thedeadlyhook: (SGA Ronon Dex by SFGlutegirl)
thedeadlyhook ([personal profile] thedeadlyhook) wrote2007-04-15 09:38 am
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Open the 'Gates!

Wow, nobody on my flist has anything to say about Friday's new Stargate episodes? I guess I'm the only one who hadn't seen them already in download, woe.

Stargate SG-1

• SG-1 made solid showing. Which is really more than I'd expected given the CG dragon they were saddled with, although that lamely animated beast actually prompted the funniest line of the episode ("perhaps 'Puff'?"). Baal was funny as usual, and I got waaaay more out of Adria once I realized that her outfit signaled "evil villain" to anyone familiar with Mortal Kombat. (This last happened because of one of our viewing guests, who doesn't normally watch Stargate, responded to "oh, she's the bad guy" with "well, DUH - look at what she's wearing.")

• In general, I'm feeling better about the overall Ori plotline now, having rewatched bits and pieces of the last season in SciFi's marathon showing, but it's still pretty clear that SG-1 is entering its victory lap. Which is fine - ten years is a long time for any show, and while this is hardly going to go down as the series' greatest season, in the long run, I think it's going to hold up well in the Stargate tradition of confronting "false gods." And I continue to be impressed by the way the characters have been allowed to "graduate," and move into new positions (this bodes well for later Stargate: Atlantis spoilers I've heard).

• Claudia Black really sold that scene with Vala all tearful and reluctant to leave Michael behind - I think it may be the first time on this show that Browder and Black have exchanged dialogue, and I wasn't mentally squeeing with Farscape nostalgia somewhere in the back of my mind.

Stargate: Atlantis

• Dude, it was just plain good! It's always hard to quantify the appeal of Richard Dean Anderson until you get an episode like this one, where Jack's reactions are so important. He adds SO much to the enjoyment.

• Finally, Rodney gets a plan that works! Nice to see him actually be a genius in a way that works on occasion.

• I'm generally just really enjoying SGA. It may still have its WTF days - next ep, I'm not even going to make guesses about - but that's kind of becoming part of the fun. I have no idea what to expect.

After the 'Gates, we made the mistake of hanging around to check out Painkiller Jane and... whoa, I haven't seen something that excreble in awhile. Even... shitty, one might say.

Painkiller Jane, or "Please, somebody, make it stop"

• Our viewing audience started playing Mystery Science Theater with the episode about 10 mintues in, when DEA agent Jane pulls out a gun on the dance floor of a crowded nightclub (!!) and starts opening fire at - gasp! - drug dealers! At a nightclub!!! Gee, how DO these writers get their ideas?

• It's a very green show. Someone has watched The Matrix again and again. Because it's better than Cats.

• The dialogue. OMG, the dialogue. Yes, bad writers can still find work. I find that kind of heartening, in a way.

• Did you know that Painkiller Jane was based on a comic? I didn't either, and I haven't read it, but one of our viewing guests had. It's about - go figure! - a girl who feels no pain. Although the TV series eliminates this and substitutes fast-healing powers instead, like Wolverine in the X-Men, or Claire in Heroes, so she does feel pain, which makes her name kind of, uh, meaningless. (I shan't delve deeply into the observation that it was apparently a nickname given to her by her father, which has a whole other connotation without it being her actual power, similar to the ewwww moment in Octopussy when Maud Adams says "Octopussy was my father's nickname for me." Yick.)

• In the fine old tradition of Natasha Henstridge, who made a great emotionless monster in Species, but when asked to carry a movie in Ghost of Mars proved that, uh, emotionless kind of was her best casting niche, Kristanna Lokken may have made a great robot in Terminator 3, but playing a believeable human is unfortunately out of her range. Sigh.

Start the betting pool on this one's cancellation now.

On a totally different, unrelated note, I've been thinking a lot about concrit, which I'll put off to the next post. There will be a poll!

