Wednesday, Wednesday
It's time for the next installment of "I watch Stargate so asta77 doesn't have to."
toysdream recently made an observation about Stargate's appeal. He said, in part, "It gives us a fantasy world in which the government of the United States, faced with looming catastrophe, places its safety in the hands of the smartest, bravest, most capable people the nation has to offer." I think there's something to that, especially these days.
2.04 - "Gamekeeper"
* Oh dear. Pods with tentacles. That's also not a good sign.
* They're in a construct of some sort. I know because of the tentacles fitting themselves to SG-1's temples, and also because I've seen genre TV before. And the game aspect asserts itself really quickly, so at least they're not trying to make it a point of suspense.
* OMG! Daniel's parents were SQUASHED LIKE BUGS. That's awful!
* Eek! They gave Teal'c hair! ::whimper:: I will never, ever complain about his S9 hair again. Never.
* Gah! The temptation to relive moments of one's life to do things differently is powerful, but having to relive these terribly painful moments over and over, when nothing works to change them, is just incredibly painful, and incredibly painful to watch. And I'm really glad that it's the dramatic focus of the episode, rather than having the team puzzle their way through the fact that they're in obvious virtual realities.
* Daniel's parents were also enormous geeks.
* Jack's cynicism seems to lead him to the truth fairly regularly.
* This VR Hammond is freaking me out. This is not the Hammond I know.
* The Gamekeeper does the Dr. Evil knucklebite at the end. Hey, is that Murdoch? ::looks up on IMDB:: Yep, that's Dwight Schultz.
2.05 - "Need"
* Daniel running off willy-nilly after the cloaked female stranger seems pretty SOP for him.
* Those friezes look Mayan.
* Okay, Shyla is obviously bad news. I believe her bad-news-ness is visible from space. But it's interesting that Daniel has a long history of hanging out with women who cause him glasses-breakage. I hope SGC has a good vision plan.
* Shyla, let me buy you a copy of "He's Just Not That Into You."
* Daniel, it's nice that you're making interesting discoveries about the sarcophagus, but in the meantime, your friends are SLAVING IN A MINE.
* Interesting. The sarcophagi (pl sp?) affect those who use them when not injured, and the Tok'ra don't use them?
* Daniel is *really* unpleasant here--kind of like Buffy when her annoying roommate was stealing her cute sweaters and her soul. And he has CrazyAddictHair! The hair tells all.
* I'll be over here in the corner, recovering from the blow from the addiction anvil. Yes indeedy, Daniel has hit rock bottom. I get it!
* Jack knows what addiction and withdrawal are like? Is this related to his inside knowledge of prison? Inquiring minds want to know.
* Aw. That was a lovely scene between Jack and Daniel, Jack embracing him and offering his strength and support and understanding, being nonjudgmental help for a friend in his time of need.
* Okay, I get that it's addictive, but the sarcophagus is also an incredibly useful tool of healing. It can, like, bring people back from near deadly injuries. Is destroying it such a good idea? This isn't like smashing a crack pipe here. But I guess leaving it alone wouldn't have worked with the heavy-handed drug metaphor. (Heavy-handed drug metaphors are a serious pet peeve of mine. Magic != crack, dammit!)
2.06 - "Thor's Chariot"
* Aha! Destroying Thor's Hammer was a bad move. Oops! Good for them for taking their responsibility to the planet seriously.
* Sam can use goa'uld technology because of Jolinar? Handy.
* "Things will not calm down, Daniel Jackson. They will in fact calm up." Teal'c is pretty much an enormous walking cliche and I love him to pieces.
* Daniel really does fly by the seat of his pants, makes educated guesses and then tests them by just leaping in and doing.
* Thor's an alien? An honest-to-Pete X-Files-style alien? Aha, that's on purpose. Huh.
* Waitaminute--this show has puppets too! Alien puppets!
* Daniel was kind of wrong there. Oops.
