Mostly Stargate Atlantis
Nov. 6th, 2023 06:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annavereIt got the reprieve from Hulu, which is great because I totally enjoyed season one and look forward to the rest. Random thoughts following.
Despite watching it alongside Roswell, it is this show which comes closer to being properly Buffyesque in tone. Lots of humor and quips, lampshade hangings, pop culture references and self-awareness on the part of the characters. I find it constantly amusing, quite a mood pick-me-up. If the NCIS team fought aliens, this would be the likely result.
Characters are all completely entertaining, and allowed space for modest developments - McKay gets braver, Sheppard gets grimmer, Teyla gains psychic powers, and so on. I would kill for some proper emphasis on their relationships, which pretty much all boil down to "healthy respect for a colleague despite their irritating foibles," no matter which pair you pick. Upside is there's none of the passive-aggressive routines or tiresome feuds that can clutter other shows but downside is I do like a bit of drama and angst, and there's just none to be had on SGA. Everyone is scrupulously professional, and any harsh disagreements are quickly buried by important tasks to be done. The writers on this show clearly had zero interest in such things - a few pairings were teased early in the season and dropped without regard, and anything approaching rivalry or philosophical argument went nowhere. I don't think I've ever watched this many characters I like without finding a single ship to support, but I'm honestly drawing a blank.
On the other hand, the continuity is surprisingly consistent for an episodic program, with frequent callbacks to earlier incidents knitting the whole season together. In many ways it feels older than its 2004 date, but in this respect it makes me very pleased. In terms of individual stories, it's a kitchen sink of ideas I suspect are derivative, but since I haven't seen enough classic sci fi to draw direct comparisons, I mostly had a blast. Historical eras get randomly recreated, so they went to Amish world, Renaissance monk/Indiana Jones world and Edwardian science world while I cackled over the total lack of truly alien realms in the Pegasus Galaxy. Not a complaint. I also enjoyed the structure, giving every episode its own distinct face and requiring each story to stand on its own as a coherent hour of television as opposed to an eight hour film. Variety is the name of the game, and it pretty much all works.
I did have genuine frustration with the show's total disinterest in prestige conceptwork. This whole scenario is ripe with opportunities for ethical explorations and philosophical questions, and while they at least acknowledge this, they never dig any deeper. There's the obvious colonist theme, and the Atlantis crew's homesickness and newfound status as aliens themselves, and the resentment of the locals at their interference, and the ethics of said interference. There's the question of what happens to humanity's self-perception when they have existed as the food source for an apex predator for thousands of years (they even refer to Wraith attacks as "culling").
There's a completely missed opportunity to make the Wraith a smart enemy who provide for and cultivate their food supply (kind of an Eloi/Morlock situation), which would have left some groups of humans arguing in favor of the status quo, with all their needs provided for, and possibly not even knowing their benefactors are eating them on the side, which would make the Atlantis mission that much more difficult. Instead, the Wraith are idiots who have far outstripped their food source, which could make a dark mirror commentary on human resource depletion, but again, this isn't of any real interest to the writers. There are also single-shot questions, like an entire episode dedicated to the use of an experimental vaccine and rushed medical testing and violating the Geneva Convention by using it on an imprisoned Wraith. It's good stuff, all dressed up with nowhere to go.
But that's what fic is for, right? I'm very hopeful on that score.
Standout episodes: 'Letters from Pegasus,' where the many dead redshirts of the season are actually honored despite the fact that the audience would never have missed that section and also where the characters get to do things like miss home and confront their mortality. 'Before I Sleep,' which twists the standard "worst timeline" plot by revealing the worst timeline was the original one and elevating Elizabeth Weir to the ultimate hero of the entire story. Both written by Carl Binder, his only contributions to this season.
Worst episodes: 'Rising Part Two,' with its deeply terrible Wraith makeup. The unconvincing and new agey 'Sanctuary,' which made me very grateful they've mostly skipped overt romantic plotlines, because that... really didn't work.
Favorite characters: Elizabeth Weir, first and foremost. She didn't get enough to do, because of the emphasis on action plots, but I enjoyed her contributions throughout. Rodney McKay was an easy runner up. Beckett and Zelenka (mostly for having delightful Scottish and Czech accents with which to deliver their exposition). I could keep going, though. They're all charming. There is a sad lack of dark, jaded screw ups, for some reason (*eyes Sheppard hopefully*).
Would I buy the DVD? I'm leaning toward an eventual yes. It could always nosedive, but I'm fairly optimistic at present. Also this definitely makes me want to try SG-1 and Universe and the mere fact that I am enjoying this experience so much opens up a ton of major sci-fi shows I have thus far ignored because of the whole "tin can in a black void" setting queasiness issue which is decreasing in intensity.
Otherwise, after a break to let season one settle, we have kept going with Justified, and after a rocky pair of episodes serving up icky cases of the week involving an abducted fourteen year old and a pregnant woman, 'The I of the Storm' was just grand. Funny (Nick Searcy in particular has a real gift for comedy), abruptly scary (what with the car scene) and I could listen to Boyd talk all day long. Then Rachel got an episode of character focus - I expect one for Tim sometime soon.