[identity profile] danceswithwords.livejournal.com 2007-04-15 08:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Claudia Black really sold that scene with Vala all tearful and reluctant to leave Michael behind

I just adored that conversation between Vala and Mitchell where Mitchell tells her the hardest part is watching your friends risk their lives, not the least because I think 50% of it was Mitchell psyching himself up for what he knew he had to do. Finally, Mitchell has someone newer than him to bounce off of.

Start the betting pool on this one's cancellation now.

I don't know if I'd be betting so much as hoping and cheering.

[identity profile] thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com 2007-04-15 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
The rewatch marathon really was enlightening - I found myself liking the Mitchell character more than I had the first time around, because I was finally starting to see him as Not!Crichton. So that probably put me in a much better place to appreciate his speech, and to see him as part of SG-1 instead of just "the new guy." And Vala was just so bouncy for much of that ep - I loved the way she just ran out to try on her theory about the dragon.

I don't know if I'd be betting so much as hoping and cheering.

Oh, yes. But then SciFi's logic is such a mysterious creature - things come and go based on god only knows what. This one, though, is so damn bad I can't see it lasting long no matter how hot someone in the front office thinks Loken is. Damn, that was just embarrassing.

[identity profile] tesla321.livejournal.com 2007-04-15 10:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh! Well, first I don't watch the second one. And the original, I tend to regard it as a lot of pain I have to sit through in order to see Ben Browder and Claudia Black..

[identity profile] thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com 2007-04-15 10:54 pm (UTC)(link)
It took me awhile to warm up to the whole Stargate franchise, because frankly the movie had put me to sleep, and the TV series was so long-running by the time I'd even thought of trying that there was so much backstory to catch up to, but given all that, I actually found I liked the early seasons of SG-1 a lot, and am really enjoying Atlantis. I'm not sure why, because it always seems to give off this scent of utter half-baked-ness, but I think now that's part of the charm. The characters always seem just a little shy of being fully fleshed out, which I guess might explain a lot about why fanfic is so popular in the 'verse. There's tons that needs explaining.

[identity profile] tesla321.livejournal.com 2007-04-15 11:06 pm (UTC)(link)
I can only refer you to [livejournal.com profile] starlet2367 who is a SG-1 fan and who laughed and laughed when I had to get up to date on it all so I could understand what Mitchell was doing.

[identity profile] asta77.livejournal.com 2007-04-16 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
but one of our viewing guests had. It's about - go figure! - a girl who feels no pain. Although the TV series eliminates this and substitutes fast-healing powers instead, like Wolverine in the X-Men, or Claire in Heroes, so she does feel pain, which makes her name kind of, uh, meaningless.

Even with the endless exposition I was at a loss as to what was going on and what the show was trying to be about. And I asked [livejournal.com profile] danceswithords half way through when the "Painkiller" part was going to be introduced/explained. It's kind of pivital as part of the title. I guess with all the changes they made they forgot about that little detail.

The most amusing part of SG1 for me was Cam going with Vala's suggestion to name the dragon Daryl and the big grin she wore after hearing that. I also loved Cam's speech to her about the hardest part of being part of the team is watching your friends suffer and risk their lives.

I really love having Jack and his snark back. Though he was a wee bit harsh with Beckett. And am most impressed RDA did that underwater sequence.

[identity profile] thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com 2007-04-19 06:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Everyone's so mean to Beckett! It's enough to make me feel sort of protective of the guy, and he used to annoy me because I couldn't keep him and the other scientist-with-an-accent straight. Now, I just feel sorry for him, poor Beckett.

I also loved Cam's speech to her about the hardest part of being part of the team is watching your friends suffer and risk their lives.

That was such a great scene. I was really in the moment for that one, and it totally surprised me, because most of the ep was kind of light and jokey.

I can barely believe that SciFi is still giving Painkiller Jane a full promotional effort - the episode they're pimping for this week looks terrible. Not that that's a huge surprise after last week...

[identity profile] pukajen.livejournal.com 2007-04-18 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
I thought I was the only one on my fl who hadn't downloaded the last half of the final season.

poor Daniel!

[identity profile] thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com 2007-04-19 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
You said it! There really is something on that show about knowledge being both absolutely necessary and terribly, terribly dangerous, isn't there?