* Well, all's well that ends well. The Asgard will protect the planet again, and it only lost half its population in the goa'uld attack. Yay!
2.07 - "Message in a Bottle"
* Hey, it's the space suits from "Beachhead." They go way back. (I am momentarily distracted by how much storage space a nine-season-long television production must occupy.)
* It's Zak Adama! And he has a crush on Carter. He must like blondes.
* OMG! Jack just got SPEARED TO THE WALL like a freaking cocktail olive!
* I like how Jack and Teal'c are here--Teal'c instantly understanding that Jack wants him to shoot the orb, staying with him while he's pinned to the wall, joking with him. Deadpan doesn't even begin to cover Teal'c's sense of humor.
* I also like Hammond. He embodies the good qualities of a commander--listens to expert opinion before issuing orders, prioritizes the safety of the people under his command.
* Sam, when an organism is eating your entire facility, take the stairs, not the elevator! Jeez.
* Wow, Zak isn't faring much better here than he did on Battlestar Galactica.
* I'm sure the entire ecosystem of P4G-881, plus whatever sentient life may have been evolving there, will be super happy to be the new home of this planet-consuming alien life form. Oh well, I guess it was them or us.
2.08 - "Family"
* "Uncomfortable news" is quite an understatement there. And while I feel bad for Teal'c, he did pretty much defect and abandon his family to retribution. I'm glad Daniel, Jack, and Bra'tac are able to point out that Teal'c may as well be dead--he's gone and can't return--and that he shouldn't blame his wife for trying to rebuild her life and provide for their son. Gr! Less Caveman Teal'c, please.
* Hammond of Texas, Jack of the Windy City. Hee!
* Hm. This whole jealousy plot where Fro'tak snaps after seeing Teal'c and Drey'auc kiss is very tired.
* Okay, what's wrong? That escape was way too smooth.
* Ouch. Ry'ac was a biological weapon.
* The total brainwashing being cured by electroshock thing is lame and not at all the way people's brains work. But it is nice that they're resettling the Teal'c family elsewhere. Chulak could not possibly be safe for them any more.
2.09 - "Secrets"
* OMG! Daniel's wife is back! And she's pregnant with another man's child! It's like Days of Our Stargate!
* Ouch. This is tough--Apophis's child, who he wants for a new host eventually, and Sha're's only in possession of herself until it's born.
* Oh God. Sam's dad. Could he be more passive aggressive? Could it be more obvious that she grew up wanting to please the older male authority figures in her life? That explains so much about her.
* Ouch times two--Daniel helping Sha're through labor, even though the goa'uld will take over once the child's born. And we have some continuity here, with Daniel knowing how to assist in labor.
* Oh, Jack will not be okay with the reporter-killing.
* Good fakeout, Teal'c! He got the child away to safety, and Apophis thinks Haru'ur took him.
* Shut up, dying father! You do not get to dictate your daughter's dreams! And adding a heaping helping of emotional blackmail and guilt on top just makes you suck more!
* Don't tell cynical Jack that the reporter killing was an accident. He is not going to believe it.
* Sha're deathwatch status: not dead yet.
* * * * *
I am very proud that my state's Assembly has passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. Now we're waiting to see whether the Governator will veto. In his current unenviable political situation, whatever he does is going to cause him problems.
* * * * *
I just told a friend who wanted to have dinner with me next Friday night that I have plans. Well, it's not a total lie, if by "plans" you mean "SciFi Friday." *sigh*
In other not-having-a-life news, I'm actually disturbed that this is a short week, since I don't know how I'm going to be able to finish all of the work I need to finish this week in four days. Bleah!
* * * * *
I listen to the local NPR station at work in the afternoon quite often, and they're always reporting traffic getting held up by something that doesn't belong on the freeway--mattresses, ball bearings, landscaping gravel, eggs, you name it. It's amazing what falls off trucks. Today it's grapes on the 101 in San Jose. Grapes on the freeway! It's like Snakes On a Plane, but with fruit and cars instead.
toysdream recently made an observation about Stargate's appeal. He said, in part, "It gives us a fantasy world in which the government of the United States, faced with looming catastrophe, places its safety in the hands of the smartest, bravest, most capable people the nation has to offer." I think there's something to that, especially these days.
