DPP: Kobol's Last Gleaming

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

Alright dudes.  Apparently you all like discussing You Can't Go Home Again and/or the show's wonky timeline.  But for our next installment we'll be returning to my all-time favorite episode (I don't care if it's a two-parter, it still counts as one).  You Can't Go Home Again may be my most-watched, but this one is my desert island pick.  That's right, we're talking about KOBOL'S LAST GLEAMING.

Kara: Do you want something from me?
Lee: Not a thing.
Kara: Because I don't owe you anything.
Lee: No you don't owe me anything. Because I'm just a CAG and you're just a pilot. A pilot who can't keep her pants on. Oh, it's just like old times, Kara. Like when you got drunk and you couldn't keep your hands off the major--
*fisticuffs*
Lee: Why'd you do it, Kara? Just tell me why.
Kara: Because I'm a screw-up, Lee. Try to keep that in mind.

My favorite thing about this episode (besides the fact that it's gorgeous and awesome and my beloved Kara is at the heart of it) is the way the personal and the plot collide.  Yes, there is an external event which serves as the catalyst for the plot--the discovery of Kobol--but the characters' actions and interpersonal relations are what really drive the story forward.  Kara doesn't just jump back to Caprica because the plot dictates or because they found Kobol.  She jumps back to Caprica because Roslin asks her to, because Adama lied to her, and last but far from least, because of the organically generated conflict between her and Lee.  This interweaving of the characters and the plot is something that, in its heyday, BSG could do to perfection.

Plus, Kara and Lee just KILL ME in all of their scenes together.  Case in point:

There's also a neat little deleted scene that may have its issues but I am fond of.  It's been criticized because Lee is very cavalier about Kara's potential hook-ups only to completely freak out about it later, though I choose to believe it's a combination of A) he can hypothetically deal with the hypothetical situation, but doesn't realize until it's fact that he can't, and B) he doesn't like Baltar and knows that Kara doesn't like him either.  Anyway, all that aside, I mostly just love this deleted scene because it's the only onscreen instance of PILOTS RUNNING TOGETHER.  Come on.  We all love to use that in fic.  We all love Lee's annoying song.  But it only ever happened in this deleted scene.

Some questions for your consideration:

+Why did Kara dance with Baltar?  Do you think she pulled away or did Lee?  Both?  Personally, I'm inclined to believe that Lee may have been the one to withdraw, or just somehow make her think he wasn't interested.  Kara wore that dress for him; I think she knew what she wanted, but maybe he didn't.  On the other hand, Kara has been known to run in the face of strong emotions, so maybe she got scared and pulled away.

+Who is the major from wherever?  What's the story there?  And how does Lee know the story?  Feel free to disregard Daybreak in this discussion...
[My main complaint with the Daybreak flashbacks isn't so much that they almost have sex on a table with Zak in the room, but rather that the scenes seem to imply they don't spend much time together after that.  It looks rather like a goodbye, and I just can't imagine her hanging out with the Adama brothers if that was how they began.  But if she and Lee weren't friends before the war, how could he have seen her with this major?  How did he visit her in jail?  So many questions.]

+What did you think would happen after KLG2?  Were you surprised by the following Caprica/mutiny arcs?

+There is a deleted scene in which Laura asks Lee to go back to Caprica.  Do you think he would have ever done this?  Under what circumstances?  What might have happened?

Some fics for your perusal:
Once in a Lifetime by rayruz  - oneshot, the morning after.
To Face the Future by walkingdaydream  - crazy oneshot AU in which Kara returns from Caprica a little less sane.
You in the Air by elly427  - another crazy AU (they are my FAVORITE thing about post-KLG fic) in which Kara returns to a fleet divided.
Restless by widget285 , Part I, Part II, Part III - the reunion is not an easy one.

thrace_adama 's recs are here and here.  As always, all are welcome to comment with more fic, recs, vids, pics, thinky thoughts, shallow thoughts, gifs, etc!

Comments

[ddt73.livejournal.com]

Ah the questions that Colonial Day & KLG open up. It's one of those times in cannon that garner so much debate. Why did Lee walk away and not go back? It's subtle and happens quickly but at first Lee stands to the side and then slowly walks away. Why did he do this? Why didn't he go back for Kara? Why didn't Kara walk away from Baltar? Why did either of them do what they did?

Kara seems simpler to figure out. She took the first step toward L&K being more then friends, and Lee blew it. Lee left her to Baltar, so a hurt Kara found a warm and more then willing body in Baltar. She was hurt by Lee and hurt him back.

I wish I knew what Lee was thinking. Did guilt cause of Zak overtake him? His dad had just showed up. Did this make him more self conscious and cause him do what he did? How could he misjudge the signals Kara was sending his way? I just can't figure out why he never went back for her at all. I figured if anything he'd rescue her from Baltar. Don't know why he would let her leave with Baltar.

I think Lee and Kara would have been friends after what happened in Daybreak. Lee and Kara are the masters of being in denial when he comes to their feelings for each other. Knowing them they both played it off as them being too drunk, that it didn't mean anything. Just look through cannon, time and again how they denied their feelings. This is where it started.

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

Did guilt cause of Zak overtake him? His dad had just showed up. Did this make him more self conscious and cause him do what he did?
I hadn't thought of the dad angle--I like the idea that Bill's presence might have such a strong (negative) impact on Lee's presence of mind.

[anamarya.livejournal.com]

In my strange mind that was always the reason, more than the frat-regs, more than the potential bad things to their friendship, etc, iot was the fact that Bill just came in and seemed sort of .... idk how to express it, about seeing them dance. then again i didn't saw that particular episode in a while.

