Overall Rating: 8.3
Whip-smart and necessary self-examination is something I'm always ready for. This episode does that quite nicely.
Plot Synopsis:
This carefully choreographed mental waltz is chronicled by the Stargate Wiki.
The Skinny:
Y'know - Stargate has only once-before noticed that its' core plot concept (a secret military organization defending the planet from hostile aliens) has a potential flaw. In the magnum opus "Heroes," they managed to point out that secrecy has major drawbacks, including that as long as something remains hidden, nefarious actors may be able to twist it to selfish purposes without scrutiny. The Trust, the Rogue NID, the shakier parts of the IOA in later seasons - none of that would be possible without secrecy. But even that brilliant episode missed the first question someone might ask if they found out their supposedly democratic government was representing them in the heavens without their knowledge. "Don't we have a right to know?"
Here they give this question a very sympathetic face - a cocksure and brilliant CEO of an avionics and computer technology company who discovers evidence of an alien attack on Earth and decides that the world has a right to know it's in trouble. You can appreciate why a man like him would feel that such information should be made public. He's an optimist like many Gate fans, he seems to believe that people should have the right to choose how to spend days that could be their last, like most people of faith, and he believes in the free exchange of ideas, like most Americans. How you view him would be considered a Rohrshack test for your political and philosophical viewpoint. They not only give their basic premise an opponent who is genuinely likable, they give his position fully 30 minutes of on-air debate with a person who finds it hard to disagree with him.
But the reminder comes quickly that humanity cannot be blindly trusted with world-changing information when the Trust tries to kill Colson and Vogler and threatens Vogler's family until he helps them destroy Colson's company and stop him from publicizing the gate. We are left wondering how to resolve our desire to trust people and to favor freedom and transparency with the reality that some things, once learned, could forever change the state of man and the risks associated with those changes are enormous. Man is fallen and imperfect, and prone to fear when they have no control over their fate. To learn that they have been lied to for almost a decade and that aliens with the power to wipe them out could show up at any time might be too much for them to take. Though Colson capitulates and agrees to disappear, there's nothing in this story to dissuade you from choosing to believe that some day, we will be ready. It's a fair-minded and honest self-critique, and frankly, their star critic has me wondering. That's massively cool.
Writing: 9.0
The strength of this episode is the smart writing and the feeling of "specialness" they gave it with the unique new sets and the off-world excursion. They obviously put a lot of hard work and thought into this one and it paid off.
Acting: 8.5
Charles Shaughnessy is a fairly big name for them to pull for a guest appearance and plays his part pretty darned well, but I actually thought little-known Tom O'Brien's Vogler was the strong point for the guest cast. Amanda Tapping played the roll of of tortured and conflicted secret-keeper with style.
Message: 7.5
As I said, I don't think they went out of their way to have a big message, other than, perhaps, that humanity's shortcomings are enough to make you question whether we should be careful what we wish for when we imagine discovering that we are not alone in the universe. Still, I'm giving it credit for taking a balanced perspective, rather than becoming preachy the way that Farscape sometimes did.
Showing posts with label stargate: sg1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stargate: sg1. Show all posts
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Classics: SG1 8:7 - Affinity
Overall Rating: 6.7
Bonus half point to an average (albeit secretly enjoyable) episode just for their choice of background music during the teaser. While Teal'c bloodies bullies to defend a nice young man, the lyrics pipe across, "Who's the man?! Uh huh. Who's the man?!" Damned straight!
Plot Synopsis:
It's a "Trust" episode...those usually aren't that interesting. But this one does have a few enjoyable moments mixed in with the cheesy romance and the long slow stretches of spy vs. spy stuff. See the details here.
The Skinny:
You know what isn't very interesting? Long, slow montages of Teal'c and various neighborhood chums doing Jaffa karate. You know what's even less fun to watch? Delving into the back story of a girl we've never met and will never see again only to have it go nowhere new and exciting and completely lacking in action sequences that would make such unrelated nonsense worthwhile. Don't get me wrong...the girl they choose to be Teal'c's ingenue does have some chemistry with Chris Judge and is not a bad actress...but they didn't do anything truly original with her character...so I fail to see why I should really get invested. On the other hand, Teal'c kicking the crap out of assholes just because he has no tolerance for bad manners? Sign me up! I wihs they'd done more with Teal'c interacting with his neighbors other than the girl so that I'd feel a bit sadder for him when he was forced to move back to the base. I don't have a ton of new things to say about this one...sorry about that. It's there...it's not too bad to watch...it settles for very low ambition. It's skippable if you're on a short time budget.
Writing: 6.0
Meh...not bad, not great.
Acting: 8.0
Actually, I liked Erica Durance in this one (Vista - Teal'c's love interest), and Chris Judge did what he could with the role...so it's not all bad.
Message: 6.0
Is the message good guys never prosper? Is it some people just don't fit in and shouldn't try? I don't think that's what they were going for...but Teal'c having to turn tail and hide again for no good reason other than that he's different - and more moral than most of his neighbors? Doesn't strike me as a terribly positive thing to say.
Bonus half point to an average (albeit secretly enjoyable) episode just for their choice of background music during the teaser. While Teal'c bloodies bullies to defend a nice young man, the lyrics pipe across, "Who's the man?! Uh huh. Who's the man?!" Damned straight!
Plot Synopsis:
It's a "Trust" episode...those usually aren't that interesting. But this one does have a few enjoyable moments mixed in with the cheesy romance and the long slow stretches of spy vs. spy stuff. See the details here.
The Skinny:
You know what isn't very interesting? Long, slow montages of Teal'c and various neighborhood chums doing Jaffa karate. You know what's even less fun to watch? Delving into the back story of a girl we've never met and will never see again only to have it go nowhere new and exciting and completely lacking in action sequences that would make such unrelated nonsense worthwhile. Don't get me wrong...the girl they choose to be Teal'c's ingenue does have some chemistry with Chris Judge and is not a bad actress...but they didn't do anything truly original with her character...so I fail to see why I should really get invested. On the other hand, Teal'c kicking the crap out of assholes just because he has no tolerance for bad manners? Sign me up! I wihs they'd done more with Teal'c interacting with his neighbors other than the girl so that I'd feel a bit sadder for him when he was forced to move back to the base. I don't have a ton of new things to say about this one...sorry about that. It's there...it's not too bad to watch...it settles for very low ambition. It's skippable if you're on a short time budget.
Writing: 6.0
Meh...not bad, not great.
Acting: 8.0
Actually, I liked Erica Durance in this one (Vista - Teal'c's love interest), and Chris Judge did what he could with the role...so it's not all bad.
Message: 6.0
Is the message good guys never prosper? Is it some people just don't fit in and shouldn't try? I don't think that's what they were going for...but Teal'c having to turn tail and hide again for no good reason other than that he's different - and more moral than most of his neighbors? Doesn't strike me as a terribly positive thing to say.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Classics: SG1 8:6 - Avatar
Overall Rating: 8.0
It's...so...META! They obviously put a lot of work into giving Teal'c the juiciest character bits this season in preparation for his becoming a great leader among his people in the years to come.
Plot Synopsis:
The Stargate Wiki has the details - check it out here.
The Skinny:
I guess you never really know what Teal'c is thinking until you pit him against his own mind in a hellish repeating simulation of his own death at the hands of the Goa'uld. Of course, the episode starts out in a light-hearted way and totally fools you into thinking it's going to be about a fun game, rather than a probing psychoanalysis of Teal'c's most firmly held beliefs about himself and his cause. Which is awesome. For the viewer, the "uh oh" moment doesn't happen until about the third or fourth Teal'c killing when the twists start piling on and getting a bit unfair. You're laughing along as Teal'c gets blasted for his arrogance - maybe you think this is going to be about teaching SG-1 a bit of humility (they do seem pretty cocky when they get into a bad situation)...maybe you think it will be funny to watch other team members try to keep up with Teal'c's remake of the game. Then...slowly...the reality dawns on you. This is going to be brutal. You're going to get to watch Teal'c be made low and any delusional hopes he might have had about the ease with which he will one day defeat the Goa'uld get destroyed. And then he will quit...and then he will wish for death. WOW! Not exactly the "game" you had in mind when the episode started.
It would be a depressing episode if not for the finale. Instead it is merely realistic (with an uplifting finish) - given the incredibly long odds against success that Teal'c faces, the horrible things he's had to do to stay alive and to keep on fighting, the terrible cost he's paid in blood (his wife, his lover, many of his best friends all dead, others among the rebel Jaffa who have severed ties with Earth or still fighting for false Gods and calling him a traitor), how could he really believe that he alone could defeat the Goa'uld? If the game is really learning from his thoughts about the greater mission, then Teal'c is in deep kimche. HOWEVER...this is not a sad story, because after all of that torment, we get to the real reason that Teal'c has hope for himself and his people. He's made friends and those friends will fight for him. When Daniel enters the game, the tone switches - not just because he's got a little bit of a heads up for impending danger, but because Daniel is the one element in the game that he can trust - just as his friends on SG-1 are a rock upon which he can lean when he needs help in the real world. The bottom line is that we've made all of the progress we've made in fighting the Goa'uld, not because we are smarter, faster, stronger than they are...not because we use better tactics...but because we have hope, trust, and love to turn to for inner strength. Humans (and Jaffa) are social animals - we need other humans to survive and accomplish anything at all.
Writing: 8.0
Actually, this episode is surprisingly tight...given the number of times they have to repeat simulations and the number of technical challenges faced by the players (not to mention they're throwing all of the rules at us in the form of exposition at the start)...they made essentially no mistakes - the continuity is perfect (other than the technical problem they had with the light in the naquadah generator only sometimes working...LOL). And the story is shockingly engaging once it takes a turn for the more serious.
Acting: 9.0
Go Judge, Go! Go Judge, Go! Sorry, but when he's actually given something to do besides shoot things and raise an eyebrow at Jack while saying "indeed," Chris Judge proves over and over again that he is the perfect man to play Teal'c.
Message: 7.0
We get by with a little help from our friends. And not just in the humdrum day to day things, but throughout our greatest trials.
It's...so...META! They obviously put a lot of work into giving Teal'c the juiciest character bits this season in preparation for his becoming a great leader among his people in the years to come.
Plot Synopsis:
The Stargate Wiki has the details - check it out here.
The Skinny:
I guess you never really know what Teal'c is thinking until you pit him against his own mind in a hellish repeating simulation of his own death at the hands of the Goa'uld. Of course, the episode starts out in a light-hearted way and totally fools you into thinking it's going to be about a fun game, rather than a probing psychoanalysis of Teal'c's most firmly held beliefs about himself and his cause. Which is awesome. For the viewer, the "uh oh" moment doesn't happen until about the third or fourth Teal'c killing when the twists start piling on and getting a bit unfair. You're laughing along as Teal'c gets blasted for his arrogance - maybe you think this is going to be about teaching SG-1 a bit of humility (they do seem pretty cocky when they get into a bad situation)...maybe you think it will be funny to watch other team members try to keep up with Teal'c's remake of the game. Then...slowly...the reality dawns on you. This is going to be brutal. You're going to get to watch Teal'c be made low and any delusional hopes he might have had about the ease with which he will one day defeat the Goa'uld get destroyed. And then he will quit...and then he will wish for death. WOW! Not exactly the "game" you had in mind when the episode started.
It would be a depressing episode if not for the finale. Instead it is merely realistic (with an uplifting finish) - given the incredibly long odds against success that Teal'c faces, the horrible things he's had to do to stay alive and to keep on fighting, the terrible cost he's paid in blood (his wife, his lover, many of his best friends all dead, others among the rebel Jaffa who have severed ties with Earth or still fighting for false Gods and calling him a traitor), how could he really believe that he alone could defeat the Goa'uld? If the game is really learning from his thoughts about the greater mission, then Teal'c is in deep kimche. HOWEVER...this is not a sad story, because after all of that torment, we get to the real reason that Teal'c has hope for himself and his people. He's made friends and those friends will fight for him. When Daniel enters the game, the tone switches - not just because he's got a little bit of a heads up for impending danger, but because Daniel is the one element in the game that he can trust - just as his friends on SG-1 are a rock upon which he can lean when he needs help in the real world. The bottom line is that we've made all of the progress we've made in fighting the Goa'uld, not because we are smarter, faster, stronger than they are...not because we use better tactics...but because we have hope, trust, and love to turn to for inner strength. Humans (and Jaffa) are social animals - we need other humans to survive and accomplish anything at all.
Writing: 8.0
Actually, this episode is surprisingly tight...given the number of times they have to repeat simulations and the number of technical challenges faced by the players (not to mention they're throwing all of the rules at us in the form of exposition at the start)...they made essentially no mistakes - the continuity is perfect (other than the technical problem they had with the light in the naquadah generator only sometimes working...LOL). And the story is shockingly engaging once it takes a turn for the more serious.
Acting: 9.0
Go Judge, Go! Go Judge, Go! Sorry, but when he's actually given something to do besides shoot things and raise an eyebrow at Jack while saying "indeed," Chris Judge proves over and over again that he is the perfect man to play Teal'c.
Message: 7.0
We get by with a little help from our friends. And not just in the humdrum day to day things, but throughout our greatest trials.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Classics: SG1 8:5 - Icon
Overall Rating: *crickets*
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*sound of snoring*
"YO! MATT! Wake up, you're drooling!!"
"Huh? Whuuhh?? Oh...sorry, I must have dozed off there. This episode is like a horse tranquilizer! I give this one a solid 5.0, the grade we give shows that bore us to tears without being offensive or incompetent.
Plot Synopsis:
The Stargate Wiki can fill you in on all of the details of the plot - it sounds epic when you read this, but trust me...it's not.
The Skinny:
So let's see here...we're doing another one of these episodes where we check out a planet and accidentally inflame old religious zealotry and start a war? Didn't we do this one in the 6th season episode Memento...and in the 3rd season episode New Ground? Why yes...I think we did. But...given that we're rehashing old ground, they must have some new spin on it right? Well...they come through the gate in the same way, their first contact seems similarly peaceful, the same kind of tension arises between one faction that believes the gate is just a native relic and another that believes it's a religious symbol relating to their creation myths, and we get a full scale shooting war over it. The difference, apparently, is that this time, the bad guys WIN instead of merely holding serve - yielding a thermonuclear war that traps Daniel in a loveless three-way marriage (kidding...sort of). Otherwise...there's nothing unique here. Even the end, with the crazed zealot getting himself martyred - that's been done on Stargate in other episodes. So...then...they must have had some very clever new characters to show us, right? Maybe this will be a romance like 100 days? I mean, Daniel spends about that long on this planet. NOPE! These characters are utterly lifeless, they're played by actors who don't appear to care about the roles, they have no chemistry with each other or with Shanks, and they are given no dialogue that couldn't ably be read by ANYONE else for the same effect.
So...having ruled out a new story idea, a new way of telling the story (they went nuclear, but apparently, they were the soft and lovable nukes that didn't do any damage at all to the main bunker at the heart of this nation's military command center or the surrounding suburbs, so we never are struck by the spectacular destruction they caused and thus have no reason to care), a new dramatic twist, and a well-written character piece in a familiar setting. What's left? Ah yes. This episode was clearly written to be a treatment for insomnia. That's the only explanation I can think of. Sadly...I do not have insomnia - I have a blog where I'm expected to produce funny, insightful, or somehow entertaining reviews of science fiction/genre television and film. For that...this episode is utterly useless. Unless you find descriptions of my drool urbane and witty.
