Authority Figures -- Romance and Rank

[butterfly]

So, why does the idea of canon Sam/Jack annoy the hell out of me, while I'm vastly interested in Lee Adama/Laura Roslin?

The reason lies in Lee's speech in Bastille Day, where he makes it clear that he follows the law over his commanding officer (and implicitly, over the President's wishes as well). When Lee follows an order, he's making an informed decision. When Sam follows an order, she's following an order. We've seen that Sam will follow orders that she disagrees with morally (Scorched Earth) while Lee will not (Kobol's Last Gleaming, part 2).

So, while Sam may be a better soldier than Lee, Lee seems like a stronger person. And I like good people a hell of a lot more than I like good soldiers.

Both of them have allowed their personal feelings for one person to overrule better judgment, but with Lee, we got to see him realise that he was wrong (That one, with Starbuck lost on the planet), whereas it seemed like Sam's only revelation was that losing Jack would completely suck, especially so soon after losing Daniel (Paradise Lost).

And, of course, one of the reasons that I love BSG is that there are several interesting (and very different) women, making the burden of 'representing sisterhood' weigh less heavily. Whereas on SG-1, Sam is pretty much it and even before Janet died, there were just two. On BSG, we have Starbuck, Six, Boomer, Roslin, Cally, and Duella.

Comments

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Well, I really don't see Sam and Jack acting like equals -- They're still on a "sir", "Carter" basis after eight years, even while they're on leave. On the few occasions that Sam's tried to go the 'Jack' route, Jack has completely smacked her down (Fragile Balance and Grace come to mind).

Whereas with Laura and Lee, it seems like there's this mutual level of respect and trust. They both care deeply about the well-being of the people of the fleet. They're both big-picture people. I can see Lee becoming the President, some day (after Roslin dies... *is sad*), because I think that he has the integrity and the ruthlessness needed.

[ilanabean42.livejournal.com]

I don't really remember Fragile Balance and Grace, so I can't really comment on that, but Sam and Jack seem to be friends, not just have that working relationship. They're somewhat formal when it comes to titles, but other than that they don't seem to really respect the boundaries they're supposed to have. Even if you don't ship them (which I don't particularly), you have to admit that they're closer than they should be by military rules.

Lee and Laura respect each other, definitely, and they have a lot in common, but they're not friends, and they're not equals. Maybe over time they could build more of an even relationship, but right now they still seem to be keeping something of a professional distance.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I don't really remember Fragile Balance and Grace, so I can't really comment on that, but Sam and Jack seem to be friends, not just have that working relationship. They're somewhat formal when it comes to titles, but other than that they don't seem to really respect the boundaries they're supposed to have. Even if you don't ship them (which I don't particularly), you have to admit that they're closer than they should be by military rules.

Yeah, Jack's close to all his team. But of his team, Carter's really the only one that he enforces a bit of a distance with -- there's the implication in Ascension that he's never been to her house before, there's her level of uncomfortableness when she's just dropping by his house in Lost City. The fact that, after four years of knowing her, neither Jack nor Daniel knew that she liked Diet Coke in Upgrades.

Then then we have the times when Sam does cross over that line, and Jack invariably pushes her back to the other side.

In Grace, she calls him 'Jack' when she's waking up, and he repeats it in this disbelieving voice, so she immediately corrects herself. I just keep going back to the end of Season 1 and Jack's stunned reaction to the idea that he and Carter were hooked up in the AU -- "It's against regulations." The fact that even when he's stuck in a time loop and knows that she won't remember anything, he still a) retires first and b) makes certain to kiss her just before the loop restarts. Honestly, I can't see our Jack ever getting involved with a subordinate officer. He has too much respect for the Air Force. Which is also why I will probably never write Jack/Daniel that isn't set post-retirement or other extenuating circumstances.

[ilanabean42.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I can't see our Jack ever getting involved with a subordinate officer. He has too much respect for the Air Force

This is precisely why I don't ship anything in SG-1 (except things like Daniel/Sha're that don't really count). I can see members of SG-1 having romantic feelings for each other in various combinations, but I can't see anything actually happening without some major extenuating circumstances.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Oh, I adore Daniel/Sha're! Beautifully tragic love gets to me. It's almost a shame that he didn't mention her at all in S8, yet at the same time, it's nice to think that he's finally getting a chance to move on. I'm torn.

[ilanabean42.livejournal.com]

I was disappointed that we didn't get more exploration of that relationship, if only because I love Daniel and I love angst, and that was a great tragic love story. (There's a reason Forever in a Day is my favorite episode.) I don't know that they should have dwelled on it, but I wish they'd dealt with Sha're a little more while she was still around, and then shortle after her death instead of just bringing her up once or twice when it was useful to the plot.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I really like what they did with the arc. I like that it didn't consume Daniel, because he really is the kind of guy who can be completely distracted by shiny new knowledge. Love him, but it's true. And I think that what we did get with Sha're was quality and contained all the elements of tragic romance without pushing it on us.

I love that her name is the first thing that Daniel remembered all on his own.

[ilanabean42.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it didn't get overwhleming, but I would have liked a bit more than what we got, since a lot of times they seemed to just forget her completely. The only time it really bothered me was when I watched Need for the first time and was yelling at the screen as Daniel completely failed to mention Sha're. That was only the first time, though, since they did mention her in the end, and it made sense the way they did it.

I love that too. That scene where he finds out again that she's dead absolutely kills me...

[simonesa.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Jack's close to all his team. But of his team, Carter's really the only one that he enforces a bit of a distance with -- there's the implication in Ascension that he's never been to her house before, there's her level of uncomfortableness when she's just dropping by his house in Lost City. The fact that, after four years of knowing her, neither Jack nor Daniel knew that she liked Diet Coke in Upgrades.

Do you think this is because she is the only one on his team that is military? He is bound by rules and regulations that he is not with Teal'c and Daniel. He is watching after her as much as protecting himself.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Do you think this is because she is the only one on his team that is military? He is bound by rules and regulations that he is not with Teal'c and Daniel. He is watching after her as much as protecting himself.

Well, and she's the only one who pays attention to his attempts to distance himself. He tried that with Daniel in the very beginning of Children of the Gods (The walk-right past like you don't care approach) and Daniel just kinda ignored it.