A Reflection on Saul Tigh, by Ron Moore

[ArthurKing]

"My name is Saul Tigh. I am an officer in the Colonial Fleet.... whatever else I am, and whatever else it means, that's the man I want to be. And if I die today, that's the man I'll be." (Galactica 3x20 Crossroads Pt. II)

No particularly grand reason I'm posting this now. (Although my immediate inspiration was, I'll admit, that I was just watching the end of 1x13 Kobol's Last Gleaming Part 2 where Saul Tigh use his hands to try, against the seemingly impossible odds of approaching death, to literally and physically STOP the blood from pouring out from his old friend's stomach after Boomer shot him twice, point blank.)

However, as the 4th season ramps up and we face the possibility that Tigh may be a Cylon, I've become once again extremely drawn to the character of Saul Tigh. (I say "once again" because of my need to reengage my BSG amor after the long hiatus)

To me, he may simultaneously be one of the most complex and one of the most compelling characters on the show. In a subtle way. Certainly, he doesn't scream out "I'm a complex character, look at me!" (ala Starbuck) but it's there, coursing through his lines and Hogan's superb acting. At the end of the day, I'm also -- perhaps simplistically, but, all the same, I can't deny it -- drawn to him being an archetypal 'good man'. Not a perfect man, but a good man.

I'm watching the show now with somewhat 'bated breath' as the rollout of final 5 plot line proceeds - particularly as regards Tigh. There are some deeply deeply dark and transcendant and highly tragic themes being developed by Moore in the notion of a good man, a military man, a loyal man to the Colonial Military and the Human Cause, being revealed as a Cylon. (If he is, in fact, a Cylon ... I have my doubts but I guess that's for another post)

If Tigh's story concludes on a tragic end ... not to be Mr. Pathos here, but, I'll be saddened. I wouldn't put anything past BSG at this point, 'happy ending' or 'sad ending' or 'ambiguous ending' wise ... which is why I love the damnable show But I'd be saddened all the same. The death of a good man, a good officer, and a good friend.

Anyway, I'd encourage any Tigh supporters (or detractors! ) to read through this excerpt from Moore. It comes from his podcast commentary to Episode 1x9 Tigh Me Up Tigh Me Down. I'll also provide the full link at the bottom.

Best,
AK

"The Cylon Raider subplot, which I haven't even mentioned, is truly a subplot. I mean it's really— dramatically, it is a device to provide a bit of action and jeopardy in the episode, to sort of provide some context, and even though there were arguments— I think Eddie even made the argument to lose it, and his cut I think might have lost this whole section, in his director's cut. I felt that this was important because— not so much for any plot reason, because it's a very small plot— y'know, there's a Raider jumping around and us learning certain things about it for the FTL drive, and that later we will use our knowledge of the FTL drive to help Kara Thrace's raider jump in subsequent episodes. It wasn't so important for that, and it wasn't so important for any action or suspense in the episode. To me, it was important because it gives us a moment here— that moment, right there— when Tigh makes an instinctive choice, he tells Lee to launch the alert fighter, just on a hunch, and it's his decision that allows them to shoot the raider down in just a few moments and save the ship. And essentially, that's what this episode— it's one of the things this episode is about, is the friendship between the two men. Adama's entire emotional arc in this episode is about the fact that he was so worried about the return of Ellen into his friend's life that he started acting kind of strange, and got suspected of being a cylon. And why does he care so much? He cares so much because Saul Tigh is a good man. He is a good officer. He is a very smart officer, and he has instincts that are very finely honed. And when the chips are down, Tigh can save your ass, and he just saved the ship's ass once again. And that's why I think that the cylon raider subplot was crucial to this episode, because it gives you a moment of Adama looking at Tigh, and going "God damn it, that's why this is important. That's why you're important to me." And it's important for the audience to understand that Tigh is not just a drunk, he's not this guy that we get to make jokes about week-in, week-out. He does matter to Adama. He is an important officer to Adama for some reason. Adama is not perfect. Adama does not always instinctively know the right thing to do. He's not a perfect archetypical sci-fi hero. He's a human being. He has flaws, he has blind spots, there are moments of inattention, there are moments when he's not making the right call. But he has this friend, he has this man that he can rely on, and as long as that man is at his side he knows that he's gonna make it, one way, shape or form. And that's why we keep him around, even though he drinks, even though his has this wife, even though he yells at Starbuck, even though he's a flawed man in many other ways, he's important. And so that's why we kept it in."

full link: http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Po...,_Tigh_Me_Down

[anotherquestion]

Saul Tigh's military instinct cited in this episode may be the only instinct that has been correct from his point of view, other than suspecting that he himself was a Cylon, when he started listening to the music in his head.