2.04 - "Gamekeeper"
* Oh dear. Pods with tentacles. That's also not a good sign.
* They're in a construct of some sort. I know because of the tentacles fitting themselves to SG-1's temples, and also because I've seen genre TV before. And the game aspect asserts itself really quickly, so at least they're not trying to make it a point of suspense.
* OMG! Daniel's parents were SQUASHED LIKE BUGS. That's awful!
* Eek! They gave Teal'c hair! ::whimper:: I will never, ever complain about his S9 hair again. Never.
* Gah! The temptation to relive moments of one's life to do things differently is powerful, but having to relive these terribly painful moments over and over, when nothing works to change them, is just incredibly painful, and incredibly painful to watch. And I'm really glad that it's the dramatic focus of the episode, rather than having the team puzzle their way through the fact that they're in obvious virtual realities.
* Daniel's parents were also enormous geeks.
* Jack's cynicism seems to lead him to the truth fairly regularly.
* This VR Hammond is freaking me out. This is not the Hammond I know.
* The Gamekeeper does the Dr. Evil knucklebite at the end. Hey, is that Murdoch? ::looks up on IMDB:: Yep, that's Dwight Schultz.
2.05 - "Need"
* Daniel running off willy-nilly after the cloaked female stranger seems pretty SOP for him.
* Those friezes look Mayan.
* Okay, Shyla is obviously bad news. I believe her bad-news-ness is visible from space. But it's interesting that Daniel has a long history of hanging out with women who cause him glasses-breakage. I hope SGC has a good vision plan.
* Shyla, let me buy you a copy of "He's Just Not That Into You."
* Daniel, it's nice that you're making interesting discoveries about the sarcophagus, but in the meantime, your friends are SLAVING IN A MINE.
* Interesting. The sarcophagi (pl sp?) affect those who use them when not injured, and the Tok'ra don't use them?
* Daniel is *really* unpleasant here--kind of like Buffy when her annoying roommate was stealing her cute sweaters and her soul. And he has CrazyAddictHair! The hair tells all.
* I'll be over here in the corner, recovering from the blow from the addiction anvil. Yes indeedy, Daniel has hit rock bottom. I get it!
* Jack knows what addiction and withdrawal are like? Is this related to his inside knowledge of prison? Inquiring minds want to know.
* Aw. That was a lovely scene between Jack and Daniel, Jack embracing him and offering his strength and support and understanding, being nonjudgmental help for a friend in his time of need.
* Okay, I get that it's addictive, but the sarcophagus is also an incredibly useful tool of healing. It can, like, bring people back from near deadly injuries. Is destroying it such a good idea? This isn't like smashing a crack pipe here. But I guess leaving it alone wouldn't have worked with the heavy-handed drug metaphor. (Heavy-handed drug metaphors are a serious pet peeve of mine. Magic != crack, dammit!)
2.06 - "Thor's Chariot"
* Aha! Destroying Thor's Hammer was a bad move. Oops! Good for them for taking their responsibility to the planet seriously.
* Sam can use goa'uld technology because of Jolinar? Handy.
* "Things will not calm down, Daniel Jackson. They will in fact calm up." Teal'c is pretty much an enormous walking cliche and I love him to pieces.
* Daniel really does fly by the seat of his pants, makes educated guesses and then tests them by just leaping in and doing.
* Thor's an alien? An honest-to-Pete X-Files-style alien? Aha, that's on purpose. Huh.
* Waitaminute--this show has puppets too! Alien puppets!
* Daniel was kind of wrong there. Oops.
* Well, all's well that ends well. The Asgard will protect the planet again, and it only lost half its population in the goa'uld attack. Yay!
