SPN and SGU reviews: SPOILERS
Oct. 11th, 2009 08:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunabee34Air pt 3
1. I love that Jack O'Neill has done six impossible things before breakfast for so many years that it doesn't even occur to him that the newest crew of the Destiny might not survive. Part of that is the character's flippancy, his penchant for understatement, and part of it is a morale building exercise. But underneath I think is a real, "WTF, people. Don't tell me you can't. Go do."
2. I continue to really like Eli. He's funny and self-deprecating and brave but he doesn't know everything. He's not perfect. He trusts a little too willingly, for one. I don't necessarily know where all his faith in Rush comes from, but for whatever reason, he doesn't seem to see the Profound Skeeviness of Dr. Rush in as blatant relief as I do. LOL
I particularly like the whole set of conflicts that revolves around letting Eli go on the away mission. Young is practical and pragmatic and he knows that they are quite possibly looking at spending the rest of their lives in an extreme survival situation. If that's true, everybody has to pull his or her own weight. Nobody gets a free ride or an easy out. But Scott isn't wrong when he says that Eli (and probably the other scientists that go with him in his group) are slowing down their search. I love that in the conversation Eli and Scott have, Eli is both defensive and completely aware that Scott is right and while Scott probably hurts Eli's feelings, he's also not a dick about it and he doesn't dismiss Eli's concerns about splitting up as invalid.
3. Josh mentioned that he really liked that the science in this episode seemed more "real" than it does most of the time in the Gateverse. There was no reversal of shield polarity or tachyons of any kind--just some old fashioned litmus testing.
4. I continue to really like Johansen and am dying to know what went on between her and Young. I have the feeling it will be juicy and Epically Tragic!
5. I was a little less enamoured of the scenes with Chloe saying goodbye to her mom, but I really like the idea of the stones as a way of allowing the crew to say goodbye to loved ones--think of all the angst! Think of all the character backstory and development we can get from that!
6. Greer's character intrigues me. He's such a study in contrasts. He is clearly a little unhinged, prone to violence, but there's also this weird playfulness to the violence at times. Rush makes him very angry and with reason. Although he says that they couldn't have dialed Earth because the risk of blowing up the planet through the Gate was too high (which I can buy actually; I think that's also why everybody came through the Stargate at such force onto Destiny; the Gate was souped up with energy from the planet's core and literally hurling everyone through), he could have sent them elsewhere in the Milky Way. So, I find it fascinating that when Rush tells him to, Greer shoots. I also love that Greer will not give up on Scott.
7. Scott's character really interests me too. They've given him such an intriguing backstory. Parents died when he was four, raised by a priest who later drinks himself to death when he's 16. Scott has been headed for the priesthood when he gets a girl pregnant who has an abortion. It's not clear whether the priest's drinking problem is a direct result of this situation, but it's certainly implied. So here we have a guy who as a kid made a mistake that made him feel so guilty and unworthy that the lost his faith or maybe can simply take no comfort in it any longer. I don't know. It's not quite clear, but I like the way his character is developing. It also makes the moment in the pilot where he comforts Chloe that much more poignant; he's clearly an emotionally sensitive and attenuated person who probably would have made a very good priest had he stayed with that path.
8. What happened to those three scientists? I hope we find out in the next episode. When the new team shows up on the planet to try their luck, they give Eli a kino. I assumed he was going to dial the planet they'd gone to and transmit intel back to Destiny. I hope he did because I'm so curious. If not, there's always the chance that they survived and will show up again one day. They have a kino with them so they could use it to check out the situation before they Gated anywhere; well, at least once anyway. LOL
9. I don't like the song they used at the end. SGA and SG1 only used music music twice and that was the Stones and CCR, respectively. Kinda awesome and used to wonderful effect. Not so much with this "Breathe" song. I really hope that is not going to be a trend.
I think my response to SPN can be summed up in a couple of sentences that don't even require a cut-tag. Ahem. Yay! Yay! Yay! And also, Soon looks amazing. Is it Soon yet? LOL
1. I love that Jack O'Neill has done six impossible things before breakfast for so many years that it doesn't even occur to him that the newest crew of the Destiny might not survive. Part of that is the character's flippancy, his penchant for understatement, and part of it is a morale building exercise. But underneath I think is a real, "WTF, people. Don't tell me you can't. Go do."
2. I continue to really like Eli. He's funny and self-deprecating and brave but he doesn't know everything. He's not perfect. He trusts a little too willingly, for one. I don't necessarily know where all his faith in Rush comes from, but for whatever reason, he doesn't seem to see the Profound Skeeviness of Dr. Rush in as blatant relief as I do. LOL
I particularly like the whole set of conflicts that revolves around letting Eli go on the away mission. Young is practical and pragmatic and he knows that they are quite possibly looking at spending the rest of their lives in an extreme survival situation. If that's true, everybody has to pull his or her own weight. Nobody gets a free ride or an easy out. But Scott isn't wrong when he says that Eli (and probably the other scientists that go with him in his group) are slowing down their search. I love that in the conversation Eli and Scott have, Eli is both defensive and completely aware that Scott is right and while Scott probably hurts Eli's feelings, he's also not a dick about it and he doesn't dismiss Eli's concerns about splitting up as invalid.
