The Real World
The Real World didn't start well. Maybe it's just me, but the first thing I noticed was the way I couldn't actually hear the guest star's voice against the monotonal music. Now, that could have been something to do with the download, or it could have been them not paying attention to the sound editing. Whatever it was, it wasn't a good beginning.
That said, there were some nice moments. Torri Higginson did some really good work there, and while it's a crying shame that the writers continue to rely on the actors raising the script instead of writing stuff that they can get their teeth into, that doesn't negate her performance.
However, the entire thing suffers from comparison with that Buffy episode. The trouble is, that what works when you can say it's a magical universe, and have someone's will overcome the magical poison, does not work half so well when you try to solder nanites into the place of the magic. It was pretty poor, actually. The Buffy parallels were distracting, and this episode suffered in the contrast. Sure, the plot is an old, old staple of sci-fi, I'd read it a dozen times before I ever saw Brazil or the Twilight Zone. Yes, the plot is infinitely recyclable and reusable -- but this variation was just lazy and sloppy. Fake reality painting by numbers.
It was blindingly obvious that the shadow was Sheppard, which as an idea, while allowing spooky effects, didn't actually make much sense, unless you assume that the presence of a strong ATA gene makes the nanites all quivery and unsure of themselves. Why *Weir* didn't get it, I don't know (beyond, yes, bad writing and unnecessary eking out of the suspense in the wrong place)). But I give all credit to TH for making the moment when Weir takes the pills into a moment when you know she is finally buying into their reality despite herself. I really felt for Weir, there. But why not show all the team members? Or if they were going for the ATA thing: Carson as well (McKay too if the artificial thing doesn't turn out to be a problem). Ronon and Teyla were just... lurking.
The writers are very comfortable with their magic-science, and I get bloody annoyed at it with the curing of Weir -- not because of the handwavey attitude, but that they didn't even try for a thin veneer of plausibility in this one. They're too lazy to even try to make it work consistently. The two halves of the plot didn't meet.
It would have been nice if Carson had said something like 'the placebo effect' or talked up the effect of positive reinforcement on the immune system, or that the nanites died in the presence of adrenalin, *anything* to give it a vague sense of connect between 'she's dying and there's nothing we can do' and 'ooh, the magickal healing power of Sheppard's hand and coma-talking'. Maybe the quivery nanites were scared of his ATA gene touching them (Ancient cooties! ew!) and were ashamed of being naughty and went away. God knows that works better than not saying anything at all. (And actually, the nanites fearing natural carriers of the ATA gene makes sense, in all sorts of ways, but I hold out no hope that they will retcon that into the arc.)
Rodney might just as well have trotted out the 'medicine=voodoo' line because as it happens, he'd've been *right*.
They also seemed to be going for a parallel with last season's Instinct/Conversion duo, only for Weir instead of Sheppard. I assume they couldn't get the guy who played Simon back (because while yes, it added another layer to Weir's despair, I really got the impression it was a rewrite rather than integral. Now, whether that rewrite of history feel was meant to come across as the nanites manipulating Weir's brain, or if it really *was* a rewrite, I don't know, but the fact is, to me it felt unintentional. Perhaps I am unduly negative about this, but I don't credit the writers with anything like that level of subtlety or sophistication of thought.
The Atlantis directors need to tell DH to stop pulling faces. JF used to do this -- less so recently, and no, gurning and mugging madly for the camera isn't acting. And the writing... god, someone needs to take a step back and start looking at the writing to smooth it out and balance it between episodes, between writers, between scenes, between actors. Because it is so, so, patchy, and it's such a disappointment to me when I turn on SGA and get (for this episode at least) Buffy/Angel-lite, without the characterisation, without the arcs and history, without the internal logic and consistency and consequences. No show is perfect, but comparing SGA with Buffy is starting to feel kind of unfair, that you're comparing the kindergartners with the college kids. And SGA has no business sitting with the kindergartners.
I find more and more I can only understand the character decisions/plot events that drive the stories by stepping back and looking at the decisions that the writers are making and the constraints and pressures driving the *writers*, the fourth wall stuff. And sure, I can do that, but I shouldn't have to. It's crappy writing that makes me see the process underneath. When I watch I only want to see the story/character in the subtext. Not the scaffolding and quick dry cement, and the guys having a quick smoke out the back.
