22 replies to this topic

[Ben King]

What do people think of Braca?

A servile brown-noser or scheming career-oriented pragmatist?

And what's the deal with him and Scorpius??

[Oscem]

I'm going to admit something I've never admitted to anyone before.

I have a serious thing for Braca.

It almost outweighs my serious 'thing' for Crichton.

Braca's the quintessential Peacekeeper - he's going to follow whoever is going to get him promoted the fastest, be it Scorpy, Grayza, or Crais. He's a turncoat, but at least he's consistent - if he thinks kissing Scorpy's plastic ass'll get him ahead, he's going to kiss it 'till his lips stick.

He's got a conscience, but not the same way Aeryn has a conscience - things don't bother him the way they do her for a long period of time. He can forget easily. I don't think he regretted anything he did to Scorpius in the beginning of the fourth season - and I think he probably got a kick out of the leash and dog collar (I know I did, even though I kind of cringed). Do I think he apologized to Scorpy for his treatment? Yeah, but in a "Well, I was under orders from Grayza" kind of non-apology way.

That's one thing I was disappointed with in PKW - he seemed to be really easygoing and soft compared to his previous incarnations and I didn't get a whole lot of character development from him (I know, in a 4 hour miniseries, I shouldn't expect much for a non-main character). He just didn't seem to be RIGHT in the whole miniseries.

But yeah, I love Braca. Even as a 'perfect' Peacekeeper, he was still pretty well-developed and layered and just fun to watch.

[BigBeagle]

Braca was the ultimate survivor. He's the kind of guy who, if he was in a building when it collapsed, would crawl out of the rubble wearing someone's gold watch.

I would have loved to see this scene between him and Stark:

STARK: My side! Your side! My side! Your side!

BRACA: Side? I'm not on anyone's side!

[kayaj2k]

Heh, a gold watch and a promotion.

One of my favourite Braca scenes is in ITLD, when Crais tells him that he's a consumate Peacekeeper, and for a split second Braca thinks that's a compliment.

[TheLabRat]

I love his bizarre loyalty to Scorpy. And how his bad assed acting kind of snuck up on us as his character became more important. ANd I particularly love him in the semi-lame episode with the bracelets. THe man has brilliant comic timing.

[kayaj2k]

He really does. And his facial mannerisms are priceless. Case in point: the scene in Incubator where Braca has to change Scorpy's oozing cooling rod. He looks as though he's about to simultaneously cry and vomit (talk about irreversable contamination), but he gets it done.

[pkgirl]

This quote totally put their relationship in context for me:

Scorpius: Braca?
Crichton: Yeah. Feel the love, Mr. Burns

Exactly. He is so Smithers on the inside.

[booklad]

Oh damn straight, Smithers to the tee. I almost felt like the cast and crew were having a joke with the character, he's just so kickable.

I always felt his priorities were 1) Scorpious and then 2) Promotion, something I felt was supported by his double agent shtick in season four. To me, he'd do anything to get promoted as long as it didn't in any way harm Scorpious. He's definitely his bitch.

Edited by booklad, Jun 6, 2006 @ 1:58 PM.

[OmnipotentSeal]

I've always viewed Braca as the Piet of Farscape. He manages to survive all the management changes that happen between the Peacekeepers, as they gradually for some reason or another join Chrichton's crew. He manages to keep his nose clean when Crais was busily ticking off Command by chasing Moya, then he serves under Scorpious' command, which would be akin to working with a psychotic version of Dracula crossed with Oppenhiemer, brilliant, but a wee too driven, and even has kinky sex with Grayza. I consider that somewhat of a reward, since he got more of storyline in season's 3 and 4. The point is, like Piet, he survives and is rewarded for being the best Peacekeeper in the business.

[booklad]

Did he actually have sex with her though? I thought she just told him as much when she used the, umm...mind link thingy to the creature stalking Crichton.

Either way, ew.

[BigBeagle]

To me, he'd do anything to get promoted as long as it didn't in any way harm Scorpious.

I'm not even sure he'd draw the line there, booklad. Braca is, as Bipolar Crais (tm keckler) said, the consummate Peacekeeper. As we've seen many times on the show, Peacekeepers would see their own moms down the river to get ahead.

[booklad]

Oh he definately is a consciencious Peacekeeper (i.e. me first, screw everyone else) but the undercover act for Scorpy is, to me, unnecessarily going out of his way. There was no reason for him to do it, Grayza was in charge and wasn't about to be toppled anytime soon. It would have benefitted him far more to stay with her and rise through her ranks (....eeew) than to potentially risk everything by sticking with Scorpy. That to me suggests more than just work based loyalty.

