BSG 4.18 - Islanded in a stream of stars

[boomqueen]

The whole episode was kind of all over the place (still feels a lot like one of those episodes that moves the plot forward but is kind of schizo to watch) but it had good chunks of Kara and other interesting/good bits.

Sam:
Hybrid!Sam is one of those ideas that works on paper but is not working out for me.

I have loved Sam most out of all the Final Four since the S3 finale. I have had really high hopes for his identity angst, and how it would affect his relationship with Kara and what his destiny/purpose as a cylon would be. I love the scene with Kara at the end where she says they are both different people than before and they're going to figure out what means together--that kind of support and solidarity from Kara is everything I had ever hoped for him.

But the hybrid stuff just isn't working for me so far. I kind of want Sam to be awake and lucid so he and Kara can have some real resolution--not just him babbling in a tub while she talks at him. Maybe someone else will be able to explain to me why it might be a good/interesting direction for Sam?

Kara:
It was kind of scattered all over the episode but there was actually a lot of resolution for my girl in this episode. In reaching out to Gaius to know whether the tags were really hers and in accepting Lee's unconditional love/support despite her uncertain identity, Kara was able to finally accept her death.

I feel like they were definitely emphasizing the Aurora/angel idea this week, as opposed to the hybrid idea like last week. Anyone else have any thoughts on what that means for Kara/her parents/her birth/resurrection?

I have faith in her to find out what the pattern in the music is!

Also, why didn't she freaking PUNCH Baltar? What the heck was up with that slap?!?

Lee:
How much do I love him right now!!!

I loved him yelling at the quorom in defense of his father and the ship.

I love his omgwtfbaltar moment.

I loveloveLOOOOOOOOVED the scene in the memorial hall with Kara. What a perfect moment to demonstrate everything I love about Lee for Kara: his unwavering support and his ability to help pull her out of her own head to accept herself and move on. AMAZING. And I'm not afraid to admit that I totally swooned at the face-touching. Did you guys see how it made Kara just completely light up? And roll her eyes with old-school Kara adorableness?

OH PILOTS YOU KILL ME WITH AWESOME AND JOY.

Misc:

Poor Helo was totally shit on. No mercy no sympathy, just suck it up because everyone's family dies someday? HARSH.

Felt a little weird about Hera's spontaneous stockholm-syndrome love for Boomer. And a more than a little annoyed with how all over the place Boomer's emotions/brain space have been written.

Please no more Adama-breaks-down-and-zoom-in-on-his-pocked-angsty-face scenes, okay?

Yay for more Opera House! But boo for no more answers as to what the heck the Opera house means!

Teehee for Kara's convo while peeing! (because I am really five years old...)

So excited for the finale you guys--can't even tell you!

Comments

[pataka02.livejournal.com]

Seriously, Starbuck SLAP Baltar? Hell no. She would've knocked him out. What was that?!?

[boom-queen.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was supposed to show her weariness and resignation with her death, but I really felt like that Kara would have hit harder for such a gross violation of her secrecy/privacy.

[nicole-anell.livejournal.com]

Hybrid!Sam is one of those ideas that works on paper but is not working out for me.
I don't think it works ANYWHERE. :/ And I'm a positive cheerful cheerleader about 90% of this show, but I think this is really cheap. I can't see how it gives Sam any closure at *all* to turn him into a babbling inanimate object. Emotional for Kara, yes, but it's a shame they can't figure out how to let her deal with the men in her life another way.

I'm a fan of the Kara/Baltar slap, because if she punched him too hard I might've felt sorry for him, and he had no business getting any sympathy from me in that scene. I just think there's something... different about the tone and implications of a slap. I thought it was cool but I can't really explain why.

I love his omgwtfbaltar moment.
Ahahahaha, I wish my phone's ringtone could just be Lee yelling GAIUS BALTAR?!?!

