Squee!
Okay, I haven't read *anyone* else's take on the latest SG-1 ep. But I am quite pleased. Granted, apparently this is where MS has begun his leave of absence or whatever, but still, I was very pleased with the ep. I found tons of things to be excited about.
Also, keep in mind that I've had a couple of gin & tonics (I basically peaked too soon after having miscalculated the air time of the ep) but I have mitigated the effect of the alcohol with coffee, so... yeah. Still pleased.
Okay, no Daniel. I can deal.
I was *very* pleased to see Sam backing her girl, Vala, against Ba'al on the whole Qetesh thing. Nicely played. I was also pleased with the body language in the shot when Vala was asking for background from Sam. Again, nicely played. You can say it's calculated on the part of Vala, to put herself below Sam's level in a show of subservience, OR you can feel it's genuine on Vala's part. Doesn't matter. What matters is that she recognises and respects Sam's position on the team. And this was perhaps even stronger for me in that Daniel wasn't around to coach Vala. This was her own choice.
Vala using her sexuality to try and wheedle info out of Ba'al. So *very* like her and yet she's now using it for the force of good. Again, I liked how they played that. Vala will and should never be anything but herself, BUT, I was pleased to see her turning her wiles to the advantage of SG-1 and Earth.
And we got more Barrett! Yay! I've always enjoyed his character and was *very* pleased to see him put to good (which was really bad) use. I really appreciated Sam's ambivilence about it. She likes Barrett. Even called him 'Malcolm'. But she's a soldier at heart, in many ways, and she did what she had to do. I do *not* find it wrong or bad or whatever, that she relented to the Ba'als when they threatened to kill him. She would have reacted the same to any member of her team. Or hell, any of the unnamed guys under threat. She's strong, she can be hard. She is not a mercenary. She can read when her back's against the wall and can't win.
Oh my God, so many really good moments. I can't count the times I crowed during the ep. Seriously. I enjoyed every single member of the team.
Oh! Fabulous moment when Mitchell confessed to General Landry that he really didn't command SG-1. I *loved* that that sentiment was made explicit because there's been a fair amount of snarking about it in fandom. Mitchell does *not* command Sam. They are of equal rank. He *can't* truly command Teal'c or Vala because they are aliens and not truly under his command. And Daniel is a civilian, so ditto. I really loved that this was made explicit. While SG-1 may not be a democracy in the true sense of the word, it's definately more democratic than most military units. My feeling has always been that the person with the final word is the person that has the most expertise in the relevant area. In other words, Mitchell *knows* he's a newcomer to the party. It would be hubris and arrogance if he tried to command the members of his team. And really, I never got the impression that was why he wanted to be part of SG-1 in the first place.
Despite fandom snarking (which I really don't see on my flist, but only when I venture beyond it), I always saw Mitchell as sort of a reluctant commander in the first place. He'd never really asked to be the commander of SG-1. He really only wanted to be a *part* of SG-1 under General O'Neill's command. That SG-1 had essentially been disbanded, leaving the entire group open for reassignment, was something he'd not foreseen. This seemed evident to me in the first ep of Season 9, but was apparently lost on a lot of fans.
So, basically, I adored this ep, even without Daniel. In all actuality, I didn't even really miss him. I know, *heresy*, but true. I loved the Vala/Sam and Vala/team interaction. I can *see* her trying to fit in, in her own way. Her loyalties were solid. Even Ba'al could detect that. She proved she could operate within a military unitl (I loved that one of the very first things she reported to Mitchell, was that her unit had a man down. Nice touch.)
So now... on to Atlantis.
It saddens me greatly that viewership is *way* down for the Stargate franchise. While I offer no opinion on Atlantis just yet, SG-1 feels like it's kicking ass to me. Good, solid storylines that aren't too Ori-heavy. Yes, it was, well, Daniel-lite (to the eztent that he wasn't there at all and only mentioned in the opening sequence) but I can live with that. The ep didn't feel all that lacking to me.
So Yay! I'm happy. Granted, this is just my very first impressions, but I was quite pleasantly surprised. I truly was.
ETA: On a personal note, I got a bit of bad news today. Nothing serious, but I visited with the oral surgeon who will do the actual implant of the titanium screw for my dental implant. Now, I already know that the actual crown will cost $2,000. I was pretty much planning for that. BUT, when I asked the oral surgeon what the cost would be for implanting the screw (and apparently some 'synthetic bone', since the void from the infection is so big), well, I was expecting a number in the area of $500 - $700. Um, no. $1,900. Holy fuck! This will put the cost for the total restoration in the neighborhood of $5,000+. For ONE damn tooth! And no, insurance covers none of this. It's all out-of-pocket. Trust me, I certainly feel that the implant is the single best solution to the loss of my front tooth. I'm not all that old. BUT, dude! That's a fuckload of money!
I'm probably going to talk to the restoration doc about it. See how much a bridge will cost in comparison. Because my dental insurance will at least cover *some* of that. I know, I'll still probably have to look at an implant later, simply because I'm fairly young for that, but... I dunno. That's a whole *pile* of money that I don't have.