[BigBeagle]

I think that Braca, after watching Scorp do his thing for 2+ years, recognized who was the horse to bet on, and who offered the PKs their best chance for survival.

You'll get no argument from me there. But I can't get over the sneaking suspicion that if Braca somehow had felt Grayza was the "horse to bet on," he wouldn't have hesitated for a second to tie Scorpy to the railroad tracks.

My belief is that what's Best For Braca, not loyalty, is what tied him to Scorpius. But YMMV, of course.

Regardless of what his true motivations were, I think it's fascinating that we're having this discussion over a relatively minor character in the Farscape-verse. Kudos to TPTB for investing him with shades of grey and making him much more than just a one-note toady.

Edited by BigBeagle, Jun 23, 2006 @ 6:23 PM.

[booklad]

Agreed, David Franklin played him excellently as well. From his first appearence in "Bone to be Wild" (right?) he really gave the character a kind of sleazy but honourable likeability. I wonder did he know that Braca would eventually become a far more major character at the time?

I think it's fascinating that we're having this discussion over a relatively minor character in the Farscape-verse

Word, and sadly something that is pretty rare on t.v.

[terebi]

I think he's hot. An amazingly richly drawn character, to be kind of a minor. And yes, I do believe he tapped Grayza (or vice versa, as the case might be)...

[Firecracker1]

Agreed, David Franklin played him excellently as well. From his first appearence in "Bone to be Wild" (right?) he really gave the character a kind of sleazy but honourable likeability. I wonder did he know that Braca would eventually become a far more major character at the time?

David Franklin has been quoted as saying that he was constantly surprised when his character survived an episode.

One of TPTB (David Kemper I think) said that David Franklin was the master of reaction. His disgust and almost grief when changing Scorpy's cooling rods, his anger at Crais, his lust and subsequent confusion with Grayza - all of those moments were non-verbal. And all of those moments were unmistakeable.

[kayaj2k]

One of TPTB (David Kemper I think) said that David Franklin was the master of reaction. His disgust and almost grief when changing Scorpy's cooling rods, his anger at Crais, his lust and subsequent confusion with Grayza - all of those moments were non-verbal. And all of those moments were unmistakeable.

Another great reaction was his facial and bodily response to Aeryn in labour in PKW. He couldn't get away fast enough. Everything about that situation was totally foreign to his soldier/ rank-climbing experience - he was actually terrified. And all that conveyed without dialogue.

DF has mentioned that one of the season 5 eps being planned would have filled in Braca's backstory.

*obligatory damn you Skiffy space*

[Plumberduck]

I'm not sure how much I would have enjoyed Braca's backstory.

Don't get me wrong, I love the character, but one of the things that appealed to me about him is that he's the only recurring "pure" Peacekeeper character in the series. Aeryn had her memory of her mother, Crais was a conscript, Grayza had the oil implants, and Scorpius is... Scorpius. None of them exactly fit the "Born, fight, die" Peacekeeper stereotype (although Grayza seems closest, what with the ambition).

So I like the idea of Braca, the "consummate Peacekeeper," always ending up in these situations devoid of comfy black and white, surrounded by all those bizarre characters. And growing, ever-so-subtly and slowly, from the weasel who chucks over Crais for the hot new flavor (Scorpius-Rum Ripple), into a man willing to defy the power structure he was raised and bred to obey in order to serve the person he thinks really will save his people, all the way to being the one who directly took down Grayza when her breakdown threatened him and his fellow "normal" Peacekeepers (spoilers for The Peacekeeper Wars). In short, Braca became more.

But if they gave him a backstory, I can't helping think the powers that be would have an impulse to give him some "quirk," some reason he wasn't "the perfect Peacekeeper." Which would sort of ruin the character for me.

[beckyg]

I was going to put all this in the episode thread for Losing Time, but it was basically impossible to do that without having most of the post being filled with spoiler bars, so this seemed like a better place for it. (And one of these days I will make a post that doesn't take up half the page, I promise!)

The more I think about it, the more fascinated I am with the scene between Braca and Scorpius in that episode. When Scorpius says that the reason Braca is his 2IC is because "you don't ask questions."

But you know, telling someone like that is like telling them, "Don't think about a purple elephant." Suddenly all you can think about are purple elephants. And if someone says, "You don't ask questions," suddenly you find yourself thinking, "Why don't I?" and you begin to question everything.

Someone like Braca, however, is not going to question Scorpius. Or Peacekeeper High Command. His questions are going to be internal, directed at himself. Questions about loyalty and ambition, about where he is going and how he wants to get there, about where his future lies.

