, we didn't know he was still interested until "Scar" and then that played out in the confines of a single episode and I prefer to just pretend neither of those things ever happened!)

For the first half of this season they built them up as the Destined Two, whose powers combined protected the fleet. Now I feel like that's been torn down.

I like that; I like that the Ellen Tighs are just as much part of humanity's future as the God Apollo and the Magic Destiny Starbuck - I actually kind of hate that whole idea that there are "chosen ones" (or "chosen twos") and one of the things I always liked about Lee was that I didn't think he had a special destiny or would always be there to save the day. People screw up; other people die. It's honest.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Grr... LJ just ate my long response! *starts again*

Thank you for your comments. They have given me a different perspective, which I felt I needed after viewing.

I think it's BECAUSE she shot him that she doesn't feel she has a place at his bedside
I'm not sure I can agree here, because she did go to visit him but turned away because Dee was there. I think the fact that she fessed up to Adama showed she was willing to confront the results of her actions and I think she would have gone to Lee if someone else wasn't there. I think she thinks she has less right to be there than Dee, but not no right at all.

I was irked that Roslin seemingly had absolutely no interest at all in the fact that LEE was a hostage
Oh me TOO! The way the writers have seemingly lost all interest in the Lee-Roslin relationship annoys me, as I found it one of the more interesting relationships on the show. I don't know why they've lost interest in it. Grr.

You are right that Kara did frak up, and I feel sorry for her. I guess the magic touch/luck that she (and Lee) had so often in the past failed her here. And I DO like that. It's real and honest, as you say.

I've decided the things I dislike the most about "Black Market" and "Scar" is that if they had never happened at all, this episode would still make perfect sense after "Epiphanies"
That's a really good observation, and one that points right to the heart of the problem with these eps. I expected more continuity from these eps and instead, as you say, it's as if they didn't happen. I would still have been puzzled by cheery-dating-Lee after RSII, but I could have fanwanked that Dee was good escapism for him. As it is, it seems that the whole purpose of Black Market and Scar was to show Lee and Kara as less than perfect, to show their strengths failing them. And that's ok as a concept, but I would rather it had been integrated throughout the season. Now it feels like the discoveries in those eps exist in isolation and that's not effective.

I guess we come at the 'chosen ones' thing from different angles. I'm a sucker for 'chosen ones' plots. I'm happy to fess up there! Clearly this is colouring my reactions, but it's just something I've always liked and hooked into. And what I loved about Lee and Kara as 'chosen ones' was that they were also inherently flawed. I liked the sense that they were both 'special' but also capable of frakking that destiny up. It was the double level I liked.

I see how the idea of them being no more special than Ellen Tigh is appealing--it is tough, brave, honest writing. It just isn't what I personally wanted or where I thought BSG was going with them. That's ok. I'll get over it and I'll keep watching because I do find BSG's bleak vision compelling, destined two or no destined two.

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I can agree here, because she did go to visit him but turned away because Dee was there. I think the fact that she fessed up to Adama showed she was willing to confront the results of her actions and I think she would have gone to Lee if someone else wasn't there. I think she thinks she has less right to be there than Dee, but not no right at all.

I just wrote a huge long post about Kara today – but one of the things I have been thinking about is that she backs away from going to his bed because she puts HIS needs (as she sees them) before her own – that is to say, she sees that he has Dee by his bedside, willing to talk, to be there for him in a way that Kara either can’t or won’t let herself be, and so instead of placing her need for his forgiveness/absolution foremost, she walks away so he can just be at peace with someone whom she thinks is better for him than she is.

You are right that Kara did frak up, and I feel sorry for her. I guess the magic touch/luck that she (and Lee) had so often in the past failed her here. And I DO like that. It's real and honest, as you say.

Again, sorry to reference you to another post – but I’ve been thinking about that too. I think STARBUCK screws up here (that is to say, guns-ablazing, always-save-the-day Starbuck) but Kara Thrace kind of doesn’t – she confesses right away to Adama that she thinks SHE shot Lee, that she really messed up, and then I think I see her response to Lee in the hospital as more indicative of how she’s growing up as a person. And so I think it’s important that she realizes that Starbuck doesn’t always save the day – that she can’t always help as long as she draws the RIGHT lesson from it, which is not that she always hurts the ones she loves, but that sometimes, she is not the center of everything…

And what I loved about Lee and Kara as 'chosen ones' was that they were also inherently flawed. I liked the sense that they were both 'special' but also capable of frakking that destiny up. It was the double level I liked.