*sigh* NEXT!!
Writing: 3.0
No creativity in the plot, the dialogue, the character back-stories, or the setting were employed here. The story was competently told (i.e. not amateurish and lazy), but other than that...it was was worthless.
Acting: 5.0
Wood isn't interesting...the trees had more personality than Leda and Gareth.
Message: 7.0
Zealotry absent an intellectual/spiritual context derived from hard work and soul-searching will get you nowhere...they at least got that part right.
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*sound of snoring*
"YO! MATT! Wake up, you're drooling!!"
"Huh? Whuuhh?? Oh...sorry, I must have dozed off there. This episode is like a horse tranquilizer! I give this one a solid 5.0, the grade we give shows that bore us to tears without being offensive or incompetent.
Plot Synopsis:
The Stargate Wiki can fill you in on all of the details of the plot - it sounds epic when you read this, but trust me...it's not.
The Skinny:
So let's see here...we're doing another one of these episodes where we check out a planet and accidentally inflame old religious zealotry and start a war? Didn't we do this one in the 6th season episode Memento...and in the 3rd season episode New Ground? Why yes...I think we did. But...given that we're rehashing old ground, they must have some new spin on it right? Well...they come through the gate in the same way, their first contact seems similarly peaceful, the same kind of tension arises between one faction that believes the gate is just a native relic and another that believes it's a religious symbol relating to their creation myths, and we get a full scale shooting war over it. The difference, apparently, is that this time, the bad guys WIN instead of merely holding serve - yielding a thermonuclear war that traps Daniel in a loveless three-way marriage (kidding...sort of). Otherwise...there's nothing unique here. Even the end, with the crazed zealot getting himself martyred - that's been done on Stargate in other episodes. So...then...they must have had some very clever new characters to show us, right? Maybe this will be a romance like 100 days? I mean, Daniel spends about that long on this planet. NOPE! These characters are utterly lifeless, they're played by actors who don't appear to care about the roles, they have no chemistry with each other or with Shanks, and they are given no dialogue that couldn't ably be read by ANYONE else for the same effect.
So...having ruled out a new story idea, a new way of telling the story (they went nuclear, but apparently, they were the soft and lovable nukes that didn't do any damage at all to the main bunker at the heart of this nation's military command center or the surrounding suburbs, so we never are struck by the spectacular destruction they caused and thus have no reason to care), a new dramatic twist, and a well-written character piece in a familiar setting. What's left? Ah yes. This episode was clearly written to be a treatment for insomnia. That's the only explanation I can think of. Sadly...I do not have insomnia - I have a blog where I'm expected to produce funny, insightful, or somehow entertaining reviews of science fiction/genre television and film. For that...this episode is utterly useless. Unless you find descriptions of my drool urbane and witty.
*sigh* NEXT!!
Writing: 3.0
No creativity in the plot, the dialogue, the character back-stories, or the setting were employed here. The story was competently told (i.e. not amateurish and lazy), but other than that...it was was worthless.
Acting: 5.0
Wood isn't interesting...the trees had more personality than Leda and Gareth.
Message: 7.0
Zealotry absent an intellectual/spiritual context derived from hard work and soul-searching will get you nowhere...they at least got that part right.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Classics: SG1 8:4 - Zero Hour
Overall Rating: 8.2 + 0.4 for just being awesome = 8.6
The "Jack is Awesome" hour is well worth a viewing for the shear awesomeness factor.
Plot Synopsis:
Watch the episode. Seriously. But a quick summary is here.
The Skinny:
I love how Jack handles all of the problems that Hammond would have dealt with in his very earnest and straight-shooting way by being a conniving, tricky little bastard. PERFECT! That's how you change the guard but keep the characters consistent. I particularly enjoyed his comments in the letter to Hammond. "If I'd known what you had to deal with every single day, I'd have tried to be less of a pain in the ass." LOL Hammond was in fact a gigantic bag of awesome for putting up with Jack, but Jack is his own unique brand of awesome, complete with wisecracking, clever double-crossing, and no patience at all for incompetence or stupidity. "It seems to respond amazingly well to any form of visible light." (and O'Neill just dryly turns out the lights) I mean, I just LOVE it!
The basic plot was well thought out and did a great job keeping you guessing, but the tone was always light and fun, and that was a wise decision, because they chose to end this episode on a mischievous and happy note, so going too heavy at any point would have ruined the flow and taken away the good feelings at the end. It's simple, it's fun, and it's what Gate writers do best.
Writing: 8.5
All of the basic decisions that go into crafting a good plot for a television show are frequently taken for granted because most professional writers do it so well, but this script is getting a lot of credit because they had a ton of things going on at the same time in their "day in the life" story and they made the right decision for each of them - that's hard to do.
Acting: 8.0
RDA was the star of this one, obviously...but even guys like Dr. Lee and Ba'al made it fun to watch from the acting critic perspective.
Message: 8.0
You don't have to lead in an identical way to be just as effective as a great man like Hammond. Jack's style may be more colorful, but he shows the same respect for his people and the same good judgment and the results are just as good.
The "Jack is Awesome" hour is well worth a viewing for the shear awesomeness factor.
Plot Synopsis:
Watch the episode. Seriously. But a quick summary is here.
The Skinny:
I love how Jack handles all of the problems that Hammond would have dealt with in his very earnest and straight-shooting way by being a conniving, tricky little bastard. PERFECT! That's how you change the guard but keep the characters consistent. I particularly enjoyed his comments in the letter to Hammond. "If I'd known what you had to deal with every single day, I'd have tried to be less of a pain in the ass." LOL Hammond was in fact a gigantic bag of awesome for putting up with Jack, but Jack is his own unique brand of awesome, complete with wisecracking, clever double-crossing, and no patience at all for incompetence or stupidity. "It seems to respond amazingly well to any form of visible light." (and O'Neill just dryly turns out the lights) I mean, I just LOVE it!
The basic plot was well thought out and did a great job keeping you guessing, but the tone was always light and fun, and that was a wise decision, because they chose to end this episode on a mischievous and happy note, so going too heavy at any point would have ruined the flow and taken away the good feelings at the end. It's simple, it's fun, and it's what Gate writers do best.
Writing: 8.5
All of the basic decisions that go into crafting a good plot for a television show are frequently taken for granted because most professional writers do it so well, but this script is getting a lot of credit because they had a ton of things going on at the same time in their "day in the life" story and they made the right decision for each of them - that's hard to do.
Acting: 8.0
RDA was the star of this one, obviously...but even guys like Dr. Lee and Ba'al made it fun to watch from the acting critic perspective.
Message: 8.0
You don't have to lead in an identical way to be just as effective as a great man like Hammond. Jack's style may be more colorful, but he shows the same respect for his people and the same good judgment and the results are just as good.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Classics: SG1 8:3 - Lockdown
Overall Rating: 6.4
Meh
Plot Synopsis:
Synopsis here.
The Skinny:
Standard procedural mystery involving the invulnerable Anubis taking human hostages and engineering more and more complicated schemes to get access to the gate. The ending is satisfying and there is one nice bit of humor involving Daniel learning that Jack had shot him (with some good acting attached to the moment), but otherwise, we're talking about standard fare for Gate - the only reason you need to see it is to find out what happened to Anubis. My one complaint is plot related - namely, why would sending Anubis to an icy planet do anything to stop him - couldn't he just dial another world after uncovering the DHD? They needed to establish that the planet had no DHD.
Writing: 6.3
Par. Sorry...not much else to say other than +0.3 for the one humorous moment.
Acting: 6.9
+1.0 for the guest star playing Alexei Vaselov (Gavin Hood, who I think did a solid job) and for the lone excellent reaction take offered by Michael Shanks and -0.1 for the over the top take by RDA at the end..."Stand. Aside." Yes sir, Mr. Vulcan, sir.
Message; 6.0
N/A
Meh
Plot Synopsis:
Synopsis here.
The Skinny:
Standard procedural mystery involving the invulnerable Anubis taking human hostages and engineering more and more complicated schemes to get access to the gate. The ending is satisfying and there is one nice bit of humor involving Daniel learning that Jack had shot him (with some good acting attached to the moment), but otherwise, we're talking about standard fare for Gate - the only reason you need to see it is to find out what happened to Anubis. My one complaint is plot related - namely, why would sending Anubis to an icy planet do anything to stop him - couldn't he just dial another world after uncovering the DHD? They needed to establish that the planet had no DHD.
Writing: 6.3
Par. Sorry...not much else to say other than +0.3 for the one humorous moment.
Acting: 6.9
+1.0 for the guest star playing Alexei Vaselov (Gavin Hood, who I think did a solid job) and for the lone excellent reaction take offered by Michael Shanks and -0.1 for the over the top take by RDA at the end..."Stand. Aside." Yes sir, Mr. Vulcan, sir.
Message; 6.0
N/A
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Classics: SG1 8:1 / 8:2 - New Order
Overall Rating: 7.0
A nice, crisp season opener that sets the stage for the year to come.
Plot Synopsis:
A full description may be found at the Stargate Wiki: Part I / Part II
The Skinny:
With Anubis at least temporarily out of the way, the producers needed to establish what the motivating threats for the season would be - and establish those threats they did. The human form replicators were a MUCH more interesting adversary than their Lego bug counterparts - it would have been a shame to waste the potential that "Fifth" represented with a single-episode story and have it go nowhere. So it's nice to see him return as a more personal replicator adversary. Fandom also was very fond of the decidedly more "human" form of evil found in Baal. The other System Lords we've encountered to date have mostly been "different bodies, same overdressed, egomaniacal cartoon caricature" - except Anubis, but he's out of the picture until he can possess the right people and rebuild his forces from ground zero. Baal, though, can be a real hoot when he wants to be. They made the right choice propelling him to the front of the line. And of course, the decision to put Earth in the middle between the System Lords and Baal was classic Stargate intrigue.
The problems this two-parter had were largely limited to trying to do too much at once and, therefore, not getting to spend enough time on any of the individual plot points. It's a bit impersonal. Carter's sojourn into Fifth's house of fun doesn't really register as sympathetic despite Amanda Tapping's best efforts - largely because Fifth is written in an over-the-top sort of way this time around. He's not just a victim of SG-1's opportunism, he's also a jilted lover (really?) and mentally unstable. It's...too much. The desperate scramble to rescue O'Neill loses its punch when it gets overwritten by the replicator conflict. We get one nice scene with Carter and Teal'c, but it could have been better. Bottom line is...they accomplished a lot and made a good episode at the same time, but the dialogue HAD to be simple and fast and each situation HAD to be handled quickly and with minimal time for butt-puckering (as SFDebris would say referring to dramatic tension) or emotional conflict.
So...it doesn't aim all that high on the human front, and instead settled for a frenetic action plot that lacks any action I would call spectacular and fails to deliver on any of the big "blackout" moments. Do that a few times and I might be amused, but do it six straight times (do something seemingly "oh shit" worthy before the commercial break and then fail to deliver a big payoff, dashing our hopes for such immediately after the commercials) and it seems cheesy. I don't want to be TOO harsh...it is entertaining enough. It just doesn't have long-lasting appeal.
Writing: 7.0
The plot decisions are all sound except for the needless jilted lover shtick, but the story isn't written with the kind of humor, energy or memorable emotion that you want in a two-part season premiere.
Acting: 7.5
Amanda Tapping and Patrick Currie (Fifth) don't work well together at ALL...poor Amanda is a great actress, but she doesn't believe the emotions she's being asked to play out and it's very visible. She isn't committed to it because, I believe, it's overwrought. Currie, IMHO, is the biggest weak link in the guest cast. I'm not a fan.
Message: 6.5
Small bonus points in an otherwise message-free episode for reviving Weir's character with (a) a better actress (we love Torri Higginson!) and (b) less upfront bullheadedness. In the season seven finale, Weir came across as arrogant and condescending when we first met her. Here, she's coming across as level-headed, rational and fair. THANK YOU.
A nice, crisp season opener that sets the stage for the year to come.
Plot Synopsis:
A full description may be found at the Stargate Wiki: Part I / Part II
The Skinny:
With Anubis at least temporarily out of the way, the producers needed to establish what the motivating threats for the season would be - and establish those threats they did. The human form replicators were a MUCH more interesting adversary than their Lego bug counterparts - it would have been a shame to waste the potential that "Fifth" represented with a single-episode story and have it go nowhere. So it's nice to see him return as a more personal replicator adversary. Fandom also was very fond of the decidedly more "human" form of evil found in Baal. The other System Lords we've encountered to date have mostly been "different bodies, same overdressed, egomaniacal cartoon caricature" - except Anubis, but he's out of the picture until he can possess the right people and rebuild his forces from ground zero. Baal, though, can be a real hoot when he wants to be. They made the right choice propelling him to the front of the line. And of course, the decision to put Earth in the middle between the System Lords and Baal was classic Stargate intrigue.
The problems this two-parter had were largely limited to trying to do too much at once and, therefore, not getting to spend enough time on any of the individual plot points. It's a bit impersonal. Carter's sojourn into Fifth's house of fun doesn't really register as sympathetic despite Amanda Tapping's best efforts - largely because Fifth is written in an over-the-top sort of way this time around. He's not just a victim of SG-1's opportunism, he's also a jilted lover (really?) and mentally unstable. It's...too much. The desperate scramble to rescue O'Neill loses its punch when it gets overwritten by the replicator conflict. We get one nice scene with Carter and Teal'c, but it could have been better. Bottom line is...they accomplished a lot and made a good episode at the same time, but the dialogue HAD to be simple and fast and each situation HAD to be handled quickly and with minimal time for butt-puckering (as SFDebris would say referring to dramatic tension) or emotional conflict.
So...it doesn't aim all that high on the human front, and instead settled for a frenetic action plot that lacks any action I would call spectacular and fails to deliver on any of the big "blackout" moments. Do that a few times and I might be amused, but do it six straight times (do something seemingly "oh shit" worthy before the commercial break and then fail to deliver a big payoff, dashing our hopes for such immediately after the commercials) and it seems cheesy. I don't want to be TOO harsh...it is entertaining enough. It just doesn't have long-lasting appeal.
Writing: 7.0
The plot decisions are all sound except for the needless jilted lover shtick, but the story isn't written with the kind of humor, energy or memorable emotion that you want in a two-part season premiere.
Acting: 7.5
Amanda Tapping and Patrick Currie (Fifth) don't work well together at ALL...poor Amanda is a great actress, but she doesn't believe the emotions she's being asked to play out and it's very visible. She isn't committed to it because, I believe, it's overwrought. Currie, IMHO, is the biggest weak link in the guest cast. I'm not a fan.
Message: 6.5
Small bonus points in an otherwise message-free episode for reviving Weir's character with (a) a better actress (we love Torri Higginson!) and (b) less upfront bullheadedness. In the season seven finale, Weir came across as arrogant and condescending when we first met her. Here, she's coming across as level-headed, rational and fair. THANK YOU.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Classics: SG1 7:21/22 - Lost City
Overall Rating: 8.2
This two-parter is plenty of fun...the fact that that's ALL it is doesn't stop me from enjoying it, though the characterization of Elizabeth Weir doesn't help. I will always admire Atlantis for rescuing this character and making me actually LIKE her.
