I don't know how well I'm going to be able to articulate my thoughts, here, but I'm going to try.
Firstly, yes, you're right about the X-Files. Chris Carter failed miserably at part 2 of that formula but, strangely, he was good at part 3, so the good lot of us didn't realize that he had no idea what he was doing until it was too late. So, uh, that made for two and a half really disappointing final seasons. Really disappointing. And don't even get me started on the finale (which I've yet to watch all the way through, and it's been what? Three years? I mean, I taped the damn thing. I just have no desire to suffer through it).
In any case, what I disagree with here is the idea that the characters are doing things that they wouldn't normally do. I think, however, that such may have to do with the fact that I view the characters in a completely different way.
For example, I don't see Roslin as being particularly nice. I certainly like her, but I think (and have always thought) that she's s got a ruthless streak a mile wide; it just takes something to set her over the edge (I'm having difficulty articulating why I think this. I think it's partly the way she talks, partly the fact that she appears to me to be suppressing more than just her illness, and partly because sometimes, forceful people who contract an illness of that nature become even more forceful. Mostly, it's just a feeling I've always had about her, a feeling that at some point she would snap in some way). I believe that such an instance occurs in "Flesh and Bone," and I think that it's not simply the fact that Leoben implicates Adama that sets her off. I got the impression that she was also upset with herself for allowing herself to feel sorry for a being that suddenly clearly seemed in the business of spreading lies and sowing mistrust. She went a bit overboard, but I can understand why she would -- and I don't think it's outside the bounds of her character, but someone who views her in a different way would certainly have cause to disagree.
My feelings on Hadrian are a little...simpler. We've only seen her character a few times, so we don't really have any way of knowing whether she was acting out of character in that instance or not. My feeling is that she simply started getting angry and got carried away (it's easy for anyone to get a little drunk on power, and she certainly had quite a bit in that instance). Also, someone around here made the point that she probably felt personally upset with Adama for not sharing with her information that was pertinent to the way in which she operates while on the job, and thus called him in because this was her chance to "pick a bone with him" without getting in trouble, so to speak.
As for Adama's words, well, "I know" can mean a lot of different things. As a result of the context and the expression that he gave her, I think the meaning behind them in this scene is that he understood. He figured it out already, and he's not angry because if he was going to get angry, he would have already. He's perhaps upset; certainly not all rainbows and sunshine and puppies. But he gets why she was worried, especially since he was worried about Tigh's wife. And, well, that's the kind of guy Adama is.
Baltar I'm not going to argue with. I myself don't understand why they haven't seemed to had any reaction to the fact that he's positively batty. Perhaps they're afraid to upset the guy who's got not only a Cylon detector but a warhead at his disposal? Meh.
And as far as the script being problematic, well, I'll agree with you there, too. I mean, for frak's sake, it took a matter of minutes to test Boomer last week, and now it takes eleven hours? How big of a difference could there possibly be between the beta and alpha versions?
good gods, this is long
Firstly, yes, you're right about the X-Files. Chris Carter failed miserably at part 2 of that formula but, strangely, he was good at part 3, so the good lot of us didn't realize that he had no idea what he was doing until it was too late. So, uh, that made for two and a half really disappointing final seasons. Really disappointing. And don't even get me started on the finale (which I've yet to watch all the way through, and it's been what? Three years? I mean, I taped the damn thing. I just have no desire to suffer through it).
In any case, what I disagree with here is the idea that the characters are doing things that they wouldn't normally do. I think, however, that such may have to do with the fact that I view the characters in a completely different way.
For example, I don't see Roslin as being particularly nice. I certainly like her, but I think (and have always thought) that she's s got a ruthless streak a mile wide; it just takes something to set her over the edge (I'm having difficulty articulating why I think this. I think it's partly the way she talks, partly the fact that she appears to me to be suppressing more than just her illness, and partly because sometimes, forceful people who contract an illness of that nature become even more forceful. Mostly, it's just a feeling I've always had about her, a feeling that at some point she would snap in some way). I believe that such an instance occurs in "Flesh and Bone," and I think that it's not simply the fact that Leoben implicates Adama that sets her off. I got the impression that she was also upset with herself for allowing herself to feel sorry for a being that suddenly clearly seemed in the business of spreading lies and sowing mistrust. She went a bit overboard, but I can understand why she would -- and I don't think it's outside the bounds of her character, but someone who views her in a different way would certainly have cause to disagree.
My feelings on Hadrian are a little...simpler. We've only seen her character a few times, so we don't really have any way of knowing whether she was acting out of character in that instance or not. My feeling is that she simply started getting angry and got carried away (it's easy for anyone to get a little drunk on power, and she certainly had quite a bit in that instance). Also, someone around here made the point that she probably felt personally upset with Adama for not sharing with her information that was pertinent to the way in which she operates while on the job, and thus called him in because this was her chance to "pick a bone with him" without getting in trouble, so to speak.
As for Adama's words, well, "I know" can mean a lot of different things. As a result of the context and the expression that he gave her, I think the meaning behind them in this scene is that he understood. He figured it out already, and he's not angry because if he was going to get angry, he would have already. He's perhaps upset; certainly not all rainbows and sunshine and puppies. But he gets why she was worried, especially since he was worried about Tigh's wife. And, well, that's the kind of guy Adama is.
Baltar I'm not going to argue with. I myself don't understand why they haven't seemed to had any reaction to the fact that he's positively batty. Perhaps they're afraid to upset the guy who's got not only a Cylon detector but a warhead at his disposal? Meh.
And as far as the script being problematic, well, I'll agree with you there, too. I mean, for frak's sake, it took a matter of minutes to test Boomer last week, and now it takes eleven hours? How big of a difference could there possibly be between the beta and alpha versions?