In the fifteenth episode of the second season of Battlestar Galactica, Starbuck becomes increasingly anxious and distraught over the stress of her job and the thought that Anders has probably died on Caprica. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Battlestar Galactica.<\/p>\n
I know that Ronald Moore and the others who work on this show couldn’t have known about the backlash to “Black Market,” but “Scar” feels like an immediate correction to the “tortured hero” story they messed up. And GOOD FUCKING GOD, THIS WAS SPECTACULAR. Though I do admit to feeling a bit strange for saying that I enjoy an episode so much when that episode features an emotional breakdown of my favorite character. It’s not that I felt utter ecstasy from watching “Scar,” but it was a satisfying, gripping, and intense story that focused on Starbuck’s ability to cope and to have her ego challenged.<\/p>\n
The writers do a great job of balancing these two aspects of her personality throughout the story and, in the process, expand Kat’s character as well. Is it totally natural to feel a gut-wrenching, seething distaste for Kat? Because yes, Starbuck doesfuck up and make terrible decisions in this episode, but I was really irked by the way in which Kat decided to inform her of this. I get the feeling that there are some deleted scenes that could give us a bit more context, but it’s clear that Kat has become a talented Viper pilot during the second season. All this time, Starbuck has really only had Lee to “compete” with, and they’re not very good competitors at all. (Unless you consider them as competing for the title of, “Poor Decisions Made With Sex in Mind.” ZING.) In Kat, we see how Starbuck deals with someone who might be more talented than her.<\/p>\n
The writers continue in the theme of never giving us what we expect. <\/em>Opening in media res<\/em> (and yes, I now know that “Black Market” never was supposed to), we’re shown Kat and Starbuck together and none of the real<\/em> tension to come is given to us outright. When Kat made the challenge over the beer stein, I took it more as if it was a friendly jab, but I now know how UTTERLY WRONG I WAS ABOUT THIS<\/em>. So I instead expected this episode to deal with them bonding. For real! Oh god, sometimes it must be the most amusing thing to watch my thoughts unfold.<\/p>\n What I could not have anticipated given my state of mind was that Starbuck was reaching her own emotional nadir over Anders, her desire to be on top, and the destructive nature of her persona. I don’t want to seem too invasive about it, but from my own experience, what Starbuck is going through looks like depression. I know that I buried myself in the bottle in high school when I didn’t want to face a whole slew of issues, and there was a part of me that didn’t<\/em> want to watch this episode. It was like a frightening look in the mirror, a glimpse at my own past. But even beyond any emotional resonance, I hated seeing Starbuck this way. I hated that she felt so hopeless, denied the chance to return to Anders, and now she’s constantly being one-upped and corrected by Kat. (SERIOUSLY, KAT, SHUT UP<\/em>.)<\/p>\n I have come to the conclusion, however, that these things exist because Katee Sackhoff signed a contract that required her to be the best actress of all time. I can’t fathom anyone being able to pull off so many harrowing scenes so flawlessly, but Sackhoff steals the show whenever she is on the screen, able to bring things out of other actors, actresses, and characters that no one else can. She turns to Sharon<\/em> for advice on how to go after the elusive Scar, a Cylon Raider who’s been picking off Vipers around a mining operation. And Sackhoff plays it with the subtlety and complexity of the situation. She’s asking a Cylon about her own Raiders. Oh, and it’s one of her friends. Oh, and she has memories<\/em> of this humanoid Cylon long before anyone suspected her of being a Cylon. They forged legitimate memories together<\/em>, ones that had absolutely nothing to do with the war that they’re in. I enjoy that Starbuck acknowledges this, despite how painful this entire thing is for her.<\/p>\n But what is she supposed to do? Sharon provides her with the information she needs–that the Raiders are being sneaky on purpose, since they cannot regenerate without the Resurrection Ship. Yet as Sharon reaches out for her (and I’m sure she’s aching for any sort of positive physical touch, which BREAKS MY GODDAMN HEART), the Marines remind her that this isn’t allowed.<\/p>\n Oh my god, Sharon, PLEASE BE OKAY.<\/p>\n None of this gets any easier for Starbuck, either. I appreciate that the writers have her make actual<\/em> mistakes, graying the moral canvas and making this episode a lot harder to stomach. Of course<\/em> we want Starbuck to kill Scar and reign victorious and get the guy in the end, but it’s simply not that easy for her. Her continued depression and dejection, combined with her alcohol use, begins to negatively affect her job. Two pilots die because of actions that she took. I’m not entirely ready to blame<\/em> Starbuck as Kat does; I think they both would have died regardless. (Well, maybe not BB, since it was Starbuck’s advice was what influenced his decision to take on Scar, yet I also can’t ignore that the odds were incredibly slim that BB would run into the one scenario that made Starbuck’s advice obsolete. SO MUCH MORAL COMPLEXITY. ) But I know that Starbuck is<\/em> slipping, and that makes this so much harder to watch.<\/p>\n But really now, awkward anger sex between Lee and Starbuck that is both incredibly hot and makes me squirm in pain. God, I fucking love this show. This is how you take ridiculous shit and make it believable. Nothing about this feels forced. It’s something both<\/em> of these characters would do, and if anyone would get Starbuck to admit (out loud) that her feelings for Anders are destroying her, it would be Lee. No one else. I don’t think it’s super obvious, but I feel like Lee treats her like a real<\/em> friend here, and you can see how much he cares for her. Even though I kind of wanted them to have sex. I WON’T LIE. But given what he just went through in “Black Market,” it is in-character for him to reject her rapid sexual advances. STILL. ONE DAY. ONE DAY<\/em>.<\/p>\n Throughout “Scar,” we are given the future images of Kat, Starbuck, and Scar. As the episode reaches real time, I come to realize what a fantastic, unspoken parallel Starbuck’s story has to Lee’s in “Resurrection Ship, Part II.” As she finally tricks Scar and begins to fly head on into him, playing an absurd game of chicken, she zones out, her thoughts wandering to Anders. She never says it, but I think that in that very moment, she, like Lee, wanted to die. She is overwhelmed by the prospect of never seeing Anders, of losing her grip, of facing an enemy that can essentially regenerate and who can manipulate humans so well, and when she faces Scar, the suicide run suddenly makes sense to her. If just for the briefest moment, it is entirely sensical.<\/p>\n Thankfully, she breaks from this and in a moment of humility, she allows Kat to take down Scar. This is arguably a rather huge development for Starbuck because it gives her a chance to let something go. That doesn’t mean she does it without a little bit of fighting, and we see that when Kat irritatingly makes a scene of the beer stein. (No, look, I know I’m a broken record, and I know that Kat is partially right about all of this, BUT SHE IS SO FUCKING IRRITATING TO ME <\/strong>AND I REFUSE TO LET THIS GO<\/em>. I’ve been known to hold grudges for years and I will irrationally hate her for decades if I have to<\/em>.) Despite this, she turns the celebration of Kat’s victory into a somber memorial for those lost, and I kind of love that she upstages Kat and is able to be serious for a moment.<\/p>\n But the final scene of “Scar” made me miss Helo and Starbuck being together; they work so well with one another, and he’s a good filter for her thoughts. He’s able to point out that she’s alive, she has a reason to continue going, and that it’s inherently better that she try<\/em> to have hope that Anders is alive and well then to resolve herself to cynicism.<\/p>\n And I kind of think that’s a pretty awesome message.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the fifteenth episode of the second season of Battlestar Galactica, Starbuck becomes increasingly anxious and distraught over the stress of her job and the thought that Anders has probably died on Caprica. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to … Continue reading