NOTE: For those who aren't aware, "OK" means "Neutral", neither good nor bad.
Hear me out before flaming me and neg-repping me. I didn't really mind it too much after having just finished watching the episode, I just had a few things bothering me. But as I mulled them over (and discussed them here on the boards), the small things grew into big things and more things were added up.
I personally find this one to be a supremely badly written (and finalized) episode. You heard me, PTB, it was shoddily written.
The most glaring stupidities were (in chronological order).
The Fist Bump: Yes, the fist bump. Yes, I know some of you guys don't find it objectionable, but think it over. First, what was the fist bump for? It was obviously an "Alright! 4 hot ladies!"-fist bump. They wouldn't have done that had that been 4 men. Or 4 ugly women. Yes, fraternization was out of the question for John, but for him (and I'd guess Carson), it was probably just a "Ouh, I'll get to oogle hot chicks all day!"-thing.
Now, according to Joe Mallozzi's blog, it was not in the script. Joe Flanigan (John) and Paul McGillion (Carson) ad libbed it. So boo them, I guess. But that doesn't absolve the PTB. The writer(s), producer(s) and everyone else involved in post... apparently none of them found it objectionable enough to remove.
It's not like it wasn't noticeable. You saw it right away. Why did it slip through? Let's see... a bunch of straight, white middle-agish men. It's no wonder the women on the show come in mostly 3 flavours; Man in women's clothing (Written just like any male character), Damsel in distress (self-explanatory) or Tough Warrior Chick (also self-explanatory).
In other words, IMO, the staff needs more diversity, more people to tell them "Wait, that won't fly" and "Wait, these and these people will find that objectionable" and stuff.
The Chest Pounding: At the end there, John went all chauvinistic (in my eyes). Suddenly, he had a brilliant plan. And it was brilliant, no matter what anyone else had to say! Major Teldy tried helping by pointing out that plan could've gone wrong and that they should work out a backup plan or a "just-in-case" scenario but John was awfully snippy all of a sudden.
He wouldn't even let her finish her sentence. No, his plan was perfect. Nothing could go wrong! He's the man, he's in charge and the womenfolk should shut the hell up and be nice like women and hang back.
What happens? He ends up almost dying and only surviving because Carson happened to wander by and help him. Nice going there, John.
This fails because even the John fans will dislike his behavior this episode. All of a sudden he's as immature as a teenager despite having turned 40 (we're assuming).
The Stupidity: And then there's the blatant stupidity. OK, what did Dr. Porter tell John? "[It]'ll draw them right to you".
What would anyone with half a brain do if they had a tablet which would emit an ultrasonic burst which would immediately start drawing 9 crazed killers to them? They'd friggin' set the charge of C4 before activating that damn tablet.
No, really, there was no good reason for him to activate that tablet first! None. Unless he, somehow though the creatures wouldn't get there within 5 minutes (which would be a BS reason since it'd buy him only a few seconds).
Let's see, creaky well with a creaky crank. What do I do? Well, first, I crank the bucket all the friggin' way up, making as much noise as I can just for the sake of it (you not just get it within reach so you easily grab it by reaching for a bit or gently drop the tablet, nooooo, that's not enough. Waste as much time and make as much noise as possible.
Then, you activate the thing that'll immediately start drawing the enemy to you (and you're friggin' dead if an enemy is close by). Then you set the charge. No, John. That's what someone with an IQ which strives to be three digit would do. You're supposedly the military commander of Atlantis, has 4 and a half years of field experience in Pegasus and was smart enough to get into MENSA.
(Minor stupidities:
"Oh, you look pretty harmless, you can go." - So he behaved suspiciously by following you guys around, sneaking around in the shadows and seemed jumpy. But you'll just let him go, no questions asked. Hmmmm...)
IrishPaisano has compiled a list of minor to major stupidities for you here.
Horrendous writing all in all. The small things add up and all of the sudden, the episode sunk in my eyes from a pretty good episode to below "good". It's not as bad as "Irresistible"... don't get me wrong. But it's bad.
