I appreciated the look at the characters' relationships and daily lives, and I'm glad they didn't turn the entire episode into a Very Special Exploding Tumor Death Of Carson Beckett Serious Drama Hour.
I alternate between appreciating that they went for a gentle off-day and annoyance that so much of the off-day activity seemed to involve relationship activity as envisioned by 13-year-olds.
It's also interesting that the peril once again came from some Ancient deathtrap in the city's basement. I imagine the Atlantis staff must have days when they think they'd have been better off staying at home.
Hee. They do tend to run across those fairly regularly, don't they?
I'm also pleased to note that the mediocrity of General Landry remains untarnished, and in a way it's almost sweet that the writers seem to have decided that neither O'Neill nor Hammond could ever be replaced by perfect substitutes. Perhaps the same also applies to the impending handoff from the almighty SG-1 to the second-rate screwups over in the Pegasus galaxy.
General Landry is just so lame! And therefore I'm a little frightened of your parallel, which does not bode well for SGA at all.
I alternate between appreciating that they went for a gentle off-day and annoyance that so much of the off-day activity seemed to involve relationship activity as envisioned by 13-year-olds.
Ouch, but true. I though the Sheppard and Ronon chat was nice, but the bits where the characters are talking about relationships rather than actually being in them seemed somehow less phony. I mean, it's cute to find out that McKay has had a secret girlfriend all this time, but their actual banter wasn't exactly compelling.
Hee. They do tend to run across those fairly regularly, don't they?
I'm probably overthinking this, but sometimes I think that the general premise of SG-1 - we found a gate to the stars, and Bad Things keep coming out of it, so let's get out there and learn everything we can about this stuff - implies that humanity has to make a choice between blissful ignorance and dangerous wisdom, between sealing the gate or trying to turn it to our net advantage. (Of course, the general public doesn't get a vote here, but that's a whole other subject.)
The deathtrap city of Atlantis, then, could be another embodiment of this dilemma. Does the wisdom you gain from exploring it outweigh the harm you'll suffer from pushing buttons at random? Even in this episode, the mention of leukemia-curing plants seemed as if were inserted specifically to offset the perils of the Exploding Tumor Installer.
General Landry is just so lame! And therefore I'm a little frightened of your parallel, which does not bode well for SGA at all.
General Landry is more lame than Mitchell was when his legs were busted up and he couldn't get out of bed for two seasons. Which is to say, totally lame.
But what I meant with the Atlantis analogy was that I started feeling fonder of the show when I decided that the Atlantis crew weren't super-competent studs like the SG-1 cast, but a bunch of also-rans who were muddling along as best they could. (Sort of like the B Ark in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.) Whether this was intentional or not, I find it has the same kind of soothing effect as the realization that Mitchell will never be O'Neill, and Landry will never ever be Hammond. :-)
The deathtrap city of Atlantis, then, could be another embodiment of this dilemma. Does the wisdom you gain from exploring it outweigh the harm you'll suffer from pushing buttons at random? Even in this episode, the mention of leukemia-curing plants seemed as if were inserted specifically to offset the perils of the Exploding Tumor Installer.
Interesting. I hadn't picked up on that, but I think there's something to it.
But what I meant with the Atlantis analogy was that I started feeling fonder of the show when I decided that the Atlantis crew weren't super-competent studs like the SG-1 cast, but a bunch of also-rans who were muddling along as best they could.
I remember that, and I also find the show much more entertaining when I look at it that way. But sometimes the writers break my suspension of suspension of suspension of disbelief by asserting that they're writing Serious Stories About Heroes, and that makes me sad. (Then again, I like Mitchell quite a bit in his own right--I think watching RDA disengage during Seasons 6 and 7 and then phone it in through much of Season 8 left me ready for a change, no matter how fond I am of Jack, and Mitchell has developed into a strikingly different character; Landry I just dislike, because I feel like the writers are telling me he's awesome but showing me he's a clueless jerk.)
I alternate between appreciating that they went for a gentle off-day and annoyance that so much of the off-day activity seemed to involve relationship activity as envisioned by 13-year-olds.
It's also interesting that the peril once again came from some Ancient deathtrap in the city's basement. I imagine the Atlantis staff must have days when they think they'd have been better off staying at home.
Hee. They do tend to run across those fairly regularly, don't they?
I'm also pleased to note that the mediocrity of General Landry remains untarnished, and in a way it's almost sweet that the writers seem to have decided that neither O'Neill nor Hammond could ever be replaced by perfect substitutes. Perhaps the same also applies to the impending handoff from the almighty SG-1 to the second-rate screwups over in the Pegasus galaxy.
General Landry is just so lame! And therefore I'm a little frightened of your parallel, which does not bode well for SGA at all.
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Ouch, but true. I though the Sheppard and Ronon chat was nice, but the bits where the characters are talking about relationships rather than actually being in them seemed somehow less phony. I mean, it's cute to find out that McKay has had a secret girlfriend all this time, but their actual banter wasn't exactly compelling.
Hee. They do tend to run across those fairly regularly, don't they?
I'm probably overthinking this, but sometimes I think that the general premise of SG-1 - we found a gate to the stars, and Bad Things keep coming out of it, so let's get out there and learn everything we can about this stuff - implies that humanity has to make a choice between blissful ignorance and dangerous wisdom, between sealing the gate or trying to turn it to our net advantage. (Of course, the general public doesn't get a vote here, but that's a whole other subject.)
The deathtrap city of Atlantis, then, could be another embodiment of this dilemma. Does the wisdom you gain from exploring it outweigh the harm you'll suffer from pushing buttons at random? Even in this episode, the mention of leukemia-curing plants seemed as if were inserted specifically to offset the perils of the Exploding Tumor Installer.
General Landry is just so lame! And therefore I'm a little frightened of your parallel, which does not bode well for SGA at all.
General Landry is more lame than Mitchell was when his legs were busted up and he couldn't get out of bed for two seasons. Which is to say, totally lame.
But what I meant with the Atlantis analogy was that I started feeling fonder of the show when I decided that the Atlantis crew weren't super-competent studs like the SG-1 cast, but a bunch of also-rans who were muddling along as best they could. (Sort of like the B Ark in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.) Whether this was intentional or not, I find it has the same kind of soothing effect as the realization that Mitchell will never be O'Neill, and Landry will never ever be Hammond. :-)
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Interesting. I hadn't picked up on that, but I think there's something to it.
But what I meant with the Atlantis analogy was that I started feeling fonder of the show when I decided that the Atlantis crew weren't super-competent studs like the SG-1 cast, but a bunch of also-rans who were muddling along as best they could.
I remember that, and I also find the show much more entertaining when I look at it that way. But sometimes the writers break my suspension of suspension of suspension of disbelief by asserting that they're writing Serious Stories About Heroes, and that makes me sad. (Then again, I like Mitchell quite a bit in his own right--I think watching RDA disengage during Seasons 6 and 7 and then phone it in through much of Season 8 left me ready for a change, no matter how fond I am of Jack, and Mitchell has developed into a strikingly different character; Landry I just dislike, because I feel like the writers are telling me he's awesome but showing me he's a clueless jerk.)
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