falafel_musings (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
falafel_musings) wrote2009-01-31 09:05 am
falafel_musings) wrote2009-01-31 09:05 am
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'The Oath' Review (spoilers of 4x13)
(I hurt...) Is fandom trying to punish me for my sins?
Falafel's Review
I didn't exactly enjoy this episode. It was a slick thrill-ride of an episode (like a rollacoster that makes you want to throw up) but well...my own sense of idealism over this show feels shaken and darkened because of it. Maybe that was the idea, but it wasn't a pleasant experience. I know some fans go wild for Guns! Explosions! Buttkicking! etc. I've never got a kick out of violence myself. I find the human fleet tearing each other apart quite an ordeal to watch. What happened to 'So Say We All'? I know. That's the point. But it still hurts.
I'd give this episode very highmarks for storytelling and structure, except for one thing that disappointed me. The B&W feel. The Goodies VS Baddies vibe. During the last two episodes they did such a good job of presenting both sides of the argument with lashings of moral grey. I know Lee still paid lipservice to this, but really - who are they kidding? The rebel troops were portrayed as snarling thugs (Connor's back. What a surprise) while Adama's gang were heroic cowboys. It didn't have to be that way. I think it would have been a stronger episode with more balance and doubt between factions. The apologetic Marine was a good touch. I could have done with more of that.
But yes, grudgingly I'll admit it was a very good plot development to inspire the main characters to stop sulking over their losses and become awesome again. I don't know. Maybe it did have to be this way? If Felix hadn't become the villian would they ever have become heroes again? Bill is fighting for his fleet and his mission again. Laura is speaking to her people again. Apollo has found his moral centre again. Starbuck is kicking ass again. This is what they should have done from the moment they came back from Earth's surface. But they didn't care. If Felix did nothing else that's good this day, at least he made them care again.
*heavy sigh* I've been worrying a lot over Felix dying. Now I know the worst of it. Felix Gaeta is already dead. This boy died defending his uniform. This boy died of a broken heart. Soon he'll die again and he will have nothing. There's nothing left of Felix now. Nothing but his outstanding tactical skills (seriously, wow...) and his hatred for the world. Poor Felix was always very unlucky when he tried to do the right thing, but he is frighteningly good at doing the wrong thing. I want to hate the writers so so much for doing this. But here's the infuriating thing; I think Felix's arc is so powerful and fascinating. I want to applaud those same evil writers who are destroying my soul *slow resentful claps*. Felix Gaeta used to be the most innocent, sensible, selfless kid in the fleet. This study of a young idealistic soldier broken and transformed over a bitter four year war has been well-written, well-paced and well-performed. I think it's an important story to tell, even if it's a horribly depressing one for a fan who loved him. I'll always love the boy that Felix was, even if I can't love what he has become. Felix has become an emblem of why I hate war so much and everything that it does to people.
"There will be no forgiveness." This line was another major blow for me. Seriously, I don't forgive Felix and the other rebels for what they are doing. If Felix ever wakes up to the horror of this situation, he'll never forgive himself either. But it still hurts to hear Daddy Adama swearing he will not forgive those who are opposing him. Forgiveness is the thing I love most about Bill. I love Bill's forgiveness as much as I loved Felix's goodness. I don't know if I can take another death. This line actually makes me think Felix will survive the mutiny, either surrendering or being overpowered, and the writers will test if Adama will carry out his own "reckoning" and continue to rule with an iron fist. Which is why this mutiny is happening in the first place. The scene where Bill and Felix were yelling at each other in the CIC was so painful to watch. I heard them both. I understood them both. But they didn't hear or understand each other.
Gaius Baltar has become my cuddly teddy bear on this show! I'm clinging to Gaius so much now, because for all his flaws - he is as vain and self-preserving as ever - he might be the only person on this show who hasn't got any violent malice in him. He's far too busy trying to save his own neck. Gotta love him. And I must say I still LOVE my Baltar/Gaeta ship! If I loved them when Gaius was the bad guy and Felix was the good guy I can love the reversal too, right? That phone calI. Felix's face! These two are so ex-boyfriends. I also loved all the scenes with Baltar and Roslin, who are now BFFs apparently, though they still like to bitchslap each other over their bogus religious conversions and commiserate over how they got pwned by their Presidential aids.
*sigh again* If nothing else I'm happy see Alessandro Juliani getting away from Dradis contacts and expositioning to play a major dynamic role on this show. For the actor this is all great stuff. His character used to be a blank sheet of paper and now he is a warped kalidescope of crazy colours. It's quite an achievement. I'm still waiting for this 'pinnacle' moment for Felix that AJ has spoken of. Truly I'll be amazed with AJ if he can somehow pull Felix back from the brink at this stage.
