(no subject)
SG-1 finale
A few weeks ago I was on Wikipedia and accidentally got spoiled for the Asgard mass-extinction event. I x-ed out of that page SO FAST but the damage was done, and I was so very distraught for days. You know, because even a little bit of the Asgard music cue and just a few seconds of any Fifth Race dialogue makes me tear right up. There's so much hope there, so much wishful longing, and for me it's all the more poignant and painful the more incongruous this world becomes from the Asgard vision of our world in the SG-1 universe.
Since I didn't know anything else about the second half of the season, I imagined that if the Asgard were gonna go out, it had to be in some grand act of self-sacrifice that would shock us at the end of the episode. So all these weeks I built myself up to something heartbreaking and inevitable.
I was surprised, but not upset, that they started the episode with Thor dropping the news like that. Hey, a different way to approach it, and it gave each of the ship's crew a chance to react with @_@ at the sudden news. Also, I liked it at the time because I thought it would mean more processing time during the episode for us as viewers. Little did I imagine that they would unceremoniously dispose of the Asgard minutes later and spend the rest of the time on events that end up not having any lasting consequences on anything at all.
Going into this, I knew that they were going to finish the Ori stuff in the upcoming movie, so I knew that this was not The Real End for SG-1 either in terms of the story of the team or in terms of the show. So I didn't feel the sadness of "the last one," because it isn't yet. From that point of view then, what I saw in this episode was just a super-convenient way to acquire a major weapons upgrade for free, and thereby be able to magically wrap up the storyline in the next movie. I was really, really annoyed that the feeling I got from the episode was that they couldn't give up the ship because they would lose the giant guns. Sure, Daniel was there to interject about, oh, right, by the way, the entire accumulated knowledge of the Asgard, but it just didn't ring true to me. Even with Landry saying that he wasn't making his decisions lightly, no one convinced me that they had just lived through the Entire Asgard Race dying at once and making them the custodians of every single thing the Asgard ever knew.
The bit that nails it for me is the way they completely blow by the information that the Asgard cannot ascend. To me, in the context of this show, this is a huge thing, but people just take it in stride and go on to the next bit of dialogue without even pausing for a bit of contemplation or respect for the true sacrifice that has been made. And since this completely throws me out of the show, I also take this opportunity to scoff at its understanding of genetics.
In the end, the only person who nominally pays for the guns is Teal'c. I say nominally because I don't think they appreciate exactly what they've written for Teal'c, and I think there is a better than half chance that his sacrifice is forgotten by the next movie. But I don't care what his life-span is: fifty years is a profound amount of time to lose. And he does lose those years, because everything that happened is undone, literally. He is now fifty long years completely out of sync with everyone else he knows. And he's in a much worse situation than when Sheppard went six months out of sync with the Atlantis team. In that case, Shep spent his time with a different set of people altogether, and nothing was reset. In this situation, Teal'c spent all those years with precisely the set of people he can never speak to about events that never happened for the whole rest of the universe except for him. The only things that make me feel better about Teal'c are (1) that, as bittersweet as it must be for him, he did have five decades of time with friends who did not die in battle, and those memories are very real, and (2) I can pretend that HE understands the magnitude of his loss, and that he would make the trade-off every single time to save the legacy of the Asgard.
SGA season finale
I really enjoyed this episode, despite how it didn't seem to be related to the rest of the season. (Either that, or the entire season seemed a bit random.) Highlights for me were all the scenes with McKay & Zelenka (or McKay & Zelenka & Shep) and OMG Stardrive.
Of course, I got really annoyed at the end of the episode, as they then did a preview of next season, showing Carter. Whom I like, but not on Atlantis. Also, I had initially missed the first 5 minutes of the regular airing, so I had missed the formal introduction of Carson's replacement. Upon watching this during the repeat airing, I then became really annoyed with that as well. Hey, I loved Firefly, but what the hell was wrong with Carson? I miss him.
Doctor Who
I love Jack Harkness T-H-I-S much. Whyfor is he so wonderful? I love it when he refers to being a Time Agent. I love the Vortex Manipulator. I love the billowy coat (which we now see billows in perfect harmony and visually aesthetic unison with the Doctor's). I love the way he breaks the news of Torchwood to the Doctor (I love the Torchwood music cueing up there!) and the way he defends Torchwood Three. What I wouldn't give to have him travel with the Doctor week after week forever and ever ("Together -- they fight crime! and shag!").
I love that phone call between the Doctor and the Master. I LOVE the way the Master said the word "Gallifrey." Hot. The whole conversation was so charged and sexy even though it of course took a disturbing turn. I love the idea of the Doctor taking the name Doctor because he does make people better, in so many senses of the word. I love the idea that the Doctor, no matter everything in the past, sets out to save the Master. I love the Doctor T-H-I-S much too.
I'm excited and anxious about next week. I'm digging super-kick-ass Martha in the preview. I'm hoping Jack gets some sort of emotional satisfaction by the end and that he can go back to Torchwood (the group and the show) revitalized and ready for new adventures. I'm hoping the Doctor makes it through with a little bit less weight on his shoulders.
