More on Litmus

[radiotelescope.livejournal.com]

(Edited to place inside a lj-cut:)



More on Litmus...

First, I'll repeat a comment I made on ingrid_m's journal: A lot of people have been hating Hadrian. Well, she screwed up in several ways, but she was acting legally. Adama *did not* have the authority to shut down her investigation; he used military force to sidestep the law.

And: this was only possible because the fleet still has no civilian police force. Remember that discussion, eh? A President-appointed tribunal *should* have had court bailiffs and civilian police to enforce judicial rulings. Hadrian had borrowed Marines. Obviously not enough oomph to arrest the Old Man.

(The episode's weak spot was the jump from "Hadrian is pounding on soldiers who lied" to "Hadrian is pounding on Adama". I never saw a convincing motivation for that. However much fire she was spitting, she didn't *really* have anything on Adama except "failure to have 20/20 foresight". In peacetime, if he was a young officer, it might have blighted his career. In current circumstances? Pff, whatever. Roslin wouldn't support any charge against Adama, end of story.)

The other thing I just thought of: Adama sidesteps the law, but is careful to support justice. The Specialist goes down for perjury; the Chief gets his commuted to life on the hangar deck and living with it. And Lieutenant Valerii gets... what? Off scot free? She's the *officer* in the illicit fraternization. Officers are always responsible, it's practically the definition.

Her relationship is wrecked, but Adama wouldn't see that as a punishment; that's the bare minimum of her *duty*. He doesn't chew her out. He doesn't bust her down to invertebrate life form.

Perhaps the Old Man is just a bit old-fashioned, and automatically sees an illicit relationship as consisting of a male aggressor and a female victim?

(I didn't even notice this until Saturday night, which probably pegs *my* attitude. Although that's influenced by Boomer's role in the script, which *is* passive -- up until that last "All the answer you're going to get", whose force took me by surprise. Because of the contrast.)

Comments

[fozziewriter.livejournal.com]

Wow, good insight, I hadn't even seen that aspect. I just took it as them being blindsided by the Cylon but you're right, that's how they were blindsided
by his prejudice. Wow those writers sure have the Cylons worked out as as pretty darn crafty.

[(Anonymous)]

I think Valieri & the Chief weren't demoted for the same reason: in the current situation, they're not expendable. He's the most experienced NCO left, not to mention the head of the deck crew; she's a pilot, of which there is a shortage (and I'm making the assumption that pilots have to be officers). It would be easier to replace the Specialist.

Whether they suffer emotionally from their responsibility for the Specialist's fate is matter of individual conscience, and that's not something that Adama can control. He has to contend with limited resources, so I'm not convinced that Valieri's lack of punishment has anything to do with gender dynamics. Perhaps he was counting on her to feel tortured by a sense of duty, like the Chief.

lucciolia

[jo-lasalle.livejournal.com]

Her relationship is wrecked, but Adama wouldn't see that as a punishment; that's the bare minimum of her *duty*. He doesn't chew her out. He doesn't bust her down to invertebrate life form.

This is an interesting observation. On the other hand, the chief gets chewed out when *he* goes to see Adama, demanding that Adama set things right.

But it should be interesting whether this will influence future interaction between Adama and Boomer.

[leadensky.livejournal.com]

Excellent points about Hadrian, and I almost completely agree. Adama was wrong. Hadrian was...I'm not going to say incompetent, I'll say she wasn't doing as good of a job as the situation called for. I'm not sure she was the best person to put in charge of the situation. But if not her, who? *Someone* had to run with that.

Her relationship is wrecked, but Adama wouldn't see that as a punishment; that's the bare minimum of her *duty*. He doesn't chew her out. He doesn't bust her down to invertebrate life form.

Perhaps the Old Man is just a bit old-fashioned, and automatically sees an illicit relationship as consisting of a male aggressor and a female victim?

I don't have an answer here, either, and I want one. I've chewed it over a couple different ways - including the possibility that Adama knows/is thinking more than he shows and is waiting for a better time to confront Boomer - and I've decided to table it for now.

Somehow, with this show, I feel safe in thinking the writers won't forget this loose end.

- hg

[meret.livejournal.com]

but she was acting legally. Adama *did not* have the authority to shut down her investigation; he used military force to sidestep the law.

That's why I didn't like this ep, and hated Adama in it. He was a total hypocrite in my opinion. As soon as *his* fat is in the fire, he breaks the law and calls off the tribunal, but has no problem having the crew member go to the brig for something Adama knows he didn't do.

I think Hadrian was trying to get Tyrol and Boomer to admit to their relationship. Once she had Adama on record as knowing about it, then she could go back to them and ask them if they were willing to say Adama was lying. Once she got them to admit their relationship, she could pursue who actually left the hatch open. She was doing her job. Everyone kept talking about a witch hunt, but I never saw it. What I did see was Adama putting himself above the law. It really diminished his character for me.