3.09 - 'unfinished business'

[rivendellrose]

Seriously! It's BSG does Fight Club! And an extended cut, even, now with Extra Special Alien Reefers, and Boxing Madness!

I was going to make that my LJ-cut text, but I decided it was too spoilery. And then I laughed because it's all true.

This may not have been the most clever, intelligent, or well-done episode of the series, but I have to say - I lol'd. A lot. I lol'd at Helo beating Apollo (...okay, maybe he's a little bit of a Gary-Stu. But if it means I get to see him whop Apollo, I think I can live with that). I lol'd at Adama and his silly porn-stache, and the awkward flirting between him and Roslin. I especially lol'd at the two of them smoking and cuddling out behind the gym colony building like teenagers. ♥ And Starbuck beating the crap out of poor Hotdog (poor Hotdog!) and Adama being all "It's goin' down!" and climbing into the ring (!), and Tigh and his Very Helpful Advice on hangovers and relationships. "Don't stop drinking," indeed. Oh, dear. And in the middle of being all "oh my GOD, you two!" at Starbuck and Helo, I couldn't help but be delighted and charmed by their drunken shouting. Especially Starbuck, whose little "eep!" was just too damned cute. That woman is inhuman, I'm telling you. I want to hate her a lot of the time. But she's too cute! ♥

Things that were not precisely lol-worthy but were nonetheless hilarious:

We go down to the new colony on New Caprica... and all of a sudden we're in Firefly! Look! There's even contra-dancing! ♥ With... slightly more just running in circles than I remember from my years doing it. But hey - they were all pretty damned drunk, so that's forgivable.

Anders flat drunk on the ground ("Your boyfriend snores," says Tigh), and then poor Tyrol trying to have a Very Serious Conversation with Adama without making it blindingly clear to his superior officer that he's SOOOOO HUNGOVER OMG. He has this look of "I can't see you, sir, the sun is behind you and OWWWWWWWW OH GOD I'M NEVER DRINKING AGAIN." It's so cute.

Roslin coaching Adama. Oh my god. Please let there be lots and lots of cute fanfic of the two of them, or I may have to write my own, and I don't really think I'd be that good at either of them. But ohmygodsocute. ♥ I swear before he started his whole "a man is not your friend in this ring" thing, Adama was just getting in there to impress her. Bless!

In the flashbacks, we see not only Ellen, but also Jammer and Red-Haired-Guy-Who-Blew-Himself-Up, among others. Nice attention to detail! And we also see Gaius stick a shovel in dirt. And Kara being all slinging-her-arm-over-D, which was adorable even though I was already on eggshells with the two of them. (Another nice bit - Sharon and Starbuck chatting while Starbuck warms up for the fight. I'm very happy to see that everyone's accepting Sharon nowadays. Warm fuzzies for the Cylon-babe.)

Apollo only rooting for his dad when Starbuck has pissed him off and he damned well wants in that ring as fast as he can! Oh, Apollo. Your daddy issues continue to be faintly hilarious.

And then there are serious bits! And some of them were even not-horrible!

In all honesty, I am horrified by boxing. Really. Most of the fights were spent with me going "Ouch!" and "Oh, god, nose! Nose!" and things like that. Blood everywhere! Horrible crunching noises! And I'm a huge wimp, so I wince every time someone gets hit. But dude, large swathes of the rest of this episode was so adorable that I didn't care much.

And then... yes. Lee and Kara. Here's the thing: I would have been all about it in the first season. They had this charming, teasing, best-friends kind of vibe that I just loved. Lately, though, it's just gotten more and more annoying, and I just wanted them to stop being asshats to their respective significant others. Seriously, WTF, both of them. I mean, Anders is an adorable little puppy (MY GOD SO HAPPY! LEE! I LIKE LEE! I GOT MARRIED, LEE!!!), and D is just so lovely and smart and sweet and ARGH. Why can't you two be sane, Lee and Kara? WHY? Why can you not be sane human beings?!