Plot Synopsis:
The Stargate Wiki has the scoop - including on the character in question (and the multiple actresses who've played her) - starting here and here.
The Skinny:
Since I've already started my complaint, I'll go ahead and finish it before I get to the more positive stuff. Introducing us to the person who is going to be the central figure on your new franchise by having her decry the Stargate's continuation of old American manifest destiny (what a friggin' LAUGH) and giving her a history as a pacifist radical fighting to "stop the proliferation of weapons" (code for demilitarization) is just friggin' STUPID. Sorry Gate writers, but your fans have spent seven years watching SG-1 and company do the exact OPPOSITE of proliferating weapons and staking imperial claims the way she seems to believe after reading mission reports. Seriously, name one instance where SG-1 staked a claim to a planet already populated by sovereign peoples? Find one moment where we increased the militarization of a region intentionally, rather tha reducing it by eliminating major threats (such as Goa'uld system lords and replicators).
A pig-headed ultra-liberal hater of the military in command of a mission that, no matter how much civilian oversight you might want, will ALWAYS be military in nature given the nature of the threats the world faces from bad guys with whom you can't truly negotiate is illogical and irksome to me. I thought you clowns GOT this when you showed us Heroes. I thought you knew better.
*sigh*
There are things to love about Weir - she isn't easy to push around (and she doesn't obtain this strength of will in some forced way - it seems innate, rather than two-by-fourish) and she very much IS capable of making the tough calls that will need to be made to be head of a dangerous expedition. She seems open-minded enough to listen to people she has spent her life hating if they make a reasonable case. And she seems to be a natural judge of character, which will suit her well when she learns to interact with aliens. They could have done without the needless political chest-thumping and the episode would have been a feature. Seriously...i was THAT annoyed with it.
Other than that flaw, this send-off to the seventh season is highly entertaining, filled with pathos (mostly in scenes involving SG-1 interacting candidly), and frankly...the rule of cool applies *and some of the action scenes are genuinely AWESOME). The pacing is wonderfully brisk when you want to be swept away and equally luxuriant and slow when you wanted to stop and enjoy a moment. The gathering of SG-1 and Hammond at Jack's abode is particularly popular (and for good reason - Burns as Goa'uld indeed!). I just wish they'd let Weir be skeptical without being obnoxious...because the Weir that runs Atlantis is a different person before long.
Writing: 9.5
They had to do a LOT to make this work...and yet they spent a good 20 of their 90 minutes simply letting SG-1 interact during their down moments. That's not easy to do.
Acting: 9.0
Torri Higginson is a VASTLY superior Weir when compared with Jessica Steen. Other than giving the episode a minus one for her mediocre efforts, I have no complaints. Amendola's goofy grin at seeing Anubis' fleet getting cut to shreds pretty much sums up why we like him so much.
Message: 6.0
+2 for team spirit and togetherness (and general likability), -2 for Elizabeth Weir's politics. It comes out a wash in the end.
This two-parter is plenty of fun...the fact that that's ALL it is doesn't stop me from enjoying it, though the characterization of Elizabeth Weir doesn't help. I will always admire Atlantis for rescuing this character and making me actually LIKE her.
Plot Synopsis:
The Stargate Wiki has the scoop - including on the character in question (and the multiple actresses who've played her) - starting here and here.
The Skinny:
Since I've already started my complaint, I'll go ahead and finish it before I get to the more positive stuff. Introducing us to the person who is going to be the central figure on your new franchise by having her decry the Stargate's continuation of old American manifest destiny (what a friggin' LAUGH) and giving her a history as a pacifist radical fighting to "stop the proliferation of weapons" (code for demilitarization) is just friggin' STUPID. Sorry Gate writers, but your fans have spent seven years watching SG-1 and company do the exact OPPOSITE of proliferating weapons and staking imperial claims the way she seems to believe after reading mission reports. Seriously, name one instance where SG-1 staked a claim to a planet already populated by sovereign peoples? Find one moment where we increased the militarization of a region intentionally, rather tha reducing it by eliminating major threats (such as Goa'uld system lords and replicators).
A pig-headed ultra-liberal hater of the military in command of a mission that, no matter how much civilian oversight you might want, will ALWAYS be military in nature given the nature of the threats the world faces from bad guys with whom you can't truly negotiate is illogical and irksome to me. I thought you clowns GOT this when you showed us Heroes. I thought you knew better.
*sigh*
There are things to love about Weir - she isn't easy to push around (and she doesn't obtain this strength of will in some forced way - it seems innate, rather than two-by-fourish) and she very much IS capable of making the tough calls that will need to be made to be head of a dangerous expedition. She seems open-minded enough to listen to people she has spent her life hating if they make a reasonable case. And she seems to be a natural judge of character, which will suit her well when she learns to interact with aliens. They could have done without the needless political chest-thumping and the episode would have been a feature. Seriously...i was THAT annoyed with it.
Other than that flaw, this send-off to the seventh season is highly entertaining, filled with pathos (mostly in scenes involving SG-1 interacting candidly), and frankly...the rule of cool applies *and some of the action scenes are genuinely AWESOME). The pacing is wonderfully brisk when you want to be swept away and equally luxuriant and slow when you wanted to stop and enjoy a moment. The gathering of SG-1 and Hammond at Jack's abode is particularly popular (and for good reason - Burns as Goa'uld indeed!). I just wish they'd let Weir be skeptical without being obnoxious...because the Weir that runs Atlantis is a different person before long.
Writing: 9.5
They had to do a LOT to make this work...and yet they spent a good 20 of their 90 minutes simply letting SG-1 interact during their down moments. That's not easy to do.
Acting: 9.0
Torri Higginson is a VASTLY superior Weir when compared with Jessica Steen. Other than giving the episode a minus one for her mediocre efforts, I have no complaints. Amendola's goofy grin at seeing Anubis' fleet getting cut to shreds pretty much sums up why we like him so much.
Message: 6.0
+2 for team spirit and togetherness (and general likability), -2 for Elizabeth Weir's politics. It comes out a wash in the end.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Classics: SG1 7:20 - Inauguration
Overall Rating: 6.0
A necessary episode to lay the groundwork for the removal of Kinsey, the reassignment of Hammond, and the launching of the season finale and the second Gate franchise. But...not the most interesting of set-up pieces.
Plot Synopsis:
The details of this 1/4 clip, 3/4 debate summary episode can be found at the Stargate Wiki.
The Skinny:
The creation of the IOA stems from the events of this episode...that will be very important to SG1 and SGA plots from here on, including how to handle custody of Atlantis, the Antartic weapons platform, and the gate itself. We'd better get used to Woolsey, because his character begins a redemption arc in this episode that will conclude late in the run of Stargate Atlantis. And we get to know the new President (Hayes)...who we like, since he seems to be a pragmatist. All of this is important stuff to establish, as well as the downfall of VP Kinsey and the establishment of "The Trust" as a threat to the new IOA and the Stargate program.
But...sorry to say that they do all of that in the least interesting way possible - debates in the oval office that lack depth or personal involvement, and that are punctuated by tired clips and a whole lot of exposition. Since this episode doesn't manage to tick me off or put me to sleep entirely, I'm not going to be too hard on them...and since there's enough political intrigue to keep me interested for next week, I'm keeping the score par, but that's perhaps a tad generous.
Writing: 4.0
The script is lazy...none of the debates are filled with serious philosophical hammer-tosses. Woolsey seems content to answer every question with "all the more reason to do it my way," Hayes just seems to want to take things nice and slowly, and Maynard just seems to want to say (over and over again) that SG-1 and Hammond have done a remarkable job under tough circumstances so we need to let them keep doing it. They don't plumb the depths of the potential pros and cons of keeping the same team in charge for so long. Kinsey, at this point, has been a mustache-twirling bad guy...not an interesting figure in the same way that he was in season two and onward.
Acting: 7.0
Some of the performances feel a little...choppy and dry. But the mainstays are solid.
Message: 7.0
The problem with secrecy, even necessary secrecy, is that it does give rise to opportunism...it's nice to see the writers attempt to portray an antagonist (Woolsey) as a generally reasonable man who just disagrees with the military on how the program should be run, rather than a nefarious mustache-twirler who is motivated by greed.
A necessary episode to lay the groundwork for the removal of Kinsey, the reassignment of Hammond, and the launching of the season finale and the second Gate franchise. But...not the most interesting of set-up pieces.
Plot Synopsis:
The details of this 1/4 clip, 3/4 debate summary episode can be found at the Stargate Wiki.
The Skinny:
The creation of the IOA stems from the events of this episode...that will be very important to SG1 and SGA plots from here on, including how to handle custody of Atlantis, the Antartic weapons platform, and the gate itself. We'd better get used to Woolsey, because his character begins a redemption arc in this episode that will conclude late in the run of Stargate Atlantis. And we get to know the new President (Hayes)...who we like, since he seems to be a pragmatist. All of this is important stuff to establish, as well as the downfall of VP Kinsey and the establishment of "The Trust" as a threat to the new IOA and the Stargate program.
But...sorry to say that they do all of that in the least interesting way possible - debates in the oval office that lack depth or personal involvement, and that are punctuated by tired clips and a whole lot of exposition. Since this episode doesn't manage to tick me off or put me to sleep entirely, I'm not going to be too hard on them...and since there's enough political intrigue to keep me interested for next week, I'm keeping the score par, but that's perhaps a tad generous.
Writing: 4.0
The script is lazy...none of the debates are filled with serious philosophical hammer-tosses. Woolsey seems content to answer every question with "all the more reason to do it my way," Hayes just seems to want to take things nice and slowly, and Maynard just seems to want to say (over and over again) that SG-1 and Hammond have done a remarkable job under tough circumstances so we need to let them keep doing it. They don't plumb the depths of the potential pros and cons of keeping the same team in charge for so long. Kinsey, at this point, has been a mustache-twirling bad guy...not an interesting figure in the same way that he was in season two and onward.
Acting: 7.0
Some of the performances feel a little...choppy and dry. But the mainstays are solid.
Message: 7.0
The problem with secrecy, even necessary secrecy, is that it does give rise to opportunism...it's nice to see the writers attempt to portray an antagonist (Woolsey) as a generally reasonable man who just disagrees with the military on how the program should be run, rather than a nefarious mustache-twirler who is motivated by greed.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Classics: SG1 7:19 - Resurrection
Overall Rating: 2.0
C-c-c-c-combo Breaker!! This incredibly tedious, utterly pointless, and just plain frustrating episode blows up any and all momentum they had after Heroes just in time for the season finale.
Plot Synopsis:
The Stargate Wiki has the details...you can look 'em up if you care...I don't.
The Skinny:
*skip*
*just kidding* - *sort of*
In all seriousness...this episode is going to get ONE paragraph worth of commentary from me...it's bad, and not in a way that's hilarious or even interesting to dissect. It's just really...really...really...f***ing boring. The girl playing the goa'uld clone kid was a horrendous actress, the script was oohhh...soooo...slllllooooowwwww...and worst of all, I can't, for the life of me, figure why they ever thought the audience was going to care one way or the other after what we just saw last week. This story concept fills out a nice, action-packed TEN MINUTE episode...all the rest of painful, uninteresting filler designed, I'm convinced, to make us hate Stargate and cancel out all of the love we built up for the show a week ago. UUUUUUGH. BTW...do you see what I did here with all that white space? It's called...PADDING. I have nothing constructive to say about this stinker, so...why not add some extra lines? This episode is loaded with filler just like that!
Writing: 0.0
Nothing to see here...show's over...no plot worth viewing, no dialogue worth praise, no creativity to speak of...
Acting: 3.0
As noted, the guest star, (Kristen Dalton) was terribly wooden and uneven in her line reading...the rest of the cast was on auto-pilot. I think they were just tired from all the concentrated awesome they poured out last week.
Message: 3.0
Not only do they not even really try to deliver a coherent message, but they fail to sufficiently reject the notion that started this problem - that being that there are certain shady means it's worth pursuing if the end result is acquisition of the knowledge needed to fight the Goa'uld. The whole thing just kind of sits there flatly mocking you for having been stupid enough to watch it.
C-c-c-c-combo Breaker!! This incredibly tedious, utterly pointless, and just plain frustrating episode blows up any and all momentum they had after Heroes just in time for the season finale.
Plot Synopsis:
The Stargate Wiki has the details...you can look 'em up if you care...I don't.
The Skinny:
*skip*
*just kidding* - *sort of*
In all seriousness...this episode is going to get ONE paragraph worth of commentary from me...it's bad, and not in a way that's hilarious or even interesting to dissect. It's just really...really...really...f***ing boring. The girl playing the goa'uld clone kid was a horrendous actress, the script was oohhh...soooo...slllllooooowwwww...and worst of all, I can't, for the life of me, figure why they ever thought the audience was going to care one way or the other after what we just saw last week. This story concept fills out a nice, action-packed TEN MINUTE episode...all the rest of painful, uninteresting filler designed, I'm convinced, to make us hate Stargate and cancel out all of the love we built up for the show a week ago. UUUUUUGH. BTW...do you see what I did here with all that white space? It's called...PADDING. I have nothing constructive to say about this stinker, so...why not add some extra lines? This episode is loaded with filler just like that!
Writing: 0.0
Nothing to see here...show's over...no plot worth viewing, no dialogue worth praise, no creativity to speak of...
Acting: 3.0
As noted, the guest star, (Kristen Dalton) was terribly wooden and uneven in her line reading...the rest of the cast was on auto-pilot. I think they were just tired from all the concentrated awesome they poured out last week.
Message: 3.0
Not only do they not even really try to deliver a coherent message, but they fail to sufficiently reject the notion that started this problem - that being that there are certain shady means it's worth pursuing if the end result is acquisition of the knowledge needed to fight the Goa'uld. The whole thing just kind of sits there flatly mocking you for having been stupid enough to watch it.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Classics: SG1 7:17/18 - Heroes
Overall Rating: 10.0
No objective fan of science fiction with a soul and a desire to confront real ethical questions that go to the very core of the American experience could possibly find one single flaw with this utterly breathtaking, emotionally jarring and artistically gripping work of brilliance. This single achievement, standing on its own merits, justifies every dollar ever spent producing Stargate SG-1 and it is frankly CRIMINAL that this piece did NOT win a whole flotilla of Emmies, let alone even a Hugo. Someone's head should roll for that oversight. This will be a special blog posting, with extensive highlights,and commentary because it deserves nothing less than my best effort to pay it the tribute it deserves. We love our science fiction here at RightFans, and we have heaped scads of praise on the best the genre has to offer, from Deep Space Nine's "The Siege of AR-558" to Babylon 5's "The Coming of Shadows"; from House's "Broken" to "Bat Masterson" of Early Edition; but none of it, in my humble opinion, can be placed side by side with Heroes and compare. This is, as far as I'm aware, the single greatest achievement in the history of modern American science fiction.