3. Josh mentioned that he really liked that the science in this episode seemed more "real" than it does most of the time in the Gateverse. There was no reversal of shield polarity or tachyons of any kind--just some old fashioned litmus testing.
4. I continue to really like Johansen and am dying to know what went on between her and Young. I have the feeling it will be juicy and Epically Tragic!
5. I was a little less enamoured of the scenes with Chloe saying goodbye to her mom, but I really like the idea of the stones as a way of allowing the crew to say goodbye to loved ones--think of all the angst! Think of all the character backstory and development we can get from that!
6. Greer's character intrigues me. He's such a study in contrasts. He is clearly a little unhinged, prone to violence, but there's also this weird playfulness to the violence at times. Rush makes him very angry and with reason. Although he says that they couldn't have dialed Earth because the risk of blowing up the planet through the Gate was too high (which I can buy actually; I think that's also why everybody came through the Stargate at such force onto Destiny; the Gate was souped up with energy from the planet's core and literally hurling everyone through), he could have sent them elsewhere in the Milky Way. So, I find it fascinating that when Rush tells him to, Greer shoots. I also love that Greer will not give up on Scott.
7. Scott's character really interests me too. They've given him such an intriguing backstory. Parents died when he was four, raised by a priest who later drinks himself to death when he's 16. Scott has been headed for the priesthood when he gets a girl pregnant who has an abortion. It's not clear whether the priest's drinking problem is a direct result of this situation, but it's certainly implied. So here we have a guy who as a kid made a mistake that made him feel so guilty and unworthy that the lost his faith or maybe can simply take no comfort in it any longer. I don't know. It's not quite clear, but I like the way his character is developing. It also makes the moment in the pilot where he comforts Chloe that much more poignant; he's clearly an emotionally sensitive and attenuated person who probably would have made a very good priest had he stayed with that path.
8. What happened to those three scientists? I hope we find out in the next episode. When the new team shows up on the planet to try their luck, they give Eli a kino. I assumed he was going to dial the planet they'd gone to and transmit intel back to Destiny. I hope he did because I'm so curious. If not, there's always the chance that they survived and will show up again one day. They have a kino with them so they could use it to check out the situation before they Gated anywhere; well, at least once anyway. LOL
9. I don't like the song they used at the end. SGA and SG1 only used music music twice and that was the Stones and CCR, respectively. Kinda awesome and used to wonderful effect. Not so much with this "Breathe" song. I really hope that is not going to be a trend.
I think my response to SPN can be summed up in a couple of sentences that don't even require a cut-tag. Ahem. Yay! Yay! Yay! And also, Soon looks amazing. Is it Soon yet? LOL
no subject
Date: 2009-10-12 01:58 am (UTC)I hope i don't harsh your squee. I don't want to. So....read at your own risk, or tell me to beat it.
Your reaction to the stones and mind is *polar opposite*. I rather feel like their a complete cop-out. Totally a get-out-of-jail-free card and they really annoy me. And, plus, they're a billion-million light years away and it *still works*? Just.....meh.
I'm also less than enthused about the backstories. Let's tell them *later*, gods! Right now, i'd like to see more tension and action and 'omg, we have to figure this ship out or we'll die!!' kind of stuff. Not long, angsty flashbacks that are kinda....eh. Plus, stop with the 'must stop all action and comfort people' things. Sheesh. You're going to *die*, people! Be touchy-feely later.
I like Eli, yes. I like...Scott? Scott. I'm still not up on all the names. I love how utterly *insincere* Rush is when he talks about how sorry he is, how hard he's working to get them back. Oh, he *so* is not! He does not *care*. He wants to stay there forever.
I missed the start of episode three, and i *hate* watching on tv, anyway, so i need to dl all three and re-watch again to really *know*. I'm enjoying it so far, but it's gotten off to a rather lumbering start, so i hope they can streamline it a bit more in future eps.
There - i hope that wasn't too awful!
:)
no subject
Date: 2009-10-12 06:58 pm (UTC)I'm guessing with your reaction to the stones that you probably didn't see SG-1. They were first introduced as a concept in that series and were also used over huge huge huge huge farther away than Pegasus distances in that episode. I can totally see why they annoy but I think they are saved from being merely deus ex machina by virtue of the fact that even though they can talk and communicate ia them, the SGC can't really *do* anything. They can receive reports, but they can't give them food or water or *fix* anything. I'm also a huge fan of body swap as a narrative trope. It's fun to watch Buffy be Faith and vice versa. I do hope they don't use it *too* often though.
I love to hate Rush. Heeeeee. Robert Carlyle is such a good actor and he's making Rush so skeevy and untrustworthy. I love it. I think that one of the things that really hurt SGA was that once Bates and Kavanagh are gone, Atlantis has no source of internal dissent. It was really nice to have an internal conflict and not always have the conflict come from an external source. Greer is good for that too.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-12 07:59 pm (UTC)*is grumpy. sorry*
I'm thinkin' Rush is gonna be a total bitch, and i *love* it. :)
no subject
Date: 2009-10-12 11:51 pm (UTC)