sff: Razor

[lyssie]

Yeah, so I finally finished watching it. Hrm.

First off, I'd like to note that I've seen one (or more) comments about Kendra's accent, and how it didn't seem right for the actress. Um. She's been in Farscape. I'm pretty sure that's her natural accent, actually. (could be wrong, 'course). And, man, poor Kendra. She went from being one of Scorpy's nurses to being Cain's aide. That's... really not a step up. (though she did learn some buttmonkey tactics from Braca).

Also, she was probably glad they didn't put her in a wacky blue wig and giant blue contacts.

Season three BSG spoilers, in here, probably.

1. Cain/Gina? Really not subtle. In fact, Gina's response to Kendra's question was like this totally out of the blue lifestory babble that made me go "...wha?" Kendra totally was NOT asking for that kind of info.

2. That said, I don't really care either way if they're lesbians. Though, wow, lesbians are batshit insane and evil, huh?

3. I liked Kendra Shaw, a lot. And I wonder if she's what Cain was like as a green recruit. I think the actress did a superb job with her, and I'm sad she's dead, though there's no way to have shoe-horned her into season three (Although it's sad no one remembers her...). I'm highly impressed she found the backdoor in Baltar's program, too.

4. Tangent to Kendra, while it was nice to see Kara Thrace, she was very much season three Kara Thrace. (also, someone missed her tattoo in a pickup shot from the storming of the cylon thingie, and she's definitely sporting it....) Good to know she's still drinking away her sadness over the lack of Sam Anders in her life. (that was a joke, people. She's drinking out of boredom, and because there's no one on Pegasus she'd bother to frak)

5. Still hate Cain. No, seriously, I tried really hard to like her. And in the very beginning, there was a flicker of "hrm..." but then, the dinner party, and her trying to rationalize her batshit insane speech. Yeah, no. She played her people like the morons they are, and then ordered the destruction of a person. I still say the Peggy had to have had a rape problem after that. Men AND women being targeted, because maybe they were Cylon sympathizers.

6. Although, I would like to note that I'm pleased that Kendra and Cain could have been men, and their characters wouldn't have changed much. I'd still hate Cain, but I'm not sure what I'd think of Kendra as a boy. I'd probably be bored. (before anyone tells me I hate the wimmens, please to see my utter hatred of Ari from NCIS, Sylar from Heroes, and Henry Peter Gyrich and f'in Bolivar Trask (I hate them so much, I made them one person). And my utter adoration for Servalan, Grayza, and Dark Phoenix. Mmm. Women.)

7. Oh, Lee. Sigh. Hrm. I had very little problem with Lee, even his decision to kill Kara. He was very Lee-like, which was a nice change from the man I've never met who occupied the space for most of season three. Crossroads, btw, was totally Lee.

8. Continuity, however, is NOT BSG's friend. Kara as Peggy CAG? The Cylon War 20 41 years ago? Kara's wedding tattoo on her arm? I'm sure were other things, but those spring to mind.

9. And now we come to the antebellum centurions. Tsk, tsk. And people were telling me the comicbook a) wasn't canon, and b) was a comicbook. WTF do you think the whole hybrid subplot/shit was? That was the most cracky stolen from Greg Pak THING EVER. And the explanation was very sub-par and really reminded me of Virus. That whole "lost ship of old centurions guarding blahblah" thing is almost directly from the pages of the comicbook. The only thing missing was Kara Thrace ordering them to frak off.

10. However. The most important thing: NO ONE TOLD ME MY MARINE SERGEANT GIRLFRIEND WAS IN RAZOR. People! TSK.

11. Actually, that brings up a good point. Lee wants to load up a raptor with capable rescue crew? He sends Kara Thrace, Kendra Shaw, Captain Case, Sergeant Matthias *smooches*, and some random dude named DaSilva. Srsly. Lee knows the women are way better at this shit. (although, Lee. Kara, Kendra, AND Matthias? NO COOKIE FOR YOU, Mr. Nuke 'em.)

12. You know the sad thing? Razor might make that Year Zero shit-piece of comic canon.

13. Adama claims he could have been Cain. Well, slipped-in-the-shower-Dad certainly is. I loathe and dislike him in Dirty Hands, to name one episode where he was Cain. Although Dad is a soft-touch (Boomer/Tyrol would NEVER have happened on Peggy), I don't agree with him. The things Cain and her crew did are reprehensible.

14. If Matthias is from Peggy, she obviously got over her CYLONS BAD OMG schtick, since she worked perfectly well with Athena. There was grudging respect going on there, too.

