I released these episodes in the same week back at Thanksgiving 2017, emulating the kind of "two hour opening" that some shows would pull off, such as DS9's "Way of the Warrior". I wanted to open Season 3 with a big bang, with 3-01 to set the stage and 3-02 to deliver the boom.
Partway through I realized that my original plan of Robert waking up in 3-01 lacked punch. It would come too quickly and wouldn't give the character the examination he deserved. That's why I reserved it to 3-02, and by doing so, I drew the obvious parallels to Star Trek: Generations and the choices of Kirk and Picard, and in doing so I showed how Robert's motivations made him particularly susceptible in ways they weren't - hence his initial rejection of departure - only for those same feelings to provide the push to make him accept leaving in the end. Because what defines Robert isn't stuff like duty and principle (Picard) or challenge and adversity (Kirk): it's family, his love of family, and his pain at the losses he's endured to family over his life. Family tied him to the fantasy far more strongly than it could Picard or Kirk, even if ultimately the need to protect the family he now has drove him to leave.
Angel going walkabout was something I did to give her something to do. Angel's one of the characters who sometimes suffers from her role. She fires the ship's weapons and punches people, either in training or in actual fights. Her place as Cat's protective big sister has to decline if Cat is to get any character development, and being the third point of the Robert-Julia love triangle was definitively ended in 2-10. I wanted to reflect on what she's like and the impulses she has to deal with problems through her fists and martial arts acumen. Jarod was the perfect character to connect with her on that given his own backstory. And, of course, it let me begin building up the season's element of Our Heroes coming to the attention of ancient forces.
Having Ariel Shaham become Captain of the Enterprise was something I decided upon only later. I always know Julia wouldn't get it (save when I toyed with actually destroying the Aurora in 2-18 and having the characters all transfer to the Enterprise, mirroring somewhat the original UF from 1999-2000), but the who was big. A former Facility Hand? Captain Laurent of the Challenger would've worked, obviously. In the end, though, Ariel Shaham was perfect, since it shows the effects of their actions in 1-12, and is a further slap in the face to the Nazis as the leader of the last Jews of their home universe gets one of the Alliance's most prestigious commands.
Conversely, King was planned from early Season 2 to become captain of the Excalibur.
Some stuff in 3-02 could've gone a number of different ways. I considered having the Quarians arrive to help save New Caprica, a nice thematic linking there. At one point the protags would've initially aided the refugee-held mine and Wilma would've flown a Viper along with Starbuck (a fun nod to the fact both properties were done by Glen Larson in the 1970s).
But Clara was always going to die.
And that was tricky. Many of you are probably familiar with Gail Simone's concept of "Stuffed in the Fridge", or as she put it as the name of a website on the topic, "Women in Refrigerators". It references the murder of new Green Lantern Kyle Rayner's girlfriend by a supervillain, who stuffed the body in Kyle's fridge. The point was an examination and protest of the tendency of male comic book writers (and writers in other genres) to kill or otherwise horribly harm female characters for the purpose of furthering the story of the main male character. The women in question are treated as emotional props for the hero, not characters in their own right.
It's a legitimate trope to be concerned with, but too much concern can stifle stories. It can make it feel impossible to actually kill characters off, even if the author feels it works, for fear of coming off like this.
I had that fear, so I considered the issue and made a decision. It would be impossible to not have Clara's death weigh on Zack. But I didn't have to make that the sole result. Nor did I have to have her "fridge-stuffed" as a helpless damsel. To undermine the "Women in Refrigerators" effect, I decided I needed to do two things.
I had to have Clara's death impact other characters, even if they are minor characters too, showing her importance in her own right.
And I had to give her death agency. She had to be an agent in her own death, by which I mean she acted on her own initiative and accord, keeping in the bounds of her character, and the tragic result was her death.
Hence the means of that end. Clara was a victim, certainly, but she met her end by making a choice to do something noble and brave, trying to rescue someone in an open firefight and bring them to safety.
And her death didn't just impact Zack. Cally, Galen, Starbuck and Anders, they all mourn for her. To the people of New Caprica, she wasn't just an outsider, she'd become a neighbor, a member of their community. And now she was gone. Another friend, another neighbor, claimed by the Cylons.
Anyway, by the end of all this, the stage is now set for Season 3 and the new status quo of the series. The voyages of Captain Robert Dale are over: the voyages of Captain Julia Andreys have begun.