Also, keep in mind that I've had a couple of gin & tonics (I basically peaked too soon after having miscalculated the air time of the ep) but I have mitigated the effect of the alcohol with coffee, so... yeah. Still pleased.
Okay, no Daniel. I can deal.
I was *very* pleased to see Sam backing her girl, Vala, against Ba'al on the whole Qetesh thing. Nicely played. I was also pleased with the body language in the shot when Vala was asking for background from Sam. Again, nicely played. You can say it's calculated on the part of Vala, to put herself below Sam's level in a show of subservience, OR you can feel it's genuine on Vala's part. Doesn't matter. What matters is that she recognises and respects Sam's position on the team. And this was perhaps even stronger for me in that Daniel wasn't around to coach Vala. This was her own choice.
Vala using her sexuality to try and wheedle info out of Ba'al. So *very* like her and yet she's now using it for the force of good. Again, I liked how they played that. Vala will and should never be anything but herself, BUT, I was pleased to see her turning her wiles to the advantage of SG-1 and Earth.
And we got more Barrett! Yay! I've always enjoyed his character and was *very* pleased to see him put to good (which was really bad) use. I really appreciated Sam's ambivilence about it. She likes Barrett. Even called him 'Malcolm'. But she's a soldier at heart, in many ways, and she did what she had to do. I do *not* find it wrong or bad or whatever, that she relented to the Ba'als when they threatened to kill him. She would have reacted the same to any member of her team. Or hell, any of the unnamed guys under threat. She's strong, she can be hard. She is not a mercenary. She can read when her back's against the wall and can't win.
Oh my God, so many really good moments. I can't count the times I crowed during the ep. Seriously. I enjoyed every single member of the team.
Oh! Fabulous moment when Mitchell confessed to General Landry that he really didn't command SG-1. I *loved* that that sentiment was made explicit because there's been a fair amount of snarking about it in fandom. Mitchell does *not* command Sam. They are of equal rank. He *can't* truly command Teal'c or Vala because they are aliens and not truly under his command. And Daniel is a civilian, so ditto. I really loved that this was made explicit. While SG-1 may not be a democracy in the true sense of the word, it's definately more democratic than most military units. My feeling has always been that the person with the final word is the person that has the most expertise in the relevant area. In other words, Mitchell *knows* he's a newcomer to the party. It would be hubris and arrogance if he tried to command the members of his team. And really, I never got the impression that was why he wanted to be part of SG-1 in the first place.
Despite fandom snarking (which I really don't see on my flist, but only when I venture beyond it), I always saw Mitchell as sort of a reluctant commander in the first place. He'd never really asked to be the commander of SG-1. He really only wanted to be a *part* of SG-1 under General O'Neill's command. That SG-1 had essentially been disbanded, leaving the entire group open for reassignment, was something he'd not foreseen. This seemed evident to me in the first ep of Season 9, but was apparently lost on a lot of fans.
So, basically, I adored this ep, even without Daniel. In all actuality, I didn't even really miss him. I know, *heresy*, but true. I loved the Vala/Sam and Vala/team interaction. I can *see* her trying to fit in, in her own way. Her loyalties were solid. Even Ba'al could detect that. She proved she could operate within a military unitl (I loved that one of the very first things she reported to Mitchell, was that her unit had a man down. Nice touch.)
So now... on to Atlantis.
It saddens me greatly that viewership is *way* down for the Stargate franchise. While I offer no opinion on Atlantis just yet, SG-1 feels like it's kicking ass to me. Good, solid storylines that aren't too Ori-heavy. Yes, it was, well, Daniel-lite (to the eztent that he wasn't there at all and only mentioned in the opening sequence) but I can live with that. The ep didn't feel all that lacking to me.
So Yay! I'm happy. Granted, this is just my very first impressions, but I was quite pleasantly surprised. I truly was.
ETA: On a personal note, I got a bit of bad news today. Nothing serious, but I visited with the oral surgeon who will do the actual implant of the titanium screw for my dental implant. Now, I already know that the actual crown will cost $2,000. I was pretty much planning for that. BUT, when I asked the oral surgeon what the cost would be for implanting the screw (and apparently some 'synthetic bone', since the void from the infection is so big), well, I was expecting a number in the area of $500 - $700. Um, no. $1,900. Holy fuck! This will put the cost for the total restoration in the neighborhood of $5,000+. For ONE damn tooth! And no, insurance covers none of this. It's all out-of-pocket. Trust me, I certainly feel that the implant is the single best solution to the loss of my front tooth. I'm not all that old. BUT, dude! That's a fuckload of money!
I'm probably going to talk to the restoration doc about it. See how much a bridge will cost in comparison. Because my dental insurance will at least cover *some* of that. I know, I'll still probably have to look at an implant later, simply because I'm fairly young for that, but... I dunno. That's a whole *pile* of money that I don't have.