The format will be a little different for this one, folks. There will be no linking a third party source for the plot synopsis...the plot synopsis will be spelled out here in my own words and interspersed with highlights. There will not be a "Skinny" as that format doesn't seem appropriate. We're not summing up our reaction down to nuts and bolts. Our reaction will be laid out in the text of the plot synopsis. Each of the ratings sections in this review will be much more detailed, as in older reviews before we switched to a simpler review style (see some of our early DS9 reviews), and we will add a fourth ratings category to this for production values since they deserve to be highlighted as well and a number of different and spectacularly effective directorial and cinematic decisions were made that I would like to point out for praise.
The Plot:
Here it is, in a nutshell - the thing that will make this episode a unique experience - an outside media crew (with Air Force escorts, of course) is ordered by the outgoing President of the United States to document the work being down at the SGC in the hopes that, when future generations inevitably learn about the existence of the Stargate, history will be kind to the man who launched the program and understand why it had to be a secret for so long. The crew is headed by a starry-eyed idealistic journalist - a rare breed in today's cynical world of elite journalism run by ideologues and sensationalists in a quest to push agendas and sell the media as entertainment rather than serve the people with the truth. It sounds like such a simple premise...the one-paragraph summary of a pitch was first given, according to writer Robert Cooper, some five years earlier. All agreed that it was a good idea for a unique episode, but the concept was multiple times put on the back burner because if they were going to do it, they wanted to do it right and none of their early rough drafts seemed sufficient. When the idea resurfaced in the pitch-session prior to the seventh season, they decided that would make it the capstone of the season and devote fully 10% of the budget to a two-hour episode. Robert Cooper has an author credit on only one other episode the entire season (and one other "Story Concept" credit) because he wanted to focus on what would become his magnum opus. The extra attention this episode got would prove to be one of the best decisions the production company ever made. The story unfolds, essentially, in five major acts (rather like a Shakespearean play)...we'll lay each one out for you and highlight the distinctive elements of each.
Act One: Bregman vs. SG-1
This act is defined by a series of interviews showing how each member of the flagship team chooses to respond to the unwanted presence of Bregman and his documentary film crew. Cooper makes heavy use of comedy here, making this feel like it's going to be a fun-loving and comfortable romp ending in big smiles. A few examples of the typical reaction of each member of SG-1:
From Colonel O'Neill:
The five act structure is not, however, completely clean. The acts bleed together a bit to enhance the dramatic tension. So as this act plays out, act two begins.
Act Two: P3X-666
I don't think it was an accident that they chose the devil sign as a part of the gate address. But this act isn't to establish that reasoning. They give us an incredibly run-of-the-mill gate mission by a complete strange (to us) SG-13. It's a standard recon mission - check out a new planet and see if there's anything worth studying. During this act, we see the officers talking about their families, discussing the hardships of parenthood, placing bets on what they'll find on this planet, shooting barbs at each other - they are written as though they WERE SG-1. They've clearly been working together for a long time and have a similar kind of camaraderie. You can almost decide which one of them is meant to be a foil which member of SG-1. An example:
Act Three: The Real Issues Emerge
Emotions rise when the mission to P3X-666 turns into an ambush. Alkesh bombers besiege SG-3 (holding the gate after the probe incident as back-up) and hundreds of Jaffa descend on SG-13, requiring SG-1 and SG-5 to go in with a medical team in an attempted rescue. They are forced into retreat after barely managing to stabilize Wells (who was shot in the initial attack), but multiple casualties are reported, including at least one fatality. Brilliantly, they showed O'Neill taking one in the stomach before the extraction and we are left to wonder who has really died for the next half an hour. At first this evident tragedy (seen from the perspective of Bregman and his team) increases the entire base's resistance to his documentary efforts. After all, he continues to insist on capturing the events and this seems cruel to SGC personnel who are having to deal with their own injuries and the death of a colleague. Hammond eventually snaps when Bregman tries to gain access to the infirmary and has him tossed off the base. But not before Bregman learns that Daniel has a tape that may have captured something important from the battlefield. He requests, first from Daniel, then from the President, to get that tape and Hammond reluctantly orders Daniel to turn it over. Once he acquires the tape, he discovers that it was really Fraiser who had died - just moments after he'd been flirting with her in the mess hall.
When confronted with evident grief and emotion from Sam Carter, Bregman attempts to follow her into the infirmary but is stopped by his own team, who then turn off the cameras to protect Carter's privacy. Infuriated, he delivers this potent speech to his people reminding them why he was a journalist:
And there's more. When Bregman discovers that Daniel may have video footage of the tragedy, he delivers one of the most beautiful soliloquies I've ever heard:
Act Four: Civilian Oversight
In a stroke of genius, Cooper now chooses to allow the civilian authorities to add a third perspective to the whole question of oversight by the press and the necessity of state secrets. Mr. Woolsey from the NID arrives to begin his own investigation into the command decisions that led to the death of Dr. Fraiser. Now that we've seen how she died and the impact of that death on the rest of the main cast, the civilian government agency arrives and paints a chillingly accurate picture of what happens when an unelected third party government agency acts to oversee a secret military program and, paradoxically, has no one to oversee IT. The lack of public accountability doesn't just empower the military to take actions that the public may not like...it also gives NGOs like the NID carte blanche to make life or death decisions of their own, to legislate without popular consent, and even to operate in a world completely devoid of morality in the name of "pragmatism."
Woolsey arrives with a predetermined verdict - that General Hammond has a pattern for making financially unwise decisions that routinely lead to unnecessary risks to lives and resources and that his SGC teams do not properly comprehend the cost of their program and of their decisions. He believes, in his own words, that "Anyone should admit that there are situations whee committing valuable resources to recover one man is unwise." Hindsight being 20/20, he questions every command decision that was made leading up to Fraiser's death and gets absolutely ZERO cooperation from SG-1. This fascinating exchange between Woolsey and Hammond serves as a critical turning point between the SGC and Bregman.
Act Five: Requiem for Janet Fraiser
Finally, after all of the big issues are debated and drawn to a stalemate, SG-1 is allowed to grieve, and the audience with them, for the loss of Dr. Fraiser. Sam struggles to write a fitting eulogy for her friend and colleague and comes up empty until Teal'c arrives and presents her with a list of the names of SGC personnel whose lives she had saved over her seven years of service. Daniel gives Bregman his blessing to use the tape of Fraiser's death, saying "I think this tape shows what her life was all about." Bregman, on the brink of tears himself, nods and sheepishly agrees. It is revealed that Jack was using the new ceramic anti-staff-weapon flak jacket and that is why he survived, and he offers his support to Carter (who expresses her profound relief that he is still alive). Bregman shows his documentary to Hammond, who is deeply moved by what turns out to be a glowing retrospective on the heroism and courage of the SGC. He says that he has had to write many letters to loved ones that sounded hollow because he couldn't tell them anything and that this documentary might help him in the future. Daniel goes to Airman Wells' home (the one Fraiser had been trying to save) and meets his new baby daughter. He has decided to name her Janet. If you can watch the stretch from Bregman's speech about Vietnam to the end without crying, you have no soul.
Writing: 10.0
The emotional, philosophical, and intellectual balance in this episode is second to nothing I've ever watched. The story will make you fall in love with every one of the characters (except Woolsey and Kinsey) if you hadn't loved them before - we get to spend an hour with them cracking us up in their own unique ways before we see them go through hell. Their principle "antagonist" is, himself, a hero. Bregman comes to personify the kind of integrity and dedication to the truth that we can only wish our elite media still possessed. The characterization is flawless in EVERY scene, including the scenes that introduced us to the team that would become stranded on P3X-666. The pacing and flow was BEAUTIFUL - they gave us just enough information to be hooked but not to wreck the suspense and the crushing heartbreak of learning the full truth. The big issues the show was meant to tackle came out only when the emotions of the viewers (and the characters) were high enough to make us pay closer attention. The dialogue was at very times witty, cerebral, thought provoking and artistically synergistic. So many of the big moments in this episode I'll be able to quote from memory when I'm 85 and my (theoretical) Alzheimer's disease has robbed me of the ability to remember where I put my glasses. It's funny, because Stargate is not commonly known for heavy-hitting stories backed by scripts long on vocabulary and serious scholarship. It just isn't their style apparently, because they are more than capable of writing that way when they choose. They outdid the best DS9 or House had to offer here - the two "smartest" shows we've reviewed at this blog.
Acting: 10.0
I dare you to point out even one thing you didn't like in this piece from any of the actors. Just one thing will do. I want to give special praise to a few of the regulars and guest stars for specific things they did that really impressed me. Airman Wells (Julius Chapple) was extremely likable from the start and watching him get shot and they play the wounded man so excruciatingly well was jarring to say the least. Don S. Davis was AWESOME in this one. Every scene in which he appeared could show up in a Davis top twenty list. Seriously...he was firing on all cylinders, baby. RDA's smart-ass self was, as you'd expect, the perfect man for the job of delivering the best one-liners to Bregman and Kinsey. In the last three episodes, we've seen Amanda Tapping play a kind of magnetic, radiant joy in her courtship with Pete, a terrified, desperate struggle for survival, ending in a frighteningly realistic portrayal of resignation to death before Jack showed up at just the right moment to save her, and now both the awkward scientist not used to being in the public eye and the heart-broken face of the SGC's grief at the loss of Janet Fraiser. She can do it all, folks. All too often, Carter has tended to recede into the background, rather than being the focal point for a character-driven story. But when she finally gets her chance, she proves she's a sensational actress. There is a deep reservoir of talented extras this week and I can't name them all, but it suffices to say that I can't think of a single Stargate episode that was this well performed.
Message: 10.0 with a BULLET
I've made my opinions known on the message this episode was trying to send. I won't rehash those opinions too much here. I congratulate Robert Cooper and Andy Makita for putting together such a balanced, perceptive, and fair-minded portrayal of military heroism and the threat of government secrecy.
Production: 10.0
A key decision was obviously made early on after this episode was pitched. If they were going to do this, they wanted it to be from the perspective of the journalist and his team, rather than, primarily from the perspective of SG-1. They mixed just enough scenes from the perspective of SG-13 to get us to like them and care what happened to them, and they added just enough private moments with SG-1 so that we could see how they were truly responding to the pressure of being filmed and to the pain of losing Fraiser, but we otherwise had only the information that Bregman has, allowing us to feel his frustration at being blocked from knowing what was really going on. All of the directorial choices made by Makita served to make this episode really pop - although Bregman decried "cinema veritas" as a strategy that would fail with people who keep secrets for a living, Makita made heavy use of that style himself. There was very little in the way of background scoring, almost no special effects or complex lighting, and an unsteady feel to the camera work designed to give us the "you are there" feeling for most of the episode. All of the special effects were limited to staff weapon blasts...that's pretty much it. This one had a genuinely raw feeling that put you on the edge of your seat until it relaxed into a more traditional format when the viewer needed that (during act five).
This is a genuine artistic treasure - it's a shame that the serious art world thinks so little of science fiction as to never even give presentations like this a chance to earn wider recognition. Robert Cooper and Stargate's production team should be endlessly proud of their work here. Most artists have the personal goal of leaving behind a legacy that people will turn back on for years to come with admiration. Cooper achieved that here, at least for me. I'll be an old man and I'll still want to pull out my copy of this episode and watch it...it's just that good.
No objective fan of science fiction with a soul and a desire to confront real ethical questions that go to the very core of the American experience could possibly find one single flaw with this utterly breathtaking, emotionally jarring and artistically gripping work of brilliance. This single achievement, standing on its own merits, justifies every dollar ever spent producing Stargate SG-1 and it is frankly CRIMINAL that this piece did NOT win a whole flotilla of Emmies, let alone even a Hugo. Someone's head should roll for that oversight. This will be a special blog posting, with extensive highlights,and commentary because it deserves nothing less than my best effort to pay it the tribute it deserves. We love our science fiction here at RightFans, and we have heaped scads of praise on the best the genre has to offer, from Deep Space Nine's "The Siege of AR-558" to Babylon 5's "The Coming of Shadows"; from House's "Broken" to "Bat Masterson" of Early Edition; but none of it, in my humble opinion, can be placed side by side with Heroes and compare. This is, as far as I'm aware, the single greatest achievement in the history of modern American science fiction.
The format will be a little different for this one, folks. There will be no linking a third party source for the plot synopsis...the plot synopsis will be spelled out here in my own words and interspersed with highlights. There will not be a "Skinny" as that format doesn't seem appropriate. We're not summing up our reaction down to nuts and bolts. Our reaction will be laid out in the text of the plot synopsis. Each of the ratings sections in this review will be much more detailed, as in older reviews before we switched to a simpler review style (see some of our early DS9 reviews), and we will add a fourth ratings category to this for production values since they deserve to be highlighted as well and a number of different and spectacularly effective directorial and cinematic decisions were made that I would like to point out for praise.
The Plot:
Here it is, in a nutshell - the thing that will make this episode a unique experience - an outside media crew (with Air Force escorts, of course) is ordered by the outgoing President of the United States to document the work being down at the SGC in the hopes that, when future generations inevitably learn about the existence of the Stargate, history will be kind to the man who launched the program and understand why it had to be a secret for so long. The crew is headed by a starry-eyed idealistic journalist - a rare breed in today's cynical world of elite journalism run by ideologues and sensationalists in a quest to push agendas and sell the media as entertainment rather than serve the people with the truth. It sounds like such a simple premise...the one-paragraph summary of a pitch was first given, according to writer Robert Cooper, some five years earlier. All agreed that it was a good idea for a unique episode, but the concept was multiple times put on the back burner because if they were going to do it, they wanted to do it right and none of their early rough drafts seemed sufficient. When the idea resurfaced in the pitch-session prior to the seventh season, they decided that would make it the capstone of the season and devote fully 10% of the budget to a two-hour episode. Robert Cooper has an author credit on only one other episode the entire season (and one other "Story Concept" credit) because he wanted to focus on what would become his magnum opus. The extra attention this episode got would prove to be one of the best decisions the production company ever made. The story unfolds, essentially, in five major acts (rather like a Shakespearean play)...we'll lay each one out for you and highlight the distinctive elements of each.
Act One: Bregman vs. SG-1
This act is defined by a series of interviews showing how each member of the flagship team chooses to respond to the unwanted presence of Bregman and his documentary film crew. Cooper makes heavy use of comedy here, making this feel like it's going to be a fun-loving and comfortable romp ending in big smiles. A few examples of the typical reaction of each member of SG-1:
From Colonel O'Neill:
BREGMAN: Colonel! We're set up for you if you have a few minutes to talk.From Teal'c:
JACK: Don't really have time right now...on my way to a briefing, so...
BREGMAN: (disbelieving) Yes, of course you are. You see, this won't take much time.
JACK: I like vanilla over chocolate, my favorite color is peridot, I think Tibet should be free, and if I had to pick one person to have dinner with, it would be Mary Steenburgen. Now if you'll excuse me...
BREGMAN: (holding open the elevator on which he's trying to escape) Mary Steenburgen...
JACK: She's just so hot!
BREGMAN: Uh...huh.
BREGMAN: Well, I'm very excited to be meeting you, Teal'c. I guess I should start off - you're an alien!From Daniel:
TEAL'C: *crickets*
BREGMAN: Well...you're not an alien to YOU...but from our perspective you would be...anyway, you were the most powerful warrior in the service of one of our enemies and then you turned against him. Why did you turn against Apophis when you did?
