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annavereSince I've been watching this diligently in efforts to watch fewer shows at a time and finish them more quickly, and I've got a bunch of thoughts and am procrastinating on my current writing projects, SGA opinions, early season three.
First, season three has done a satisfying 180 in terms of giving the characters meaningful interactions that have moved beyond quippiness - it's still there, only it leads to more substance (either that or the characters are finally gelling in my brain). For instance, Ronon and McKay having an argument about what to do with their last minutes of life aboard a Wraith ship, or Sheppard awkwardly explaining to Teyla that the team is the only family he has, or Weir starting a board meeting by expressing relief that her presumed-dead teammates actually survived - in stark contrast to stuff like the volcano episode, which ended up using a third of its runtime to depict all the separated team members thinking each other dead with the following reunion scene being limited to a quick smile and a bunch of plot boilerplate. So this is dazzling improvement and I hope it continues.
Just up to 'The Real World,' which was a riff on the 'Normal Again' scenario, and which I completely adored. It also did more to sell me on Sheppard/Weir than any previous episode, with him risking infection to convince her to keep fighting and her chasing him through her dreams and facing down every authority figure getting in her way - it was damn romantic.
'Progeny' got into religious themes with the Replicators as Lucifer and his angels, rebelling against their creator and being jealous of the favored creation (humans) - with a sci fi twist because they're robots, and have no souls and thus (I would suspect) can never Ascend. Yet they're stuck craving a spiritual state they are barred from. Dang. Season three is a run of great episodes.
Before that, 'Sateda,' which gave me Firefly vibes, reminding me that this is only the second spacefaring show I have ever watched (barring childhood stuff like Star Wars). Got catching up to do. Written by the same guy who wrote Ronon's introductory episode and finally returning him to the limelight, giving Jason Momoa a chance to show off what he can do. Tragic, riveting flashbacks, Serenity Valley style, and ridiculously high-octane battle sequences, plus the whole Sheppard and Teyla scene already mentioned. Fun and emotional.
Okay, breaking up the run of successes, 'Irresistible' caused me to hit skip, after deciding it was not going to repay my time. Love spell disasters work best for me in accidental or high school settings, not with a bunch of military types. They leave their most skilled doctor behind with an obviously creepy dude and his cult. Repeat: Trained professionals with military backgrounds leave one of their most valuable teammates by himself with a bunch of strangers. FFS. Then he gets drugged, or whatever, and becomes another adoring cultist. At this point I declared it a non-canon Sheppard hallucination brought on by a raging headcold and decided I did not want to see that part where the various women of Atlantis start fawning over this creep. Maybe when I'm in a better mood, I'll go back and finish it.
That was the only speed bump to the season so far. The whole Michael plotline is pretty much a riff on Frankenstein's monster. The protagonists play God, create something new, reject said creation in horror, and it (I fully suspect) goes homicidal on everybody at first opportunity. Being possibly the only person who liked the Adam plotline over on Buffy (I thought it was a good opportunity wasted), stuff like Michael debating Teyla is solid entertainment. Him pointing out trust can't be betrayed when it was never there in the first place might be semantics, but still perfectly accurate - as is his argument that deliberately induced amnesia is as good as murder.
So really, they ought to have either gone through with an actual execution like Ronon wanted or taken a huge risk and released Michael as a wild card (given such types can and in Michael's case already did save their asses). Instead, they doubled down on mistakes already made and compounded the existing problem to a rather spectacular degree, while coming across as a bunch of ingrates. Nothing relating to their treatment of Michael can be called heroic or honorable. It's villain-tier mad science and treachery.
Of course, of the "build your own monster" plots I know best, the Atlantis team definitely have the best motives when compared to the Initiative trying to build a weapon or... the Dollhouse trying to turn a serial killer into a gigolo (no way that could go wrong, no sir). The Wraith are driving humans in the Pegasus Galaxy to the brink of extinction, and unlike vampires in the Buffyverse there is no half-measure allowing them to subsist on something other than human life. Would Buffy have spared Angel or Spike if they truly had no choice except killing people? Doubtful. In fact, Spike only survived because of mad science, because every cloud has a silver lining and whatnot.
Nothing like insanely high stakes to give the good guys feet of clay. Again, this makes me happy. Stories where fighting the good fight means screwing things up royally and making ethically dubious decisions are my jam (see Angel, 12 Monkeys). Heroes struggle and stumble and strive and sacrifice - they probably also do other things that don't begin with the letter S but that's what makes them heroic and what keeps me riveted.
