Stargate ramblings
Feb. 10th, 2006 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ivyficEven though I know no one on my f-list watches Stargate...
Stargate:SG-1
Off the Grid
This week on Stargate, they obviously got my memo about putting Daniel in slutty bondage makeup. And if that wasn't enough, that was some of the worst injury makeup I've ever seen. I looked at the row of them after they were tortured for two days, and they all have matching little streaks of blood on their cheek. Blood which came from injuries that didn't leave cuts or bruises, judging by the rest of the episode.
This was also another perfect example of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
darkling1's snipe about the "48 hours earlier" device. In this case, it was only eight hours and foreshadowed events in the first act. Events which unfolded exactly the same way in the first act, shot for shot, ten minutes after we just watched them. And if that wasn't bad enough, they completely skipped over the rescue of Cameron, which would have been funny if the skipping didn't lead directly into the bit we saw in the teaser. I haven't seen such blatant reuse of footage since "Hercules and the Amazon Women."
Besides the fact that I think opening with the briefing about an SG3 member becoming addicted to popcorn would have been perfectly fine.
A few more plot holes: what's with all the Ba'al clones? They didn't do anything. Why was he stealing Stargates? How could they gate out through a Stargate stacked in a hold? Wouldn't the ka-woosh - I don't know - vaporize the hull? And if they do one more they-were-on-a-ship-that-blew-up-no-they-gated-off I'm going to scream.
They blew up the Prometheus last week and this week - oh look! They have a brand new one! With the same set! It's the Odyssey. That's right. The Odyssey. No Prometheus here. Nope. Maybe it's just me, but if you're going to go and get rid of a major plot device like that in an episode, you can't have a new one the next week. You have to suffer the consequences! And what was with them all having tracking implants now? Nobody thought of that before?
Oh - and why does the fat character have to always have frosting around his mouth? Why does he have to be a gluttounous pig who can be bribed with cupcakes? Cheap! Cheap! This whole episode was cheap! I feel so used.
We have reached the point in the show where Cameron can apologize to Daniel for getting them kidnapped, tortured and potentially executed and Daniel just rolls his eyes and says, "It happens all the time." Funny, but way to suck all the drama out of the show. The thrill is definitely gone.
Before you ask me why I still watch this, see above: Slutty. Bondage. Daniel.
Stargate: Atlantis
The Long Goodbye
This week on Atlantis, the entire cast got hit with the stupid stick. Or, I've read this fic. Really, I have. AR-1 comes across stasis pods that imprint the consciousness of a husband and wife on two of the expedition team. Of course, in the fic it was Sheppard and McKay and they didn't end up trying to kill each other. They ended up the other way. Yeah.
Seriously, though - the triumph of love? The fuck??? Your commander gets taken over by an unknown alien entity and all she needs to do is coo about love and Sheppard just volunteers to be possessed by an alien? Nevermind the fact that, even if it was completely on the up-and-up, Dr. Wier just asked Sheppard to let her use his body for a pity fuck! And nobody had a problem with this? Clearly this is an example of the writers spending so much time on where they wanted the story to go that they completely ignored trying to come up with a valid plot reason for it to get there.
This is another example of Atlantis having an episode that rested on key character issues and ditching those issues in favor of explosions. In this case you have Caldwell at the center - a character who was possessed by a Goa'uld and then tortured at the hands of Wier and Sheppard. He says it's fine, but clearly, he's not. Now he's in charge where the situation is reversed - Wier and Sheppard are possessed and he contemplates the use of violence against them. But instead of exploring the dark places that conflict can go, they obfuscate with shippy double-speak.
They also brought up the chain-of-command issue and the specter of Rodney in charge - something that has been addressed quite well in fic. But instead of digging into that, Rodney quickly subsides to fix-it man. Sheesh. And I don't care what Sheppard says he said, Caldwell did a shitty job handling the situation.
To top it off, Tori Higginson was abominable as a villain. Terrible. Terrible. Didn't buy her beating up people. Didn't buy her being an action hero. And those monologues! Gag me! Could they give these characters any less motivation?
On the plus side, woobie!Ronon! And did you see the look on McKay's face when possessed!Sheppard confessed his love for Teyla? Priceless!