TEAL'C: *crickets*
BREGMAN: Let me understand this. Why are you here if you don't intend to answer any of our questions.
TEAL'C: Because I was requested to be here by Colonel O'Neill.
BREGMAN: And did he explain to you that an important part of the interview process was you actually...saying something?
TEAL'C: No.
BREGMAN: I see...well let's start over here. Colonel O'Neill is your commanding officer here.
TEAL'C: (after a long pause) Indeed.
BREGMAN: Good! We're getting somewhere! What can you tell me about Colonel O'Neill as the leader of SG-1?
TEAL'C: If you wish to learn about Colonel O'Neill, perhaps you should ask Colonel O'Neill.
BREGMAN: That's a good idea (sarcastically), thanks, I'll...hey where are you going! (Teal'c leaves - LOL!)
DANIEL: (interrupting a question from Bregman when his pager goes off) Would you excuse me for a minute? (runs off down the hall and Bregman's crew breathlessly follows)Also from Jack:
BREGMAN: What is it...what have you got there, Dr. Jackson?
DANIEL: The results are back from the mask fragment I had analyzed...
BREGMAN: What? What is that?
DANIEL: I sent a sample of a mask fragment...
BREGMAN: Hold that up for us...what does that say?
DANIEL: Well it says that the mask dates to the pre-dynastic period of Ancient Egypt.
BREGMAN: And what's the significance of this finding?
DANIEL: Well, it's fascinating.
BREGMAN: Fascinating...yes...why were we running just now?
DANIEL: I just...wanted to see if you'd chase me. (ROTFL!!)
BREGMAN: Colonel, sooner or later I'm going to get you on camera, even if all I get is a series of shots of you avoiding being got!and...
JACK: Fire away, Bregman! I hope shots of my ass serve you well.
JACK: Did he tell you about the time he tried to have the Stargate buried? Or the time he had General Hammond by the short hairs...There's also this from Sgt. Harriman:
KINSEY: I'd watch what you say, Colonel. Slander is a serious offense.
JACK: Yes. So I hear.
KINSEY: I have always been a strong supporter of the Stargate Program. I admit I was critical in the past, but that was only because of the unrealized potential I view this program as having. (Jack shakes his head and continues looking at his mission report) How did your interview go, Colonel?
JACK: It was short...but oh so sweet.
KINSEY: The President wants you to play ball on this, Jack. I hope you aren't going to disappoint the Commander-in-Chief. I would think you'd want to show your support after all of the backing he's given you and this program in the last seven years.
JACK: Why are you here, Kinsey? The last time anyone checked, you were trying to discredit the guy!
KINSEY: His term is up. My running mate and I are merely pointing out areas where we think we can do a better job. I know we can count on your vote, Colonel.
JACK: Yeah. That'll happen (heads for the exit).
KINSEY (to Bregman): And I assure you...that if elected, this program can count on my full support.
JACK: (turning to face the two) You wanna get this? (Bregman waves at his camera man to zoom in on Jack) You smarmy, opportunistic, self-righteous son of a...
INTERCOM: Unscheduled Off-world Activation! (LOL!!)
HARRIMAN: Basically, as each chevron is entered, I say 'chevron one encoded, chevron two encoded...' and so forth. Until the seventh chevron, which is different because that's when the wormhole forms. There, I like to change things up and say 'chevron seven locked.'The humor is very effective - and frankly, I'm glad they waited til the seventh season to do something like this because the humor works only because we know the characters so well and can basically predict how they're going to respond to something like this documentary project.
BREGMAN: Locked...that's great. Is that all...
HARRIMAN: Oh, no...I'm also responsible for this. (places his hand on the iris control pad) Open the iris. Close the iris.
BREGMAN: That's wonderful. And that's your job in a nutshell?
HARRIMAN: Yep...that's pretty much what I do. Oh don't misunderstand, I'm not saying I'm not proud of the work I do here. The things I've seen coming and going through the gate - I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. And we tried various automated scenarios, but the SG teams all agreed that they would rather have a human at the other end when they come home - someone they can count on to get it right.
The five act structure is not, however, completely clean. The acts bleed together a bit to enhance the dramatic tension. So as this act plays out, act two begins.
Act Two: P3X-666
I don't think it was an accident that they chose the devil sign as a part of the gate address. But this act isn't to establish that reasoning. They give us an incredibly run-of-the-mill gate mission by a complete strange (to us) SG-13. It's a standard recon mission - check out a new planet and see if there's anything worth studying. During this act, we see the officers talking about their families, discussing the hardships of parenthood, placing bets on what they'll find on this planet, shooting barbs at each other - they are written as though they WERE SG-1. They've clearly been working together for a long time and have a similar kind of camaraderie. You can almost decide which one of them is meant to be a foil which member of SG-1. An example:
BALINSKY: Take the usual bet on that, sir?I mean c'mon...Dixon is clearly Jack, Balinsky is clearly Daniel, Wells is clearly Carter and Bosworth is clearly Teal'c. At least, that's how I see it. I think they were putting familiar traits on unfamiliar characters in an attempt to give us something with which we could emotionally connect. Long conversations about Wells' soon-to-arrive baby boy (who turns out to be a girl), including mocking his sonogram picture, Dixon's snarky remarks about his own chaotic family, the banter about how long Balinsky could stay even after the Goa'uld probe attacked, it's all very familiar to the fans of Stargate. They're laying the groundwork beautifully. This routine recon mission goes funky when Anubis sends a probe to P3X-666 that, after contacting SG-13, sends a signal back to Anubis warning him about our presence. While Daniel and Sam scramble to decode the information on the device, eventually realizing the threat it poses, their work is further delayed by increasingly desperate pleas for cooperation by Bregman.
DIXON: Sure. Wells?
WELLS: Abandoned Naquadah mine.
DIXON: Boring...but good odds. Bosworth?
BOSWORTH: I'm gonna go with trees, sir.
DIXON: Bosworth's disqualified for being a smart-ass. I'll go with two-headed alien.
WELLS: Hostile or friendly, sir?
DIXON: One head good, one head bad. Balinsky?
BALINSKY: Me? Oh, ruins of an ancient city.
DIXON: Yeah right. That's gonna happen.
Act Three: The Real Issues Emerge
Emotions rise when the mission to P3X-666 turns into an ambush. Alkesh bombers besiege SG-3 (holding the gate after the probe incident as back-up) and hundreds of Jaffa descend on SG-13, requiring SG-1 and SG-5 to go in with a medical team in an attempted rescue. They are forced into retreat after barely managing to stabilize Wells (who was shot in the initial attack), but multiple casualties are reported, including at least one fatality. Brilliantly, they showed O'Neill taking one in the stomach before the extraction and we are left to wonder who has really died for the next half an hour. At first this evident tragedy (seen from the perspective of Bregman and his team) increases the entire base's resistance to his documentary efforts. After all, he continues to insist on capturing the events and this seems cruel to SGC personnel who are having to deal with their own injuries and the death of a colleague. Hammond eventually snaps when Bregman tries to gain access to the infirmary and has him tossed off the base. But not before Bregman learns that Daniel has a tape that may have captured something important from the battlefield. He requests, first from Daniel, then from the President, to get that tape and Hammond reluctantly orders Daniel to turn it over. Once he acquires the tape, he discovers that it was really Fraiser who had died - just moments after he'd been flirting with her in the mess hall.
When confronted with evident grief and emotion from Sam Carter, Bregman attempts to follow her into the infirmary but is stopped by his own team, who then turn off the cameras to protect Carter's privacy. Infuriated, he delivers this potent speech to his people reminding them why he was a journalist:
Why is that camera off? You don't know what you're doing here. Maybe I know what I'm doing here. These people are risking their lives for us! I want to see what they're going through, even if they don't want us to! And I want other people to see it! What do you think they're doing out there? Protecting and defending secrecy?!? That's the world of Mao, the world of Stalin, the world of-of secret police, secret trials, secret-secret deaths! You force the press into the cold, and all you will get is lies and innuendo! And nothing, nothing is worse for a free society than a press that is-that is in service to the-to the military and the politicians, nothing! You turn that camera off when I tell you to turn it off! You think I give a damn what you think about me? You serve the people? So do I!As someone who has watched the press fall ever further into the service of our political class, this speech never fails to make me cheer. Although, I do understand why his crew would be hesitant to get footage of an obviously distraught woman in the middle of a crisis, I must admit. Nonetheless, an honest journalist giving a full-throated defense of a press that is always pressing for the truth is incredibly powerful to watch.
And there's more. When Bregman discovers that Daniel may have video footage of the tragedy, he delivers one of the most beautiful soliloquies I've ever heard:
You know I, uh…I once did a piece on this war photographer. His name was Martin Krystovski. For about six months, he was with a unit in Vietnam, and…the day before he was scheduled to leave, the day before. He's out with a unit, and it was just a routine patrol. Or so they thought. But suddenly, the lieutenant pulled him down…and Krystovski…he hadn't intended to take a picture at that moment, but his hands were on the camera, and he hit the ground so hard that it just went off. And the picture captured…the lieutenant getting shot in the head. And Krystovski said to me—he said: "That bullet would have hit me—should've hit me." And he never showed that picture to anyone. Not for twenty-five years. But twenty-five years later, he got up one morning, and he looked at that picture. And he saw something that wasn't horrific. And he decided to tell the story because he realized that he hadn't accidentally taken a picture of a man dying. It was of a man saving his life. The picture I'm making, that I'm trying to make, is about what you people do every single day. Under extreme circumstances that no one can even imagine. And I don't know what happened out there. I'm sorry about what happened, whatever it was. And if you did tape something of it, that's not gonna change what happened. What will change is how you feel about it.I heard a similarly powerful anecdote at a conservative political action conference back in 2003. Oliver North was making a speech on the conditions in Iraq and relayed a story from a unit he tailed near Baghdad. Obviously, it's been years now so I don't remember every word of the speech, but these three lines will ring in my ears forever.
I watched as a marine medic pulled an Iraqi boy of no more than fifteen up into the helicopter and began working on him - he'd obviously been caught in the crossfire between us and the insurgents. A fellow journalist grabbed this medic by the shoulder and asked him "What are you doing? Can't you see this man's Iraqi?" And the medic replied, "Can't you say this boy is dying?"I admit that I may be a little biased, since my family includes a now-deceased veteran of World War II who took the beaches at Normandy in the second wave, a prematurely dead veteran of Vietnam, and a 20-year Naval submariner among others, but I believe what the media has done to cripple public trust in and respect for our armed forces is among the greatest crimes of the last fifty years. Stories like the above from North and like this perfect replica expressed by Bregman are the ones that we should be passing from generation to generation. They explain in plain language how ordinary men and women can achieve such seemingly impossible things in the defense of freedom. Bottom line...these are (for the most part) good people empowered by a core philosophy that glorifies civic responsibility, service, and the preservation of life and freedom. The rest of us pastel-shirted desk-jockies and average Joes may have lost our way, but there is still, even in this cynical era of supposed military demoralization and quagmires of unending combat, a surplus of volunteers for our armed forces and these are people who would, without reservation, take a bullet to save a friend or loved one. Stargate depicts a ton of military actions and frequently makes light of the fact that SG-1 always seems to be in danger of death or worse, but this episode serves to remind us that real soldiers like Jack O'Neill who face life and death struggles on a daily basis are genuinely heroic for doing what they do out of nothing else but love. Love for their country, love for their family, love for their fellow men.
Act Four: Civilian Oversight
In a stroke of genius, Cooper now chooses to allow the civilian authorities to add a third perspective to the whole question of oversight by the press and the necessity of state secrets. Mr. Woolsey from the NID arrives to begin his own investigation into the command decisions that led to the death of Dr. Fraiser. Now that we've seen how she died and the impact of that death on the rest of the main cast, the civilian government agency arrives and paints a chillingly accurate picture of what happens when an unelected third party government agency acts to oversee a secret military program and, paradoxically, has no one to oversee IT. The lack of public accountability doesn't just empower the military to take actions that the public may not like...it also gives NGOs like the NID carte blanche to make life or death decisions of their own, to legislate without popular consent, and even to operate in a world completely devoid of morality in the name of "pragmatism."
Woolsey arrives with a predetermined verdict - that General Hammond has a pattern for making financially unwise decisions that routinely lead to unnecessary risks to lives and resources and that his SGC teams do not properly comprehend the cost of their program and of their decisions. He believes, in his own words, that "Anyone should admit that there are situations whee committing valuable resources to recover one man is unwise." Hindsight being 20/20, he questions every command decision that was made leading up to Fraiser's death and gets absolutely ZERO cooperation from SG-1. This fascinating exchange between Woolsey and Hammond serves as a critical turning point between the SGC and Bregman.
HAMMOND: I've prepared a written testimony.This winds up changing Hammond's mind about the potential benefits of public scrutiny on his operation and aids in his decision to order Daniel to turn over his tape to Bregman's team. What I love about all of this is that the military isn't being maligned for resisting public scrutiny on matters of national security, though the risks of such arrangements are being fairly stated. Instead, a reasonable case is made for why the Stargate Program is a secret and then a reasonable case is made for why it perhaps shouldn't be (or at least for what we need to watch out for when secrets are involved).
WOOLSEY: This is your mission report.
HAMMOND: I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone.
WOOLSEY: Well, then. I guess I'm done.
HAMMOND: Then you'll be leaving.
WOOLSEY: The President will have my preliminary report by the end of the week.
HAMMOND: I'm sure it will be every bit as interesting as your memo on the economics of the SGC.
WOOLSEY: I won't bother asking how you got that.
HAMMOND: What was the dollar value you attributed to an SG team member?
WOOLSEY: You know damn well I wasn't pegging the value of a person's life. It is a cold, hard fact that it costs millions of dollars to train these men and women, and that is a fraction of the funds being subverted by the Pentagon for this operation. I think it is reprehensible that the taxpayers of this country are paying enormous sums of money to wage a war they know nothing about, and are getting little, if anything, in return. If the Stargate's existence were public knowledge, and your actions were being judged in the court of public opinion—
HAMMOND: You're the one suggesting that sending a rescue team worth $27 million to save the life of one man is a bad business decision.
WOOLSEY: You're putting words in my mouth.
HAMMOND: You said it in black and white, and I don't think you would dare do such a thing if this wasn't a classified operation. The President has asked a documentary team to get to the truth of what's going on around here. Why don't we just go down and give them the whole truth as you see it? Right now.
WOOLSEY: That memo is classified. This investigation is classified. If you so much as utter even a hint of either, I'll see you are put away in a cold, dark place for the rest of time.
Act Five: Requiem for Janet Fraiser
Finally, after all of the big issues are debated and drawn to a stalemate, SG-1 is allowed to grieve, and the audience with them, for the loss of Dr. Fraiser. Sam struggles to write a fitting eulogy for her friend and colleague and comes up empty until Teal'c arrives and presents her with a list of the names of SGC personnel whose lives she had saved over her seven years of service. Daniel gives Bregman his blessing to use the tape of Fraiser's death, saying "I think this tape shows what her life was all about." Bregman, on the brink of tears himself, nods and sheepishly agrees. It is revealed that Jack was using the new ceramic anti-staff-weapon flak jacket and that is why he survived, and he offers his support to Carter (who expresses her profound relief that he is still alive). Bregman shows his documentary to Hammond, who is deeply moved by what turns out to be a glowing retrospective on the heroism and courage of the SGC. He says that he has had to write many letters to loved ones that sounded hollow because he couldn't tell them anything and that this documentary might help him in the future. Daniel goes to Airman Wells' home (the one Fraiser had been trying to save) and meets his new baby daughter. He has decided to name her Janet. If you can watch the stretch from Bregman's speech about Vietnam to the end without crying, you have no soul.
