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 kradical | |
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What follows is not only a review of "Unending" (the tenth-season and series finale for SG1) and "First Strike" (the third-season finale for Atlantis), but also thoughts on the fourth season of Atlantis. One of the big conundrums that likely faced the producers of Stargate SG1 was that they'd already done the perfect series finale: "Moebius" at the end of the eighth season. But Sci-Fi wanted another season, so they retooled the show with some new characters (Mitchell, Vala, Landry) and a new threat (the Ori) and went on. Luckily, they were spared having to do a true ending ending. SG1's going to continue in at least two straight-to-DVD movies ( The Ark of Truth and Continuum), so it's not like they had to bring about closure or anything. Ultimately, what made the show entertaining was the relationships among the characters. So they chose to end the regular run of the show with an episode that focuses entirely on the characters, stranding them in a time dilation field for 50 years before Carter finally pulls a rabbit out of her hat. I'm disappointed in the reset-button nature of it all, but aside from that, it was a really nice, quiet episode that showcased this wonderful cast at their best, from Carter's heartfelt goodbye to Thor to Landry's deathbed scene to Carter playing the cello to Walter getting to set the chevrons one last time. But the whole episode was worth it for Daniel and Vala. Back in the eighth season's "Prometheus Unbound" -- one of the bright spots of an overall mediocre season -- Claudia Black's mischievous Vala Mal Doran was introduced, and the chemistry between her and Shanks was so fine that you could put a match between the two of them and it would light instantly. Vala has been the life of the past two seasons, lighting up the screen every time she provides one of her trademark grins under those adorable ponytails. The scene between her and Daniel that ends with the kiss and "You'd better not be messin' with me" is one of the greatest scenes in the entire ten-year run of the show. In many ways, the character of Dr. Daniel Jackson has been the heart and soul of the Stargate storyline going back to the Devlin/Emmerich movie. Here, his emotional arc comes full circle from losing Sha're in "Children of the Gods" to losing her in "Forever in a Day" to dying and ascending in "Meridian" to his return in "Fallen" to his meeting with Vala in "Prometheus Unbound" to watching her die in "Avalon Part 2" and, at last, to this. It's a tour de force for Shanks, who lays Daniel's entire emotional upheavals bare for all to see. And it ends with the kiss we've all been waiting for for two and a half years.... *chuckle* As for "First Strike," it's tense and suspenseful where "Unending" was quiet and elegaic. It focused on Atlantis's strengths, which is with McKay and Zelenka pulling scientific rabbits out of their hats. I like the fact that Weir was right in disagreeing with Colonel Ellis (who was well played by Michael Beach, though I miss Mitch Pileggi), as the strike on the replicators resulted in disaster. Of note also is Jewel Staite, who plays Dr. Keller with her usual charm. I was stunned when we got to the end and I realized that she was only actually in two scenes, but I got a really good idea of the character from just those two bits. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her. As for the fourth season of Atlantis, I'm, frankly, completely displeased with the decision to reduce Weir's role, because it comes about due to the writers' appalling inability to write properly the character they created. Weir was established on SG1 as a diplomat and leader, and when they put her on Atlantis, they gave her entirely the wrong role. She should've been Daniel Jackson -- instead, they made her General Hammond/O'Neill/Landry. That's entirely the wrong role for her, and it's telling that she shone most when she was allowed to be the character they created instead of being Generic Leader Person. Having said that, if we have to replace Weir, I think Carter's a good choice. She has experience with both military and scientific situations, can ride herd on the Sheppards, Lornes, and Ronons of the base as well as the McKays, Zelenkas, and Kellers. Plus, any time you put Amanda Tapping and David Hewlett in a room together, wonderfulness is likely to ensue. Having said that, I still think the show would've been better served keeping Weir and writing her properly instead of writing her out because they themselves failed to do right by her. Current Mood:  thoughtful
Current Music: "Bitterblue" by Cat Stevens
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| From: mt_yvr |
Date:
June 27th, 2007 10:42 pm (UTC)
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I'm glad you explained about SG1 as the husband and I were reeeeally miffed by the "ending". Not being an ending, as you describe it, makes sense. But otherwise, wow... let down.
