Commander Thrace?

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

frolicndetour raised an interesting point in our discussion of Kara's promotions the other day. Apparently the writers planned to make her the Pegasus commander at one point. What avenues do you think that would have lead the show down? What would her time as Commander have been like? Would she be more in the vein of Adama or Cain or her own leader entirely? What would change about canon if the only switch was that she was head of Pegasus instead of Lee (with Dee as her XO? Heh.)

ETA: Tomorrow is Friday and because of that happy reason, we will be having a Kara Love meme here! Bring yo' gifs, Bring yo' toasts, get ready to raise a glass to the incomparable Kara "Starbuck" Thrace!

Comments

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Well I didn't think it was very believable for Lee to suddenly become Pegasus commander either honestly, and apparently it was going to be Kara until Jamie Bamber protested, Lol. I would like to know more about the surrounding circumstances and what ideas they had for how it was going to happen.

I do think Kara worked through some/most of her fear of taking responsibility in S1 with AoC/YGHA and Hand of God. She'd been the flight instructor for a while and she took on the CAG's duties (even having early morning briefings with Tigh!) in Captain's Hand anyway... Kara also has a really strong sense of feeling like she knows the right thing to do in situations, so I don't know, the chance to put that in action and carry out her own missions, I could see as really tempting for her.

Plus, I don't particularly think either Adama nor Cain were all that good at caring about their people or seeing their needs very often. Adama could get incredibly stubborn (Dee had to tell him to go put the fleet back together!) And god knows they BOTH yelled and used violence when it suited them. I think you could command without being patient or diplomatic necessarily. But I also don't think Kara is without those traits either or couldn't have grown/changed to develop those qualities a bit more. That's usually what happens when you're presented with responsibility and a new image of yourself. I mean who was the one to tell Lee they had to toe the line under Cain in Res Ship I? Kara.

The factor of who the president would be (Laura? Lee? Someone else?) when Kara was Commander would also be huge, because I think Adama was tempered/balanced by Roslin quite often. I wonder how she'd work with whoever was president of the Fleet.

But yeah, I disagree completely that she couldn't make the tough calls (or that she'd become a total basketcase if she had to make them), I think in her personal life she's afraid to make bad choices, but she's pretty fearless and assured she is making the right calls when it comes to professional actions (for better or worse).

It's probably just a difference in how we see the character. Though I do think the one situation where she would have real trouble making a tough call and might have played out far differently than it did in canon was if Razor was reversed and she'd had to command Lee to stay behind with the nuke. Honestly...that is one call I don't think I can see Kara ever making, not when she saves him at every turn she possibly can and with all her residual Adama-related guilt ;).

[sugarhaven.livejournal.com]

"I think you could command without being patient or diplomatic necessary"
You absolutely can, it's called a ruthless dictator. :-)

I can see Kara being a Peggy's CO but I don't think she would be very good at it or happy at that position. But I like your point, that she would likely change and adapt to the new lifestyle so I could have been pleasantly surprised.

I agree with you about the tough choices too. Kara can definitely make them and she seems on the surface to be much better than Lee in dealing with them (like Olympic Carrier or Cain's assassination) but I just have that feeling that subconsciously they are affecting her much more and that she is much less herself in this kind of situation when the fate of humanity depends on her decisions rather than her viper skills.

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Well I don't see it as quite so black and white I guess. I liked Cain and just thought she had some serious failings as a commander. I liked Adama (before he got so incredibly myopic in S3) and still thought he was stubborn and impatient and nondiplomatic on many occasions, that did not make him a ruthless dictator however.

I mean all of this of course is just crazy speculation. We can't know how it would've changed things without context, but I don't think Kara being commander would've necessarily been such a terrible thing at all. I imagine she would've changed and adapted and could have been really awesome at it. :) She was a career soldier pretty much.

[sugarhaven.livejournal.com]

"I mean all of this of course is just crazy speculation"
Exactly, who knew how would Kara shape up if she didn't had to go through Farm or NC?

I don't think I see it black and white. They are all flawed but I don't think any of them is a dictator. Despite all his faults, I consider Adama a good commander. He tends to make the good decisions 90% of the time (even if not always immediately) without becoming tyrant or loosing the sense of what is right and wrong. Cain is more of a tragic character. She does decisions she truly believes are the best for the survival of people (i.e. her selected few) and her crew really respect her for that. She thinks that there is no other option than to be completely ruthless when fighting the cylons. The problem is that she lost perspective and crossed the line to the area, where you really wonder whether the survival of the human race is worth the cost.