Edit: It occurs to me this is why I find Doctor Who so uncompelling on average.
First, season three has done a satisfying 180 in terms of giving the characters meaningful interactions that have moved beyond quippiness - it's still there, only it leads to more substance (either that or the characters are finally gelling in my brain). For instance, Ronon and McKay having an argument about what to do with their last minutes of life aboard a Wraith ship, or Sheppard awkwardly explaining to Teyla that the team is the only family he has, or Weir starting a board meeting by expressing relief that her presumed-dead teammates actually survived - in stark contrast to stuff like the volcano episode, which ended up using a third of its runtime to depict all the separated team members thinking each other dead with the following reunion scene being limited to a quick smile and a bunch of plot boilerplate. So this is dazzling improvement and I hope it continues.
Just up to 'The Real World,' which was a riff on the 'Normal Again' scenario, and which I completely adored. It also did more to sell me on Sheppard/Weir than any previous episode, with him risking infection to convince her to keep fighting and her chasing him through her dreams and facing down every authority figure getting in her way - it was damn romantic.
'Progeny' got into religious themes with the Replicators as Lucifer and his angels, rebelling against their creator and being jealous of the favored creation (humans) - with a sci fi twist because they're robots, and have no souls and thus (I would suspect) can never Ascend. Yet they're stuck craving a spiritual state they are barred from. Dang. Season three is a run of great episodes.
Before that, 'Sateda,' which gave me Firefly vibes, reminding me that this is only the second spacefaring show I have ever watched (barring childhood stuff like Star Wars). Got catching up to do. Written by the same guy who wrote Ronon's introductory episode and finally returning him to the limelight, giving Jason Momoa a chance to show off what he can do. Tragic, riveting flashbacks, Serenity Valley style, and ridiculously high-octane battle sequences, plus the whole Sheppard and Teyla scene already mentioned. Fun and emotional.
Okay, breaking up the run of successes, 'Irresistible' caused me to hit skip, after deciding it was not going to repay my time. Love spell disasters work best for me in accidental or high school settings, not with a bunch of military types. They leave their most skilled doctor behind with an obviously creepy dude and his cult. Repeat: Trained professionals with military backgrounds leave one of their most valuable teammates by himself with a bunch of strangers. FFS. Then he gets drugged, or whatever, and becomes another adoring cultist. At this point I declared it a non-canon Sheppard hallucination brought on by a raging headcold and decided I did not want to see that part where the various women of Atlantis start fawning over this creep. Maybe when I'm in a better mood, I'll go back and finish it.
That was the only speed bump to the season so far. The whole Michael plotline is pretty much a riff on Frankenstein's monster. The protagonists play God, create something new, reject said creation in horror, and it (I fully suspect) goes homicidal on everybody at first opportunity. Being possibly the only person who liked the Adam plotline over on Buffy (I thought it was a good opportunity wasted), stuff like Michael debating Teyla is solid entertainment. Him pointing out trust can't be betrayed when it was never there in the first place might be semantics, but still perfectly accurate - as is his argument that deliberately induced amnesia is as good as murder.
So really, they ought to have either gone through with an actual execution like Ronon wanted or taken a huge risk and released Michael as a wild card (given such types can and in Michael's case already did save their asses). Instead, they doubled down on mistakes already made and compounded the existing problem to a rather spectacular degree, while coming across as a bunch of ingrates. Nothing relating to their treatment of Michael can be called heroic or honorable. It's villain-tier mad science and treachery.
Of course, of the "build your own monster" plots I know best, the Atlantis team definitely have the best motives when compared to the Initiative trying to build a weapon or... the Dollhouse trying to turn a serial killer into a gigolo (no way that could go wrong, no sir). The Wraith are driving humans in the Pegasus Galaxy to the brink of extinction, and unlike vampires in the Buffyverse there is no half-measure allowing them to subsist on something other than human life. Would Buffy have spared Angel or Spike if they truly had no choice except killing people? Doubtful. In fact, Spike only survived because of mad science, because every cloud has a silver lining and whatnot.
Nothing like insanely high stakes to give the good guys feet of clay. Again, this makes me happy. Stories where fighting the good fight means screwing things up royally and making ethically dubious decisions are my jam (see Angel, 12 Monkeys). Heroes struggle and stumble and strive and sacrifice - they probably also do other things that don't begin with the letter S but that's what makes them heroic and what keeps me riveted.
Edit: It occurs to me this is why I find Doctor Who so uncompelling on average.