However, aside from that as our evening show, the rest of my current attention is on Highlander as I slowly construct my assignment.
Despite watching it alongside Roswell, it is this show which comes closer to being properly Buffyesque in tone. Lots of humor and quips, lampshade hangings, pop culture references and self-awareness on the part of the characters. I find it constantly amusing, quite a mood pick-me-up. If the NCIS team fought aliens, this would be the likely result.
Characters are all completely entertaining, and allowed space for modest developments - McKay gets braver, Sheppard gets grimmer, Teyla gains psychic powers, and so on. I would kill for some proper emphasis on their relationships, which pretty much all boil down to "healthy respect for a colleague despite their irritating foibles," no matter which pair you pick. Upside is there's none of the passive-aggressive routines or tiresome feuds that can clutter other shows but downside is I do like a bit of drama and angst, and there's just none to be had on SGA. Everyone is scrupulously professional, and any harsh disagreements are quickly buried by important tasks to be done. The writers on this show clearly had zero interest in such things - a few pairings were teased early in the season and dropped without regard, and anything approaching rivalry or philosophical argument went nowhere. I don't think I've ever watched this many characters I like without finding a single ship to support, but I'm honestly drawing a blank.
On the other hand, the continuity is surprisingly consistent for an episodic program, with frequent callbacks to earlier incidents knitting the whole season together. In many ways it feels older than its 2004 date, but in this respect it makes me very pleased. In terms of individual stories, it's a kitchen sink of ideas I suspect are derivative, but since I haven't seen enough classic sci fi to draw direct comparisons, I mostly had a blast. Historical eras get randomly recreated, so they went to Amish world, Renaissance monk/Indiana Jones world and Edwardian science world while I cackled over the total lack of truly alien realms in the Pegasus Galaxy. Not a complaint. I also enjoyed the structure, giving every episode its own distinct face and requiring each story to stand on its own as a coherent hour of television as opposed to an eight hour film. Variety is the name of the game, and it pretty much all works.
I did have genuine frustration with the show's total disinterest in prestige conceptwork. This whole scenario is ripe with opportunities for ethical explorations and philosophical questions, and while they at least acknowledge this, they never dig any deeper. There's the obvious colonist theme, and the Atlantis crew's homesickness and newfound status as aliens themselves, and the resentment of the locals at their interference, and the ethics of said interference. There's the question of what happens to humanity's self-perception when they have existed as the food source for an apex predator for thousands of years (they even refer to Wraith attacks as "culling").
There's a completely missed opportunity to make the Wraith a smart enemy who provide for and cultivate their food supply (kind of an Eloi/Morlock situation), which would have left some groups of humans arguing in favor of the status quo, with all their needs provided for, and possibly not even knowing their benefactors are eating them on the side, which would make the Atlantis mission that much more difficult. Instead, the Wraith are idiots who have far outstripped their food source, which could make a dark mirror commentary on human resource depletion, but again, this isn't of any real interest to the writers. There are also single-shot questions, like an entire episode dedicated to the use of an experimental vaccine and rushed medical testing and violating the Geneva Convention by using it on an imprisoned Wraith. It's good stuff, all dressed up with nowhere to go.
But that's what fic is for, right? I'm very hopeful on that score.
Standout episodes: 'Letters from Pegasus,' where the many dead redshirts of the season are actually honored despite the fact that the audience would never have missed that section and also where the characters get to do things like miss home and confront their mortality. 'Before I Sleep,' which twists the standard "worst timeline" plot by revealing the worst timeline was the original one and elevating Elizabeth Weir to the ultimate hero of the entire story. Both written by Carl Binder, his only contributions to this season.
Worst episodes: 'Rising Part Two,' with its deeply terrible Wraith makeup. The unconvincing and new agey 'Sanctuary,' which made me very grateful they've mostly skipped overt romantic plotlines, because that... really didn't work.
Favorite characters: Elizabeth Weir, first and foremost. She didn't get enough to do, because of the emphasis on action plots, but I enjoyed her contributions throughout. Rodney McKay was an easy runner up. Beckett and Zelenka (mostly for having delightful Scottish and Czech accents with which to deliver their exposition). I could keep going, though. They're all charming. There is a sad lack of dark, jaded screw ups, for some reason (*eyes Sheppard hopefully*).
Would I buy the DVD? I'm leaning toward an eventual yes. It could always nosedive, but I'm fairly optimistic at present. Also this definitely makes me want to try SG-1 and Universe and the mere fact that I am enjoying this experience so much opens up a ton of major sci-fi shows I have thus far ignored because of the whole "tin can in a black void" setting queasiness issue which is decreasing in intensity.
Otherwise, after a break to let season one settle, we have kept going with Justified, and after a rocky pair of episodes serving up icky cases of the week involving an abducted fourteen year old and a pregnant woman, 'The I of the Storm' was just grand. Funny (Nick Searcy in particular has a real gift for comedy), abruptly scary (what with the car scene) and I could listen to Boyd talk all day long. Then Rachel got an episode of character focus - I expect one for Tim sometime soon.
However, aside from that as our evening show, the rest of my current attention is on Highlander as I slowly construct my assignment.