I don’t see why that’s not still there if you want it to be – just that it’s not always going to be what triumphs; and in some ways, it’s symbolic of their fractured personalities that their partnership is also fractured in this one. They’re not on Cloud Nine together – they’re not even aware of what the other is doing – and they’re not planning or plotting together. I think Lee’s love for Kara is wonderful, but I also think he needs to have someone love HIM that way and Kara is not capable of it at this moment because she doesn’t even love herself, how can she love someone else in the full knowledge of their flaws and weaknesses? And I think Kara’s belief that she has to save the day is also great, except … it places her always at the center of the universe, and maybe she needs to learn that a hair-raising Starbuckian plan isn’t always the way to go.

In the end, though, it makes them no less heroic if they are also human and flawed and imperfect and fighting the demons on the side constantly.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

I like the idea that Kara was putting Lee's needs first in turning away from Lee's bedside. I think that's a plausible reading, and one I hadn't considered. To be honest, I was so busy having heartache for her over the shooting, that I was more in the reading whereby she simply doesn't think she's worthy in comparison to Dee--so more of a self-centred/self-pitying turning away. I guess we can't know for sure *why* she walks away, but you're right that the result is that she doesn't put her own need for absolution over Lee's needs. I just hope she doesn't beat herself up too badly!

I found your suggestion of a split between the 'Starbuck' persona or identity and Kara Thrace interesting. Certainly in this ep Kara showed maturity beyond the simple cocky bravado of Starbuck in her confession to Adama. That was really moving.

I think it's important that she realises that Starbuck doesn't always save the day ... as long as she draws the RIGHT lesson from it, which is not that she always hurts the ones she loves, but that sometimes she's not the center of everything
Yes, I'd like to see her learning that lesson too. If her not going to Lee was not just self-pity, but a genuine realisation that she's not the best person for him right now, then great--it's character development!

I think Lee's love for Kara is wonderful, but I also think he needs to have someone love HIM that way
I both agree and disagree (to be tricksy!). I do want to see Lee have someone love him fully, and it feels like a nice balance to the Kara/Anders idyllic romance. However, I'd also like something a bit more interesting than just devoted-girlfriend out of Dee. It's quite possible that it *will* be more interesting than that (I'm spoiler-free) but I haven't really seen enough to tell yet.
Kara is not capable of it at the moment because she doesn't even love herself
I think that holds equally true of Lee right now. And that's where I do have a little confusion about Lee/Dee as a relationship, because I had understood from Black Market that he was not in any place to hold down a real two-way relationship with anyone right now. As we've already discussed, it's as if that ep never happened, because now he's dating her, no explanation given. So do I assume that he's got over his emotional baggage? Or do I assume that he's still got it but is willing to burden Dee with it? If it's the former, than I don't feel it was well explained on the show. And if it's the latter, then I *am* a little uncomfortable with Lee/Dee, simply because I don't like the idea of the woman doing the man's emotional work for him in a relationship. That's very untypical of BSG's gender politics, so I suspect that's not the case. But I'm still waiting to see what the dynamic in their relationship will be like.

You are right that the double level of heroes but flawed is still there. I exaggerated! Or rather, I didn't make my question/concern specific enough. The question I have in my mind is what the writers' direction is at the moment. They seem to be focussing on the flaws in the Starbuck and Apollo identities. If, as you argue, this works to show greater complexity and character growth, then that's great. But I don't instincively (yet!) have that understanding myself from watching the eps to date. The recent exploration of flaws has been interesting, but I want it to be leading somewhere/to be integrated into the overall plot.

it makes them no less heroic if they are also human and flawed and imperfect
Oh absolutely. I'd argue it makes them *more* heroic, and it certainly makes me love them more. My question or concern is really more about where the writers are going with them: I'd like to be confident that it was really about character growth/insight. Because the disconnected eps of Scar and Black Market have left a, well, scar (bad pun!) on my trust. (Just to be more contrary (*g), I don't even really want to know for sure what's planned, as I prefer to be spoiler-free: but it's still frustrating not to know!)

