Now for the Graystones. I find them infinitely more interesting as a group of people because the dynamic is absolutely fascinating. What I love is that at the start they are two very loving parents who are increasingly frustrated with their teenage daughter. Likewise, the daughter has no connection to her parents values and wants to be done with it all - and yet, as she runs away, sends a missive to her mother because somewhere, she's still their little girl. It took me a while to warm up to Zoe because, well, I don't know why. But the fact that she is the first Cylon (in this round of history anyway) is the thing that really intrigues me. The way that she's Zoe but she's also herself and she doesn't know how to reconcile that. (Also, her interaction with Phil is adorable and yeah, I think he's wonderful).
And then we have Amanda and Daniel. They are, I think, my favourites without question. First of all, their portrayal of grieving parents is absolutely wonderful and entirely truthful. I also really love that in spite of everything, they love each other without questions. You get to see them, in all these little moments, of just smiling and supporting each other, or actually talking and it's fantastic. Daniel I think, is ostensibly a good man but shown to do or enact bad things - like stealing the MCP and other stuff later with Zoe that I don't want to spoil you for. He's essentially, when you think about, amoral in that he is a good man and thus he may do bad things but because he's doing them, and because he wants at the end of it is good, they are good by default. It's a little bit like Willow!logic. The way things between he and Amanda play out is really interesting because it is, at the heart of it, about him appearing to move past Zoe's death and Amanda not being able to escape it. Of course, when you know that he's basically been trying to resurrect Zoe it's clear that he has his own issues, but Amanda can't see that, and doesn't know that. He does get taken to a place in the penultimate episode that made me really sort of uncomfortable, because it makes you confront the cold, hard rationalist side of him.
Amanda is so, so interesting to watch. She's a smart, well-educated and erudite woman, unafraid to share her opinions. She's also a loving but exasperated wife and mother who doesn't know where she's going wrong. She's also grieving in the most painful way. They really do ramp up the angst with Amanda, there's no denying it but I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. Her decline is essentially based on all her previously held conceptions, about her daughter, about the world, about her husband, are completely undermined. The thing that I love, watching her, is that for so long, she pushes through things, being supportive and fearless at the same time and yet clearly, utterly broken.
Other than the main characters, the plot is a little hard to pin down but I almost don't mind? Again, it's still finding its feet so I'm a lot easier on it than I would be on an established show. But the plot does allow for some really interesting discussions on the over-proliferation of technology and the damages of the virtual world, grief, the uses and abuses of artificial life and whether artificial life could be the afterlife. Which I think are all really great things to be brought up.
What I really like about the show, is that all of the waste and destruction of BSG is all for the love of two daughters and the hugely different ways in which that's handled. Both Joseph and Daniel start off in the same place: grieving, lost and desperate to get their little girl's back. But after the experiment fails, one ostensibly moves on, buries himself in work and the other holds on, burying himself in the attempt to find her again. That's something I absolutely love, that love and grief are the things that drive this; that for a big epic sci-fi show, it's actually all about the personal drama and motivations of these characters.
TL;DR THE CHARACTERS HAVE REALLY INTERESTING PROGRESSIONS AND THERE'S LOTS OF INTERESTING SUBTEXT ABOUT ARTIFICIAL LIFE AND THE AFTERLIFE AND IMORTALITYSorry, this probably isn't the most coherent thing ever and if there's anything you want clarification on then let me know.
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And then we have Amanda and Daniel. They are, I think, my favourites without question. First of all, their portrayal of grieving parents is absolutely wonderful and entirely truthful. I also really love that in spite of everything, they love each other without questions. You get to see them, in all these little moments, of just smiling and supporting each other, or actually talking and it's fantastic.
Daniel I think, is ostensibly a good man but shown to do or enact bad things - like stealing the MCP and other stuff later with Zoe that I don't want to spoil you for. He's essentially, when you think about, amoral in that he is a good man and thus he may do bad things but because he's doing them, and because he wants at the end of it is good, they are good by default. It's a little bit like Willow!logic. The way things between he and Amanda play out is really interesting because it is, at the heart of it, about him appearing to move past Zoe's death and Amanda not being able to escape it. Of course, when you know that he's basically been trying to resurrect Zoe it's clear that he has his own issues, but Amanda can't see that, and doesn't know that. He does get taken to a place in the penultimate episode that made me really sort of uncomfortable, because it makes you confront the cold, hard rationalist side of him.
Amanda is so, so interesting to watch. She's a smart, well-educated and erudite woman, unafraid to share her opinions. She's also a loving but exasperated wife and mother who doesn't know where she's going wrong. She's also grieving in the most painful way. They really do ramp up the angst with Amanda, there's no denying it but I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. Her decline is essentially based on all her previously held conceptions, about her daughter, about the world, about her husband, are completely undermined. The thing that I love, watching her, is that for so long, she pushes through things, being supportive and fearless at the same time and yet clearly, utterly broken.
Other than the main characters, the plot is a little hard to pin down but I almost don't mind? Again, it's still finding its feet so I'm a lot easier on it than I would be on an established show. But the plot does allow for some really interesting discussions on the over-proliferation of technology and the damages of the virtual world, grief, the uses and abuses of artificial life and whether artificial life could be the afterlife. Which I think are all really great things to be brought up.
What I really like about the show, is that all of the waste and destruction of BSG is all for the love of two daughters and the hugely different ways in which that's handled. Both Joseph and Daniel start off in the same place: grieving, lost and desperate to get their little girl's back. But after the experiment fails, one ostensibly moves on, buries himself in work and the other holds on, burying himself in the attempt to find her again. That's something I absolutely love, that love and grief are the things that drive this; that for a big epic sci-fi show, it's actually all about the personal drama and motivations of these characters.
TL;DR THE CHARACTERS HAVE REALLY INTERESTING PROGRESSIONS AND THERE'S LOTS OF INTERESTING SUBTEXT ABOUT ARTIFICIAL LIFE AND THE AFTERLIFE AND IMORTALITYSorry, this probably isn't the most coherent thing ever and if there's anything you want clarification on then let me know.