So what do you guys think? BTW, poll requested.
Hear me out before flaming me and neg-repping me. I didn't really mind it too much after having just finished watching the episode, I just had a few things bothering me. But as I mulled them over (and discussed them here on the boards), the small things grew into big things and more things were added up.
I personally find this one to be a supremely badly written (and finalized) episode. You heard me, PTB, it was shoddily written.
The most glaring stupidities were (in chronological order).
The Fist Bump: Yes, the fist bump. Yes, I know some of you guys don't find it objectionable, but think it over. First, what was the fist bump for? It was obviously an "Alright! 4 hot ladies!"-fist bump. They wouldn't have done that had that been 4 men. Or 4 ugly women. Yes, fraternization was out of the question for John, but for him (and I'd guess Carson), it was probably just a "Ouh, I'll get to oogle hot chicks all day!"-thing.
Now, according to Joe Mallozzi's blog, it was not in the script. Joe Flanigan (John) and Paul McGillion (Carson) ad libbed it. So boo them, I guess. But that doesn't absolve the PTB. The writer(s), producer(s) and everyone else involved in post... apparently none of them found it objectionable enough to remove.
It's not like it wasn't noticeable. You saw it right away. Why did it slip through? Let's see... a bunch of straight, white middle-agish men. It's no wonder the women on the show come in mostly 3 flavours; Man in women's clothing (Written just like any male character), Damsel in distress (self-explanatory) or Tough Warrior Chick (also self-explanatory).
In other words, IMO, the staff needs more diversity, more people to tell them "Wait, that won't fly" and "Wait, these and these people will find that objectionable" and stuff.
The Chest Pounding: At the end there, John went all chauvinistic (in my eyes). Suddenly, he had a brilliant plan. And it was brilliant, no matter what anyone else had to say! Major Teldy tried helping by pointing out that plan could've gone wrong and that they should work out a backup plan or a "just-in-case" scenario but John was awfully snippy all of a sudden.
He wouldn't even let her finish her sentence. No, his plan was perfect. Nothing could go wrong! He's the man, he's in charge and the womenfolk should shut the hell up and be nice like women and hang back.
What happens? He ends up almost dying and only surviving because Carson happened to wander by and help him. Nice going there, John.
This fails because even the John fans will dislike his behavior this episode. All of a sudden he's as immature as a teenager despite having turned 40 (we're assuming).
The Stupidity: And then there's the blatant stupidity. OK, what did Dr. Porter tell John? "[It]'ll draw them right to you".
What would anyone with half a brain do if they had a tablet which would emit an ultrasonic burst which would immediately start drawing 9 crazed killers to them? They'd friggin' set the charge of C4 before activating that damn tablet.
No, really, there was no good reason for him to activate that tablet first! None. Unless he, somehow though the creatures wouldn't get there within 5 minutes (which would be a BS reason since it'd buy him only a few seconds).
Let's see, creaky well with a creaky crank. What do I do? Well, first, I crank the bucket all the friggin' way up, making as much noise as I can just for the sake of it (you not just get it within reach so you easily grab it by reaching for a bit or gently drop the tablet, nooooo, that's not enough. Waste as much time and make as much noise as possible.
Then, you activate the thing that'll immediately start drawing the enemy to you (and you're friggin' dead if an enemy is close by). Then you set the charge. No, John. That's what someone with an IQ which strives to be three digit would do. You're supposedly the military commander of Atlantis, has 4 and a half years of field experience in Pegasus and was smart enough to get into MENSA.
(Minor stupidities:
"Oh, you look pretty harmless, you can go." - So he behaved suspiciously by following you guys around, sneaking around in the shadows and seemed jumpy. But you'll just let him go, no questions asked. Hmmmm...)
IrishPaisano has compiled a list of minor to major stupidities for you here.
Horrendous writing all in all. The small things add up and all of the sudden, the episode sunk in my eyes from a pretty good episode to below "good". It's not as bad as "Irresistible"... don't get me wrong. But it's bad.
So what do you guys think? BTW, poll requested.
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