I certainly think all the necessary elements were in place for Stockholm Syndrome. Leoben controlled ALL of her basic needs, had her totally isolated, held her life & health in his hands and constantly showed restraint.
I personally doubt he ever outright threatened her, but what did Kara really know about Leoben at the beginning? She didn't KNOW that he wouldn't phyiscally or sexually harm her. She had to consider it since he mentioned about their roles being reversed each cycle. Even with his stoic persona, I always felt there was a definite edge of threat to him.
To live in that situation for months on end and be told that there was no chance for rescue HAD to affect Kara.
The only two instances that I remember seeing on the show that hinted that she might have a certain level of SS was when he forced her to say she loved him and kiss him. I'm pretty sure that we were suppose to have doubts about how Kara really felt--probably because her character was conflicted, too. Then the deleted scene where Kara confronts a Leoben when he's one of the infected Cylons being held in the brig. The portion where she's bringing up his use of Kacey again shows a hint of emotional conflict--to me--and not just anger. There was a sense of betrayal--she had come to trust him to a point that she believed his lie about 'their child'.
I would have loved if the show had explored SS & PTSD with Kara. It was one of the biggest dropped plot/character points IMO.
I agree that, per canon, she didn't truly qualify as SS, but was definitely headed that way.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-02-21 11:02 pm (UTC)I personally doubt he ever outright threatened her, but what did Kara really know about Leoben at the beginning? She didn't KNOW that he wouldn't phyiscally or sexually harm her. She had to consider it since he mentioned about their roles being reversed each cycle. Even with his stoic persona, I always felt there was a definite edge of threat to him.
To live in that situation for months on end and be told that there was no chance for rescue HAD to affect Kara.
The only two instances that I remember seeing on the show that hinted that she might have a certain level of SS was when he forced her to say she loved him and kiss him. I'm pretty sure that we were suppose to have doubts about how Kara really felt--probably because her character was conflicted, too. Then the deleted scene where Kara confronts a Leoben when he's one of the infected Cylons being held in the brig. The portion where she's bringing up his use of Kacey again shows a hint of emotional conflict--to me--and not just anger. There was a sense of betrayal--she had come to trust him to a point that she believed his lie about 'their child'.
I would have loved if the show had explored SS & PTSD with Kara. It was one of the biggest dropped plot/character points IMO.
I agree that, per canon, she didn't truly qualify as SS, but was definitely headed that way.