Next week...looks like a frakking nightmare. Why me, fandom?
Falafel's Review
I didn't exactly enjoy this episode. It was a slick thrill-ride of an episode (like a rollacoster that makes you want to throw up) but well...my own sense of idealism over this show feels shaken and darkened because of it. Maybe that was the idea, but it wasn't a pleasant experience. I know some fans go wild for Guns! Explosions! Buttkicking! etc. I've never got a kick out of violence myself. I find the human fleet tearing each other apart quite an ordeal to watch. What happened to 'So Say We All'? I know. That's the point. But it still hurts.
I'd give this episode very highmarks for storytelling and structure, except for one thing that disappointed me. The B&W feel. The Goodies VS Baddies vibe. During the last two episodes they did such a good job of presenting both sides of the argument with lashings of moral grey. I know Lee still paid lipservice to this, but really - who are they kidding? The rebel troops were portrayed as snarling thugs (Connor's back. What a surprise) while Adama's gang were heroic cowboys. It didn't have to be that way. I think it would have been a stronger episode with more balance and doubt between factions. The apologetic Marine was a good touch. I could have done with more of that.
But yes, grudgingly I'll admit it was a very good plot development to inspire the main characters to stop sulking over their losses and become awesome again. I don't know. Maybe it did have to be this way? If Felix hadn't become the villian would they ever have become heroes again? Bill is fighting for his fleet and his mission again. Laura is speaking to her people again. Apollo has found his moral centre again. Starbuck is kicking ass again. This is what they should have done from the moment they came back from Earth's surface. But they didn't care. If Felix did nothing else that's good this day, at least he made them care again.
*heavy sigh* I've been worrying a lot over Felix dying. Now I know the worst of it. Felix Gaeta is already dead. This boy died defending his uniform. This boy died of a broken heart. Soon he'll die again and he will have nothing. There's nothing left of Felix now. Nothing but his outstanding tactical skills (seriously, wow...) and his hatred for the world. Poor Felix was always very unlucky when he tried to do the right thing, but he is frighteningly good at doing the wrong thing. I want to hate the writers so so much for doing this. But here's the infuriating thing; I think Felix's arc is so powerful and fascinating. I want to applaud those same evil writers who are destroying my soul *slow resentful claps*. Felix Gaeta used to be the most innocent, sensible, selfless kid in the fleet. This study of a young idealistic soldier broken and transformed over a bitter four year war has been well-written, well-paced and well-performed. I think it's an important story to tell, even if it's a horribly depressing one for a fan who loved him. I'll always love the boy that Felix was, even if I can't love what he has become. Felix has become an emblem of why I hate war so much and everything that it does to people.
"There will be no forgiveness." This line was another major blow for me. Seriously, I don't forgive Felix and the other rebels for what they are doing. If Felix ever wakes up to the horror of this situation, he'll never forgive himself either. But it still hurts to hear Daddy Adama swearing he will not forgive those who are opposing him. Forgiveness is the thing I love most about Bill. I love Bill's forgiveness as much as I loved Felix's goodness. I don't know if I can take another death. This line actually makes me think Felix will survive the mutiny, either surrendering or being overpowered, and the writers will test if Adama will carry out his own "reckoning" and continue to rule with an iron fist. Which is why this mutiny is happening in the first place. The scene where Bill and Felix were yelling at each other in the CIC was so painful to watch. I heard them both. I understood them both. But they didn't hear or understand each other.
Gaius Baltar has become my cuddly teddy bear on this show! I'm clinging to Gaius so much now, because for all his flaws - he is as vain and self-preserving as ever - he might be the only person on this show who hasn't got any violent malice in him. He's far too busy trying to save his own neck. Gotta love him. And I must say I still LOVE my Baltar/Gaeta ship! If I loved them when Gaius was the bad guy and Felix was the good guy I can love the reversal too, right? That phone calI. Felix's face! These two are so ex-boyfriends. I also loved all the scenes with Baltar and Roslin, who are now BFFs apparently, though they still like to bitchslap each other over their bogus religious conversions and commiserate over how they got pwned by their Presidential aids.
*sigh again* If nothing else I'm happy see Alessandro Juliani getting away from Dradis contacts and expositioning to play a major dynamic role on this show. For the actor this is all great stuff. His character used to be a blank sheet of paper and now he is a warped kalidescope of crazy colours. It's quite an achievement. I'm still waiting for this 'pinnacle' moment for Felix that AJ has spoken of. Truly I'll be amazed with AJ if he can somehow pull Felix back from the brink at this stage.
Next week...looks like a frakking nightmare. Why me, fandom?