SGA: the good and the not so good - 2 reviews
Needless to say, these reviews include spoilers for the whole of season 3 and represent only my own biased point of view.
3x18 - Sunday
Unfortunately, I found this to be bordering on risible at times (I know, I know, this is about average for an SGA episode, but I am a silly fan and thus prone to putting more thought into this show than the SGA writers themselves do. I know that a lot of fans were very touched by the emotional impact of this episode, but give me a break:
Strangely enough, to me the best scene of 'Sunday' was Beckett winking and gesturing demonstratively at McKay to remind him of their fishing appointment, one of the very few scenes where I actually liked him since season 1. Poor Beckett, he was a likable characters once...
Plus, I may very well be the only fan who actually liked the McKay/Katie Brown scenes; I found her cute and generously tolerant of his many social faux-pas as well as appreciative of his admittedly few qualities, since she praises his honesty. Well, OK, lack of artifice. BTW, this does not mean that I am changing my OTP (McKay/Sheppard. In case it was not immediately obvious... )
Finally, I'll admit that the whole excitement about Teyla's romantic 'interest' went miles over my head because I never imagined this could be anyone other than the guy about whom she gets teased at the end of 'McKay and Mrs Miller', if only because the snatch of conversation we overhear establishes only 3 things to me:
This seems to eliminate Sheppard, McKay and Ronon, which the teasing at the end of 'McKay and Mrs Miller' had already done for me: nothing that cannot be hand waved away, of course, but still pretty conclusive. This may not eliminate Beckett from the discussion, granted, but Teyla's incredibly cold "I am very sad" is enough for me: remember, this is Teyla we are discussing here, not Sheppard.
Bottom line, my biggest problem with 'Sunday' was that the big emotional scenes pre and post Beckett's accidental death left me cold, if not downright confused about whether, as a viewer, I was supposed to take this seriously or whether they would rewind the episode ala 'The Return II' and call "April's Fools!". Sort of like the famous Bobby's death thing turning out to be just a dream. I'd feel pretty foolish to fall for this contrived plot, wouldn't I? Exploding tumors, forsooth!
:)
As a result the last scene did take me in completely and up until the last minute I assumed that for some reason -Beckett wanting to escape his domineering mother? The Mafia was after him? He had been chosen as the new James Bond and needed to escape his contract with the SGC? Whatever!- the whole thing had been an act.
What can I say: here we were supposed to be in tears about Beckett's tragic death and I was thinking "Oh thank God, maybe that's the last we'll see of him!" Sorry, but big emotional scenes with a pink sunset background trigger my laugh reflex, not my emotional center, it's a defect of mine, similar to the one I have with sparkles and pastel bubbles... Me bad. And no amount of over acting by DH can camouflage the hokeyness (is that a word?) of that last scene.
:(
3x20 - First Strike
In complete contrast, this has to be my favorite SGA episode so far, even taking into account how much better season 3 was compared to season 2.
'First Strike' has it all: a great Elizabeth opening scene and a wonderful introduction for the new doctor -I may have a new favorite character- immediately followed by a fun appearance in her office of the Abbott and Costello of the Pegasus galaxy and her considerately not sending them to their rooms until their homework is done laughing in their faces. The ladylike smirk was much more dignified, of course...
And the 'I don't think leaders should lie, Elizabeth' line nearly killed me dead with joy. Hee! Suddenly I remember why I still like Sheppard in spite of everything the writers keep doing to his character since season 2 to make me dislike him: he is just too cute, especially the way he keeps looking at McKay with this 'neener neener' look!
Next, the appearance of a new intergalactic ship and a new military player. And surprise, surprise, it's yet another military guy Elizabeth does not get along with. It's a wonder she has this reputation as a great diplomat and getting along wonderfully with everyone when as far as I can tell, to see her is to dislike her; certainly the military guys she deals with don't seem to get on too well with her. This is reinforced by the ham-fisted way we are told that O'Neill likes her. To better contrast with the option of 'respecting' her or working well with her, I guess. Note that I am carefully not touching the whole Weir/Sheppard professional relationship question with a ten-foot pole.
Though to be fair, I have always had the impression Caldwell liked her personally, but she has been so unnecessarily bitchy to him so often that he has wisely kept it under control. Seriously, getting your own way does not mean squashing everyone around you nastily the way the SGA writers consistently have Elizabeth do: you really need to strive for win-win situations, not make everything a confrontation.
Anyway, this was a good Elizabeth episode where -for once- I did not feel like slapping her silly every time she opened her mouth. Only half the time. Progress! For instance the scene with Teyla was also heavy-handed, but still very welcome; of course it would have been so much better if we had seen this type of thing in season 2 instead of in the finale of season 3, but still!