Writing: 10.0
The emotional, philosophical, and intellectual balance in this episode is second to nothing I've ever watched. The story will make you fall in love with every one of the characters (except Woolsey and Kinsey) if you hadn't loved them before - we get to spend an hour with them cracking us up in their own unique ways before we see them go through hell. Their principle "antagonist" is, himself, a hero. Bregman comes to personify the kind of integrity and dedication to the truth that we can only wish our elite media still possessed. The characterization is flawless in EVERY scene, including the scenes that introduced us to the team that would become stranded on P3X-666. The pacing and flow was BEAUTIFUL - they gave us just enough information to be hooked but not to wreck the suspense and the crushing heartbreak of learning the full truth. The big issues the show was meant to tackle came out only when the emotions of the viewers (and the characters) were high enough to make us pay closer attention. The dialogue was at very times witty, cerebral, thought provoking and artistically synergistic. So many of the big moments in this episode I'll be able to quote from memory when I'm 85 and my (theoretical) Alzheimer's disease has robbed me of the ability to remember where I put my glasses. It's funny, because Stargate is not commonly known for heavy-hitting stories backed by scripts long on vocabulary and serious scholarship. It just isn't their style apparently, because they are more than capable of writing that way when they choose. They outdid the best DS9 or House had to offer here - the two "smartest" shows we've reviewed at this blog.
Acting: 10.0
I dare you to point out even one thing you didn't like in this piece from any of the actors. Just one thing will do. I want to give special praise to a few of the regulars and guest stars for specific things they did that really impressed me. Airman Wells (Julius Chapple) was extremely likable from the start and watching him get shot and they play the wounded man so excruciatingly well was jarring to say the least. Don S. Davis was AWESOME in this one. Every scene in which he appeared could show up in a Davis top twenty list. Seriously...he was firing on all cylinders, baby. RDA's smart-ass self was, as you'd expect, the perfect man for the job of delivering the best one-liners to Bregman and Kinsey. In the last three episodes, we've seen Amanda Tapping play a kind of magnetic, radiant joy in her courtship with Pete, a terrified, desperate struggle for survival, ending in a frighteningly realistic portrayal of resignation to death before Jack showed up at just the right moment to save her, and now both the awkward scientist not used to being in the public eye and the heart-broken face of the SGC's grief at the loss of Janet Fraiser. She can do it all, folks. All too often, Carter has tended to recede into the background, rather than being the focal point for a character-driven story. But when she finally gets her chance, she proves she's a sensational actress. There is a deep reservoir of talented extras this week and I can't name them all, but it suffices to say that I can't think of a single Stargate episode that was this well performed.
Message: 10.0 with a BULLET
I've made my opinions known on the message this episode was trying to send. I won't rehash those opinions too much here. I congratulate Robert Cooper and Andy Makita for putting together such a balanced, perceptive, and fair-minded portrayal of military heroism and the threat of government secrecy.
Production: 10.0
A key decision was obviously made early on after this episode was pitched. If they were going to do this, they wanted it to be from the perspective of the journalist and his team, rather than, primarily from the perspective of SG-1. They mixed just enough scenes from the perspective of SG-13 to get us to like them and care what happened to them, and they added just enough private moments with SG-1 so that we could see how they were truly responding to the pressure of being filmed and to the pain of losing Fraiser, but we otherwise had only the information that Bregman has, allowing us to feel his frustration at being blocked from knowing what was really going on. All of the directorial choices made by Makita served to make this episode really pop - although Bregman decried "cinema veritas" as a strategy that would fail with people who keep secrets for a living, Makita made heavy use of that style himself. There was very little in the way of background scoring, almost no special effects or complex lighting, and an unsteady feel to the camera work designed to give us the "you are there" feeling for most of the episode. All of the special effects were limited to staff weapon blasts...that's pretty much it. This one had a genuinely raw feeling that put you on the edge of your seat until it relaxed into a more traditional format when the viewer needed that (during act five).
This is a genuine artistic treasure - it's a shame that the serious art world thinks so little of science fiction as to never even give presentations like this a chance to earn wider recognition. Robert Cooper and Stargate's production team should be endlessly proud of their work here. Most artists have the personal goal of leaving behind a legacy that people will turn back on for years to come with admiration. Cooper achieved that here, at least for me. I'll be an old man and I'll still want to pull out my copy of this episode and watch it...it's just that good.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Classics: SG1 7:16 - Death Knell
Overall Rating: 9.4
They were on quite a roll in here with some outstanding episodes running back to back to back. This one does a great service to the running plots on many fronts and gives Amanda Tapping a chance to shine as a survivor, now that we've seen her as a lover.
Plot Synopsis:
A good summary of this episode can be found in the thumbnail picture associated with this article at the Stargate Wiki. Yeah...Carter looking on the verge of tears for forty-five minutes while she struggles to stay alive, constantly hunted by the Terminator...er...Kull Warrior. That tells the story.
The Skinny:
While it sucks to be the Tauri after the events of this episode unfold - our Alpha Site is compromised, we lost like 60 people, and the rebel Jaffa and Tok'ra have decided to end their direct cooperation with us! All of those things make sense, create a scarier Anubis, and make the established powers in this galaxy more believable. It's a sad day, but it's been coming for a long time. Not because of hatred, as depicted in "Divide and Conquer" and not because of annihilation as the title might imply, but because the Tok'ra, Jaffa and Tauri, while sharing a common enemy, do not share common interests. When M'Zel insists, in the end, that his people cannot work with people who won't let them stand on their own and understand freedom in their own ways, I nod in absolute agreement. When Delek and even Jacob argue that the Tok'ra/Tauri alliances forces the Tok'ra to reveal too much about their covert operations and risks undermining their entire society, I agree again. And when Daniel practically pulls his hair out, insisting that it's crazy for people with the same enemy who are just now making progress toward their shared goals can't work together, I sadly agree a final time.
Here are some hard facts:
They were on quite a roll in here with some outstanding episodes running back to back to back. This one does a great service to the running plots on many fronts and gives Amanda Tapping a chance to shine as a survivor, now that we've seen her as a lover.
Plot Synopsis:
A good summary of this episode can be found in the thumbnail picture associated with this article at the Stargate Wiki. Yeah...Carter looking on the verge of tears for forty-five minutes while she struggles to stay alive, constantly hunted by the Terminator...er...Kull Warrior. That tells the story.
The Skinny:
While it sucks to be the Tauri after the events of this episode unfold - our Alpha Site is compromised, we lost like 60 people, and the rebel Jaffa and Tok'ra have decided to end their direct cooperation with us! All of those things make sense, create a scarier Anubis, and make the established powers in this galaxy more believable. It's a sad day, but it's been coming for a long time. Not because of hatred, as depicted in "Divide and Conquer" and not because of annihilation as the title might imply, but because the Tok'ra, Jaffa and Tauri, while sharing a common enemy, do not share common interests. When M'Zel insists, in the end, that his people cannot work with people who won't let them stand on their own and understand freedom in their own ways, I nod in absolute agreement. When Delek and even Jacob argue that the Tok'ra/Tauri alliances forces the Tok'ra to reveal too much about their covert operations and risks undermining their entire society, I agree again. And when Daniel practically pulls his hair out, insisting that it's crazy for people with the same enemy who are just now making progress toward their shared goals can't work together, I sadly agree a final time.
Here are some hard facts:
- The rebel Jaffa love freedom as much as any American and have the right to seek it on their own terms - terms that must necessarily be different than our own.
- The Tok'ra have indeed taken many deep losses as a direct result of having to work with humans who want to go on the offensive (I think the humans are right to do that, but the Tok'ra aren't used to fighting that kind of war).
- Anubis is a different kind of threat than Apophis. Fighting a war on three separate fronts might be harder for him than blowing up the whole resistance at one Alpha Site. An end to the formal alliance does not mean an end to cooperation.
- We Americans are coming to understand that freedom cannot be mastered by reporting to even the most benevolent of rulers. We had good intentions in Iraq and Afghanistan but they won't master freedom until they take responsibility for defending it themselves. The same is true of the Jaffa.
This episode represents a very mature and very realistic view of modern diplomacy and presents all parties in a reasonable light. Gotta hand it to them, they seem to have a firm grip on human (or quasi-human alien) nature. Sam's story of survival and the seemingly unstoppable enemy she must elude is gripping mostly because Amanda Tapping puts on her best performance of the year to date (and is about to put on another great one in the next uber-feature episode, "Heroes"....she was really in the zone this season!). And it was a great decision on the part of the production team to interlace the stories and thus give us a comparison between Sam's resourcefulness and will to live and Jacob Carter's resourcefulness and will to hold together the alliance he worked so hard to build. This could have been the strongest episode of the seventh season if not for what is about to come next.
Writing: 9.5
The construction of the plot carries the day for the script...it's not super heavy on characterization other than for Jacob Carter...but it's a great script nonetheless.
Acting: 10.0
Amanda Tapping should consider this one of her finest works. Carmen Argenziano and Sebastian Spence filled out the guest ensemble nicely, and Don Davis really was on his game in the interrogation scenes.
Message: 9.2
Sometimes, conflicts don't arise because one side is being unreasonable or your goals are completely incompatible or you need to work harder to understand the other person...those things often help, but it's childish to assume that if you do everything right at the negotiating table, you'll always get a good result. This episode makes no pretense of that, revealing that reasonable men CAN disagree and in ways that are lethal to an alliance.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Classics: SG1 7:15 - Chimera
Overall Rating: 8.5
This episode does both things it's trying to do exceedingly well.
Plot Synopsis:
The Stargate Wiki has a good write-up for you here,
The Skinny:
There is a certain upper limit on how impressed I can be with an episode like this that's not trying to make huge statements about its characters or morality and that has no designs on being "big" in the dramatic sense or delivering a ton of comedy. Those are usually the kinds of episodes that score feature ratings here. BUT...for what this episode is, it's fantastically well executed. From what I can tell, the story is trying to accomplish two main things. It's trying to humanize Sam Carter and get us to view her as the stunning woman that she can be when she's not covered in dirt and shooting at bad guys (not to mention show us her sentimental, feminine side), and it's trying to access all of our inner fears about our vulnerability when dreaming and put a nightmare twist on it. The way that the two plots merge in the finale seems a bit hard to believe, but that's OK because the outcomes are good, and we can live with a bit of artistic license if it makes us happy.
On the first goal, this has to be the best romantic writing Stargate has ever done. Pete and Sam have almost explosive chemistry and the concerns of both characters are depicted fairly and maturely. I love that Sam is a traditionalist and likes old-timey swing dancing and classic movies. I love that when she dresses up, she not only looks unbelievably cute, but also elegant, rather than ostentatious and modern, and I love that the both of them are shown to really enjoy "the pursuit" (of dating). Their little games are a genuine treat to watch...you actually don't see enough of that in Hollywood these days. Yes, she and Pete have sex during this episode...it seems to happen rather suddenly and I think the episode would have been better without it, but is provoked by some very traditional impulses and I have to make an uneasy peace with the reality that romance necessarily equals bonking in the world of television and film.
On the second goal, the only thing that would have made the episode creepier would have been for us to see only the flash of Sarah's Goa'uld eyes in the darkness in the first shot of her in Daniel's room, rather than having her lean forward into the moonlight. That would have been so much cooler! But otherwise, the dream elements were done really well and all of Daniel's various conversations with the rest of the cast were well written and enjoyable. They even made room for some humor between Daniel and Teal'c ("Thank you Teal'c...this conversation has been deeply disturbing on many levels." - LOL) and, sensibly, had Teal'c be the one to figure out what was really going on. All in all, the show is well worth watching and a lot of fun, even though it's not overly ambitious.
Writing: 9.0
Romance, humor and psychological suspense all in one episode and all done very well. Bravo!
Acting: 9.5
Actually, this episode could have been a feature if they'd been gunning for something a bit higher on the drama-meter, and a lot of it has to do with the acting. David DelOuise is shockingly good for a low-profile guest star and Amanda Tapping plays feminine desire better than she plays military leader, and she plays that pretty well. We'd highlighted Anna-Louise Plowman before for her work as Sarah/Osiris and we'll do it again here. She and Shanks ALSO have good chemistry and she plays evil just as well.
Message: 7.0
I ahve to temper my enthusiasm just a bit for the modern take on proper courtship...but I can't hammer every show I watch that has some pre-marital sex and doesn't show the consequences accurately and this one also features Sam revealing a very traditional set of desires that gives her a ton of charm...so...we'll go easy.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Classics: SG1 7:14 - Fallout
Overall Rating: 6.0
This isn't a bad episode, but the last appearance of Jonas Quinn was colored by the same problems as all of the previous appearances of Jonas Quinn - the character never evolved and is, therefore, not that interesting to watch.
Plot Synopsis:
Here is a simple description of the episode, courtesy of the Stargate Wiki.
The Skinny:
The Langaran political dialogue is a huge step less interesting and more petty than anything we'll see in, for example, "Death Knell" or already saw in the clip show "Disclosure." These people just aren't written believably - their planet is going to blow up, as Jack puts it (the whole DAMN planet!) and they are worried about who gets the blame for it, and not how many they can save? It's ludicrous. The plot on Langara is, shall we say, ordinary. The romance doesn't work because we pretty much immediately are handed the knowledge that Kianna is a Goa'uld and because Corin Nemec is dressed and his hair is styled like he should be marching in NYC with a rainbow colored ribbon, not dating a woman. Hey, Jonas...if you want to be gay...be gay. Just don't gross me out by kissing a girl while dressing like you want to kiss Daniel. LOL And the standard sci fi plot's one twist...that the Goa'uld is a selfish bastard who, perhaps has some actual emotion, rather than being a slave...that should have been a much greater focus of the episode, but what time they gave it didn't really impact me emotionally.
I just don't have all that much to say about this one other than that...so...yeah. It can't have been that good or that bad. Oh, one other thing. The fact that Ba'al was trying to contact the Goa'uld in Kianna? Never really addressed. We know that she never told Ba'al about the Naquadah/Nequadria situation, but that doesn't mean he won't come looking for his operative and to do his own investigation. The next scene after Jonas goes through the gate should have been Jonas getting killed by a ribbon device after being tortured for information. WTF?
Writing: 6.0
Minor bonus points for some of Jack's lines (which were genuinely enjoyable, but only because he was playing opposite the special bus from planet dumbass)...otherwise...a major plot hole lingers that kills the supposedly happy ending. All leading to a par script.
Acting: 6.0
Nemec has been good in other roles, but as Jonas Quinn, he really doesn't do much for me. The rest of the cast, other than RDA, who is never dull, is rather flat this week.
Message: 6.0
The Goa'uld who isn't 100% evil (only 99%) would have been interesting if she'd actually sacrificed herself ON SCREEN and in a way that actually resonated. Instead it was just kind of there.
