Admiral Adama

I found it very difficult to write about Adama in part, I think, because so much of his emotional life is below the surface. He appears to be a tough, dedicated military man, and a great leader. In a lot of ways he is the father to his crew (and they show their respect by calling him "The Old Man"). At the same time he is very complicated and difficult to understand because he so seldom expresses his feelings and is terse when he does so. It is really important to pay attention to what he does, since small gestures will betray more of what he is thinking or feeling than anything he actually says. 

I really like Adama a lot, but it is not always obvious to me why.

His speech is even and concise. Although he may raise his voice he seldom yells or emotes (unlike, say, William Shatner on the original Star Trek, who is sort of famous for that). Adama is in control of his feelings most of the time, the episodes where he does lose control are more significant because they are so rare. (I would also add that I think some of these scenes are a mistake, but more on that when I do my evaluation of each episode.)

In one of the podcasts Ronald Moore says that Edward James Olmos incorporated into Adama a practice of not making eye contact. I was kind of surprised because failure to make eye contact is often a sign of deficit in social behavior (autism mom speaking here). In any event, I started looking for this trait when I was watching, and sure enough, he doesn't make eye contact. In Adama's case it is not a failure in social skills, but a deliberate decision not to provide facial clues while he is taking in what others say and making decisions.

I really noticed this in the CIC where they are always standing around the greenish light board in the middle of the room. Adama is usually looking down and his glasses reflect the light and obscure his eyes more, making him something of a cipher. When he is reviewing photos of the resurrection ship on Pegasus, he talks to Admiral Caine but doesn't look at her until she tells him that she is reassigning his crew to her ship. He looks up rapidly at this piece of news, immediately betraying his disquiet.  His response is clipped and even-toned, although it is apparent that he is angry.

Adama's glasses are also a clue to his state of mind. He usually appears relaxed when he is not wearing them, and he seldom smiles unless they are off. His smiles are warm and genuine, and more significant because they are rare. When he is about to announce a difficult or unpopular order or to disagree with someone he often takes them off and looks directly at the person he is speaking to.

For all his reserve, Adama is not afraid to be honest about his feelings. When Roslin tells Adama and Lee that they haven't gotten over Zak's death ("You Can't Go Home Again"), Lee says, "I think she's wrong, we have." Adama looks right at him and says, "I haven't." He says it clearly and succinctly without a lot of drama, while still conveying the depth of his feeling.

A large part of the miniseries and the first season is about Adama's transition from military officer to a much broader role as leader and protector of the community. After the Cylon attack Roslin immediately grasps the implications for the human race and understands what she must do. I think this is in part because Roslin's background is in the political arena. In any event, Roslin understands her place in the new scheme of things, while Adama must learn his.

The first step in the transition takes place in the miniseries. Adama prepares to take on a hopeless military confrontation with the Cylons (who have already destroyed all other military defenses). I suppose you can say that he is acting in accordance with his programming as a military officer, which is to fight the enemy. Roslin, who has spent the time immediately after the attack rounding up survivors, repeatedly points out the futility of fighting. ("How many times do I have to say this? The war is over. We lost.") Adama finally understands when he sees Billy flirting with Dee and repeats Roslin's statement "We gotta start making babies." From that point forward he is committed to the fleet of survivors. 

Later on in the first season Adama removes the civilian government and imprisons Roslin, the acts of a military man used to giving orders and seeing them obeyed. The last episode of Season 1 ("Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 2") and most of season 2.0 are about the frailty of the alliance between the military and the civilian government. The government is disproportionately dependent on the military to keep the civilian fleet safe, compared to the pre-war state of affairs, and Adama has yet to understand his obligations to the civilian government.

There are several themes at work in the episodes, but a critical part is the role played by Adama's expanding insight into his place in the new order of things. His return to Kobol to find the rest of the fleet ("Home, Part 2") is important because it is the second time that Adama has changed his mind and abandoned one course of action to pursue another one. In this case it means swallowing his pride and setting aside the sense that he has been wronged. When he officially welcomes Roslin back into the leadership of the government, he leads the clapping and cedes his position on the podium to her, literally demonstrating the need to have a civilian government with authority over the military ("Home, Part 2"). It doesn't hurt, of course, that Roslin turned out to be right about finding a clue to the location of Earth in the Temple of Athena on Kobol.

From this point on, the military, under Adama, allows the direction to be set by the civilian government (at least as it is embodied by Roslin). This is why he moves to protect the civilian fleet from Admiral Caine, and is also why he is the first to clap when Roslin announces a general amnesty for everyone who has returned from New Caprica ("Collaborators").

When Pegasus shows up, he is unable to go back to the pre-war status quo of limited autonomy and following orders given by his military superiors (of course it doesn't help that Admiral Caine has strong dictatorial tendencies, a contempt for civilian government, and, on top of all that, is a total bitch). Moreover, his first concern is to protect the remaining human population, while Admiral Caine is indifferent to their well-being and ruthless in pursuit of military goals ("Pegasus" - I much prefer the expanded version, and "Resurrection Ship" Parts 1 and 2).

In one of the videoblogs, Edward James Olmos says that after Adama is shot by Boomer he becomes more emotionally vulnerable ("Scattered"). It is hard for me to put my finger on any one event that makes this obvious. I do think that Adama's increasing respect and growing emotional attachment to Roslin is part of this process. I like this relationship a lot - it is a relationship between adults who treat each other politely (old-fashioned, right), and work collaboratively. 

I am really interested in seeing where Adama goes in the last season. What will be his new role after Roslin dies? How will this affect him emotionally? (We already have an idea when Roslin has a vision of her own death in "The Hub.") What will his relationship with the new president?  (The new president will presumably be his own son, but more about THAT later, when I discuss "Sine Qua Non" - the only absolutely horrible episode of Galactica) How will he behave now that some of the action will move from Galactica (a well-defined physical space that he rules) to Earth, where the boundaries will presumably be more amorphous. My only certain knowledge is that he will be up to these new challenges.