2.07 - "Message in a Bottle"
* Hey, it's the space suits from "Beachhead." They go way back. (I am momentarily distracted by how much storage space a nine-season-long television production must occupy.)
* It's Zak Adama! And he has a crush on Carter. He must like blondes.
* OMG! Jack just got SPEARED TO THE WALL like a freaking cocktail olive!
* I like how Jack and Teal'c are here--Teal'c instantly understanding that Jack wants him to shoot the orb, staying with him while he's pinned to the wall, joking with him. Deadpan doesn't even begin to cover Teal'c's sense of humor.
* I also like Hammond. He embodies the good qualities of a commander--listens to expert opinion before issuing orders, prioritizes the safety of the people under his command.
* Sam, when an organism is eating your entire facility, take the stairs, not the elevator! Jeez.
* Wow, Zak isn't faring much better here than he did on Battlestar Galactica.
* I'm sure the entire ecosystem of P4G-881, plus whatever sentient life may have been evolving there, will be super happy to be the new home of this planet-consuming alien life form. Oh well, I guess it was them or us.
2.08 - "Family"
* "Uncomfortable news" is quite an understatement there. And while I feel bad for Teal'c, he did pretty much defect and abandon his family to retribution. I'm glad Daniel, Jack, and Bra'tac are able to point out that Teal'c may as well be dead--he's gone and can't return--and that he shouldn't blame his wife for trying to rebuild her life and provide for their son. Gr! Less Caveman Teal'c, please.
* Hammond of Texas, Jack of the Windy City. Hee!
* Hm. This whole jealousy plot where Fro'tak snaps after seeing Teal'c and Drey'auc kiss is very tired.
* Okay, what's wrong? That escape was way too smooth.
* Ouch. Ry'ac was a biological weapon.
* The total brainwashing being cured by electroshock thing is lame and not at all the way people's brains work. But it is nice that they're resettling the Teal'c family elsewhere. Chulak could not possibly be safe for them any more.
2.09 - "Secrets"
* OMG! Daniel's wife is back! And she's pregnant with another man's child! It's like Days of Our Stargate!
* Ouch. This is tough--Apophis's child, who he wants for a new host eventually, and Sha're's only in possession of herself until it's born.
* Oh God. Sam's dad. Could he be more passive aggressive? Could it be more obvious that she grew up wanting to please the older male authority figures in her life? That explains so much about her.
* Ouch times two--Daniel helping Sha're through labor, even though the goa'uld will take over once the child's born. And we have some continuity here, with Daniel knowing how to assist in labor.
* Oh, Jack will not be okay with the reporter-killing.
* Good fakeout, Teal'c! He got the child away to safety, and Apophis thinks Haru'ur took him.
* Shut up, dying father! You do not get to dictate your daughter's dreams! And adding a heaping helping of emotional blackmail and guilt on top just makes you suck more!
* Don't tell cynical Jack that the reporter killing was an accident. He is not going to believe it.
* Sha're deathwatch status: not dead yet.
* * * * *
I am very proud that my state's Assembly has passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. Now we're waiting to see whether the Governator will veto. In his current unenviable political situation, whatever he does is going to cause him problems.
* * * * *
I just told a friend who wanted to have dinner with me next Friday night that I have plans. Well, it's not a total lie, if by "plans" you mean "SciFi Friday." *sigh*
In other not-having-a-life news, I'm actually disturbed that this is a short week, since I don't know how I'm going to be able to finish all of the work I need to finish this week in four days. Bleah!
* * * * *
I listen to the local NPR station at work in the afternoon quite often, and they're always reporting traffic getting held up by something that doesn't belong on the freeway--mattresses, ball bearings, landscaping gravel, eggs, you name it. It's amazing what falls off trucks. Today it's grapes on the 101 in San Jose. Grapes on the freeway! It's like Snakes On a Plane, but with fruit and cars instead.