Stargate SG1 - Truly Undending
Few days ago, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was celebrating it's tenth anniversary of appearing on the tv screens for the first time. Even though it wasn't an exact anniversary for me - I hadn't started watching Buffy till some time later, after it made its way to Polish tv... It still mattered. Ten years, eh?
Some TV shows I loved to pieces, hadn't made it past their first season. Some where cancelled abruptly and without a real reason. Some lasted for longer and became less and less the shows I loved.
I watch shows for different reasons. Buffy and Angel I watched for characters, wonderful and flawed. CSI and CSI:NY I watch for weirdness, murders that make me cringe and one-liners I groan at and still love. BSG I watch for the grittiness and hurt, and the people who ultimately, will pull through, I hope. Veronica Mars I watch for the snarkiness and fun. Gilmore Girls for the fast-paced dialogue and quirkiness. Stargate Atlantis for the swagger and Rodney's snark. Heroes for the awesomeness factor and the hot people. House for the dry wit and the insults and House being an asshole. Supernatural for the horror cliches and banter. Doctor Who for the strangeness and because it's clearly fantastic...
Stargate SG-1 I watch for the love.
I am not exactly active in SG-1 fandom. I don't really read fics... but that actually says a lot, because in my opinion, you hardly can improve on the show itself. This might be nostalgia talking, after all, the show is just ending after a ten years' long run, but... This is the one show that never disappointed me, never failed to make me laugh and cry and yell at the screen and then, at the episode's end, be satisfied that everything is right.
Starting from the ending that isn't really. There is a certain poetry in this, in the whole team stepping through the gate once more. It goes on, stargate always goes on, and so does sg-1. Time passes, as this episode ultimately proves, and people come and go, but sg-1 still goes through the gate.
'Undending' is the epithome of the show itself, to me. It starts lightly, with banter and jokes, drawing laughs from me, but as it progresses, it starts to hurt at places, and that always was Stargate's speciality.
The entire concept behind the episode takes us back a good few years, and somehow, even though Jack is not present, makes me think of him. He already had his lifetime pass once, this is the others' turn. Asgard and Thor's appearances also takes us back, just as Adria's Gouldisation did in the previous episode - the show pays homage to its roots, and that's something that makes me very, very happy. What makes me sad is Asgards' demise. Some things end.
Landry. From making light of the situation, comments on the paperwork, and his plants, to the true loneliness of a leader, standing on the bridge, watching the ray get closer and closer, to the death... Oh, Landry.
Cameron. He had it the hardest of the newer characters, stepping into Jack's shoes that no one could fill, and no one should try, but he charmed me from the beginning, with his fanboyish approach and true dorkiness and the hardness underneath, and the stubborness and the need to do something. Cameron slowly loosing it on the ship, opting for action, sparring with Teal'c, going ballistic in his room, in confining, in loneliness, Cameron sitting still in the fighter, going nowhere, Cameron standing on the bridge like Landry used to, old, watching the ray...Oh, Cameron.
Sam. Being brilliant and buying the time, and then slowly failing, your science disappointing you, blaming yourself, admitting to having given up. The chello appearing is something cute and a little adorkable, and then, years later, you're playing it amazingly and it hurts, as if this was the only thing left. And then, then you finally figure it out, and there's this tight expression on your face when you tell the rest that, in the end, the time was not enough... Oh, Sam.
Teal'c. Starting from the oh-so typical stoic snarkiness with Vala in the storage room, the sparing with Cameron, the calm in face of the upcoming disaster... The moment I got that you, after all, don't age by the human's pace (I sometimes forget), I knew you, ultimately, would be the one to remember, the one to really live through it. But there was also the possibility, the one you must have considered, that you will be the one to watch them all die, pass, disappear, that you will be the one to stay alone. And you are alone, at the end, aren't you, the only one with knowledge of their best and worse times, of fifty years you can't share with them... Oh, Teal'c.
Vala. This is just you, isn't it? You start light and wonderfully fun, being bored and annoying Daniel and oh, reminding us of that one time you took him hostage, and then you continue to be fun and cute and absolutely awesome, and then, then you break, and you break me as well, when every trace of banter and teasing is gone, and for that brief moment you show how fragile you really are. Because you do care, don't you? You've learned how, and this isn't something that goes away. And you find some sort of happiness in this whole situation, but isn't it tainted with sadness? And then, then you say goodbye, and you, we, don't know if this could ever happen again. Oh, Vala.
Daniel. So excited about the Asgards' knowledge, so unwilling to let it just slip, so determined to learn it, even when it seems like it might be lost with you. And then, then you make me worry I'll start to dislike you in the very last ep, with you being an absolute bastard o Vala, but then. Then you break me. First, the small crack, your expression in the moment you push her away, turn away. The wistfulness. And then, the disbelief that she might really feel anything the unwilligness to risk it all again to be hurt again, the admittance of how much it hurt to lost Sha're and that you finally healed from that... And then the wonder and concern and doubt and hope... and then you kiss her, and the smile on your face when you say that 'you better not be messing with me' line? You make me love you more than ever. And then, you too, say goodbye, and this might have never been... Oh, God, Daniel.
And then, oh, show... you're ending, and not ending at the same time. There will be movies, I know, but in a way, some things have ended.
And yet they didn't.
Life's short. Ten years passes all too quickly. Thank you for the ten years, ten seasons, and thank you for not dissapointing me even when I was doubtful. Just, thank you.