:)
Plus, for once, I could actually see a plot. A nearly tenable one, even. Er. Wow. I am not used to such things from SGA writers, so I was all confused...
And by plot, I don't mean the stupid, ill-considered first strike against the replicators: stupidity is spreading and not just in the Pegasus galaxy: apparently it has infected the whole Earth, if one is to believe the writer of this episode, Martin Gero. This plan sounds eerily like "Let's bomb them over there so they do not bomb us over here," or is it just me?
Moving along quickly, and bonus point for showing Weir as well as McKay and Zelenka as doubtful about this... er... mess of a plan whatever.
After this stupid, bloodthirsty and self-defeating exercise, the rest of the episode is a non-stop roller-coaster: Zelenka shows up beautifully and gets mercilessly teased by McKay ("Much as it pains me to admit it, Zelenka is not infallible" Hee!) and Sheppard ("Just make out already!" Jealousy is not an attractive trait, colonel!), Ronon and Teyla demonstrate why they are such great (and under-utilized) characters with just a few lines and Sheppard demonstrates with colored pictures -or comic book references, fine!- that no one but McKay gets his dorky jokes. And the main problem with his Fantastic Four reference, IMHO, is that he switched roles with McKay: McKay is Mr Fantastic and has the t-shirt to prove it, Sheppard is the Human Torch (loves to fly, flirts with everyone and gets generally abusive and very short-term girlfriends, poor immature, conventional hero!)
But more than anything else, this episode is a complete McKay/Sheppard festival, on a scale I had never hoped for: they communicate at and with each other at a level far above everyone else, including Zelenka. The pantomime at the beginning in Weir's office is priceless but there are several subsequent scenes which are truly straight out of the best slash fan fiction.
So in summary: best episode ever! Very happy fan here. :)
Now back to doing my taxes, argh.
3x18 - Sunday
Unfortunately, I found this to be bordering on risible at times (I know, I know, this is about average for an SGA episode, but I am a silly fan and thus prone to putting more thought into this show than the SGA writers themselves do. I know that a lot of fans were very touched by the emotional impact of this episode, but give me a break:
- Lorne is a sensitive, artistic soul who paints during his free time? It reminds him of his happy childhood and his mother?!
- Golf? Golf?! Good Lord... That is fine for an actor like JF, but mighty weird for a USAF pilot. I mean, why not tennis or cricket while you're at it? It seems like the worst fanfic with lots of Mary Sue-like cameos of the authors' favorite music etc.
- Sheppard asking Ronon awkwardly about his dating situation?
- Elizabeth's date which seem to have been motivated mainly by the urge to make the Sheppard/Weir fans furious by eliminating the possibility of both Sheppard/Weir and McKay/Weir as well as Weir/anyone from Earth, really, based on the direct implications of this conversation (even Ronon/Elizabeth since she hardly seems the type to date more than one person at a time, regardless of how many orgy fanfics she is shoe-horned into)
Strangely enough, to me the best scene of 'Sunday' was Beckett winking and gesturing demonstratively at McKay to remind him of their fishing appointment, one of the very few scenes where I actually liked him since season 1. Poor Beckett, he was a likable characters once...
Plus, I may very well be the only fan who actually liked the McKay/Katie Brown scenes; I found her cute and generously tolerant of his many social faux-pas as well as appreciative of his admittedly few qualities, since she praises his honesty. Well, OK, lack of artifice. BTW, this does not mean that I am changing my OTP (McKay/Sheppard. In case it was not immediately obvious... )
Finally, I'll admit that the whole excitement about Teyla's romantic 'interest' went miles over my head because I never imagined this could be anyone other than the guy about whom she gets teased at the end of 'McKay and Mrs Miller', if only because the snatch of conversation we overhear establishes only 3 things to me:
- it's someone from Earth (thus the lecturing tone of her nameless (?) friend "I know better dear, men from Earth are not like Athosians men, trust me on this")
- it's a man (too bad, I liked the idea of Elizabeth/Teyla or even Teyla/Kate Heightmeyer)
- it's not someone from Teyla's team (or her friend would be unlikely to presume to know them better than her since, hello, teammates! plus she -her friend- would be cognizant of the fraternization issue, which is likely to be an Earth-only concept)
This seems to eliminate Sheppard, McKay and Ronon, which the teasing at the end of 'McKay and Mrs Miller' had already done for me: nothing that cannot be hand waved away, of course, but still pretty conclusive. This may not eliminate Beckett from the discussion, granted, but Teyla's incredibly cold "I am very sad" is enough for me: remember, this is Teyla we are discussing here, not Sheppard.