[boom-queen.livejournal.com]

I can't see how it gives Sam any closure at *all* to turn him into a babbling inanimate object. Emotional for Kara, yes, but it's a shame they can't figure out how to let her deal with the men in her life another way.

EXACTLY. The idea of one of the cylons becoming a hybrid is a really interesting idea and I can see why they wanted to do that to one of the final four but WHY SAM? He's had so much character development of his own that took him beyond an emotional prop for Kara, so I'm going to be pretty bummed if he doesn't get his own resolution.

Hmmmm, good point about the sympathy factor in the slap vs. punch. In keeping it restrained and dismissive, Kara totally kept emotional control of that scene and left no room to sympathize with Gaius.

[canadiangirl-86.livejournal.com]

I'm agreeing with pretty much all of this.

The Hybrid Sam thing isn't quite working for me either. Maybe because it was so obvious they were going this way ever since Sam got shot that it lost its punch? I'm not sure.

I still think he'll have another big moment before the end of the show, though, so his story's not over yet. At least I don't think so.

[boom-queen.livejournal.com]

I still think he'll have another big moment before the end of the show, though, so his story's not over yet. At least I don't think so.

Me too. I'm really hoping for something more before the end.

*thinking optimistic thoughts*

[the-sun-is-up.livejournal.com]

I like to think that Kara didn't think Baltar was even worth punching. So she just bitchslapped him to add insult to injury.

[boom-queen.livejournal.com]

I'm coming around to this way of seeing it. It leaves all the power/control in her court and made him even more weak/unsympathetic.

[prolix-allie.livejournal.com]

According to my Mom: "he's not really the sort of guy that you punch."

YES, they were totally playing up the Angel idea with Kara. Right down to her being shown bathed in light right after she told Gaius she wasn't one.

I'm just in total denial about Sam's lack-of-lucidity being permanent. And will stay that way until the last scene of the finale. So I'm just hanging in there for the Kara angst and the hope that he will jump them all to the colony next week!

[boom-queen.livejournal.com]

I loooooooove all the bathed-in-light shots--they make Katee look even MORE amazing than usual.

But now I'm not really sure what they're trying to do with all the visual cues. Or whether they're even going to answer what/who she is explicitly.

I'm just in total denial about Sam's lack-of-lucidity being permanent. And will stay that way until the last scene of the finale.

Me too me too!!!

[latteaddict.livejournal.com]

I loved the slap! I feel Starbuck punches but Kara slaps. And Baltar was exposing Kara's deepest secret. So she slapped the frak out of him.

I'm sad that Trucco has had nothing to do lately. He's either been in a hospital bed in a coma or a goo bath, essentially still in a coma. Either way there's no more Sam :(

I adored the K/L scene too (of course!)

Please no more Adama-breaks-down-and-zoom-in-on-his-pocked-angsty-face scenes, okay?

WORD

[boom-queen.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, y'all are making me like the slap more and more now. It was a much more restrained and empowering move for her than just punching his lights out.

I'm sad that Trucco has had nothing to do lately. He's either been in a hospital bed in a coma or a goo bath, essentially still in a coma.

Exactly! Which are interesting ideas but not particularly fun to watch when I want MORE for him. Not just lying there or babbling incoherently.

M, I was sooooo happy for the K/L scene! I feel like we really needed that--a perfect reminder of how awesome they can be for each other and how deep their emotional bond is.

[taragel.livejournal.com]

I thought the slap was right on. Kara was too hurt to punch. And Allie's mom is right (AGAIN! SHE'S RIGHT A LOT! HEE).

I don't know what to make of Sam the hybrid. When I first heard that spec I thought it was totally crazy. And I'll have to see his ultimate fate before I decide what I think of it. That scene with Kara saying goodbye to her Sam just gutted me though. I don't think he's going to be sentient Sam again but I do think we'll get flashbacks.

The L/K scene was amazing. EXACTLY right. And the eye roll killed me--so reminded me of old school Kara in Home. She's so at peace with him. He is, to steal Laura's line, totally her home.