Why don't I like Lee Adama more? *BSG spoilers*
POSTED BY: IndigoStarblaster
UPDATED: Thursday, August 31, 2006 18:15
VIEWED: 4334
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Yeah, I loved the scenes with the priest and Chief Tyrol...good stuff.
Starbuck grated on my nerves almost from my first sight of her in the mini series...and it hasn't really changed since. Maybe sometime I'll explore why it is she bothers me so.
James Callis (Baltar) and Aaron Douglas (Chief) are going to be at D*C...can't wait ;D
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Ok, we finished Season 1 last night, and I'm feeling a little more positive about Lee.
It actually helped to watch the special features and hear the actor speak and move in a manner which is completely different from his portrayal of Apollo. That helped confirm that it isn't a problem about inadequate acting -- Bamber can act.
And watching the last few episodes, especially _Colonial Day_, where Lee soaks up the sun and gets in a water fight with Starbuck and looks a little nonplussed by having Gaius cut in on his dance with Starbuck, helped round out Lee's non-military persona a bit. And the last episode made me think back more on Lee's actions in the series so far generally. And I was really quite touched by the last few silent seconds, when he's so focussed on his father (I cannot _believe_ how this season ended. Holy cow).
Anyway, it made me think Lee over, and I think I'm starting to figure him out. When he told his father that Zach was never cut out to be a pilot and did it only to please his father, he was really talking about himself, too. He isn't really a military guy. He's not really that good a fit; he's fundamentally uncomfortable with the role of the military. He's intelligent and conscientious and all those good things, so it's allowed him to do a good-enough job and to advance in his career, but he really doesn't have the instincts for it -- all his instincts point him towards a role more like his grandfather's (a civil rights lawyer).
He probably would have been much happier going to a civilian university, spending some time volunteering in the Third World (assuming the 12 colonies had that sort of thing), going to law school and becoming a civil rights lawyer himself. (I also think he would have married young and then been divorced, shaken and uncomprehending of what had happened, a few years later. But that's another story.)
Oh, well. Bygones.
It's funny. Figuring him out a bit makes me like him a lot more. It seems to me I'm discomfitted by the person he's made himself to be, because he's basically made himself incomplete -- he's neglected whole parts of himself, in an effort to please his father. And I guess I like him more now, because I can see him struggling towards discovering those other parts (although the business of what's going to happen now with his father -- holy cow -- might set that process back a bit).
Anyway, it'll be interesting to see what happens in Season 2.
Indigo S.
P.S. I've seen references somewhere to "Season 1.5". Is that because Season 1 is the mini-series, and Season 1.5 is the rest of the first season?
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Quote:
Originally posted by IndigoStarblaster:
When he told his father that Zach was never cut out to be a pilot and did it only to please his father, he was really talking about himself, too. He isn't really a military guy. He's not really that good a fit; he's fundamentally uncomfortable with the role of the military.
Good observation...you're completely right (imo).
I've never heard of 1.5, only 2.5 as they divided the 2nd season into two DVD boxsets.
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"I've never heard of 1.5, only 2.5 as they divided the 2nd season into two DVD boxsets."
Oh. Why the heck did they do that?
Indigo S.
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For me, Lee Adama seems like that type of character that is very isolated from everyone. He starts off with no friends, a bit of an ass, at odds with Dad, tempestuous friendship with Kara peppered with wounds, the worlds destroyed, humanity decimated, friends, mother, dead (granted, that's true for all the characters). And now he has a *very* important job that he never asked for, and possibly didn't want. I think it's very deliberate that he comes off a bit flat to the casual eye, because the character is alone.
What I love about him is that the more you look at his actions and listen to his words (even his badly delivered speeches reveal an awkwardness in the face of this new leadership that was thrust upon him), the more I understand him and am awed by his ideals and strength of character. He's pretty terrible with people and relationships, and in a way, he reminds me of our beloved Simon Tam. And I know that a LOT of people HATED Simon, found him cold, even called him *cringes* reptilian.
I think he's a character that takes time to warm up to, because the character takes some time before he warms up (ever so slightly) to the crew of Galactica.
I think also, since the writers don't involve Lee in the mythology and Cylon plots as much as the other characters, that they don't know what to do with him.
Give him time. You may see him more as I do, or just continue with "meh". But I find him more wonderful everytime I watch and understand more of what's actually going on in the scene.
~Tzegha
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Oh good, you finished season 1 and you're liking him more!
You're figuring him out but good! Lee most likely never wanted to be in the military, but as pop says, "you're not a man till you wear the wings of a Viper". The pressure, jeez. And then the pressure of making sure he makes it on his own steam, and not the fact that he's Adama's son, and most likely nobody believing that he got where he is on his own merits. And being totally unhappy. He's good at his job, he's great at it, but he's not happy with it.
I love the strength of character, ideals, and brass balls he shows in Bastille, and again the strength and independence of his choice during the showdown with Roslin and Tigh, the ideals behind it.
~Tzegha
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That's a great point you made, about him being somewhat similar to Simon. Simon gets humanized because we get to see him being warm and caring and playful with his sister. We don't get to see that in Lee, on account of his isolation. If River didn't exist -- if, say, she had died two years before the pilot episode -- Simon would come across pretty flat, too.
(And of course Simon also gets the benefit of the wonderful, witty dialogue of all the characters in Firefly; Lee has to make do with the lines that are written for him. )
I'm really hoping Lee gets to come into his own more in the coming seasons (I believe the second season should be available in my local video store in a few months. At least, I hope so). In particular, I hope he either truly reconciles himself to being in the military or he gets out, because I think this is the kind of internal conflict that'll eat you alive.
Indigo S.
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I still like Simon better :D
But like Simon, where many only (still!) see the shiny vests and corebred attitude and mistake it for pansyness instead of the window-dressing it is, Lee still strikes people as a prick.
Lee's gots some ups and downs in the second season, and some spectacularly bad writing to contend with in 2.5
Also, I don't know how desperate you are to watch it, but it's also available on iTunes (don't know if you're a fan of watching on the computer--I'm not--or the capability to burn it to a DVD)
Quote:
I hope he either truly reconciles himself to being in the military or he gets out, because I think this is the kind of internal conflict that'll eat you alive.
I think you *get* Lee very well!
~Tzegha
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