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Mitchell of eps 1-3 Vs Mitchell of eps 4-18

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    Mitchell of eps 1-3 Vs Mitchell of eps 4-18

    I have just rewatched the first 18 episodes of Season 9 back to back and have come to a conclusion about what exactly has been bugging me about the season so far - what the creative team have done with the character of Cameron Mitchell. Compare the Cam we were introduced to in the first three episodes to the Cam of the next 15 episodes and let me know what you think.

    I was approaching Season 9 with caution, trying to not watch it with preconceived notions. Season 9 was going to take Stargate in a new direction, they had lined up some good actors to join the cast and had made some changes to the creative team.

    The opening three episodes were written by Robert C. Cooper and went about setting the scene for the new Stargate direction. In the first 20 minutes of Avalon we get a well done brief introduction to Cameron Mitchell via flashbacks, conversation with the general, Cam individually approaching the former members of SG-1 and we get brief glimpses of Cam's sense of humour.

    We don't see a whole lot of Cam in the first three episodes and I found him to be quite professional. He asked relevant questions of people to help solve the situations they found themselves in. He participated seriously in briefings and even summarised a "Daniel lecture" to help out.

    What little we see of Cam is good EXCEPT for that stupid trying to shoot the communication device scene. To quote Lt Col Mitchell "Bullets Bounce"!!!! I put this down to a not well thought out plot device, no worries I thought. Maybe I should have worried, was this a portent of future Mitchell?

    In episode 3, Origin, we get the first appearance of "down home" Cam, to me it was in context. One of earth's versions of preaching as a foil to the Ori's. Cam participates seriously in briefings, his quips are low key and not frequent, no OTT Mitchell here.

    At the end of theses episodes we don't know much about Cam but we have had a reasonable introduction to him. What little we have seen of him comes across, military wise, as confident and competent while on a personal level he is friendly with a decent sense of humour. Overall a good three episode introduction to the new story lines and cast, I feel Robert C. Cooper did a good job here - not great but good. Good acting from everyone. This seems to bode well for the rest of the season.

    Things took a downturn from there.

    We don't see a lot of Cam in following episodes and by episode 6 we are starting to get more quips and "smart mouth" Cam, some of it during meetings. Maybe just a touch of character development would have been more appropriate. By the opening scene of Babylon I'm yelling at the TV "Cam shut the hell up!!" He's acting worse than a green recruit. This is the first time I had seen him do something that could be considered inappropriate.

    In Prototype Cam is staring to p**s me off in meetings, seems like nothing but quips. This episode is the first time TPTB get Cam to do something dumb to further the plot. It is also the first time we see "hero Cam". Ooohhh Got a concussion? Doc says you're not going anywhere but you gotta go to the gateroom and be a hero!! Sigh. Sloppy writing, just lose the concussion from the script and it would have worked just fine.

    In episode 10 we actually don't get much of Cam at all. We get quick glimpses of a competent officer working out in the field and reporting back to base. Unfortunately you then have to weigh that behaviour up against the flip attitude Cam has in meetings and his over confident macho BS on the Sodan planet.

    The season is now half over and they haven't developed Cam's character. I feel let down by TPTB. We are supposed to have this great new SG-1 leader but I haven't seen it, in fact in the last few episodes we have seen glimpses of a not so great officer. The first three eps showed such promise. This is the first season I have reached mid season and actually been a tad disappointed. Not much "team" from SG-1 and no signs of "Outstanding leadership skill" from the new SG-1 leader.

    SIGH - THINGS GET EVEN WORSE!!

    The next eight episodes have Cam acting less professional and more of a joking maverick. I could give numerous examples but this post is already way too long and these cases have been well stated in the Episode, the Who Should Lead SG-1 and the McCullough-Mitchell Effect threads. Although I will point out that the absolute lowest they have gone so far is having Cam commit a court martial offense in Stronghold. You DO NOT disobey a direct order whilst under fire, you DO NOT risk your life and the lives of your comrades because you are upset. This was sloppy writing again! They could have had "hero Cam" without making him appear SO unprofessional as an officer.

    So at the end of 18 episodes we still have not much "team" from SG-1 (but it is getting better) and still no signs of "Outstanding leadership skill" from the new SG-1 leader. I feel that the character of Lt Col Cameron Mitchell has a lot of potential but the creative team seem to be making a mockery of him. Mr Cooper wrote a good beginning for the character but the rest of the creative team haven't followed through on it. It seems that RCC portrays the character of Cameron Mitchell, whilst the rest of the creative team portrays the caricature.

    Oh well, Friday's episode is written and directed by Robert C. Cooper. Maybe we will see the character get put back on track.

    I'm a Stargate fan and I live in hope. How about you?
    -

    #2
    I am more positive than you.
    School is overrated.

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      #3
      Personally I think Joe Mallozzi and Paul Mullie did the most damage to Mitchell's character. It's obvious that they're Carter's fans and supporters, so in their episodes they write Mitchell as the most incompetent moron as possible. I like Mitchell much more in RCC, Brad Wright or Alan McCullough's episodes.