And also... how awesome was Teal'c's hair? On the scale of one to ten? Something close to 22, I believe.
Some TV shows I loved to pieces, hadn't made it past their first season. Some where cancelled abruptly and without a real reason. Some lasted for longer and became less and less the shows I loved.
I watch shows for different reasons. Buffy and Angel I watched for characters, wonderful and flawed. CSI and CSI:NY I watch for weirdness, murders that make me cringe and one-liners I groan at and still love. BSG I watch for the grittiness and hurt, and the people who ultimately, will pull through, I hope. Veronica Mars I watch for the snarkiness and fun. Gilmore Girls for the fast-paced dialogue and quirkiness. Stargate Atlantis for the swagger and Rodney's snark. Heroes for the awesomeness factor and the hot people. House for the dry wit and the insults and House being an asshole. Supernatural for the horror cliches and banter. Doctor Who for the strangeness and because it's clearly fantastic...
Stargate SG-1 I watch for the love.
I am not exactly active in SG-1 fandom. I don't really read fics... but that actually says a lot, because in my opinion, you hardly can improve on the show itself. This might be nostalgia talking, after all, the show is just ending after a ten years' long run, but... This is the one show that never disappointed me, never failed to make me laugh and cry and yell at the screen and then, at the episode's end, be satisfied that everything is right.
Starting from the ending that isn't really. There is a certain poetry in this, in the whole team stepping through the gate once more. It goes on, stargate always goes on, and so does sg-1. Time passes, as this episode ultimately proves, and people come and go, but sg-1 still goes through the gate.
'Undending' is the epithome of the show itself, to me. It starts lightly, with banter and jokes, drawing laughs from me, but as it progresses, it starts to hurt at places, and that always was Stargate's speciality.
The entire concept behind the episode takes us back a good few years, and somehow, even though Jack is not present, makes me think of him. He already had his lifetime pass once, this is the others' turn. Asgard and Thor's appearances also takes us back, just as Adria's Gouldisation did in the previous episode - the show pays homage to its roots, and that's something that makes me very, very happy. What makes me sad is Asgards' demise. Some things end.
Landry. From making light of the situation, comments on the paperwork, and his plants, to the true loneliness of a leader, standing on the bridge, watching the ray get closer and closer, to the death... Oh, Landry.
Cameron. He had it the hardest of the newer characters, stepping into Jack's shoes that no one could fill, and no one should try, but he charmed me from the beginning, with his fanboyish approach and true dorkiness and the hardness underneath, and the stubborness and the need to do something. Cameron slowly loosing it on the ship, opting for action, sparring with Teal'c, going ballistic in his room, in confining, in loneliness, Cameron sitting still in the fighter, going nowhere, Cameron standing on the bridge like Landry used to, old, watching the ray...Oh, Cameron.
Sam. Being brilliant and buying the time, and then slowly failing, your science disappointing you, blaming yourself, admitting to having given up. The chello appearing is something cute and a little adorkable, and then, years later, you're playing it amazingly and it hurts, as if this was the only thing left. And then, then you finally figure it out, and there's this tight expression on your face when you tell the rest that, in the end, the time was not enough... Oh, Sam.
Teal'c. Starting from the oh-so typical stoic snarkiness with Vala in the storage room, the sparing with Cameron, the calm in face of the upcoming disaster... The moment I got that you, after all, don't age by the human's pace (I sometimes forget), I knew you, ultimately, would be the one to remember, the one to really live through it. But there was also the possibility, the one you must have considered, that you will be the one to watch them all die, pass, disappear, that you will be the one to stay alone. And you are alone, at the end, aren't you, the only one with knowledge of their best and worse times, of fifty years you can't share with them... Oh, Teal'c.
Vala. This is just you, isn't it? You start light and wonderfully fun, being bored and annoying Daniel and oh, reminding us of that one time you took him hostage, and then you continue to be fun and cute and absolutely awesome, and then, then you break, and you break me as well, when every trace of banter and teasing is gone, and for that brief moment you show how fragile you really are. Because you do care, don't you? You've learned how, and this isn't something that goes away. And you find some sort of happiness in this whole situation, but isn't it tainted with sadness? And then, then you say goodbye, and you, we, don't know if this could ever happen again. Oh, Vala.
Daniel. So excited about the Asgards' knowledge, so unwilling to let it just slip, so determined to learn it, even when it seems like it might be lost with you. And then, then you make me worry I'll start to dislike you in the very last ep, with you being an absolute bastard o Vala, but then. Then you break me. First, the small crack, your expression in the moment you push her away, turn away. The wistfulness. And then, the disbelief that she might really feel anything the unwilligness to risk it all again to be hurt again, the admittance of how much it hurt to lost Sha're and that you finally healed from that... And then the wonder and concern and doubt and hope... and then you kiss her, and the smile on your face when you say that 'you better not be messing with me' line? You make me love you more than ever. And then, you too, say goodbye, and this might have never been... Oh, God, Daniel.
And then, oh, show... you're ending, and not ending at the same time. There will be movies, I know, but in a way, some things have ended.
And yet they didn't.
Life's short. Ten years passes all too quickly. Thank you for the ten years, ten seasons, and thank you for not dissapointing me even when I was doubtful. Just, thank you.
And also... how awesome was Teal'c's hair? On the scale of one to ten? Something close to 22, I believe.