Hell, I could with justice regard Season 3 as having another theme: "Julia Andreys is a badass spaceship captain". Starting later, I'll start to show you why I think that theme has merit.
Partway through I realized that my original plan of Robert waking up in 3-01 lacked punch. It would come too quickly and wouldn't give the character the examination he deserved. That's why I reserved it to 3-02, and by doing so, I drew the obvious parallels to Star Trek: Generations and the choices of Kirk and Picard, and in doing so I showed how Robert's motivations made him particularly susceptible in ways they weren't - hence his initial rejection of departure - only for those same feelings to provide the push to make him accept leaving in the end. Because what defines Robert isn't stuff like duty and principle (Picard) or challenge and adversity (Kirk): it's family, his love of family, and his pain at the losses he's endured to family over his life. Family tied him to the fantasy far more strongly than it could Picard or Kirk, even if ultimately the need to protect the family he now has drove him to leave.
Angel going walkabout was something I did to give her something to do. Angel's one of the characters who sometimes suffers from her role. She fires the ship's weapons and punches people, either in training or in actual fights. Her place as Cat's protective big sister has to decline if Cat is to get any character development, and being the third point of the Robert-Julia love triangle was definitively ended in 2-10. I wanted to reflect on what she's like and the impulses she has to deal with problems through her fists and martial arts acumen. Jarod was the perfect character to connect with her on that given his own backstory. And, of course, it let me begin building up the season's element of Our Heroes coming to the attention of ancient forces.
Having Ariel Shaham become Captain of the Enterprise was something I decided upon only later. I always know Julia wouldn't get it (save when I toyed with actually destroying the Aurora in 2-18 and having the characters all transfer to the Enterprise, mirroring somewhat the original UF from 1999-2000), but the who was big. A former Facility Hand? Captain Laurent of the Challenger would've worked, obviously. In the end, though, Ariel Shaham was perfect, since it shows the effects of their actions in 1-12, and is a further slap in the face to the Nazis as the leader of the last Jews of their home universe gets one of the Alliance's most prestigious commands.
Conversely, King was planned from early Season 2 to become captain of the Excalibur.
Some stuff in 3-02 could've gone a number of different ways. I considered having the Quarians arrive to help save New Caprica, a nice thematic linking there. At one point the protags would've initially aided the refugee-held mine and Wilma would've flown a Viper along with Starbuck (a fun nod to the fact both properties were done by Glen Larson in the 1970s).
But Clara was always going to die.
And that was tricky. Many of you are probably familiar with Gail Simone's concept of "Stuffed in the Fridge", or as she put it as the name of a website on the topic, "Women in Refrigerators". It references the murder of new Green Lantern Kyle Rayner's girlfriend by a supervillain, who stuffed the body in Kyle's fridge. The point was an examination and protest of the tendency of male comic book writers (and writers in other genres) to kill or otherwise horribly harm female characters for the purpose of furthering the story of the main male character. The women in question are treated as emotional props for the hero, not characters in their own right.
It's a legitimate trope to be concerned with, but too much concern can stifle stories. It can make it feel impossible to actually kill characters off, even if the author feels it works, for fear of coming off like this.
I had that fear, so I considered the issue and made a decision. It would be impossible to not have Clara's death weigh on Zack. But I didn't have to make that the sole result. Nor did I have to have her "fridge-stuffed" as a helpless damsel. To undermine the "Women in Refrigerators" effect, I decided I needed to do two things.
I had to have Clara's death impact other characters, even if they are minor characters too, showing her importance in her own right.
And I had to give her death agency. She had to be an agent in her own death, by which I mean she acted on her own initiative and accord, keeping in the bounds of her character, and the tragic result was her death.
Hence the means of that end. Clara was a victim, certainly, but she met her end by making a choice to do something noble and brave, trying to rescue someone in an open firefight and bring them to safety.
And her death didn't just impact Zack. Cally, Galen, Starbuck and Anders, they all mourn for her. To the people of New Caprica, she wasn't just an outsider, she'd become a neighbor, a member of their community. And now she was gone. Another friend, another neighbor, claimed by the Cylons.
Anyway, by the end of all this, the stage is now set for Season 3 and the new status quo of the series. The voyages of Captain Robert Dale are over: the voyages of Captain Julia Andreys have begun.
Hell, I could with justice regard Season 3 as having another theme: "Julia Andreys is a badass spaceship captain". Starting later, I'll start to show you why I think that theme has merit.