This isn't a bad episode, but the last appearance of Jonas Quinn was colored by the same problems as all of the previous appearances of Jonas Quinn - the character never evolved and is, therefore, not that interesting to watch.
Plot Synopsis:
Here is a simple description of the episode, courtesy of the Stargate Wiki.
The Skinny:
The Langaran political dialogue is a huge step less interesting and more petty than anything we'll see in, for example, "Death Knell" or already saw in the clip show "Disclosure." These people just aren't written believably - their planet is going to blow up, as Jack puts it (the whole DAMN planet!) and they are worried about who gets the blame for it, and not how many they can save? It's ludicrous. The plot on Langara is, shall we say, ordinary. The romance doesn't work because we pretty much immediately are handed the knowledge that Kianna is a Goa'uld and because Corin Nemec is dressed and his hair is styled like he should be marching in NYC with a rainbow colored ribbon, not dating a woman. Hey, Jonas...if you want to be gay...be gay. Just don't gross me out by kissing a girl while dressing like you want to kiss Daniel. LOL And the standard sci fi plot's one twist...that the Goa'uld is a selfish bastard who, perhaps has some actual emotion, rather than being a slave...that should have been a much greater focus of the episode, but what time they gave it didn't really impact me emotionally.
I just don't have all that much to say about this one other than that...so...yeah. It can't have been that good or that bad. Oh, one other thing. The fact that Ba'al was trying to contact the Goa'uld in Kianna? Never really addressed. We know that she never told Ba'al about the Naquadah/Nequadria situation, but that doesn't mean he won't come looking for his operative and to do his own investigation. The next scene after Jonas goes through the gate should have been Jonas getting killed by a ribbon device after being tortured for information. WTF?
Writing: 6.0
Minor bonus points for some of Jack's lines (which were genuinely enjoyable, but only because he was playing opposite the special bus from planet dumbass)...otherwise...a major plot hole lingers that kills the supposedly happy ending. All leading to a par script.
Acting: 6.0
Nemec has been good in other roles, but as Jonas Quinn, he really doesn't do much for me. The rest of the cast, other than RDA, who is never dull, is rather flat this week.
Message: 6.0
The Goa'uld who isn't 100% evil (only 99%) would have been interesting if she'd actually sacrificed herself ON SCREEN and in a way that actually resonated. Instead it was just kind of there.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Classics: SG1 7:13 - Grace
Overall Rating: 6.8 - half a point for gratuitous trailer-fodder kiss scene = 6.3
I went into this episode remembering it as "that really boring one that pissed me off for pandering to the fans without taking any actual risks" - I was right, but perhaps too harsh.
Plot Synopsis:
The slooooooooowwly evolving details of this episode can be found at the Stargate Wiki.
The Skinny:
I wanted to hate this episode with the same passion I hated it the first time I watched it...but I was younger then, and not as wise. :) This episode is everything I remembered it being - incredibly tedious, plot-wise illogical, and overly atmospheric. It carries a sort of pretentious feel, as though the director tried way too hard to be inscrutable and artistic, rather than to entertain. It does, in fact, include a bit of naked pandering to draw in the crowds with a steamy-looking clip for the teaser, and the resolution seems...umm...unsatisfactory somehow. It just doesn't feel like it was ever worth the loooooong wait to get to the end.
And yet...on second viewing, there are several things that I actually REALLY like about this episode, giving me mixed feelings that make it a little tough to write this review. For one, although it annoys me that the kiss scene ruined the emotional momentum they had going, I am glad it was just an ill-advised mood-killing joke, rather than a real fantasy that Carter would seriously consider. Their handling of the Carter/O'Neill angst was perfect minus that annoying joke kiss - the bottom line is that Jack is indeed the "safe bet" and that their relationship is best left to the realm of "the perfect friendship," at least as far as I'm concerned. For another, the roles they selected for each of Sam's delusions worked well for me. Jacob was her soul (yearning for real human connections and the sweetness of family), Daniel her curiosity and intellectual stimulus, Teal'c her sense of caution and self-preservation and Jack her source of confidence and wisdom. That was well-thought-out and well-written...each of those individual interactions had something to like about it.
I still maintain that the random alien ship needed to be better explained or given some kind of a "face," that we needed to know more about why "Grace" appeared and why in that form (they didn't even attempt to explain that), and that they REEEEEAALLY needed to give us more to look at than Carter stumbling around taking inventory of her food stores and running computer engine simulations. Cause...wow...there are parts of this episode that are downright soporific. I don't want to be too hard on it...but it needed some editing. Badly.
Writing: 6.5
The parts that work REALLY work...the parts that don't...are boring as hell.
Acting: 7.5
But there's nothing wrong with the acting...in fact even the child playing Grace was a better than normal child actress.
Message: 6.5
Home is where the heart is...not your lab or the stars, no matter how interesting those other places might be. That piece of the story was worth slogging through the dull bits.
I went into this episode remembering it as "that really boring one that pissed me off for pandering to the fans without taking any actual risks" - I was right, but perhaps too harsh.
Plot Synopsis:
The slooooooooowwly evolving details of this episode can be found at the Stargate Wiki.
The Skinny:
I wanted to hate this episode with the same passion I hated it the first time I watched it...but I was younger then, and not as wise. :) This episode is everything I remembered it being - incredibly tedious, plot-wise illogical, and overly atmospheric. It carries a sort of pretentious feel, as though the director tried way too hard to be inscrutable and artistic, rather than to entertain. It does, in fact, include a bit of naked pandering to draw in the crowds with a steamy-looking clip for the teaser, and the resolution seems...umm...unsatisfactory somehow. It just doesn't feel like it was ever worth the loooooong wait to get to the end.
And yet...on second viewing, there are several things that I actually REALLY like about this episode, giving me mixed feelings that make it a little tough to write this review. For one, although it annoys me that the kiss scene ruined the emotional momentum they had going, I am glad it was just an ill-advised mood-killing joke, rather than a real fantasy that Carter would seriously consider. Their handling of the Carter/O'Neill angst was perfect minus that annoying joke kiss - the bottom line is that Jack is indeed the "safe bet" and that their relationship is best left to the realm of "the perfect friendship," at least as far as I'm concerned. For another, the roles they selected for each of Sam's delusions worked well for me. Jacob was her soul (yearning for real human connections and the sweetness of family), Daniel her curiosity and intellectual stimulus, Teal'c her sense of caution and self-preservation and Jack her source of confidence and wisdom. That was well-thought-out and well-written...each of those individual interactions had something to like about it.
I still maintain that the random alien ship needed to be better explained or given some kind of a "face," that we needed to know more about why "Grace" appeared and why in that form (they didn't even attempt to explain that), and that they REEEEEAALLY needed to give us more to look at than Carter stumbling around taking inventory of her food stores and running computer engine simulations. Cause...wow...there are parts of this episode that are downright soporific. I don't want to be too hard on it...but it needed some editing. Badly.
Writing: 6.5
The parts that work REALLY work...the parts that don't...are boring as hell.
Acting: 7.5
But there's nothing wrong with the acting...in fact even the child playing Grace was a better than normal child actress.
Message: 6.5
Home is where the heart is...not your lab or the stars, no matter how interesting those other places might be. That piece of the story was worth slogging through the dull bits.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Classics: SG1 7:11 / 7:12 - Evolution
Overall Rating: 8.0
Many of the major plot elements in this story work surprisingly well - one element doesn't work at all.
Plot Synopsis:
Part I: A New Danger Rises
Part II: 'Crazy Crap' Happens
The Skinny:
Let's go plot thread by plot thread and talk about what works well or doesn't.
Many of the major plot elements in this story work surprisingly well - one element doesn't work at all.
Plot Synopsis:
Part I: A New Danger Rises
Part II: 'Crazy Crap' Happens
The Skinny:
Let's go plot thread by plot thread and talk about what works well or doesn't.
- The Kull Warriors
- What Works - The suit is effin' BAD ASS. Those suckers just LOOK like death walking. Their weapons are elegant and frightening, their evil robot eyes remind me of the terminator movies and their armor is far more logical than the goofy bronze age suits of mail worn by normal Jaffa. The presence of an army of non-Jaffa warriors was absolutely necessary. The Jaffa aren't scary to the audience anymore because we've proven that they can be reasoned with and because we know and love one personally. Also, we've now established that their weapons (staff weapons) are, in fact, spectacularly inefficient and this explains why they are such terrible shots. The new guys on the block just point at you and you die. It also logically follows that Anubis, seeing other system lords felled by their own Jaffa, would want insurance against a rebel takeover.
- What Fails - They can't seem to make up their mind whether these new Kull Warriors live for a few weeks or maybe a bit longer (we blew up their only loyal Goa'uld queen...if they live for just weeks, that would mean that Anubis would have just weeks to find another loyal queen (they're rare, theoretically)...that should neutralize the whole army in a big hurry. They also can't decide whether they're suppressing the Goa'uld mind or using blanks. The blanks from Pangar had no consciousness to dull, no knowledge of any kind. They were functional vegetables. These blanks can talk and fight and apparently go on the fritz and vanish. That was a bit confusing to me.
- The Fountain of Youth
- What Works - It's actually been a while since Daniel got to be a real archaeologist and solve a puzzle like this one and it was fun to be reminded of that part of the show's history. Also, this particular puzzle was pretty elegant - I especially enjoyed the water trap.
- What Fails - Dr. Lee is so impractical that he shouldn't have a job this important. Sorry...but every time he appears, I just want to smack him.
- Tartarus
- What Works - This base is VERY atmospheric and intimidating, much more than your average Hatak vessel or Goa'uld pyramid. Not only that, but Goa'uld security actually makes sense here, whereas frequently, we take advantage of hilariously stupid guards and inadequate safeguards. Also, the moment when the Kull army is revealed is like a cross between "All We Are, We Owe Her!" and a rally in Nazi Germany. This works quite well. I actually thought the security alarm was even scary.
- What Fails - The fact that the supposedly impenetrable planetary defenses that had to be shut down for us to get in there in the first place completely whiffed trying to shoot down a very slowly moving cargo ship on the way out. That always seems to happen in sci fi!
- Nicaragua vs. Honduras - One Kidnapping at a Time
- What Works - Actually, I thought they did a very authentic job representing the typical rebel gangs you find in Central America without being racially offensive. They gave the Nicaragua-sympathizing bandits some basic motivation and the guy playing their leader was pretty convincing. The whole back-story was well-researched IMHO.
- What Fails - The likelihood of a kidnapping gang being extremely interested in an unassuming-seeming artifact and a pair of unarmed archaeologists strikes me as slim. But...we'll hand-wave that.
- O'Neill vs. Burke
- What Works - The guy they cast to play Burke was pretty funny when he wanted to be...though that sometimes felt a little out of place.
- What Fails - They've tried to give O'Neill bad blood with some former black ops colleague on more than one occasion and it never seems to work because it always feels tacked on and for no particular reason. In the 2nd season episode about the black hole (Relativity), an ex-colleague of Jack's shows up and they fight about their past and it never connects to the actual story going on at all. The same thing happens here. The conflict adds nothing to the story, the resolution to the conflict is hard to fathom (why would O'Neill just instantly believe Burke's explanation about the turning of Woods when they were friends and he's been holding that grudge for a long time?), and the whole thing feels tacked on and superficial.
- Evil Dead
- What Works - Burke mocking the silliness of Stargate doing zombies.
- What Fails - The fact that Stargate did a Frankenstein device plot at all. :)
All in all, this two-parter succeeds at being attention-grabbing and thrilling and at significantly raising the stakes going forward, which is always a plus in my book. The parts that don't work do drag things down just a tad, but overall, I'm happy to do this review because I was happy to watch this two-part episode.
Writing: 8.0
Good dialogue, good plot pacing, and great atmospherics make this episode fun.
Acting: 9.0
Carmen Argenziano and Tony Amendola always elevate the acting of the people around them whenever they show up and this episode is no exception. But I should also give a shout out to Frank Roman (head Nicaraguan douchebag Raphael) and Enrico Colantoni (Burke) for adding depth to the acting roster.
Message: 7.0
Anubis is still a big ugly threat...it helps to be reminded of this going forward. Otherwise this is just an actioner.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Classics: SG1 7:10 - Birthright
Overall Rating: 4.5
This feels like a Gene Roddenbury script. That's NOT a compliment, Mr. Judge!
Plot Synopsis:
The Stargate Wiki has the hot Jaffa action...if you're into that sort of thing. (eyes sideways)
The Skinny:
This script is not incompetently written, which is a good sign for Chris Judge's skills as a writer going forward. But this definitely feels like the rough draft of a college playwright's first attempt at a one-act play. Or a Gene Roddenbury Trek episode, they both have the same approximate level of hackery and annoying violent sexual tropes that fill this episode. I love ya, Chris...but you so obviously wrote this script to get Teal'c a hot sexy kiss with Jeri Ryan (or someone like her...LOL), not to make a larger point for your character or the show at large. All of the standard "warrior sex" cliches are applied. Guy swaggers into girl's matriarchy thinking he's hot shit. Girl demonstrates that she is a great fighter too. Guy finds this hot. Girl resists until guy bends girl over his knee (metaphorically) in combat. Girl is then putty in guy's hands. Oh...and some other plot involving combat is in there as an excuse.
Its.
Been.
DONE!
It just feels so...juvenile. Your character has more to offer than you gave him here, Chris! You're hilarious in person...you should have tried a comedy script for your first effort. It would probably have been more natural. And Teal'c makes a great straight man, as you know. *sigh* Oh well...they can't all be Peter Allan Fields or Renee Echevarria. There's some great material in the rest of seventh season, especially toward the end of the year, so this one gets a mulligan.
Writing: 4.0
Sophomoric and cliched, Judge's first writing effort falls flat for me, despite the relatively competent mastery of language and dialogue he displays.
Acting: 5.0
I'm not so sure Jeri Ryan - as hot as she is on Voyager (yes...I'm one of THOSE guys...sorry ladies!) - was a great casting choice here. They have no real chemistry (she and Judge) and Ryan appears to think the whole script is beneath her, because she looks awkward and uncomfortable the whole time. This could be a direction problem...Woeste might have told her to play up her own superiority to even out the power balance between them. But overall, it just doesn't feel like a typically well-executed Stargate episode.
Message: 4.5
Minor ding for the show glorifying lust and violence as a part of courtship and another minor ding for the faint whiff of Roddenbury style lipstick feminism (read all about that movement in "Female Chauvinist Pigs").
This feels like a Gene Roddenbury script. That's NOT a compliment, Mr. Judge!
Plot Synopsis:
The Stargate Wiki has the hot Jaffa action...if you're into that sort of thing. (eyes sideways)
The Skinny:
This script is not incompetently written, which is a good sign for Chris Judge's skills as a writer going forward. But this definitely feels like the rough draft of a college playwright's first attempt at a one-act play. Or a Gene Roddenbury Trek episode, they both have the same approximate level of hackery and annoying violent sexual tropes that fill this episode. I love ya, Chris...but you so obviously wrote this script to get Teal'c a hot sexy kiss with Jeri Ryan (or someone like her...LOL), not to make a larger point for your character or the show at large. All of the standard "warrior sex" cliches are applied. Guy swaggers into girl's matriarchy thinking he's hot shit. Girl demonstrates that she is a great fighter too. Guy finds this hot. Girl resists until guy bends girl over his knee (metaphorically) in combat. Girl is then putty in guy's hands. Oh...and some other plot involving combat is in there as an excuse.