I am hoping that the end of their fight will herald a return to Apollo-and-Starbuck as they were at the beginning - bickering and teasing and being friends. If not, they can damned well properly break up with D and Anders and go be angsty together, thus sparing the rest of us their suffering. Either way. No more of this Ross-and-Rachel-from-Friends shit. It is DONE. ...Or if it's not, it really needs to be.

Also, I could not understand half of what they said in that last little scene, what with them talking through mouth-guards and colored karo syrup into each other's shoulders. I literally had to have The Boy translate the last half of the exchange, because the only thing I got out of it was "Don't think I'm going to be able to walk tomorrow." Which made me laugh, which made the situation even worse. ;)

Another bad thing: "Madame President." "Admiral." D: Noez, Adama! Don't do that! I hate when he gets all srs bzns. I know he kind of has to, but it makes me terribly sad.

Comments

[icepixie]

This episode! OMG! For obvious reasons, it made me a very, very happy person. :D (And yes, there is cute fanfic out there. I haven't read any in at least two years, but it does exist, and it ranges on a spectrum from awful to sublime, so I would suggest recs from crack_van and the like rather than just wading in.) Papadama TOTALLY went into the ring just to impress Roslin. *g*

And then... yes. Lee and Kara. Here's the thing: I would have been all about it in the first season. They had this charming, teasing, best-friends kind of vibe that I just loved. Lately, though, it's just gotten more and more annoying, and I just wanted them to stop being asshats to their respective significant others. Seriously, WTF, both of them. I mean, Anders is an adorable little puppy (MY GOD SO HAPPY! LEE! I LIKE LEE! I GOT MARRIED, LEE!!!), and D is just so lovely and smart and sweet and ARGH. Why can't you two be sane, Lee and Kara? WHY? Why can you not be sane human beings?!

All of this. My thoughts EXACTLY when I saw the episode, down to wanting them to just get over it all and go back to being friends. ARGH LOVE QUADRANGLE OF DOOOOOOOOOM.

Anyway, that and Bill and Laura going behind the school to smoke weed and have sex (YOU KNOW THEY DID) are pretty much all I remember from this episode. But what a great thing to remember. :D

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

(YOU KNOW THEY DID)

They so totally did. They must have. Otherwise it would just be too depressing. (I actually had to shout "Adama! She has a giant neon sign above her head that says "TRYING TO GET IN YOUR PANTS." JUST KISS HER ALREADY!" at one point.)

And the bit the next morning where Roslin has to turn away to laugh. Oh my god so cute. I love those two soverymuch.

I can't wait til I can go hunting fic for this fandom. ♥

down to wanting them to just get over it all and go back to being friends. ARGH LOVE QUADRANGLE OF DOOOOOOOOOM.

I will not ask if it's over, because it would just be too depressing to know for sure if it isn't. But oh my god. Please just start being sane again, people. I want to love them, I really do. I just can't right now, for wanting to slap them. :P

[websandwhiskers.livejournal.com]

Pretty much the only thing I remember clearly from this episode was Sharon jumping ON Helo - like poison-dart-frog latch-onto-vertical-surface jump. It was just too damned cute.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

YES. ♥

I've been trying to keep my Sharon/Helo squee a little low-key lately, because there were, like, three episodes in a row where all I could do was point and squee about how adorable they are and I was afraid people might get sick of me. But OMG, they are just SO CUTE.

like poison-dart-frog latch-onto-vertical-surface jump.

That was it exactly. She's so tiny and he's so kind of huge compared to the other guys on the show and... eeee! ♥♥♥

[deborah-judge.livejournal.com]

Yes, there's tons of Roslin/Adama fanfic...one of the things I love about this fandom is that they're a majority ship. (I even wrote one myself (written during season 2 so no spoilers for where you are, but it's angsty rather than cute). When you're ready to handle spoilers head over to adama_roslin, which is still thriving and active.