And in other news, I watched the 200th ep of SG1, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Talk about breaking your fourth wall the *right* way :-)
That said, there were some nice moments. Torri Higginson did some really good work there, and while it's a crying shame that the writers continue to rely on the actors raising the script instead of writing stuff that they can get their teeth into, that doesn't negate her performance.
However, the entire thing suffers from comparison with that Buffy episode. The trouble is, that what works when you can say it's a magical universe, and have someone's will overcome the magical poison, does not work half so well when you try to solder nanites into the place of the magic. It was pretty poor, actually. The Buffy parallels were distracting, and this episode suffered in the contrast. Sure, the plot is an old, old staple of sci-fi, I'd read it a dozen times before I ever saw Brazil or the Twilight Zone. Yes, the plot is infinitely recyclable and reusable -- but this variation was just lazy and sloppy. Fake reality painting by numbers.
It was blindingly obvious that the shadow was Sheppard, which as an idea, while allowing spooky effects, didn't actually make much sense, unless you assume that the presence of a strong ATA gene makes the nanites all quivery and unsure of themselves. Why *Weir* didn't get it, I don't know (beyond, yes, bad writing and unnecessary eking out of the suspense in the wrong place)). But I give all credit to TH for making the moment when Weir takes the pills into a moment when you know she is finally buying into their reality despite herself. I really felt for Weir, there. But why not show all the team members? Or if they were going for the ATA thing: Carson as well (McKay too if the artificial thing doesn't turn out to be a problem). Ronon and Teyla were just... lurking.
The writers are very comfortable with their magic-science, and I get bloody annoyed at it with the curing of Weir -- not because of the handwavey attitude, but that they didn't even try for a thin veneer of plausibility in this one. They're too lazy to even try to make it work consistently. The two halves of the plot didn't meet.
It would have been nice if Carson had said something like 'the placebo effect' or talked up the effect of positive reinforcement on the immune system, or that the nanites died in the presence of adrenalin, *anything* to give it a vague sense of connect between 'she's dying and there's nothing we can do' and 'ooh, the magickal healing power of Sheppard's hand and coma-talking'. Maybe the quivery nanites were scared of his ATA gene touching them (Ancient cooties! ew!) and were ashamed of being naughty and went away. God knows that works better than not saying anything at all. (And actually, the nanites fearing natural carriers of the ATA gene makes sense, in all sorts of ways, but I hold out no hope that they will retcon that into the arc.)
Rodney might just as well have trotted out the 'medicine=voodoo' line because as it happens, he'd've been *right*.
They also seemed to be going for a parallel with last season's Instinct/Conversion duo, only for Weir instead of Sheppard. I assume they couldn't get the guy who played Simon back (because while yes, it added another layer to Weir's despair, I really got the impression it was a rewrite rather than integral. Now, whether that rewrite of history feel was meant to come across as the nanites manipulating Weir's brain, or if it really *was* a rewrite, I don't know, but the fact is, to me it felt unintentional. Perhaps I am unduly negative about this, but I don't credit the writers with anything like that level of subtlety or sophistication of thought.
The Atlantis directors need to tell DH to stop pulling faces. JF used to do this -- less so recently, and no, gurning and mugging madly for the camera isn't acting. And the writing... god, someone needs to take a step back and start looking at the writing to smooth it out and balance it between episodes, between writers, between scenes, between actors. Because it is so, so, patchy, and it's such a disappointment to me when I turn on SGA and get (for this episode at least) Buffy/Angel-lite, without the characterisation, without the arcs and history, without the internal logic and consistency and consequences. No show is perfect, but comparing SGA with Buffy is starting to feel kind of unfair, that you're comparing the kindergartners with the college kids. And SGA has no business sitting with the kindergartners.
I find more and more I can only understand the character decisions/plot events that drive the stories by stepping back and looking at the decisions that the writers are making and the constraints and pressures driving the *writers*, the fourth wall stuff. And sure, I can do that, but I shouldn't have to. It's crappy writing that makes me see the process underneath. When I watch I only want to see the story/character in the subtext. Not the scaffolding and quick dry cement, and the guys having a quick smoke out the back.
And in other news, I watched the 200th ep of SG1, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Talk about breaking your fourth wall the *right* way :-)