Tigh is now and always was a mean drunk. He has hypocritically expected exalted standards of behavior from those that serve under him that he himself has never achieved. He has been a martinet, second only to Cain (and perhaps Gardner). He has always been very quick to judge the shortcomings of others, often with lethal consequences (like Ellen and the other victims/collaborators of the "court of the Star Chamber" that he presided over). He declared martial law after Adama was shot, and almost incited a general mutiny when commandeering the fleets' resources, in much the same way as Cain had herself. His insistence on suicide bombing and secreting weapons in religious sanctuaries led to needless loss of Colonial life while doing nothing more than annoying the Cylon powers that be, leading to the brink of the extermination of the Colonials on Caprica. He almost executed Gaeta, who aided the Resistance forces on New Caprica far more effectively than anything Tigh accomplished.

His every other non-military instinct has been on the wrong side including distrusting Athena in disarming the Cylon fleet with a counter virus.

Tigh's only virtue appears to be a dogged loyalty, which has carried him too far for too long in the corridors of power (sort of like a Colonial Donald Rumsfeld).

[Catsitter]

ArthurKing, I so agree with you. My favourite character, and one of my favourite scenes which I watch time and time again is that one in Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down when Adama says, "You do your job good, Saul, that's why I need you. That and because we're friends. And I don't want anything to come between that, not even Ellen". I particularly like the fact that Adama's grammar goes to pot due to strong emotion (or perhaps the drinks he had with dinner!)

The martial law thing - Adama would most likely have declared martial law himself if he had been well enough to do so, since he had already removed Roslyn from the presidency. When it comes to the crunch, Saul Tigh has saved the day so many times (oh, and one of my other favourite bits is the bit with Bulldog!)

[ArthurKing]

:: bump before my thread dies a sad & pitiful death bump::

Come on people! Any other opinions or takes on Tigh? I'm genuinely interested how other people view the character. In the 2 responses here (plus my own) it's pretty apparent that he can draw strong reactions from very very different perspectives!

... next time, I'm going to name the thread "Tigh is Hot!"

let me see if I can find a pic of Hogan in a thong ... Okay. No dice. But I found one with a stuffed animal.
http://www.lisawalks.com/bears/michaelhogan.jpg

[P-90_177]

personally i'm a huge fan of tigh. he makes some stupid mistakes but at his core he is a great soldier and a good man. i really find my self feeling the most sorry for him out of all the characters.

[the fifth man]

Tigh has always been one of the most interesting characters on BSG IMO. I find myself feeling sorry for him quite often. Especially as of late.

[donniepw]

I for one love the Saul Tigh character. I thought one of his finest moments was his little speech after finding out he was a cylon. He is the man he wants to be. Deeply flawed yes I will agree but he does the dirty work so Adama can keep his hands clean. Adama sometimes look like the sainted father figure precisely because Tigh plays the role of the tyrant, the mean drunk. Tigh gets to say that yes we are tired and yes the cylons keep comming and no there is no relief in sight and yes we are still expected to do our fraking jobs. But he hasn't said or done anything that Adama probably wouldn't say or do but because of his position can't always say and do.

Of course the vast majority of us don't agree with his suicide bomber tactic in the resistance but he does make a pretty good arguement. He has sent kids out on suicide missions in two wars and it really doesn't make much difference if it's in a viper or with a bomb strapped to their chest cause in the end they end up just as dead. His job was to create chaos and confusion so the cylons will be busy dealing with the mess on the ground when Galactica shows up in orbit and he did it well. Saul again does the dirty work without any weapons or much help from Galactica and for a while not even knowing if Galactica would come back for sure, just faith in his old friend. Adama jumps into the atmosphere and drops off a few vipers and jumps out and gets all the glory (okay that was pretty cool actually). While Adama gets carried away on everyones shoulders Saul is left to mourn that he killed his own wife to protect the mission.

Anyway Saul is one of my favorites. Despite being a mean drunk and holding other people to standards which he himself often falls short. But even thats not entirely true, when the chips seemed down he sacrificed the one whom he loved most and he would have expected no less from anyone else. Saul in the end is a good man. By no means perfect but good.

[BumpOnnaHalfApple]

Personally Tigh's one of those exceptionally rare characters I love to hate.
Most times when I don't like a character, that's it, I don't like 'em, and I don't care about 'em, and I often even go to the trouble of fast forwarding through their scenes.

