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Well, when he was head of the Union on New Caprica he had resigned from the military, so there was no conflict there.
In this instance, yes, there was indeed a conflict.

Exactly the problem I've got with this episode. On New Caprica he was a civillian again, and I SUPPOSE the colonies no longer considered itself in a state of war. It just didn't seem to me like a very well thought out episode.

I think it's an example of a running theme in BSG, which is that they just don't have the ability to do things the "proper" way any more. They're in an impossible situation which is just getting worse and worse and worse for them, they're still losing people constantly, and they just don't have enough people to do all the things that need doing. It would be nice if somebody else could lead the union, but the Chief is the guy who has the trust of the workers, and nobody else does. It would be nice if he could leave his Galactica job to do it, but nobody else has the skill and experience he does.

And this is exactly why their journey thus far has involved frequent breakdowns in military discipline and political control of the fleet, often with far reaching and ongoing consequences.

I don't think it's at all that they haven't thought of the conflicts this kind of thing creates, I think their whole point is "yeah, this creates conflicts, and they blunder through them as best they can because they're just stuck with it."

And if there's one thing I love about BSG, that's it; people screw up, all the time, and they have to keep going regardless.

But what about that first yutz that Adama locked up....he was doing the same thing as Tyrell, but Tyrell had ADAMA's trust as well.

Adama is very often influenced in his actions by how much he likes the people involved.

As Adama points out when the Chief's mook gets locked up, he needs him to keep the fighters running, so the Chief gets extra slack because no one else has the knowledge.

I've got a superbly dumb question.

On Adama's anniversary, Private "whatshisface" brings him coffee. All the colonials seem to be eating normal food, but wasn't the Chief quoted as saying "That alge is gonna be breakfast, lunch, and dinner until we find a hot fudge planet"? Where the hell are they STILL getting coffee three years after the destruction of the colonies.

It's Private Jaffe.

There's a botanical ship in the fleet. I'd always assumed that they were growing certain commodities (such as coffee), but that it was only available to the higher-ups like Adama and Roslin.

Sionnach Glic wrote:It's Private Jaffe.

There's a botanical ship in the fleet. I'd always assumed that they were growing certain commodities (such as coffee), but that it was only available to the higher-ups like Adama and Roslin.

If they're withholding coffee..........I'm surprised the strike took as long as it did.

Well, the Gideon Massacre (when Tigh ordered marines over to a ship who then began shooting people) happened when troops were sent over to get a supply of coffee that was being witheld. So it does seem that it was running low even at that fairly early point.

No morning coffee? Now there is a reason for insubordination if there ever was one. Inconceivable!

I was just watching The Oath (a series 4 episode) and Tigh, upon being offered a cup by Adama, comments that he's lost the taste for it since they started watering it down with algae juice.

I would have hoped being responsible for a civilian massacre over coffee beans would have been enough to put him off.

kostmayer wrote:I would have hoped being responsible for a civilian massacre over coffee beans would have been enough to put him off.

I'd say thats really the fault of the tool he sent over in command of the team. Yeah, as CO at the time, Tigh bears ultimate responsibility but he didn't exactly tell the officer to start gunning down civvies.

IIRC, the civilians started throwing things at the marines, one soldier opened fire, the rest followed and chaos ensued. Not exactly Tigh's fault, though as Kendall points out he does bear some responsibility.