15. I... you know, those Quiznos commercials? Scary.

16. Obviously, Kendra will come back as Scorpy's blue-haired nurse (CYLON), right before John Crichton explains that Kara Thrace fell down a wormhole (time as well as space, remember?--and never return to a place prior to the last time you left)

17. Hated the hybrid, in case anyone was wondering. I hate Leoben, too. Doral's kinda awesome, though.

18. I also hate Kara Thrace's Special Destiny, and I'd like to note that her throwing that line out was completely out of character. Season two barely touched on it, and it wasn't until after Leoben's House of Doom that Kara would have made that sort of comment. Hence, this is really Kara from Maelstrom, setting something right (maybe it's a Days of Future Past kinda thing)

19. Why did we even need Razor, though? I mean, seriously. We knew all this shit already. I'd have rather seen the Caprica/New Caprica resistance, or more on the underlying strife between the classes of people in season three. Y'know, stuff that actually impacts the future of the fucking show.

Comments

[pataka02.livejournal.com]

18. I also hate Kara Thrace's Special Destiny, and I'd like to note that her throwing that line out was completely out of character. Season two barely touched on it, and it wasn't until after Leoben's House of Doom that Kara would have made that sort of comment. Hence, this is really Kara from Maelstrom, setting something right (maybe it's a Days of Future Past kinda thing)

WORD. This came out of nowhere and was some weird attempt to let us know that Helo and Sam aren't the only ones who know about Kara's Special Destiny, and that Lee knew (before?) them. It was so shoe-horned in there, and awkward and just... no. Kara would have to be pushed and nagged into telling. Or it would be during the debriefing of her interrogation with Leoben, and Adama would let it slip, maybe. Who knows. But it's important enough to put in the actual show, not jam it into a movie that basically tells me everything I already knew.

Sigh.

And yay Matthias! I was glad she was on because a) she's awesome and b) knew she wasn't gonna die because the events of this movie ALREADY happened.

And I liked Kendra, and would've liked her more again if she wasn't a repository for Cain flashbacks. *shoot to Kendra's face* = flashback. Not overly used or contrived at all, much like Gina's weird awkward talk: "Why yes, I am in a relationship with Cain and yes, we are lesbians..." Who talks like that?

But the actress that played Kendra was really good, and that's a comfort at least, I guess.

[lizardbeth-j.livejournal.com]

heh. Some day I will write up my thoughts on Razor, but not today. Barely had time to watch the damn thing.

5. I don't think you're supposed to like her. But I did understand her more afterward.

8. Oh ye of the small handwaving skillz. *g* *Obviously* Kara's transfer to Galactica CAG after Captain's Hand was delayed during Lee's transitional period. There was plenty of time for a reassignment. Alternatively,there's nothing that says Razor didn't take place within the last act of Captain's Hand, I don't think.

Where did you get 20? Forty fits in better with Adama and Tigh and Socrata's ages, Colonial Day, Galactica's getting decommissioned in the mini, etc. 20 would make almost all of our characters alive for the first war, and I don't see any marker of that at all, whereas the generation we know to have fought in it are at least 50-plus.

The wedding tattoo ... er... can't help with that one. oops. Someone in makeup got a little carried away.

15. OMG so much WORD. I'm going to have to watch the DVD just to see the show without the Quiznos and the HUGE Tin Man ads all over my damn screen.

19. Because Skiffy/Universal said so and threw a couple of bucks at them. Really I think of it as a bonus disk for 2.5 with a few nods to the present, and that works well enough for me.

[alryssa.livejournal.com]

Yeah, wasn't real keen on the idea that a stone cold bitch like Cain just HAD to be a lesbian. Way to keep up on that stereotype, there.

Still hate her. The woman was batshit crazy like Custer. Still think Kara should've been the one to shoot her in the head. :p

[sabaceanbabe.livejournal.com]

I probably shouldn't have read this, since I still haven't seen it, but...

MATTHIAS!!!!!!!!!!11!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*twirls*

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

I don't even mind Lee knowing about it (though I can't see Kara mentioning it to him, OR Dad. Roslin, maybe). It just felt so very out of place. Sigh.

if she wasn't a repository for Cain flashbacks. I. YES. Exactly. I wanted to like her on her own merits (and I mostly did), not because she was the gateway drug to the Battlestar Pegasus' Big Adventures Against the Cylons. I would have loved to've seen more of her as Lee's XO, training the kids. Quite a leap from Lt. to Major in ten months...

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

8. A quick nod to "Sorry, Dad, I stole her from you" would've been nice. And... Slotting it into Captains' Hand doesn't work, because the whole point of CH was Kara getting Lee's forgiveness from the whole accidentally shooting him thing. And it makes the end scene of CH completely redundant, and something that feels very out of place after their corridor conversation (even without the Destiny line). I think they wanted Kara in, but didn't think it through--it would have worked, since they jumped back to the big G to just have Lee go "Dad, I'm drafting Kara for this mission" or something. sigh.

I'm wanting to say 20 years was the original number given in the miniseries. But I'm willing to retract that if I'm wrong.