But not with Col. Tigh.

A LOT of that is Hogan. No doubt. He wouldn't be able to do it without the right material, but so very few thespians, even given GREAT material to play, can come anywhere CLOSE to breathing the kind of life into a character that Mike Hogan does.

One of my favorite "Hogan moments" is the one when he first walks into the gym on Crossroads II, and spots the other cylons. There's a gazillion things any actor could have done with that moment. A gazillion different ways to portray that "reaction shot". So what's Hogan do? He drops his jaw and just lets out the most heartfelt "Whooooooooooah".

THAT'S brilliant acting. THAT'S living in the moment of the scene. And THAT'S why I can't take my eyes off that mean, crusty old b@stard, Col. Tigh, no matter HOW much that character makes me want to smack him.

[Bey0nd]

I used to think Tigh was great

but he jumped-the-shark with the Cylon hears music playing

[waywardsage]

I think these are interesting explorations of the character. Tigh was always my favorite character because of the crust old vet that he was. I agree that he's a complex character without screaming out through the show. My wife and I think that Starbuck is WAY to over the top and they write controversy just for controversies sake when it comes to her. It the last few seasons she's sorta been used as a club to the plot.

I think Tigh will take front stage in this last season when the suspissions arise that he's a Cylon. I think it'll be a dark tragic ep when Adama finds out.

[Cap.Dylan Hunt]

Saul Tigh's military instinct cited in this episode may be the only instinct that has been correct from his point of view, other than suspecting that he himself was a Cylon, when he started listening to the music in his head.

Tigh is now and always was a mean drunk. He has hypocritically expected exalted standards of behavior from those that serve under him that he himself has never achieved. He has been a martinet, second only to Cain(and perhaps Gardner). He has always been very quick to judge the shortcomings of others, often with lethal consequences (like Ellen and the other victims/collaborators of the "court of the Star Chamber" that he presided over). He declared martial law after Adama was shot, and almost incited a general mutiny when commandeering the fleets' resources, in much the same way as Cain had herself. His insistence on suicide bombing and secreting weapons in religious sanctuaries led to needless loss of Colonial life while doing nothing more than annoying the Cylon powers that be, leading to the brink of the extermination of the Colonials on Caprica. He almost executed Gaeta, who aided the Resistance forces on New Caprica far more effectively than anything Tigh accomplished.

His every other non-military instinct has been on the wrong side including distrusting Athena in disarming the Cylon fleet with a counter virus.

Tigh's only virtue appears to be a dogged loyalty, which has carried him too far for too long in the corridors of power (sort of like a Colonial Donald Rumsfeld).

I agree with you. Saul has never been anything more then a drunk idiot. He has made some good calls. I think i would have called marital law after Adama got shot. But i wouldnt have took it as far. As far as im conserend hes always going to be a drunk, and as of lately,

Spoiler:

a drunk Cylon.

bump.

[ArthurKing]

I think it'll be a dark tragic ep when Adama finds out.

I've been thinking about this a great deal as well (as perhaps evidenced by my loquacious post!) I completely agree with you. At least in the potential - we'll have to see on the execution. But yeah - what a dark dark moment that would be. Depths of despair, world upside down sort of stuff. In my mind, depending on how it's played, I could see it becoming one of the 'moments' of the 4th season - like the 'I'm getting my men' Adama greatness in the mid-season 2 cliffhanger.

(Of course, perhaps nuttily, I continue to entertain the notion that the 4 will turn out to not be Cylons ... we'll see)

Two things that I often think get overlooked (by myself included) in an assessment of the character and role of Saul Tigh:

1. The true extent of the friendship between Adama & Tigh. It is a deeply abiding thing. Moore captures the special bond that can develop between two men-of-war over the hardships and joys of a lifetime. It strikes me as a very ancient-Greek type of portrayal, the heroic and the tragic bond of men, well-worn templates of human experience. (And again, I turn toward the end of the 1st season, watching Tigh cover his friend's chest wounds with his hands trying to stem the flow of the blood)

2. I really like the idea that Moore advances of the necessity of the Tigh character for the existence of the Adama character, particularly in terms of Adama's command role. That the style of Adama's command wouldn't be possible if Tigh wasn't around. Not to push it too far - obviously, Adama's a capable leader on his own, see the Resistance rescue arc - but I think it's an intriguing idea that is borne out very often in real life, business and military ...

Great great great posts. I'm really enjoying reading this thread. Particularly like the huge range of views that Tigh can inspire.