Bottom line, my biggest problem with 'Sunday' was that the big emotional scenes pre and post Beckett's accidental death left me cold, if not downright confused about whether, as a viewer, I was supposed to take this seriously or whether they would rewind the episode ala 'The Return II' and call "April's Fools!". Sort of like the famous Bobby's death thing turning out to be just a dream. I'd feel pretty foolish to fall for this contrived plot, wouldn't I? Exploding tumors, forsooth!
:)
As a result the last scene did take me in completely and up until the last minute I assumed that for some reason -Beckett wanting to escape his domineering mother? The Mafia was after him? He had been chosen as the new James Bond and needed to escape his contract with the SGC? Whatever!- the whole thing had been an act.
What can I say: here we were supposed to be in tears about Beckett's tragic death and I was thinking "Oh thank God, maybe that's the last we'll see of him!" Sorry, but big emotional scenes with a pink sunset background trigger my laugh reflex, not my emotional center, it's a defect of mine, similar to the one I have with sparkles and pastel bubbles... Me bad. And no amount of over acting by DH can camouflage the hokeyness (is that a word?) of that last scene.
:(
3x20 - First Strike
In complete contrast, this has to be my favorite SGA episode so far, even taking into account how much better season 3 was compared to season 2.
'First Strike' has it all: a great Elizabeth opening scene and a wonderful introduction for the new doctor -I may have a new favorite character- immediately followed by a fun appearance in her office of the Abbott and Costello of the Pegasus galaxy and her considerately not sending them to their rooms until their homework is done laughing in their faces. The ladylike smirk was much more dignified, of course...
And the 'I don't think leaders should lie, Elizabeth' line nearly killed me dead with joy. Hee! Suddenly I remember why I still like Sheppard in spite of everything the writers keep doing to his character since season 2 to make me dislike him: he is just too cute, especially the way he keeps looking at McKay with this 'neener neener' look!
Next, the appearance of a new intergalactic ship and a new military player. And surprise, surprise, it's yet another military guy Elizabeth does not get along with. It's a wonder she has this reputation as a great diplomat and getting along wonderfully with everyone when as far as I can tell, to see her is to dislike her; certainly the military guys she deals with don't seem to get on too well with her. This is reinforced by the ham-fisted way we are told that O'Neill likes her. To better contrast with the option of 'respecting' her or working well with her, I guess. Note that I am carefully not touching the whole Weir/Sheppard professional relationship question with a ten-foot pole.
Though to be fair, I have always had the impression Caldwell liked her personally, but she has been so unnecessarily bitchy to him so often that he has wisely kept it under control. Seriously, getting your own way does not mean squashing everyone around you nastily the way the SGA writers consistently have Elizabeth do: you really need to strive for win-win situations, not make everything a confrontation.
Anyway, this was a good Elizabeth episode where -for once- I did not feel like slapping her silly every time she opened her mouth. Only half the time. Progress! For instance the scene with Teyla was also heavy-handed, but still very welcome; of course it would have been so much better if we had seen this type of thing in season 2 instead of in the finale of season 3, but still!
:)
Plus, for once, I could actually see a plot. A nearly tenable one, even. Er. Wow. I am not used to such things from SGA writers, so I was all confused...
And by plot, I don't mean the stupid, ill-considered first strike against the replicators: stupidity is spreading and not just in the Pegasus galaxy: apparently it has infected the whole Earth, if one is to believe the writer of this episode, Martin Gero. This plan sounds eerily like "Let's bomb them over there so they do not bomb us over here," or is it just me?
Moving along quickly, and bonus point for showing Weir as well as McKay and Zelenka as doubtful about this... er... mess of a plan whatever.
After this stupid, bloodthirsty and self-defeating exercise, the rest of the episode is a non-stop roller-coaster: Zelenka shows up beautifully and gets mercilessly teased by McKay ("Much as it pains me to admit it, Zelenka is not infallible" Hee!) and Sheppard ("Just make out already!" Jealousy is not an attractive trait, colonel!), Ronon and Teyla demonstrate why they are such great (and under-utilized) characters with just a few lines and Sheppard demonstrates with colored pictures -or comic book references, fine!- that no one but McKay gets his dorky jokes. And the main problem with his Fantastic Four reference, IMHO, is that he switched roles with McKay: McKay is Mr Fantastic and has the t-shirt to prove it, Sheppard is the Human Torch (loves to fly, flirts with everyone and gets generally abusive and very short-term girlfriends, poor immature, conventional hero!)
But more than anything else, this episode is a complete McKay/Sheppard festival, on a scale I had never hoped for: they communicate at and with each other at a level far above everyone else, including Zelenka. The pantomime at the beginning in Weir's office is priceless but there are several subsequent scenes which are truly straight out of the best slash fan fiction.
So in summary: best episode ever! Very happy fan here. :)
Now back to doing my taxes, argh.