BSG 4.08 - Sine Qua Non? Hardly
May. 31st, 2008 02:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
roxybisquaintContrary to what wikipedia says, Sine Qua Non does not mean: an indispensable and essential action or condition. No, it means: a completely useless episode.
People complain way too much about filler episodes, particularly when it comes to BSG it seems. But seriously, this was some of the worst filler I've ever seen. Not only did almost nothing happen, what little did happen could have been done in about 3 minutes instead of an hour. And not only that, what did happen was completely ludicrous.
Let me break it down...
Lee Adama decides that rightful presidential successor Zarek shouldn't be the president in Roslin's absence, so he hooks up with resident "I'll do it pro bono" weirdo Romo to decide who should be president. Then Romo and his dead cat decide that Lee is actually the right man for the job and he runs off to give him this good news by pointing a gun at him. After Lee calms Romo with an "I feel your pain" speech, he's sworn in (apparently Zarek, who wasn't going to step aside, decided off-camera to step aside anyway so Lee could take his job). Lee keeps Zarek on as VP, though, so that he'll be his successor if anything happens (even though he's already made it quite clear Zarek isn't suited for the presidency). Right.
All this happens because The Old Man won't recognize Zarek as president and, my gods, we can't have the commander at odds with the president; he might try to stage a coup (and you can't have that happen twice in one series). No, it's much better to have the commander and president be from the same family?! Yes, I can see why the Quorum thought that would be a good idea. [You know that face Sarah Connor makes when the silent latino chick is putting make-up on Cameron at Carlos' place? That's the look on my face right now.] Immediately after all this nonsense, Commander Adama hands over his command to Tigh and takes off to find Roslin. So it didn't even matter if Bill Adama would recognize Zarek because he wasn't going to be around as the commander anyway. Augh.
What I'd really like is some time displacement equipment so I can jump back to earlier this evening and then jump forward to next Friday when it looks like we might see what we should have seen this week.
Oh, I almost forgot about Six dying. I assumed she was dead after last time, but then when they were trying to save her, I thought "wow isn't that so cool — a cyclon fighting for her life?" And then she frakking dies and I'm all bummed. But it was kind of interesting that she seemed to be having lovely visions (of earth?) as she faded away.
People complain way too much about filler episodes, particularly when it comes to BSG it seems. But seriously, this was some of the worst filler I've ever seen. Not only did almost nothing happen, what little did happen could have been done in about 3 minutes instead of an hour. And not only that, what did happen was completely ludicrous.
Let me break it down...
Lee Adama decides that rightful presidential successor Zarek shouldn't be the president in Roslin's absence, so he hooks up with resident "I'll do it pro bono" weirdo Romo to decide who should be president. Then Romo and his dead cat decide that Lee is actually the right man for the job and he runs off to give him this good news by pointing a gun at him. After Lee calms Romo with an "I feel your pain" speech, he's sworn in (apparently Zarek, who wasn't going to step aside, decided off-camera to step aside anyway so Lee could take his job). Lee keeps Zarek on as VP, though, so that he'll be his successor if anything happens (even though he's already made it quite clear Zarek isn't suited for the presidency). Right.
All this happens because The Old Man won't recognize Zarek as president and, my gods, we can't have the commander at odds with the president; he might try to stage a coup (and you can't have that happen twice in one series). No, it's much better to have the commander and president be from the same family?! Yes, I can see why the Quorum thought that would be a good idea. [You know that face Sarah Connor makes when the silent latino chick is putting make-up on Cameron at Carlos' place? That's the look on my face right now.] Immediately after all this nonsense, Commander Adama hands over his command to Tigh and takes off to find Roslin. So it didn't even matter if Bill Adama would recognize Zarek because he wasn't going to be around as the commander anyway. Augh.
What I'd really like is some time displacement equipment so I can jump back to earlier this evening and then jump forward to next Friday when it looks like we might see what we should have seen this week.
Oh, I almost forgot about Six dying. I assumed she was dead after last time, but then when they were trying to save her, I thought "wow isn't that so cool — a cyclon fighting for her life?" And then she frakking dies and I'm all bummed. But it was kind of interesting that she seemed to be having lovely visions (of earth?) as she faded away.
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no subject
on 2008-05-31 06:51 am (UTC)Convoluted
on 2008-05-31 07:11 am (UTC)I'm thinking there's very little story to tell in this last season, but they stretched it out to a full season to milk it. It'll probably play a lot better in marathon DVD viewing later, but week-by-week, it's getting annoying.
no subject
on 2008-05-31 02:33 pm (UTC)What the frak? How utterly out of character. This is a man who led a COUP to make sure things were done the way he wanted. "I've lost objectivity!" No shit, Bill. You did that back in S1, and we accepted it.
I'm beginning to think 4-6 "Faith" was a fluke.
EDIT: And yes, I largely agree with you. This episode was a steaming pile of crap. All they're doing is stretching story instead of telling anything new or interesting. If this was the season I was watching as an executive to cancel/renew the show, it'd be dead. Then again, it's over after this season anyways....
no subject
on 2008-05-31 06:15 pm (UTC)I let that slide because Adama has a history of overlooking Tigh's shortcomings. And since they've known each other so long, I'm sure he feels he can trust him when it comes to the important stuff. Although, you brought up a good point about Sharon having just betrayed his trust, so yeah, Adama probably would have been a lot more leery about leaving Tigh in charge.
no subject
on 2008-05-31 02:49 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-05-31 06:24 pm (UTC)