A few weeks ago I was on Wikipedia and accidentally got spoiled for the Asgard mass-extinction event. I x-ed out of that page SO FAST but the damage was done, and I was so very distraught for days. You know, because even a little bit of the Asgard music cue and just a few seconds of any Fifth Race dialogue makes me tear right up. There's so much hope there, so much wishful longing, and for me it's all the more poignant and painful the more incongruous this world becomes from the Asgard vision of our world in the SG-1 universe.
Since I didn't know anything else about the second half of the season, I imagined that if the Asgard were gonna go out, it had to be in some grand act of self-sacrifice that would shock us at the end of the episode. So all these weeks I built myself up to something heartbreaking and inevitable.
I was surprised, but not upset, that they started the episode with Thor dropping the news like that. Hey, a different way to approach it, and it gave each of the ship's crew a chance to react with @_@ at the sudden news. Also, I liked it at the time because I thought it would mean more processing time during the episode for us as viewers. Little did I imagine that they would unceremoniously dispose of the Asgard minutes later and spend the rest of the time on events that end up not having any lasting consequences on anything at all.
Going into this, I knew that they were going to finish the Ori stuff in the upcoming movie, so I knew that this was not The Real End for SG-1 either in terms of the story of the team or in terms of the show. So I didn't feel the sadness of "the last one," because it isn't yet. From that point of view then, what I saw in this episode was just a super-convenient way to acquire a major weapons upgrade for free, and thereby be able to magically wrap up the storyline in the next movie. I was really, really annoyed that the feeling I got from the episode was that they couldn't give up the ship because they would lose the giant guns. Sure, Daniel was there to interject about, oh, right, by the way, the entire accumulated knowledge of the Asgard, but it just didn't ring true to me. Even with Landry saying that he wasn't making his decisions lightly, no one convinced me that they had just lived through the Entire Asgard Race dying at once and making them the custodians of every single thing the Asgard ever knew.
The bit that nails it for me is the way they completely blow by the information that the Asgard cannot ascend. To me, in the context of this show, this is a huge thing, but people just take it in stride and go on to the next bit of dialogue without even pausing for a bit of contemplation or respect for the true sacrifice that has been made. And since this completely throws me out of the show, I also take this opportunity to scoff at its understanding of genetics.
In the end, the only person who nominally pays for the guns is Teal'c. I say nominally because I don't think they appreciate exactly what they've written for Teal'c, and I think there is a better than half chance that his sacrifice is forgotten by the next movie. But I don't care what his life-span is: fifty years is a profound amount of time to lose. And he does lose those years, because everything that happened is undone, literally. He is now fifty long years completely out of sync with everyone else he knows. And he's in a much worse situation than when Sheppard went six months out of sync with the Atlantis team. In that case, Shep spent his time with a different set of people altogether, and nothing was reset. In this situation, Teal'c spent all those years with precisely the set of people he can never speak to about events that never happened for the whole rest of the universe except for him. The only things that make me feel better about Teal'c are (1) that, as bittersweet as it must be for him, he did have five decades of time with friends who did not die in battle, and those memories are very real, and (2) I can pretend that HE understands the magnitude of his loss, and that he would make the trade-off every single time to save the legacy of the Asgard.
SGA season finale
I really enjoyed this episode, despite how it didn't seem to be related to the rest of the season. (Either that, or the entire season seemed a bit random.) Highlights for me were all the scenes with McKay & Zelenka (or McKay & Zelenka & Shep) and OMG Stardrive.
Of course, I got really annoyed at the end of the episode, as they then did a preview of next season, showing Carter. Whom I like, but not on Atlantis. Also, I had initially missed the first 5 minutes of the regular airing, so I had missed the formal introduction of Carson's replacement. Upon watching this during the repeat airing, I then became really annoyed with that as well. Hey, I loved Firefly, but what the hell was wrong with Carson? I miss him.
Doctor Who
I love Jack Harkness T-H-I-S much. Whyfor is he so wonderful? I love it when he refers to being a Time Agent. I love the Vortex Manipulator. I love the billowy coat (which we now see billows in perfect harmony and visually aesthetic unison with the Doctor's). I love the way he breaks the news of Torchwood to the Doctor (I love the Torchwood music cueing up there!) and the way he defends Torchwood Three. What I wouldn't give to have him travel with the Doctor week after week forever and ever ("Together -- they fight crime! and shag!").
I love that phone call between the Doctor and the Master. I LOVE the way the Master said the word "Gallifrey." Hot. The whole conversation was so charged and sexy even though it of course took a disturbing turn. I love the idea of the Doctor taking the name Doctor because he does make people better, in so many senses of the word. I love the idea that the Doctor, no matter everything in the past, sets out to save the Master. I love the Doctor T-H-I-S much too.
I'm excited and anxious about next week. I'm digging super-kick-ass Martha in the preview. I'm hoping Jack gets some sort of emotional satisfaction by the end and that he can go back to Torchwood (the group and the show) revitalized and ready for new adventures. I'm hoping the Doctor makes it through with a little bit less weight on his shoulders.