15. But I like the Tin Man commercials. IT'S SO PRETTEH. And Alan Cummings' HAIR. (and the rest of him....)

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

I thought you were Foe for a moment

Ahem. Yeah, the stereotype didn't need more help. *kicks Ron*

I still refuse to believe Kara meant it when she said they were 'safer with Cain'. Because. Seriously, what?

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

I think the scene with the treadmill pretty much cemented my "wow, she's kinda annoying" thoughts, sadly. She is SO DEDICATED she won't take a break! Awwww. And yet... --dude. I keep sighing today. wtf. *stops*

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

YES! She's sadly not in very much. BUT SHE WAS THERE.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

I don't have as much issue with Gina being lesbian, but. Dude. Cain was lesbian so it made her evil! Sigh. They tried to alleviate it with Dad's stupid comments about how he could have gone that road, but... sigh.

*dies laughing* Poor Lee.

[alryssa.livejournal.com]

Must have been the boobs. XD

Did she say that? OMFG. I must have missed/forgotten I heard it. Dude. WHAT.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

It was the icon.

Yeah, she said it at Cain's funeral. Made this speech about how Cain was the bestest, and it was Sad she was Dead. (I maintain Kara only missed Cain because Cain promised to go back for Kara's favorite sex toy)

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

(which, really, Cain never ever in a million years would have gone back to Caprica for a pyramid player. If there were some military target, sure. But given her treatment of other civilians, ya. Not holding my breath.)

[pataka02.livejournal.com]

I don't even mind Lee knowing about it (though I can't see Kara mentioning it to him, OR Dad. Roslin, maybe).

I don't mind him knowing, but his knowing is important enough to have devoted time to it in the show, because it shows that Kara and Lee talked about shit at SOME point, whether it was when she returned from Caprica with the arrow or just after questioning Leoben. Bad writing to just jam it in at the end.

Quite a leap from Lt. to Major in ten months...

This, I admit, aggravated me to no end, probably because well, yes, it was necessary for her to at least have the rank of Major to become XO, but gah. It was all the very Lee Adama track to promotion... which makes me giggle because regardless of how qualified Lee is, and how many people will argue with me, his shot up the ranks is definitely due to who his father is, and I love that Kendra called him on it.

But as much as I liked Kendra, I'm more annoyed at how she was used as nothing more than a mirror to Cain. I mean, we got the BSG solution to characterization -- ambiguous mother issues and an addictive personality. That's like EVERYONE on the show now.

A little variety is all I'm asking.

[alryssa.livejournal.com]

Is this better? :p

But, yes. Wouldn't happen. Just look at what happened to the civvie fleet they came across.

[mrsdrjackson.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that's her natural accent, actually.
I think it is, didn't she grow up in Australia?

2. That said, I don't really care either way if they're lesbians. Though, wow, lesbians are batshit insane and evil, huh?
This was just such crap. Way to go Ron, piss of the contingency of Katee fans who initially started watching the show because of the lesbian icon status that she (and Lucy) have. *kicks RDM*

16. Obviously, Kendra will come back as Scorpy's blue-haired nurse (CYLON), right before John Crichton explains that Kara Thrace fell down a wormhole (time as well as space, remember?--and never return to a place prior to the last time you left)

*sporfle*

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

In wartime, though, you need the best people doing their jobs--I just wish we'd gotten to see more of Kendra's development. She went from newbie officer to hard and seasoned martinet with very little to show how she got from point a to point b.

I suppose we can assume Lee read the after-action report on Leoben's torture? Of course, I doubt he knows Kara prayed for his soul. And certainly Sharon and Helo aren't going to go around telling people that Leoben says Kara is special (well, Karl might, but he'd have to be REALLY drunk... and pissed at her, since he'd know it would piss her off)

I'm too sleepy and numbed to come up with a snarky sarcastic commentary on BSG's characterization issues (ALL BLONDE WOMEN ARE DRUNKEN ABUSIVE SLUTS--wait...)

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

*licks*

My point exactly. There would have to be some military gain in going back to the Colonies. Maybe Cain wants a suicide mission to take the fight to the Cylons? God knows.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

Not sure. IMDB isn't very forthcoming.

I don't think Ron really thought it through, sadly. Which is kind of how a lot of the show gets written. They come up with Shiny New Ideas, and no one bothers to fact-check, canon-check, or make certain they haven't done that before. So, lesbians! Were new and exciting for them, but they didn't want to be bothered with actually having to have them around, later on, hence... Make certain they're already dead in canon, 'cause retroactive continuity (even if a bunch of us totally already assumed Cain/Gina) is so IN these days (especially on BSG, where at any moment, you might discover previously established continuity to be a lie...)

(Actually, I have a crazy idea that the colonials are the people the Eidelons turned into Peacekeepers)

[mrsdrjackson.livejournal.com]

When I think about it that way, the whole show seems like it is one SNI after another. Perhaps the entire writing staff in need of some new and wonderful ADD meds?

Your brain works in mysterious ways. :D