You know, I think I am going to have to be a dissenting voice here. I think I can sympathise with and understand some of her actions.
Let’s look at some of her history which is used against her:
1. Rigging the election.
True, she attempted to ‘massage’ the election results, but this was out of a deep loyalty and belief in Roslin, and knowledge that a Baltar victory would have been a disaster for the fleet. (As events subsequently confirmed.)
2. Sleeping with Anders.
What’s wrong here? Kara was dead. This was the action of a free individual who shared comfort with a recently-bereaved. It’s not like Anders was forced or anything.
3. Screwing up at press conference.
Big deal. She had not been sleeping, had been hearing music, was under huge stress. everyone makes mistakes at times.
4. Finding out she is a Cylon.
Surely one cannot be blamed for one’s ancestry? This is not ‘Old-Testament-Vengeful-God unto the third and fourth generation’ territory, surely? Hating her just because she’s a Cylon is like hating her because she’s ‘not white’: racist, offensive and absurd.
5. Sleeping with Baltar.
Why should she not? Among the ‘haters’ do I detect a whiff of ‘moralising’? Looking at your own sexual mores, and thinking that others should behave as you do? In the BSG universe there does not appear to be any particular opprobrium directed towards people who exercise personal sexual freedom. Baltar, Kara, Lee have all had multiple partners and I don’t recall negative or derogatory comments directed towards them.
6. Religious/personal conviction conversion.
So, she believes she’s perfect. So what? Roslin thinks she’s Napoleon, the Pied Piper and Joan of Arc rolled into one. Baltar thinks he’s Jesus Christ and has imaginary people in his head. When does one’s religion or belief system become a reason in and of itself to hate them? So, she’s bought into Baltar’s drivel. She’s not alone there.
7. Hitting on Tyrol.
She’s not the only person ever to see a friend (and in this case a friend in an incredibly complex and peculiar situation) in need of comfort, of a friendly face, of a warm body. She knew Tyrol was having marriage problems; everyone knew Cally wasn’t the most stable and rational person. Tory’s flirting may have only been just that: a little ego boost for the Chief. But even if she offered more, again, it’s not illegal.
8. Killing Cally.
True, this does not look good at first glance. But she did save Nicky. She did likely save the lives (and at very least the freedom) of her fellow Cylons on Galactica. In the end result, without Tory’s intervention there would have been one woman and one small child dead. Instead there was just one dangerously unstable woman dead.
9. Working with Roslin.
Roslin admitted that Tory’s performance had improved! And although Roslin later felt betrayed by the relationship with Baltar, and suspected that Tory had provided him with his ‘inside information’, we objectively saw that it was not Tory who leaked. Again, she was loyal, despite that loyalty not being acknowledged by oh-so-superior Roslin.
So, really, the only ‘bad’ thing here could be the killing of Cally. I’d suggest there were quite some mitigating circumstances: self-defence, saving of Nicky, likely saving of fellow Cylons, perhaps even a feeling that her destiny was to be more significant than Cally’s. Not a perfect excuse, I admit, more of a justification.
But remember, plenty of others on Galactica have committed ‘crimes’: the kangaroo court members, Baltar, Lee, Anders to name a few. Some seem to be able to accept these all far easier than Tory.