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

I was more in the reading whereby she simply doesn't think she's worthy in comparison to Dee--so more of a self-centred/self-pitying turning away

Heh! I’m sure that’s part of it, but I prefer to think it’s not still All About Starbuck in her mind – that she actually wants something good for LEE? Because otherwise, this friendship here is getting awfully one-sided. I believe Ron Moore said something about how they were going to have Kara see Lee and Dualla having a drink together and be all “the man she looooves with another woman” and then I think I would have wanted to smack her, because he was right there, wanting to be with her, and she turned HIM down as an easy lay and I don’t think she has any right to feel that kind of self-pity now because he’s decided the healthier thing is to move on.

Certainly in this ep Kara showed maturity beyond the simple cocky bravado of Starbuck in her confession to Adama. That was really moving.

I think “Starbuck” as a mode of conduct is increasingly failing her; we saw that last episode with Kat actually out-Starbucking Starbuck and I daresay showing Kara just how annoying that person can be; and in this one where her guns-blazing act before you think shtick so signally failed.

However, I'd also like something a bit more interesting than just devoted-girlfriend out of Dee. It's quite possible that it *will* be more interesting than that (I'm spoiler-free) but I haven't really seen enough to tell yet.

Well, if they keep cutting scenes and telling us about them in the podcast (::frowns crossly::) then who knows what the romance will be? I think there’s a fair degree of guilt now for Dee, even though I don’t think she’s responsible AT ALL for Billy’s death.

As we've already discussed, it's as if that ep never happened, because now he's dating her, no explanation given. So do I assume that he's got over his emotional baggage? Or do I assume that he's still got it but is willing to burden Dee with it? If it's the former, than I don't feel it was well explained on the show

I feel like NOTHING that happened in “Black Market” had any bearing on anything that came afterwards; like, Lee is in a dark, reserved place that even his father notices, but by the next episode, he’s put all that aside to be there for Kara? What, did his issues get resolved offscreen, because we needed to make room for Kara’s suicidal tendencies? How DID we go from “I don’t know what you want me to say” to make friendly chit-chat at a bar? HOW? What? How? ARGH!!! I’m so frustrated with what they’re doing with Lee, I cannot tell you. It infuriates me that I can’t figure out the least thing about who my favorite character IS or what he’s thinking at the moment. And I hate that the only thing I can really hold onto at the moment with this show is “gosh, Lee’s pretty!” That’s not why I fell in love with BSG.

Because the disconnected eps of Scar and Black Market have left a, well, scar (bad pun!) on my trust. (Just to be more contrary (*g), I don't even really want to know for sure what's planned, as I prefer to be spoiler-free: but it's still frustrating not to know!)

Me too! I don’t think “sacrifice” was that fabulous in comparison to Season 1 or the early part of Season 2, but compared to the preceding three episodes, it was so much better that I think it just seemed great to me in comparison.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Mm. Yes, to so much of that, especially the difficulties of being a Lee fan at the moment. I have a fair degree of anger at the moment. You nailed it with not being able to figure out what my favourite character is thinking right now. So frustrating! So unusual. I'm clinging to the hope that the plots will pick up and this is just a bad patch. And I agree--Sacrifice seemed good in comparison to recent eps, but not compared to the best eps. Grrr. This is the first really big letdown for me from BSG. I demand a lot of it. I forgive waaaaay more easily in my other fandom, because sloppy writing is par for the course there... but I'll be way more mad if BSG continues in this way, because it had so much more potential and really was pulling it off for a while.

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think that’s why I am so much harsher with BSG than I was with “Angel” for example, which always had kind of nonsensical plots and sometimes things that made no sense at all. It’s the feeling that they did stuff SO WELL for a while, and now I expect the high standard they set themselves to continue.

I did like “The Captain’s Hand” quite a bit, even if it was not perfect.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Yes. When you know that something has the potential to get it right, it's a lot harder to forgive errors. Especially as BSG held out so much hope of avoiding all the usual sci-fi clangers of implausibility.

It's still an above-par show for me. 'The Captain's Hand' was definitely getting back to form, if not the best ep ever. I guess the Honeymoon Phase is over, though! ;)