Sometimes a Great Notion: Roslin’s Breakdown
Sunday, January 18th, 2009Whenever Juancy and I watch an episode of Battlestar Galactica, we tend to hit pause every two minutes to discuss/process/theorize. As an indicator of how compelling an episode last night’s Sometimes a Great Notion was - we were pretty much speechless from start to finish (except of course for exclamations of shock, sadness, horror, and utter confusion).
There’s so much to say, but for right now I just wanna talk about one thing. My favorite character, who got very little screen time in this ep but still managed to project enough pain and sadness to hold her own against so many massive displays of pain and sadness. Laura Roslin.
Poor Roslin. Last night, she finally had the breakdown that she has never allowed herself to have, going back to the initial attack, because she was immediately thrust into the role of president and had to focus all her energy on keeping morale up, giving the people hope, keeping the comforting wheels of government bureaucracy turning. She never got to grieve for all the things she lost, or mourn her murdered loved ones, because she had to heal everyone else’s grief by giving them something to believe in. Something called Earth. Now that Earth has been reached, and instead of the answer to their prayers it turns out to be one more horrific nightmare, she is confronted once more by The People, demanding that she make everything okay, and she breaks. Finally, the superhuman mask of The President cracks, and she let’s herself feel all the pain and bewilderment she could never afford before.
But I don’t think she’ll be down for long. Society is crumbling, crime and violence and despair are spreading, and she is going to have to sort out that sh*t By Any Means Necessary….