Its.
Been.
DONE!
It just feels so...juvenile. Your character has more to offer than you gave him here, Chris! You're hilarious in person...you should have tried a comedy script for your first effort. It would probably have been more natural. And Teal'c makes a great straight man, as you know. *sigh* Oh well...they can't all be Peter Allan Fields or Renee Echevarria. There's some great material in the rest of seventh season, especially toward the end of the year, so this one gets a mulligan.
Writing: 4.0
Sophomoric and cliched, Judge's first writing effort falls flat for me, despite the relatively competent mastery of language and dialogue he displays.
Acting: 5.0
I'm not so sure Jeri Ryan - as hot as she is on Voyager (yes...I'm one of THOSE guys...sorry ladies!) - was a great casting choice here. They have no real chemistry (she and Judge) and Ryan appears to think the whole script is beneath her, because she looks awkward and uncomfortable the whole time. This could be a direction problem...Woeste might have told her to play up her own superiority to even out the power balance between them. But overall, it just doesn't feel like a typically well-executed Stargate episode.
Message: 4.5
Minor ding for the show glorifying lust and violence as a part of courtship and another minor ding for the faint whiff of Roddenbury style lipstick feminism (read all about that movement in "Female Chauvinist Pigs").
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Classics: SG1 7:9 - Avenger 2.0
Overall Rating: 8.2
While this episode lacks the gut-busting hilarity of "The Other Guys," the return of Jay Felger is still highly enjoyable for science fiction fanboys like me. :)
Plot Synopsis:
The Stargate Wiki comes to our rescue as usual.
The Skinny:
Felger, you awesomely pathetic little dork, you are SO meant for your fans. :) I say it in the nicest possible way, guys, so no getting annoyed at me, but - Gate fans are nerds. I'm one of 'em, I should know. The show's writers not only seem to think it's important to remember their audience and throw them a free Marty Stu every once in a while, but they seem to LOVE their nerdy fans. We get meta episodes to make fun of their universe, episodes entirely dedicated to glorifying the socially awkward nerdy folks who would, in reality, make the Stargate program work, and a huge taste of humility from the military personnel in the face of brilliance and good intentions. Even O'Neill - who frequently completes about the geeks he has to work with and says some harsh things in this episode - is seen to make peace with the nerd when he gets it right. The goofy sex dreams and the incredibly nerdy apartment and the bad aftershave and the inability to tie a tie...it's all awesome. :) BTW, his lab tech was HOT!
It's fluff...and I don't want to talk on and on about fluff, but it's FUN fluff, and that counts for a lot, as far as I'm concerned. Mainly, I like that the frequently unattainable-seeming Sam comes down off that statuary pedestal and goes to bat for our Marty Stu, defending his abilities despite not very much appreciating his constant tendency to break down under pressure. That will just make the whole audience like her even better than they already do, after all, many of us wish someone like her would have defended us when we were under fire for our social imperfections.
Writing: 8.5
For fluff, this grooves along nicely and has many of the features we've come to love in our Gate episodes.
Acting: 8.0
Patrick McKenna does a great job with his role as Felger. The rest are effective, but nothing really stands out...other than, perhaps, Don S. Davis. For a teddy bear like him to play pissed off so well was almost scary!
Message: 8.0
Rather than reacting to social awkwardness with exclusion and opprobrium, if we actually tried a little harder to reach out and teach and support these folks, we might find out that many of them are good people and capable allies.
While this episode lacks the gut-busting hilarity of "The Other Guys," the return of Jay Felger is still highly enjoyable for science fiction fanboys like me. :)
Plot Synopsis:
The Stargate Wiki comes to our rescue as usual.
The Skinny:
Felger, you awesomely pathetic little dork, you are SO meant for your fans. :) I say it in the nicest possible way, guys, so no getting annoyed at me, but - Gate fans are nerds. I'm one of 'em, I should know. The show's writers not only seem to think it's important to remember their audience and throw them a free Marty Stu every once in a while, but they seem to LOVE their nerdy fans. We get meta episodes to make fun of their universe, episodes entirely dedicated to glorifying the socially awkward nerdy folks who would, in reality, make the Stargate program work, and a huge taste of humility from the military personnel in the face of brilliance and good intentions. Even O'Neill - who frequently completes about the geeks he has to work with and says some harsh things in this episode - is seen to make peace with the nerd when he gets it right. The goofy sex dreams and the incredibly nerdy apartment and the bad aftershave and the inability to tie a tie...it's all awesome. :) BTW, his lab tech was HOT!
It's fluff...and I don't want to talk on and on about fluff, but it's FUN fluff, and that counts for a lot, as far as I'm concerned. Mainly, I like that the frequently unattainable-seeming Sam comes down off that statuary pedestal and goes to bat for our Marty Stu, defending his abilities despite not very much appreciating his constant tendency to break down under pressure. That will just make the whole audience like her even better than they already do, after all, many of us wish someone like her would have defended us when we were under fire for our social imperfections.
Writing: 8.5
For fluff, this grooves along nicely and has many of the features we've come to love in our Gate episodes.
Acting: 8.0
Patrick McKenna does a great job with his role as Felger. The rest are effective, but nothing really stands out...other than, perhaps, Don S. Davis. For a teddy bear like him to play pissed off so well was almost scary!
Message: 8.0
Rather than reacting to social awkwardness with exclusion and opprobrium, if we actually tried a little harder to reach out and teach and support these folks, we might find out that many of them are good people and capable allies.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Classics: SG1 7:8 - Space Race
Overall Rating: 6.3
High Marks for cornball humor and creative method of storytelling, but...this one didn't work as well as some of their other meta-humor episodes as the story wasn't particularly interesting.
Plot Synopsis:
The details can be found here, thanks to the Stargate Wiki.
The Skinny:
I like that we get to see Carter let her hair down a bit and have FUN for a change...albeit incredibly nerdy science dork fun...but still. :) And I like that the crew of the show took the time to have some fun of their own with the cooky news broadcasts and product placement ads and alien art backdrops and color commentary. That works for me on many levels. I'm not badmouthing this one, so no angry hate mail. :) This episode happens to be exceedingly popular in Gate fandom for the very reasons I just highlighted. I am just applying a bit of a break on the souped-up enthusiasm and calling attention to the fact that it's a sugar-rush for fun, not anything striking meaningful social commentary or delivering sparkling wit and dialogue or really focusing on the characters or advancing the running plot threads of the show. And, to be blunt, the premise for the plot seems like a cheap excuse to screw around and have fun. They must have pitched the race and the news commentary and the fun ads and such and gotten the green light rather than pitching a brilliant plot. That's OK...it just isn't feature fodder and there are inherent limits on how excited I can get over such things.
And...I must say...the interpersonal rivalries between the competitors were...just AWFUL. Way over the top and not in a funny way. It just seemed...bush league. Part of it might have been the mediocre guest actors...but I think the bigger problem was that they just dropped us into the middle of the story without any reason to give a flying crap about the people involved. This would be an example of how NOT to do a show about someone other than your main characters. The NEXT episode, on the other hand...well that will be an example of a well-used guest-character.
Writing: 7.5
I'll give them credit for stretching a bit beyond their normal method of storytelling, but a script like this has a cap score of 7.55 because the characters aren't important (which is uninteresting to me) and the plot is a little on the pointless side.
Acting: 5.5
Nothing stand-out or horrid with the acting...just professional caliber par from the regulars and some shaky performances from the guests.
Message: 6.0
Que?
High Marks for cornball humor and creative method of storytelling, but...this one didn't work as well as some of their other meta-humor episodes as the story wasn't particularly interesting.
Plot Synopsis:
The details can be found here, thanks to the Stargate Wiki.
The Skinny:
I like that we get to see Carter let her hair down a bit and have FUN for a change...albeit incredibly nerdy science dork fun...but still. :) And I like that the crew of the show took the time to have some fun of their own with the cooky news broadcasts and product placement ads and alien art backdrops and color commentary. That works for me on many levels. I'm not badmouthing this one, so no angry hate mail. :) This episode happens to be exceedingly popular in Gate fandom for the very reasons I just highlighted. I am just applying a bit of a break on the souped-up enthusiasm and calling attention to the fact that it's a sugar-rush for fun, not anything striking meaningful social commentary or delivering sparkling wit and dialogue or really focusing on the characters or advancing the running plot threads of the show. And, to be blunt, the premise for the plot seems like a cheap excuse to screw around and have fun. They must have pitched the race and the news commentary and the fun ads and such and gotten the green light rather than pitching a brilliant plot. That's OK...it just isn't feature fodder and there are inherent limits on how excited I can get over such things.
And...I must say...the interpersonal rivalries between the competitors were...just AWFUL. Way over the top and not in a funny way. It just seemed...bush league. Part of it might have been the mediocre guest actors...but I think the bigger problem was that they just dropped us into the middle of the story without any reason to give a flying crap about the people involved. This would be an example of how NOT to do a show about someone other than your main characters. The NEXT episode, on the other hand...well that will be an example of a well-used guest-character.
Writing: 7.5
I'll give them credit for stretching a bit beyond their normal method of storytelling, but a script like this has a cap score of 7.55 because the characters aren't important (which is uninteresting to me) and the plot is a little on the pointless side.
Acting: 5.5
Nothing stand-out or horrid with the acting...just professional caliber par from the regulars and some shaky performances from the guests.
Message: 6.0
Que?
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Classics: SG1 7:7 - Enemy Mine
Overall Rating 8.7
A feature episode marred only by the writing for one character - "evil colonel man!!"
Plot Synopsis:
The stirring details can be found here, courtesy of the Stargate Wiki.
The Skinny:
A combination of language barriers, the human instinct to mistrust anything radically different (an evolutionary advantage run amok in a world where differences evolve both culturally and physically), and a desperate need for resources - that about sums up the vast majority of nascent conflicts (that may eventually turn into long-running holy wars and the like as philosophies diverge and old wounds fail to heal) ever experienced in human history. No...religion doesn't cause war, silly atheist. It is only an excuse (one of many readily available ones) for the real problems. When cultures develop naturally and produce conflicting needs, there will frequently be conflict. Here we have a well-constructed plot centered on the Unas' need for territorial sovereignty and spiritual rights and our desperate need for a means to defend ourselves against the Goa'uld. We arrive desperately seeking a scarce resource, the Unas hide, we desecrate their sacred grounds, they send us a warning (killing a man to do so...but in their world, that's just a warning shot), we respond with force...and a conflict is born.
Now in any conflict, it is necessary to look for points of common ground, and we have a great one in this story. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. But we don't get to see a simple resolution because of another staple in nascent warfare. The cross-cultural miscommunication. It happens...it's no one's fault (and is portrayed as such, which is refreshing) and it calls out for the perpetrators to take responsibility for their mistakes (which we do, however reluctantly). I actually VERY MUCH like the way this whole plot is structured. The Pentagon guys are understandably twitchy to get juicy Naquadah, the military guys are understandably intimidated by the big scary Unas, and the Unas are understandably peeved at us for wrecking their homes and burial grounds after years of being slaves to the Goa'uld. No one is portrayed as a boor.
Except for the colonel in charge of the friggin' mining operation. Who is written like a cross between the title characters from Weird Al's song "Trigger Happy" and that stereotypical Army drill sergeant who appears in every Hollywood movie that involves a boot camp scene. Zero brain, zero patience, zero ability to resistance grabbing a gun and shooting it if it moves. If they'd just written him a little more humanely, this would have been a feature, no Q/A. As is...I still greatly enjoy the conclusion and Daniel's antics throughout the episode as he works with the Unas, and I think this is a fairer portrayal of military conflict than I've come to expect from science fiction, so I'll take what I can get.
Writing: 9.0
As noted...if they had a better character blueprint for Colonel Jackass, I'd have been happier. Otherwise, well done boys!
Acting: 8.0
The Unas bit parts were a little on the...um...maudlin side. But...it's hard to act with that much make-up on. The regular players were fine with the exception of RDA, who was rather phoning in his scenes this season as he grew tired of the rigors of shooting the show and was having his part downsized.
Message: 9.0
As many close to me have observed, we humans do have a tendency to strive so hard for the things we need to make our lives better that we stumble into situations we don't fully understand and pay the price in blood. That is the cost associated with our best quality - our tenacity and curiosity.
A feature episode marred only by the writing for one character - "evil colonel man!!"
Plot Synopsis:
The stirring details can be found here, courtesy of the Stargate Wiki.
The Skinny:
A combination of language barriers, the human instinct to mistrust anything radically different (an evolutionary advantage run amok in a world where differences evolve both culturally and physically), and a desperate need for resources - that about sums up the vast majority of nascent conflicts (that may eventually turn into long-running holy wars and the like as philosophies diverge and old wounds fail to heal) ever experienced in human history. No...religion doesn't cause war, silly atheist. It is only an excuse (one of many readily available ones) for the real problems. When cultures develop naturally and produce conflicting needs, there will frequently be conflict. Here we have a well-constructed plot centered on the Unas' need for territorial sovereignty and spiritual rights and our desperate need for a means to defend ourselves against the Goa'uld. We arrive desperately seeking a scarce resource, the Unas hide, we desecrate their sacred grounds, they send us a warning (killing a man to do so...but in their world, that's just a warning shot), we respond with force...and a conflict is born.
Now in any conflict, it is necessary to look for points of common ground, and we have a great one in this story. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. But we don't get to see a simple resolution because of another staple in nascent warfare. The cross-cultural miscommunication. It happens...it's no one's fault (and is portrayed as such, which is refreshing) and it calls out for the perpetrators to take responsibility for their mistakes (which we do, however reluctantly). I actually VERY MUCH like the way this whole plot is structured. The Pentagon guys are understandably twitchy to get juicy Naquadah, the military guys are understandably intimidated by the big scary Unas, and the Unas are understandably peeved at us for wrecking their homes and burial grounds after years of being slaves to the Goa'uld. No one is portrayed as a boor.
Except for the colonel in charge of the friggin' mining operation. Who is written like a cross between the title characters from Weird Al's song "Trigger Happy" and that stereotypical Army drill sergeant who appears in every Hollywood movie that involves a boot camp scene. Zero brain, zero patience, zero ability to resistance grabbing a gun and shooting it if it moves. If they'd just written him a little more humanely, this would have been a feature, no Q/A. As is...I still greatly enjoy the conclusion and Daniel's antics throughout the episode as he works with the Unas, and I think this is a fairer portrayal of military conflict than I've come to expect from science fiction, so I'll take what I can get.
Writing: 9.0
As noted...if they had a better character blueprint for Colonel Jackass, I'd have been happier. Otherwise, well done boys!
Acting: 8.0
The Unas bit parts were a little on the...um...maudlin side. But...it's hard to act with that much make-up on. The regular players were fine with the exception of RDA, who was rather phoning in his scenes this season as he grew tired of the rigors of shooting the show and was having his part downsized.
Message: 9.0
As many close to me have observed, we humans do have a tendency to strive so hard for the things we need to make our lives better that we stumble into situations we don't fully understand and pay the price in blood. That is the cost associated with our best quality - our tenacity and curiosity.
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