vaznetti | BSG 3x04: Exodus 2

Dude, and we say Supernatural is emotional porn? Because, ye gods and little fishes!

Although really, my reactions are limited to variations on Oh, God, Oh, no and Oh, fuck. it started hard and didn't really let up. Even the plot points you could see coming a mile away (like Lee coming back to save the day) were well done. And I love that they did lose a battlestar, but it was Cain's blood-stained Pegasus. I rather wonder if the loss of the Pegasus will serve as a kind of reset -- it's presence marked a division in what was left of humanity from the moment it arrived.

Saul. Saul and Ellen. I'm just -- she knew, she knew what was in the cup, and he gave it to her anyway and... Oh, Saul.

And Gaeta, and Baltar finding his backbone, and... there were just so many good moments here.

I really did love the moment when Kasey's mother came up to take her from Kara. Because you knew that wasn't her daughter, but I was worried that she'd turn out to be some Cylon plant. But instead she was just a human child. Lovely.

But mostly -- wow. This was a great episode. And at the end, when everyone was cheering Adama? I did get chills, because that's going to come back and bite him in the ass -- because sure, Adama came back for them, but Tigh was the one who made sure there was something left to rescue, and the way he was standing there at the end, utterly alone...

Oh, Saul.

It felt very like a reset: one Battlestar, with Bill Adama in command. Roslin back in Colonial One (although isn't Zarek president now?) We'll see how well that works out for them.

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I realize this probably makes no sense, but I found the Saul and Ellen scene the most dramatic, and tragic, bit of the episode, though I never liked the characters. Not in the "poorly thought, poorly done" way, but in the "these are well developed people that I don't like" way. It felt like the only moment of moral clarity in either of their lives. Not that it was necessarily the most moral thing to do, but that they both understood it quite clearly. Which I think the show could only pull off because they've got some really amazing actors.

I see exactly what you mean about loving the scene without loving the characters -- neither of them is a likeable person, really, but it was a tragic moment despite that. I think what impresses me about this show is its ability to make me feel for all the characters, even those I don't particularly care for.

I'm not sure about the "only moment of moral clarity" thing, but I agree that they both spent most of their lives -- and especially the last few months -- in a very gray place morally.

I would just like to mention that Tom Zarek and Laura Roslin are so dating.

You are so right about that. Look, I even have an icon for them!

I certainly HOPE so!

Oh, yes.
Poor Saul, he broke my heart when he cried over Ellen.
It could be an interesting power struggle between Zarek and Roslin.

wisteria just posted a wonderful little fic from Kara's POV set immediately after this ep.

Thanks for the recommendation -- I'll remember to take a look at that.

I think... I mean, he'd just killed her, and there he was sobbing over her body. And it was so inevitable, and so horrible. Really heartbreaking.

Oh this episode broke me into tiny little pieces. I haven't even posted about it in my LJ because I was so devasted by Ellen's death. I mean Ellen. I loathed her when she first appeared on the show and by this episode she seemed to be to be the most human of all of them.

because sure, Adama came back for them, but Tigh was the one who made sure there was something left to rescue, and the way he was standing there at the end, utterly alone...

I think he may now be my favourite character. I haven't seen enough of Adama senior or Roslin this season, otherwise it would still be them. If they don't find something better to do with Lee's character he'll never recover my interest.

Of course there's always Kara. And I thought she was broken before.

Sorry, I'm rambling all over the place, but this episode . . .

It's funny, because Ellen spent the first two seasons as comic relief, basically. And then all at once she became such a tragic figure and her death was so meaningful. Even though I found her funny but unlikable when she first appeared.

I like Tigh as a character a lot more than I like him as a person, if that makes any sense. He embodies a lot of the moral complexities of the recent developments.

And yes, Kara -- that moment where the mother turned up to take Kasey back, and Kara was just devastated, because she thought she'd played Leoben but he'd played her so very, very well.

And at the end, when everyone was cheering Adama? I did get chills, because that's going to come back and bite him in the ass -- because sure, Adama came back for them, but Tigh was the one who made sure there was something left to rescue, and the way he was standing there at the end, utterly alone...

I was also dying for Tigh inside at that moment. That's pretty amazing because next to Baltar, I think I loathe him more than anyone on the show.

I had to curb my cheering during this entire episode because my husband was sleeping, but there were at least three moments where I had to stick a pillow in my mouth to muffle the noises I couldn't control.

1) The moment where Galactica dropped into the atmosphere of New Caprica and launched its vipers before jumping. OMG! The music, the image of the ship burning up in the atmosphere...the whole thing just killed me. Talk about the calvary coming over the hill! I usually don't care about special effects and battle sequences, but this show does it better than anyone else.

2) Pegasus appearing when Galactica was getting hammered by the Cylons. Yeah, we all knew it was coming, but Jeezus, how fucking great was that?

3) Laura sitting her butt in the president's chair on Colonial One. Yay!

Still on a total emotional high from this show. It's nice to know there's something to look forward to on television now that Deadwood is gone.

I cheered when Galactica dropped into orbit as well, because that was such an amazing image, the atmosphere burning around it as the fighters came out, and then jumping away. And when Pegasus turned up: we all knew it was coming, but the moment was just so well done. But I got a little teary when Roslin sat down in the president's chair again, because she looked both so fragile and so strong, all at once.

And then when Pegasus went slamming into the Base Star, and the debris took out another of them... The space battle was really well done. In fact, the visuals -- the cinematography, or whatever you call it on TV -- have been amazing in every episode this season.

I like that the show can make me feel for characters I don't like -- although I've come to like Tigh and Ellen both, over the series. But even Baltar impressed me last night, in his scene with Gaeta.

"I could use the drink."

She totally knew, the whole time, and her entire speech was just shreds and tatters of irony and truth and defeat and triumph. Probably the only time she ever felt she had Saul's undivided attention, and the last time she'd test his love for her against his duty as an officer. I confess I never saw Ellen as a comic relief: she compulsively made herself as much of a threat as possible to Tigh's career, to the point of ridicule, but it was never very funny, I thought, mostly because the actress was very much in control of the part and she made it hurt.

The entire episode blew me away: plot, acting, visuals, and the careful, careful writing. Wow.

Hm. I think I'd need to see more of her other scenes -- before the New Caprica stuff -- to be sure of that. I thought it was interesting that she told him what she had to do to get him out -- the way she did it, I mean, that she wasn't justifying herself (or at least, that I didn't get that impression), but she was still aware that she was hurting him. I think she was waiting to see what he would do with the knowledge.

It was an amazing scene. No doubt about that.

BSG 3x04: Exodus 2

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