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Copied from my post at TWOP in a discussion about how the Dylons have reacted to their Cylonitude differently.
I think it's useful to keep in mind that Tyrol and Tigh's main experience about sleepers comes from the horror of knowing Boomer, but Sam only saw Boomer from the opposite side. So the danger of being a sleeper was just theoretical to him, whereas it was a very real fear to the others that they might be programmed to do something horrible (Tigh's brave words aside, he's the one who had the nightmare about shooting Adama, and Tyrol's been afraid of being a Cylon since before he knew he was one). But Sam has experience that tells him even former sleepers can still choose. After all, he was one of the first people to get a copy of the memo about how Cylons can be individuals and make their own choices, because he was there when DEMAND LOVE was born on Caprica (and how much do I hope Caprica mentioned that while they were stuck together in the cell, because otherwise I don't know if he would know she's the same Six). That's not to say he's all reconciled to his new status, because obviously he's not, but his concerns haven't been the same.
He's also the one who had to live with the specter of the Cylons (not the humans) figuring him out - he's the one who was dinged by the Raider, he's the one who was in close quarters with Athena for a month, and then went on the baseship and learned about how everyone was going to go on a quest to unbox D'Anna and out him. That was a very stressful time, I believe, and we see a bit of that in the "Faith" deleted scene when he slumps against the wall and looks overwhelmed. And yet, he picks himself up and keeps going, and minutes later, has the wherewithal to comfort the Eight as she died, because she had been afraid of dying earlier.
But it's because he knows the Cylons so much better than Tory, that he can't throw himself into Cylonitude either. He knows the Cylons are no "better" than humans, so there's no appeal there. Plus, he's never shown the least interest in power for its own sake, so he doesn't want to go pretend to be prince of the Cylons, especially when he knows/believes the Five aren't 'special', just ignorant.
Another difference is that, unlike Tigh and Tyrol, who have been all about clinging to keeping the ship running and keeping things as they are since the Colonies fell, Sam has continually reinvented himself: pro ball player to resistance leader, resistance leader to Kara's husband and maintenance worker (or whatever he was doing off-screen in S3), and then to a pilot. So it's really no wonder he's a bit more phlegmatic about it, when it's just one more shift in his identity he's had to figure out. This one hit harder - more fundamental - but he's been asking questions, he nearly put his hand in the datafont, etc. It just seems like he's trying to figure out who and what he IS, rather than trying to pretend he's the same as he was. But he keeps running into the fact that he just plain doesn't KNOW (and the flashback of the ancient past showed him that he knew even LESS than he thought he did before) and he doesn't know how to find out, since the Cylons don't know anything either, so he goes off to do moody things like play pyramid in the dark by himself and wait for it all to go to hell. Which it did.
(the original post had a bit more relating to No Exit, but I've trimmed it out for the spoiler phobes)
What I was thinking about today. Discuss?
I think it's useful to keep in mind that Tyrol and Tigh's main experience about sleepers comes from the horror of knowing Boomer, but Sam only saw Boomer from the opposite side. So the danger of being a sleeper was just theoretical to him, whereas it was a very real fear to the others that they might be programmed to do something horrible (Tigh's brave words aside, he's the one who had the nightmare about shooting Adama, and Tyrol's been afraid of being a Cylon since before he knew he was one). But Sam has experience that tells him even former sleepers can still choose. After all, he was one of the first people to get a copy of the memo about how Cylons can be individuals and make their own choices, because he was there when DEMAND LOVE was born on Caprica (and how much do I hope Caprica mentioned that while they were stuck together in the cell, because otherwise I don't know if he would know she's the same Six). That's not to say he's all reconciled to his new status, because obviously he's not, but his concerns haven't been the same.
He's also the one who had to live with the specter of the Cylons (not the humans) figuring him out - he's the one who was dinged by the Raider, he's the one who was in close quarters with Athena for a month, and then went on the baseship and learned about how everyone was going to go on a quest to unbox D'Anna and out him. That was a very stressful time, I believe, and we see a bit of that in the "Faith" deleted scene when he slumps against the wall and looks overwhelmed. And yet, he picks himself up and keeps going, and minutes later, has the wherewithal to comfort the Eight as she died, because she had been afraid of dying earlier.
But it's because he knows the Cylons so much better than Tory, that he can't throw himself into Cylonitude either. He knows the Cylons are no "better" than humans, so there's no appeal there. Plus, he's never shown the least interest in power for its own sake, so he doesn't want to go pretend to be prince of the Cylons, especially when he knows/believes the Five aren't 'special', just ignorant.
Another difference is that, unlike Tigh and Tyrol, who have been all about clinging to keeping the ship running and keeping things as they are since the Colonies fell, Sam has continually reinvented himself: pro ball player to resistance leader, resistance leader to Kara's husband and maintenance worker (or whatever he was doing off-screen in S3), and then to a pilot. So it's really no wonder he's a bit more phlegmatic about it, when it's just one more shift in his identity he's had to figure out. This one hit harder - more fundamental - but he's been asking questions, he nearly put his hand in the datafont, etc. It just seems like he's trying to figure out who and what he IS, rather than trying to pretend he's the same as he was. But he keeps running into the fact that he just plain doesn't KNOW (and the flashback of the ancient past showed him that he knew even LESS than he thought he did before) and he doesn't know how to find out, since the Cylons don't know anything either, so he goes off to do moody things like play pyramid in the dark by himself and wait for it all to go to hell. Which it did.
(the original post had a bit more relating to No Exit, but I've trimmed it out for the spoiler phobes)
What I was thinking about today. Discuss?