DPP: Pilots And Parents

[winegums.livejournal.com]

There are many, many things that went into the making of pilots as we know them, and their parents are a huge part of it right from the start, especially since it turns out they both had absent fathers (Kara's dad going AWOL altogether, Bill making only sporadic appearances in his sons' lives) and abusive mothers (it's heavily implied that Lee's mother was emotionally/verbally abusive).

Today I'd like us to contemplate - how did their relationships with their parents shape the people they became? And how did that affect Lee and Kara's relationship with each other?

Any thoughts? Theories? What do you think of the way the show handled pilots' parents?

Comments

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Still cracks me up how much EJO looks like The Fonz in that bottom left picture.

I think their mutual mommy and daddy issues are one of the easiest and most natural reasons for pilots to bond. Especially in fic. It's almost funny how it's rarely touched upon in canon though. The only mention I can think of is from one of the (deleted?) scenes right before the final mission where Kara yells at Bill "No wonder Lee is so frakked up" or whatever.

[winegums.livejournal.com]

lol yes, that photoshop was hilariously bad - EJO looks so extra-flattened next to the two kids.

I don't think canon really explores the parental angle of things too often though, except with Lee and Bill because Bill is the only parent (of either pilot) left alive in the show's present-day. Socrata gets a little more discussion, but Dreilide and Carolanne as parents get exactly one episode each - before Someone to Watch Over Me, I actually thought he was dead and that's why Kara was left to the not-so-tender mercies of her mother.

(and yes, parental issues could be a point for them to bond, but I think their respective frustrations, especially over their mothers, are very rarely voiced though that doesn't stop them from bonding)