I was beginning to get really unhappy with the scene with Daniel and Vala, but the turn around was brilliant. Suddenly Daniel's righeous indignation had a reason and there was something other than anger and contempt. Brilliant.
And really, I'm glad he finally fell in love again. About damned time, the goof.
I'm curious though. In The Body from Buffy, the scene with whatshername... the demon cum human cum demon who keeps asking and asking and asking about Buffy's mom, then turns it around into genuine, soul destroying confusion over why her friend was lost... I felt a kind of circular bait and switch there that resonated with Daniel and Vala's moment. Or was that just me?
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And it ends with the kiss we've all been waiting for for two and a half years....
I'm definitely not in that "all" category. I love Claudia Black, but for me her character just didn't fit the show, at least not in a regular role. Vala would have been a great foil for the team as a recurring character to tweak the status quo as a rogue, but as a regular I felt it got old really fast. I just couldn't buy a character in ponytails and shiny barettes out in the field acting like she did being accepted not only by the SGC but SG-1 itself.
That confrontation scene was awful to watch, even though the actors did fine with it from a tecnical standpoint, mainly because the timing was all wrong. Daniel should have blown his top a long time ago at Vala, so they could have moved past it to be teammates and friends (I don't like intra-team ship at all, because IMO it ruins the dynamics).
I can imagine three months cooped up with Vala trying to be entertained would try the patience of a saint, and the blowup was understandable from that POV, but Vala crying just didn't work for me. I was waiting for her to kick him in the nuts for being such a bastard, because he kinda deserved it, and Daniel's always been my favorite character.
I'd much rather she snipe back at him, then allow some time for them to work past it. Three months was OK for the blowup, but was much too quick for them to fall into bed together. I know time was limited, so we wouldn't have had to see it play out in detail, but I really feel more time should have passed.
Plus, any time you put Amanda Tapping and David Hewlett in a room together, wonderfulness is likely to ensue.
Unfortunately, I think the writers are going to play that up too much for my tastes. I love Hewlett's work in everything I've seen, including the character of McKay, but the writers have a tendency to reset him back to an early version for a laugh, especially if someone on SG-1 is around. Sam's always been TPTB's golden girl, so I figure now that she's Rodney's boss, it'll be even worse.
I do agree with you that Weir was put into the wrong role right from the start, and trying to make her into a Hammond character while having her as a regular just wasn't going to work. Instead of fixing that issue, they're tossing the character and bringing in Sam. And of course Sam will be going out into the field at times, which they rarely had Weir do. I often said it looked like poor Weir was the schoolmarm at a school for wayward scientists and soldiers. *g*
At this point, I'm not planning on watching season four. Didn't even finish with season three after I heard about the cast changes. Just lost the spark for me, especially when two of the writers/producers whose work I like least are now in charge of the show. I might change my mind after hearing feedback from others though, or wait for the DVDs.
Sorry to be all crankypants, but I was very disappointed with the SG-1 finale and I'm not thrilled with the direction the movies seem to be taking. The only thing they truly did right in the finale was having the team departing through the gate on just another mission... as it should be.
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I loved the scene where Daniel blows up at Vala, right until I realized he was going to kiss her. That just felt wrong. And now that I think about it, she probably was deliberately manipulating him, and he never caught on.
Oh, god, the Reset Button. As soon as they set up that time distortion field, I knew a Star Trek-style reset button was coming. Yes, it was great having a character episode, but magically fixing everything by the end of the episode just doesn't feel like Stargate. It feels like... Trek. Don't get me wrong, I love Trek, but it just didn't belong here.
I adore Jewel, but I still hate the fact that they got rid of Beckett so they could bring her in. Why did they write Beckett out, anyway? *grumble*
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From: nialla42 |
Date:
June 28th, 2007 02:46 pm (UTC)
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Re: Weir and women
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Even though they replaced the actress when they put her in the Atlantis (Granted the blonde was a bad actress) she lost her personality.
The original is actually a very good actress, it was just a crappy role and never got much better even with a change of writer, because it wasn't written properly.