Stargate:SG-1
Off the Grid
This week on Stargate, they obviously got my memo about putting Daniel in slutty bondage makeup. And if that wasn't enough, that was some of the worst injury makeup I've ever seen. I looked at the row of them after they were tortured for two days, and they all have matching little streaks of blood on their cheek. Blood which came from injuries that didn't leave cuts or bruises, judging by the rest of the episode.
This was also another perfect example of
darkling1's snipe about the "48 hours earlier" device. In this case, it was only eight hours and foreshadowed events in the first act. Events which unfolded exactly the same way in the first act, shot for shot, ten minutes after we just watched them. And if that wasn't bad enough, they completely skipped over the rescue of Cameron, which would have been funny if the skipping didn't lead directly into the bit we saw in the teaser. I haven't seen such blatant reuse of footage since "Hercules and the Amazon Women."Besides the fact that I think opening with the briefing about an SG3 member becoming addicted to popcorn would have been perfectly fine.
A few more plot holes: what's with all the Ba'al clones? They didn't do anything. Why was he stealing Stargates? How could they gate out through a Stargate stacked in a hold? Wouldn't the ka-woosh - I don't know - vaporize the hull? And if they do one more they-were-on-a-ship-that-blew-up-no-they-gated-off I'm going to scream.
They blew up the Prometheus last week and this week - oh look! They have a brand new one! With the same set! It's the Odyssey. That's right. The Odyssey. No Prometheus here. Nope. Maybe it's just me, but if you're going to go and get rid of a major plot device like that in an episode, you can't have a new one the next week. You have to suffer the consequences! And what was with them all having tracking implants now? Nobody thought of that before?
Oh - and why does the fat character have to always have frosting around his mouth? Why does he have to be a gluttounous pig who can be bribed with cupcakes? Cheap! Cheap! This whole episode was cheap! I feel so used.
We have reached the point in the show where Cameron can apologize to Daniel for getting them kidnapped, tortured and potentially executed and Daniel just rolls his eyes and says, "It happens all the time." Funny, but way to suck all the drama out of the show. The thrill is definitely gone.
Before you ask me why I still watch this, see above: Slutty. Bondage. Daniel.
Stargate: Atlantis
The Long Goodbye
This week on Atlantis, the entire cast got hit with the stupid stick. Or, I've read this fic. Really, I have. AR-1 comes across stasis pods that imprint the consciousness of a husband and wife on two of the expedition team. Of course, in the fic it was Sheppard and McKay and they didn't end up trying to kill each other. They ended up the other way. Yeah.
Seriously, though - the triumph of love? The fuck??? Your commander gets taken over by an unknown alien entity and all she needs to do is coo about love and Sheppard just volunteers to be possessed by an alien? Nevermind the fact that, even if it was completely on the up-and-up, Dr. Wier just asked Sheppard to let her use his body for a pity fuck! And nobody had a problem with this? Clearly this is an example of the writers spending so much time on where they wanted the story to go that they completely ignored trying to come up with a valid plot reason for it to get there.
This is another example of Atlantis having an episode that rested on key character issues and ditching those issues in favor of explosions. In this case you have Caldwell at the center - a character who was possessed by a Goa'uld and then tortured at the hands of Wier and Sheppard. He says it's fine, but clearly, he's not. Now he's in charge where the situation is reversed - Wier and Sheppard are possessed and he contemplates the use of violence against them. But instead of exploring the dark places that conflict can go, they obfuscate with shippy double-speak.
They also brought up the chain-of-command issue and the specter of Rodney in charge - something that has been addressed quite well in fic. But instead of digging into that, Rodney quickly subsides to fix-it man. Sheesh. And I don't care what Sheppard says he said, Caldwell did a shitty job handling the situation.
To top it off, Tori Higginson was abominable as a villain. Terrible. Terrible. Didn't buy her beating up people. Didn't buy her being an action hero. And those monologues! Gag me! Could they give these characters any less motivation?
On the plus side, woobie!Ronon! And did you see the look on McKay's face when possessed!Sheppard confessed his love for Teyla? Priceless!