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        #4
        Originally posted by Formerhost
        Personally I think Joe Mallozzi and Paul Mullie did the most damage to Mitchell's character. It's obvious that they're Carter's fans and supporters, so in their episodes they write Mitchell as the most incompetent moron as possible. I like Mitchell much more in RCC, Brad Wright or Alan McCullough's episodes.
        What about Damian Kindler episodes? Do you think he has a handle on Mitchell's character?
        -

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          #5
          Originally posted by RealmOfX
          What about Damian Kindler episodes? Do you think he has a handle on Mitchell's character?
          These were only two Damian's episodes this season, so... not very much, but I need to re-watch Fourth Horsemen pt. 1 and Ethon to tell for sure.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by RealmOfX
            It is also the first time we see "hero Cam". Ooohhh Got a concussion? Doc says you're not going anywhere but you gotta go to the gateroom and be a hero!! Sigh. Sloppy writing, just lose the concussion from the script and it would have worked just fine.
            Yeah, because Jack, Sam, Daniel, Teal'c and Jonas never did anything like that while injured.

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              #7
              Cam does seem to be exhibiting very un-professional/un-SG1 qualities........as the rest of the team ( and Cam ) have realised this, I must think that the writers are showing his incompetance on purpose....possibly to promote Carter , or possibly make him much more serious later on
              It's a joke. My way of deflecting attention from my own obvious heroism. You'll get used to it.

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                #8
                Originally posted by jazz!
                Cam does seem to be exhibiting very un-professional/un-SG1 qualities........as the rest of the team ( and Cam ) have realised this, I must think that the writers are showing his incompetance on purpose....possibly to promote Carter , or possibly make him much more serious later on
                As I said earlier, some of them ARE CARTER'S FANS AND SUPPORTERS. So their agenda is definitely "Let's make Mitchell as incompetent as possible, so the audience is going to hate him and beg us to let Carter lead the team." Personally I hate this kind of attitude.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Formerhost
                  As I said earlier, some of them ARE CARTER'S FANS AND SUPPORTERS. So their agenda is definitely "Let's make Mitchell as incompetent as possible, so the audience is going to hate him and beg us to let Carter lead the team." Personally I hate this kind of attitude.
                  Huh? Why would TPTB go to all this trouble to get Browder, push him and his character in interviews, stick him prominently in the opening credits, and put him as the leader of SG1 only to intentionally tear him down? If they wanted to put Carter as the leader of SG1, wouldn't they have done so in the first place?

                  If you read Joe's blog, you would have seen how often he came to Browder and Mitchell's defense when he could have simply ignored those comments. That doesn't sound like someone who would intentionally ruin Mitch.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by RealmOfX
                    Although I will point out that the absolute lowest they have gone so far is having Cam commit a court martial offense in Stronghold. You DO NOT disobey a direct order whilst under fire, you DO NOT risk your life and the lives of your comrades because you are upset. This was sloppy writing again! They could have had "hero Cam" without making him appear SO unprofessional as an officer
                    Sorry but I disagree, you need to realise that the writers have to make the characters more realistic. Having Cam act out when upset makes him more human...if they didnt do that people would moan that he's too robot-esque.

                    While you're meant to not disobey a direct order or risk your life and the lives of your comrades...doesnt mean nobody does it

                    Not sloppy writing at all...but realistic writing

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                      #11
                      Do people just conveniently forget that O'Neill was screw up? He joked WAY more then Cam does, he often didn't follow orders like he was supposed to, he was in no way, shape, or form a leader (especially the stuff he used to say to other planet's leaders... stupid!).

                      Why do people conveniently forget about O'Neill when they complain a bout Mitchell? *shakes head*

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Lord Shiva
                        Do people just conveniently forget that O'Neill was screw up? He joked WAY more then Cam does, he often didn't follow orders like he was supposed to, he was in no way, shape, or form a leader (especially the stuff he used to say to other planet's leaders... stupid!).

                        Why do people conveniently forget about O'Neill when they complain a bout Mitchell? *shakes head*
                        Good question...

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                          #13
                          I dont think you should complain to much about Cam. For a start this is his first season on the show and introducing both him and a new enemy aswell as many other chareacters is a tremendously hard task and one the Stargate team has got through pretty succesfully. The only problem I had with Mitchell was in 'Collateral Damage' I hated that episode because 1 it was so reminiscent of a Star Trek Voyager episode I had watched the day before (I was watching the video) but also the cheap set shots. The only thing that saved it was the whole Iraq or wherever it was buisness when Mitchell blew up that convoy accidentily. Still I believe that there is far more Mitchell to come and more time for the character to develop he is almost like Jack was in the 1st couple of episodes of stargate so dont bring him down guys. He has Greeat Potential
                          Oh Yes the Sam is Back and hes more Sci-fied up than ever !!!!!!!!!

                          Coming Soon a new Banner from Me

                          Comment


                            #14
                            First, good post, RealmOfX.

                            Originally posted by ToasterOnFire
                            Huh? Why would TPTB go to all this trouble to get Browder, push him and his character in interviews, stick him prominently in the opening credits, and put him as the leader of SG1 only to intentionally tear him down?
                            The Ori coerced them, apparently.

                            Seriously, though, if JoeM hadn't defended the character so vehemently (and with such dismissiveness), I might have suspected the writers had some great arc in mind -- 'fall from grace' or "Gate travel isn't as easy as it looks" or somesuch. As it is, I suspect they're simply... subpar in their character development skills.

                            Originally posted by Formerhost
                            Originally posted by Lord Shiva
                            Why do people conveniently forget about O'Neill when they complain a bout Mitchell? *shakes head*
                            Good question...
                            Because we're not talking about O'Neill?

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by DEM
                              Because we're not talking about O'Neill?
                              Yes, we are. A lot of the same things we hear about Mitchell, O'Neill did, especially the dumb jokes. Matter of fact, O'Neill said MORE stupid things then Mitchell does. So, yes this does matter when it comes to people whining about Mitchell's humor.

                              O'Neill was just as bad.

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