I never got into the Lee-and-Kara romance, and I agree that they are more fun to watch as friends. Sam is lovely, though. It took me a while to warm to the Kara/Sam marriage, but yes they are good together. When I actually want Kara to be happy rather than angst in interesting ways, Sam's who I want her to be with.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Yay! ♥ Thanks for the comm rec, and I shall have to run out and read your fic as soon as I have some time.

Sam is lovely, though. It took me a while to warm to the Kara/Sam marriage, but yes they are good together. When I actually want Kara to be happy rather than angst in interesting ways, Sam's who I want her to be with.

Very true. And he makes her happy, he really does! She just... on some level seems to want to be cranky and unhappy and angsty. Probably her History is to blame for this, but I disapprove. I like my characters to be happy, even if they have intermittent angst.

[deborah-judge.livejournal.com]

She just... on some level seems to want to be cranky and unhappy and angsty.

Yep. And I'm not sure if this is a self-destructive impulse or a way of working through pain in order to heal. I think it could be read either way.

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

This may not have been the most clever, intelligent, or well-done episode of the series, but I have to say - I lol'd. A lot.

When the promo for this first ran after the previous week's ep, I actually got legit embarrassed. I was like, oh God, this is going to be AWFUL. But I actually think Unfinished Business is a great episode - not just a fun episode where a lot of cool stuff happens, but an actual, good, really well-done episode. I mean, just from a technical standpoint, it's fucking gorgeous. I've never actually watched the extended cut (aside from just skipping ahead to see the Adama/Roslin bits) because I am so epically in love with the editing. And the music! And the cinematography!

You know, also, I think I just continue to be kind of stunned by how well it turned out for what is essentially a bottle episode. They shot some quick stuff while they still had the New Cap sets, threw up a boxing ring on a soundstage, and that was it. Most bottle episodes tend to suck (or inexplicably end up costing more than regular episodes), especially when it comes to SF; that they pulled this one off, to me, is just really impressive.

And oh, Adama and Roslin. I go back and forth over whether I think they slept together or not. I want to think they did, but there's a few lines of dialogue later in the season that make me unsure. I mean, I'm not a strict adherent to canon in any way so I don't mind handwaving things that conflict with how I'd prefer to view the show. I just really never expected, when I started this show, that I would ever see Adama and Roslin hanging out and getting high. And the fact that they did, and it worked, and it was totally in character? Is just one of many examples of how this show is just completely amazing.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

It does seem like such a stupid concept until you get in, doesn't it? Which I think is part of why I was hesitant to go on about how actually good it was - that and that I'm frankly a bit ass at paying proper attention to all the bits and pieces that really make a good episode on my first viewing, unless they're bad. If something's egregiously awful I usually notice it, but if it's good I tend to get too carried away to really notice the technicalities of everything until I go back later and really pay attention. The extended cut was pretty awesome, though, apart from a few bits of Starbuck and Apollo that seemed like they might've been better off trimmed (although I bet you they were in the aired episode... sigh).

You're right about the bottle-episode aspects, too - I had completely neglected to even think of that side of things.

I want to think they did, but there's a few lines of dialogue later in the season that make me unsure.

I know what you mean. There's stuff even in that episode that makes me doubt - I mean, when they're lying on the ground talking, Roslin's clearly doing the "We should grab our lives as they are, take the moment as it comes, seize the day... Helloooooooooooooo, Bill, are you LISTENING TO ME?!" thing at him, and he's just kind of like "wheee, stars!" *headdesk* Not quite that bad, but one does get the impression that the signal is out there, but not necessarily being received and accepted. I like to think that after we cut away between the night and the next morning, Roslin just plain jumped him.

I just really never expected, when I started this show, that I would ever see Adama and Roslin hanging out and getting high. And the fact that they did, and it worked, and it was totally in character?

It's so awesome!!! ♥ Their relationship... honestly, I just love how it develops over the course of the series. It just delights me to no end, because there are so many fascinating levels to it, and it's so charming.