Mourning

This is all spoiler, so if you watch Battlestar and haven't seen the most recent episode, skip it.



I woke up this morning to several blog postings in my newsreader about last night's Battlestar Galactica, which I had missed because I was at the theater. So I put off doing productive work and fired up the TiVo to catch me up on what I missed before one of my favorite blogs spoiled it for me. And now I'm a mess of confused thoughts and feelings. Because one way or another, there's no turning back from this. I hope.

Starbuck for me is a primary reason to watch Battlestar Galactica. She's a powerful, compelling character who frequently infuriated me with her attitude and her mistakes. She's also the strongest, toughest, sexiest, most interesting woman on the show for me. Six's scanty red dresses do nothing for me when compared to Starbuck's dirt and muscles. Her self-image as a frak-up and her strength and determination combine to form one powerful, conflicted, amazing character. And actress Katee Sackhoff* performed Starbuck's special brand of crazy with such an amazing cockiness and the most adorable smile, that I totally fell in love. And while I was not completely onboard with Starbuck's purported heterosexuality, I appreciated the unabashed voraciousness of her sexuality and even her angsty love triangle. The character of Starbuck is one of the toughest women on television, and her loss is a serious one for the show.



Now, there's a very real possiblity that we haven't heard the last of Kara Thrace. The internet is rife with speculation that she will reappear as a Cylon. And certainly I expect her to haunt the characters in flashbacks. But my feeling is that no matter what, this character is destroyed. If they bring her back as a Cylon, she could be just as tough (though odds are she would end up clean and pretty a lot more of the time and they'd probably even let her grow out her hair again), but she would lack the cocky human imperfection that endeared her to me so much. While I don't want to lose Katee Sackhoff completely, I also don't want to see Starbuck corrupted and resignified. I like her as the arrogant flyboy and the Cylons spend too much time sitting around talking and plotting, using machines and "pet" raiders for the action. I don't picture seeing a Cylon Kara in the cockpit. And Sharon certainly hasn't been nearly as kickass as she was before she was revealed to be a Cylon. So, while there's the possibility of new and interesting characters incorporating Katee Sackhoff into Battlestar in a different context, Starbuck as I know and love her seems unlikely to return.



Special destiny my ass. If this is Starbuck's destiny, I reject that completely. I would have less trouble accepting Starbuck's death if it were a bit more noble/foolhardy in the line of duty. If she died making some crazy attempt to defend or save someone from a very real threat, that I could understand. It would be in line with her character. But going into the light from her own halucinations without any sort of beneficial outcome? It feels wrong. Starbuck's a fighter. That's the one thing that gives me hope that we have more to hear from Starbuck. That and the fact that the Leoben in her head was talking about "between life and death" rather than death itself. Whatever that means. It would feel like cheating if Starbuck as she is somehow survives, but I also want to see her live out a human destiny rather than a Cylon one.

I'm not ready to move on. Based on the previews, the next episode is all Baltar trial. Which indicates a thoroughly insufficient amount of mourning for Starbuck. I need more than Adama (very movingly) destroying his model ship with its promise of hope and dawn. If Starbuck is really dead, everyone needs to be fraked up about it. Lee should be pinning a photo next to Kat. Lee and Anders should reconcile to share their loss. Everyone should be drinking. A lot. Adama's effectively lost another child. And I miss the hope and bonding and shared destiny between President Roslyn and Starbuck when Starbuck went in search of the Arrow of Apollo. I still feel like all the mystical hope that Starbuck offered never came to fruition for me. If they're really killing her off, I need a lot of mourning time to recover from this serious loss to the series. And if they're not, they're going to have to do a lot to win back my trust in whatever reincarnation happens.

Whatever happens, they're obviously building to another mind-bending and probably heart-wrenching season finale, which can be expected from Battlestar and which is one of many reasons why I keep coming back.

UPDATE: Annalee Newitz weighs in with an opinion that many things in the episode were pretty icky and terribly uncharacteristic. The internet in general seems pretty secure in the idea that this isn't the last we've seen of Katee Sackhoff and hopefully not even Kara Thrace. My question is, will I be glad to see her if/when she comes back, or will it feel wrong?


*NOTE: This post is about Starbuck, the character. While Katee Sackhoff obviously rocks in the part, she insists that she's totally girly off camera and that we most likely won't see her in more scifi or jock roles in the future. Sigh.