Meridian, Jack, and the whole Jonas thing

[bluecove]

So, you might be wondering, what made me decide to write about what is arguably the most hated episode in Stargate SG-1 history? As usual, it’s because I’ve been stirred up by something I’ve read. Make that several somethings, actually. I read a lotTo understand where I’m coming from, you should know that I did the "Meridian" transcript for

Comments

[redthroatedloon]

What if, at the crucial moment, Jonas froze against the wall not out of fear, but because an unseen hand was holding him back? What if he could have saved his people, given the chance, but was prevented from doing so -- because someone wanted Daniel to do it?It's an interesting idea -- and I'm really looking forward to reading about it. (Hint, hint

[bluecove]

Please see my next post, where I've tried to answer your question as best I can.

[burbler]

I always thought that Jacks reactions in Meridian were spot on! Although I still believe that he would have been more 'succinct' about his feelings for Daniel at his bedside.

As for Jonas - an appallingly badly written character, which, if you take as read from the show, would have made it onto SG1 when hell froze over. Not Just because Jack did not 'take' to him, but because he simply would not have been seen by anyone in the SGC as a 'team' player whom they could 'trust'. He had spent time with Daniel and yet his first instinct was to let him take the blame! Sorry, not a decent guy at all!

[tafkarfanfic]

I always thought that Jacks reactions in Meridian were spot on!
Me, too. I came quite late to the Stargate party, and missed the entire hullabaloo when it, er, balooed. Jack's reactions not only seemed entirely in character to me...I had a death in the family at roughly the same time (and, because it was cancer, with a similar, albeit slower, degenerative decline), and the very brief, understated bedside conversation was not dissimilar to the one I had. I've never understood people who wanted Jack to be weeping and banging his chest at the bedside; to me, that would have been overstating it, and would have lessened the impact of the episode. Jack's speech at Daniel's bedside made me break down weeping, and I'm not the sort of person who cries easily.

He had spent time with Daniel and yet his first instinct was to let him take the blame! Sorry, not a decent guy at all!You know - I don't actually have ANY problems with how Jonas reacted in that episode. He's in an environment which is basically WWII Earth, and when his government

[burbler]

>>You know - I don't actually have ANY problems with how Jonas reacted in that episode. He's in an environment which is basically WWII Earth, and when his government decides to cover it up, he considers playing along - because THAT'S WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU'RE AT WAR. The consequences of not playing along are pretty horrific (and there's plenty of WWII examples to back this one up, many of which are from the Allied side). <<

If I recall, they were not actually at war. The way I see it, he saw the damage the weapon could do and high tailed it out of there!

>>BUT he winds up telling Jack et. al. what's going on. The amount of courage that would take in that situation is ASTOUNDING to me. In the end, he turns his back on his country because he feels what they are doing is wrong. To do something like that shows a strength of character that I, honestly, believe is quite impressive.<<

Self preservation!

It's not that I dislike Jonas, but...over Jack's dead body!

[nostalgia_lj]

Isn't it a sort of COld War scenario? War without actual fighting? Or am I remembering it all wrong?

[tafkarfanfic]

What if, at the crucial moment, Jonas froze against the wall not out of fear, but because an unseen hand was holding him back?I've actually wondered about that a little bit, but that goes along with my pet theory that Oma may not be as nice as she's been made out to be. I mean, the Ascended let Anubis walk around destroying everything, and he's kind of their mess - shouldn't they clean him up

[bluecove]

I've actually wondered about that a little bit, but that goes along with my pet theory that Oma may not be as nice as she's been made out to be. I mean, the Ascended let Anubis walk around destroying everything, and he's kind of their mess - shouldn't they clean him up?

That's a BIG part of the problem I have with Daniel's ascension storyline. I can't help thinking that Oma sold him a bill of goods, and Daniel went with her because he didn't realize she had an agenda of her own (which I firmly believe she did). As for the Ascended, they let Anubis run around freely, causing all kinds of havoc -- but stopped Daniel when he tried to save lives on Abydos. There's a real double standard there that I don't like at all.

Even if Jonas just froze, I don't think he was responsible for Daniel's death. Daniel, being Daniel, would have been unlikely to LET Jonas do what Daniel did. Daniel's much more ready to risk death to save people than to let someone ELSE do so, especially someone he doesn't know well. He's a protective kind of guy.Have to

[galaxynumber5]

Hello, I ran into this through the sg_debrief post ^_^
I agree with you on many of the things you said, but my Jonas problem is different. It's not that I hate Jonas, it's that the writers were shoving him down our throat, know what I mean? I wasn't done being sad and Angry over Daniel's fate and here we have Sam accepting him already and so on. It was infuriating. Had he been different from Daniel but with the same agenda, I think I would have accepted him more. I only stopped disliking him when Daniel came back, when I knew he's coming back for sure, Until that point I just couldn't look at Jonas.
As for Jack, you said it well. I think his reaction was perfect for the character.

[bluecove]

Hello, I ran into this through the sg_debrief post ^_^

Cool! I made someone's list. :)

As for Jack, you said it well. I think his reaction was perfect for the character.

Thanks!

Now, as for Jonas: I understand what you're saying. It's a short walk from being angry at the way the writers/producers handled the situation, to actively hating the character himself. Many of us took that path.

The problem is, there are a lot of other factors which frequently come into play, and which made the whole Daniel situation that much worse. These are the "politics" I didn't want to get into, but include the way various PTBs felt about the character and the actor, the way the actor was treated, how the Jonas arrives/Daniel ascends storyline was handled, etc. I hated Jonas as much for the way he was "presented" to me in the press as for the way he actually behaved. I, personally, was only able to let that part of it go when Daniel returned.

[burbler]

Hey hon, why'd you delete your one of your entries? :-/

[bluecove]

It was a reply to you, which got messed up, and now the system won't let me repost. Dagnabbit.