[thegreenkitty.livejournal.com]

Oh pilots. I do love you crazy kids. Sigh.

(KLG is a favorite of mine too. I'll try to find something more intelligent to say after sleeping.)

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

I also love this 2-parter, I think it's an incredible capstone to an amazing first season. Great, great television. And for all the flak that RDM got later on for becoming overly reliant on shock value, I have to say that the man has delivered some of the most wonderful shocks I can remember in a long history of watching cliffhanger-prone science-fiction. The ending of this episode caught me completely off guard, and it is, in my opinion, fantastic. I still remember my husband's jaw dropping the first time I showed it to him.

I think it's safe to assume that Lee and Kara both made poor decisions on Colonial Day, and wound up missing what they both obviously wanted: each other. As Dave mentioned, you can see Lee walking awkwardly away from the dance floor after only a short time with Kara, but you can also see Kara dancing in what I would call a somewhat flirty way with Baltar at the same time. She doesn't look like she's eager to be rescued, from what little I can see of them in the background. Who knows what the story was when Baltar first asked to dance with her? Who said yes, and how, and why? Why did Lee take it as a dismissal and/or chance to retreat? Why did Kara take it as a rejection and/or an opportunity to have a "safe" night of fantasizing with a warm body instead of taking the more serious emotional chance of being with the one she truly cared about? The world may never know, but I'm pretty sure it has a lot to do with both of them feeling quite insecure. Though I think Kara is more aware of her own emotions at this point than Lee is (he is about to get a thoroughly nasty awakening), which probably means that she views his walking away as being very significant, whereas he might not have realized she was reading it that way.

I have no idea who the major was, but from the violent way she reacts to the mention of him, I would guess that possibly the story might be that she got drunk after Zak's funeral and wound up making out with some jerk, and that Lee was furious about it and she was, on reflection, ashamed of it. That's just a guess, of course. But whatever it is, it's full of personal baggage for both of them, and it obviously counts as a low blow for Lee to bring it up.

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

The world may never know, but I'm pretty sure it has a lot to do with both of them feeling quite insecure. Though I think Kara is more aware of her own emotions at this point than Lee is (he is about to get a thoroughly nasty awakening), which probably means that she views his walking away as being very significant, whereas he might not have realized she was reading it that way.
I think that about sums it up.

I have no idea who the major was, but from the violent way she reacts to the mention of him, I would guess that possibly the story might be that she got drunk after Zak's funeral and wound up making out with some jerk, and that Lee was furious about it and she was, on reflection, ashamed of it.
Yeah, the post-Zak angle is my favorite of the fanon possibilities for 'that major from wherever.' For one thing, it makes their reactions so much clearer--Lee's anger, Kara's shame, and her anger. I also think post-Zak is the best possibility for the brig encounter (you know, she got really drunk, was all over some Major, got in a fight--possibly involving Lee--and wound up in hack). If nothing else, it makes their encounters fit into no matter what canon you use, since they may not have spent much time together while Zak was alive, but they probably were in each other's vicinites for at least a few emotionally-charged days around the funeral.

[winegums.livejournal.com]

That seems to be the best fit theory we have, because the only other possibility is that Kara and the Major had their hookup/whatever when Zak was alive. (what I wouldn't give to have canon for that scene...)

[m voll (from livejournal.com)]

Still fraking Baltar, someone she despised, as little fuck you to Lee was probably a bit much. How about going home alone to show what your feeling is sincere. I think Lee has always tried to show Kara that while he wants her physically, she means so much more to him than a quick frak and he wants the same from her. Kara could have told Baltar no when he asked her to dance and certainly did not have to go home w/ him. I think Lee took as hey first she acts like she wanted me but took whatever came around

[mserrada.livejournal.com]

In Flesh & Bone, Leoben brings out more hints about Kara's childhood. But it's in KLG that Kara's response to Lee in the hanger reveals the depth of her belief that she's a screw up, and people, especially men named Adama would be better off maintaining their distance.

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly! I remember the first time I watched KLG and when she said "I'm a screw-up," it was as though all of the puzzle pieces that are Kara had come together, and I was just like yes, of course.

[embolalia.livejournal.com]

You know, it's easy to dismiss the frat regs, and Kara and Lee never really bring them up on the show, but when they get to Colonial Day it's been a month since Tyrol and Boomer got in serious trouble over having a relationship. And while Kara doesn't follow many rules willingly, she lived through what happens when you're romantically involved with a fellow officer and it effects your judgment. I can see the rules having some impact for her, and you know Lee's all about them to begin with.

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

Gosh, you know, I hardly even think about the frat regs anymore. But you're totally right. With what happened between Tyrol and Boomer--plus the presence of the Commander--one or both of them might have been thinking about that.

[winegums.livejournal.com]

True. Both of them had good reason to be afraid of frat regs at that point in time, especially considering that he was her immediate superior and they had feelings for each other that clearly went beyond just wanting a quick frak. Also, at that point Zak - or the memory of Zak - was still a massive obstacle between them, the Fleet hadn't been on the run for that long yet.

Later in the show, the regs seem to get relaxed a bit by the time they find New Caprica (Lee and Dualla aren't hiding their relationship in the aired version of UB, and Chief and Cally are actually getting the Admiral's congratulations on her pregnancy) but at the point we're at by Colonial Day we're not there yet.

[embolalia.livejournal.com]

It's funny, I just finished posting a story today that uses this idea of the frat regs as an obstacle for Lee and Kara :) It's in my journal if you're interested.

And yeah, they certainly ignored the former rules in a hurry when Hot Dog was getting Cally knocked up and Helo and Athena were living in sin! :D