Of course this stems from a problem the writers of this show has, unless you have a fantastic actress (Tapping or Black) the writers tend not know how to write the charactor. It's like due to the overies, the writers can't give them a personality.
Actually, I don't think Tapping and Black fare all that well with this set of TPTB either. They focus too much on the ovaries and think that means female characters have to have a romance or else they don't have any other purpose in the story. I'd really like to see a female character written just as a character who just happens to be female.
Lt. Ford had great chemistry with Shepperd (And not in a gay way, either.) He had the portentail to be the heart of the show, however, the writers disided to replace him with "Mr. I will intemidate you with my eyebrows" Who finally started clicking on camera with the cast part way threw season 3.
There was actually more than just a writing decision, there were issues with the actor from various reports I've heard. I'm still not completely sold on Ronon -- half the time I can't understand what he says. I can't tell if it's just his mumbling or my tinnitus means I can't pick up his range, but it's probably a combo of the two.
Let it be known that I only watch atlantis because of McKay.
Ditto.
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Dear Lord, Torri was in Raven? *checks IMDB* God, she was in the first episode? I have no recollection of this. *shakes head*
It would be funny if she wound up on Heroes. The Stargate franchise has become the wayward home for out-of-work genre actors (Browder, Black, Pileggi, Trinneer, Blalock, Picardo, Doig, Staite, Baccarin, etc.), but where do they go when they're no longer on Stargate? *laughs*
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From: efromme |
Date:
June 28th, 2007 06:51 pm (UTC)
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I think it's pretty funny that SG-1 managed to do more in 30 minutes than Voyager managed to in 7 years. The feelings of desperation, the claustrophoibia of being pinned inside the same walls, around the same faces. The loss, the growth, to the outright disgust of their situation. It was pulled off very well. I also don't know if I really care about the 'reset' button at the end of the episode just because not ALL of the characters walked away unchanged. Teal'c is very much a different person now - or should be - for his experiences. He should know all of those characters in ways he never could have before. Unfortunately, we'll never really get to see that dynamic played up more.
SG-1 benefits more than Atlantis in the characters because the smaller cast allowed them more focus on each character and to explore the relationships better. That and I think the actors are - on the whole - much more competent than Atlantis's crew. That may stem from having to prove more from when they started to what Atlantis had too at the start, and from having a little more of a diverse feeling to the crew.
Teal'c never really assimilated into the team until S8 or 9. He always carried his Staff Weapon and his body language was different, more stiff and uncomfortable in our environment. Teyla assimilated into Atlantis WAY too quick and essentially lost her identity just as quick (she carried their P90's, dressed in their uniforms). I think everything they wanted Teyla to be is what Ronon Dex is NOW...they just had to create Ronon Dex to get that and in effect made Teyla even MORE useless. So I think the lack of a real alien presence hurts the team more than helps.
SG-1 also benefited more from the sense of wonder and adventure by having to BUILD a universe. Their early episodes helped tremendously by their simple premise of going from world to world. If one world worked they could bring it back up, or tie it into something later. If another world didn't work then you can forget about it and move on.
Atlantis started out continuing from SG-1 and I don't think it really seperated its identity from that. They started off with the Wraith way too quickly. The Goa'uld - yes - were intro'd quick but they were also different in themselves. System Lords that bickered amongst themselves, had different flare. The Wraith have ONE guy playing 3 or 4 different Wraith so they have no real identity. The Goa'uld also had a MYTH to them. Something to help PLAY to the character they were using. The Wraith do have a myth, but it was established at the same moment. If they built the Wraith myth up first, then in an episode later do what they did I think it would have succeeded more in giving the show a real foil.
The Genii - to me - were more of a real villain than the Wraith. They plotted and schemed. The Wraith just eat. So I don't think Atlantis's enemy groups are as interesting or as lethal as SG-1 had and SG-1 forged themselves with their enemies.
Atlantis is also suffering from the TOS syndrome where only 3 characters are developed and the rest get scraps - I feel. McKay is your cornerstone. Weir, the doctors, Teyla are plot points as opposed to real people in a lot of uses since they're there to do something.
Otherwise I gotta stop before I forget I'm at work.
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