The thing to remember is, even though we don't meet her onscreen until Into the Lion's Den, Grayza is still out there throughout Season 3 (if not sooner.) She and PK High Command are no doubt on Scorpius's case, wanting progress reports on the wormhole project, demanding immediate results, asking questions, poking their noses in, and behaving like typical upper management by generally being a pain in the ass. And Scorpius is no fool. He knows that sooner or later someone like Grayza will show up, wanting to oversee the project personally. And when that happens, the long rein he has been given, that he even mentions to Braca, will be shortened up and they will all be put on a leash. (Er, no pun intended!!)

So he gives this subtle warning to Braca. Start asking questions. Determine where your loyalties lie. Know your path. Stick to it.

And ultimately Braca chooses correctly.

What's so fascinating about this, to me, is that it shows how far Braca has come over the course of the series. The PK we first met would have thrown his lot in with Grayza and High Command without question, once they arrived. But from the moment in LGM when Braca staunchly denied that Scorpius's hybrid nature bothered him, his fate was forever tied to Scorpius. It just takes this quiet little nudge from Scorpius to remind Braca of that.

Edited by beckyg, Jun 15, 2008 @ 10:56 AM.

[lvsxy808]

SpacePPoliceman said:

Braca's a good PK, but not Consumate by the end of s4. If he were consumate, he wouldn't have been working for Scorp. Scorp was stripped of command, and Braca should have accepted that, and moved on with following orders.

I think that Braca, after watching Scorp do his thing for 2+ years, recognized who was the horse to bet on, and who offered the PKs their best chance for survival.

beckyg said:

So he gives this subtle warning to Braca. Start asking questions. Determine where your loyalties lie. Know your path. Stick to it. And ultimately Braca chooses correctly.

Perhaps not just that. Perhaps Crais's line about him being the Consummate Peacekeeper actually really got to him. Perhaps he realised that he had been indeed been just that - the kind of guy who would sell out his mother for a promotion (not that PKs care about their mothers anyway) - and having it thrown in his face by Crais made him realize he didn't want to be that kind of guy.

So when it all went to hell, he decided he had to make a choice one way or the other. With Grayza on one side and the Scarrens on the other, he decided to throw his lot in with Scorpius regardless of the chances for promotion but because he thought it was the right thing to do in the circumstances. And when Scorp said, "Braca, come with me," he really did.

BigBeagle said:

But I can't get over the sneaking suspicion that if Braca somehow had felt Grayza was the "horse to bet on," he wouldn't have hesitated for a second to tie Scorpy to the railroad tracks.

Which makes him interestingly like Sikozu in that way, no?


.

[Firecracker1]

Which makes him interestingly like Sikozu in that way, no?

Yes it does. And (I think) in more ways than one.

Braca's ultimate loyalty is not towards Scorpy - but towards the survivial of the Sebacean race. Braca perceives Scorpy as the horse to put his money on because Scorpy correctly recognizes the Scarran threat and is doing his utmost to counter it.

Sikozu's ultimate loyalty is towards the Kalish race - and she also sees Scorpy as doing his utmost to defeat the Scarran threat.

Scorpy is Sikozu's best bet to secure freedom for the Kalish, just as Scorpy is Braca's best bet to safeguard the Sebacean race.

However Braca and Sikozu do differ in one way.

In PK Wars the second that Scorpy realized that Crichton was alive, he abandoned the battle with the Scarrans (abandoning untold multitudes of Prowler Pilots to the mercy of the Scarrans).

Braca stayed loyal to Scorpy. He did not understand Scorpy's motivations for leaving the only(!) battle that the PKs ever stood a chance of winning against the Scarrans, but he stayed loyal.

Sikozu, on the other hand, did know why Scorpy abandoned the battle with the Scarrans. And that was the exact moment that Sikozu decided to barter Crichton's whereabouts with the Scarrans in exchange for freedom for the Kalish.

So ultimately I do think that Braca was the ultimate Peacekeeper. Since Braca's loyalties went beyond Scorpy to the Sebacean race - and since he recognized the identical motivation in Scorpy.

[GoldfishGirl42]

(Newbie here, just finished watching through the series and PKW.)

In the vein of "David Franklin, Master of Reaction Shots", I cannot praise him enough for all of "I-Yensch, You-Yensch". Braca has very few lines in that, and what he does have is mostly yelps of pain. (Poor B; not only does he get shot, he spends a lot of the episode being slapped awake.) But he's very much present in the episode, finding infinite variations on the "Oh hezmana" look.

And when I watched "What Was Lost", I gaped at "This is for all the times I had to say yes." And the fact that he was revealed as a double agent later does not lessen the gapitude. There is so much subtextual kinky in the Scorpy/Braca relationship.

Also: sweaty bloody badass Braca in PKW? OH TEH SEXY.

Edited by GoldfishGirl42, Apr 7, 2010 @ 9:39 AM.