Your assessment on Graves' death is correct - we haven't spent enough time with him, and have been away from him long enough, where his death doesn't have the emotional resonance from loosing someone we really liked, but, yeah, it's a great "Oh, shit!" beat.
When the guns came up I appreciated that it was Nisha who stepped in front of Zoltan. Not just for avoiding the "strong man moves to protect weak woman" trope, but for also being a subtle indicator of how she's continued to heal. Nisha's had so any issues with substance abuse, dopur poisoning, and general depression that a season ago she wouldn't have made that move. It's her relationship with Zoltan that pulled her back, so it's fitting she positions herself to protect him.
Of course Zoltan gets his moment as well, since he's quicker off the mark when the shooting starts as he pushes Nisha towards distant cover. As police partners, again, this is expected.
(Bet you didn't expect a two paragraph analysis from those beats!)
Goldman - I mean the "SDC SWAT" kinds have gone "Lord of the Flies" here... Except Goldman didn't have the boys banging each other on the sly.
Seriously, though, for the situation in the foyer, he's the hinge. Those insights into his conflicted mental state and assessment of his squadmates show he could, at this late hour, help our heroes... Especially as I doubt he'll take it well that mere seconds after giving a "stand down" hand signal Scarra blew an MP's head open.
Gosh, will next week's chapter have a firefight in the lobby? The author has a habit of often cutting away from this type of action beat to pick up plot threads elsewhere, then returning in the aftermath. Yet the chapter title, "Ascent" implies we'll stay at the tower for another week.
We shall see. Lots of moving parts at this stage of the story.
Glad you noted Nisha's move to protect Zoltan. As you say, they've both been through it, and have come out the other side in largely better places. They're also, in a way, the least 'heroic' of our lead characters. Clarke has had a major late-in-life revelation and political shift, Lola has been on a helluva ride, Holland has had his moment and has now effectively retired. Zoltan and Nisha are in some ways the most 'normal' people in the crew, but are always pulled back into these odd circumstances.
I'd like to say that the SDC armed response unit is intended as a micro Lord of the Flies rerun, but that would be giving me too much credit.
You're right, though, that Golding is the key element in this scene, and especially in the next chapter. He's made difficult decisions in the past, and this next one will be the hardest of the lot.
Definitely lots of moving parts: if this was a movie, we'd be in the 'big finale intercutting scenes' bit, hopping between Endor and the Death Star and the Rebel fleet in quick succession.
Koth = Ewoks? Not a take I'd considered until this moment.
I don't think koth are your Ewoks. Lucas was going for a specific tech vs nature conflict there, and I've not noticed that symbolism for the koth.
Unless you intended that, and I missed it.
I figured the koth were the "fearsome other" - that which is looked on with terror because they look alien, menacing, and scary, but are basically gentle and peaceful, and undeserving of the fear.
Until you push em too far - but that's self defence.
You've never shown a koth of sound mind initiate aggression. They've always been shown being pushed into response, coerced, or manipulated (we're counting drugs/intoxication as manipulation in this statement) into violence.
The koth wouldn't have been in concentration camps en masse if they hadn't ultimately chosen non violence.
Ewoks, despite their cuddly, stuffed toy looks, really are vicious bastards. One of the first things 3PO translates is, "They're going to eat you." You cannot convince me those elaborate log traps were set up overnight. The Ewoks were already planning to attack the Imperials when they got lucky enough to pick up allies with blasters.
Well...
Your assessment on Graves' death is correct - we haven't spent enough time with him, and have been away from him long enough, where his death doesn't have the emotional resonance from loosing someone we really liked, but, yeah, it's a great "Oh, shit!" beat.
When the guns came up I appreciated that it was Nisha who stepped in front of Zoltan. Not just for avoiding the "strong man moves to protect weak woman" trope, but for also being a subtle indicator of how she's continued to heal. Nisha's had so any issues with substance abuse, dopur poisoning, and general depression that a season ago she wouldn't have made that move. It's her relationship with Zoltan that pulled her back, so it's fitting she positions herself to protect him.
Of course Zoltan gets his moment as well, since he's quicker off the mark when the shooting starts as he pushes Nisha towards distant cover. As police partners, again, this is expected.
(Bet you didn't expect a two paragraph analysis from those beats!)
Goldman - I mean the "SDC SWAT" kinds have gone "Lord of the Flies" here... Except Goldman didn't have the boys banging each other on the sly.
Seriously, though, for the situation in the foyer, he's the hinge. Those insights into his conflicted mental state and assessment of his squadmates show he could, at this late hour, help our heroes... Especially as I doubt he'll take it well that mere seconds after giving a "stand down" hand signal Scarra blew an MP's head open.
Gosh, will next week's chapter have a firefight in the lobby? The author has a habit of often cutting away from this type of action beat to pick up plot threads elsewhere, then returning in the aftermath. Yet the chapter title, "Ascent" implies we'll stay at the tower for another week.
We shall see. Lots of moving parts at this stage of the story.
Glad you noted Nisha's move to protect Zoltan. As you say, they've both been through it, and have come out the other side in largely better places. They're also, in a way, the least 'heroic' of our lead characters. Clarke has had a major late-in-life revelation and political shift, Lola has been on a helluva ride, Holland has had his moment and has now effectively retired. Zoltan and Nisha are in some ways the most 'normal' people in the crew, but are always pulled back into these odd circumstances.
I'd like to say that the SDC armed response unit is intended as a micro Lord of the Flies rerun, but that would be giving me too much credit.
You're right, though, that Golding is the key element in this scene, and especially in the next chapter. He's made difficult decisions in the past, and this next one will be the hardest of the lot.
Definitely lots of moving parts: if this was a movie, we'd be in the 'big finale intercutting scenes' bit, hopping between Endor and the Death Star and the Rebel fleet in quick succession.
Koth = Ewoks? Not a take I'd considered until this moment.
I don't think koth are your Ewoks. Lucas was going for a specific tech vs nature conflict there, and I've not noticed that symbolism for the koth.
Unless you intended that, and I missed it.
I figured the koth were the "fearsome other" - that which is looked on with terror because they look alien, menacing, and scary, but are basically gentle and peaceful, and undeserving of the fear.
Until you push em too far - but that's self defence.
You've never shown a koth of sound mind initiate aggression. They've always been shown being pushed into response, coerced, or manipulated (we're counting drugs/intoxication as manipulation in this statement) into violence.
The koth wouldn't have been in concentration camps en masse if they hadn't ultimately chosen non violence.
Ewoks, despite their cuddly, stuffed toy looks, really are vicious bastards. One of the first things 3PO translates is, "They're going to eat you." You cannot convince me those elaborate log traps were set up overnight. The Ewoks were already planning to attack the Imperials when they got lucky enough to pick up allies with blasters.
Which, if anything, means koth are your Wookies.