Metamorphosis (314)

[jckfan55]

I disagree. Think about what he was saying to Helen. She's told him before that she has learned not to get too close to people. Here he is telling her that he sees himself slipping away, and all the people he loves becoming distant. He's describing her life in fast forward. You can tell if you look in her eyes - she knows exactly what he's talking about. I say again, you enjoy the show so much more if you can catch the subtlety of the characters.

Yes, those subtle moments are often my favorite.

[Kilgharrah]

Well, I can say that OF COURSE I liked that episode coz the last week's episode didn't set the bar that high. Even though I thought the first-camera thing was annoying and the episode was all about Will, I liked that we got to see a lot less of Will's face. This person is so annoying just to look at. Not to mention the whole episode when we saw nothing but his annoying face (One Night).
His mutated form looked soooo stupid. I was expecting something better and more effort.
Was amazed by the way of contacting Ranna. I can't see why she would care about what happens to Will though.
Biggie certainly adds some fun to this episode.
This time we saw more and more of everyone other than Will which made me notice more and more of the good stuff of these actors.

[meredithchandler73]

(This was a response to Demoniser: "Anti Climax ending anyone")

I disagree. Think about what he was saying to Helen. She's told him before that she has learned not to get too close to people. Here he is telling her that he sees himself slipping away, and all the people he loves becoming distant. He's describing her life in fast forward. You can tell if you look in her eyes - she knows exactly what he's talking about. I say again, you enjoy the show so much more if you can catch the subtlety of the characters.

Overall, I enjoyed the episode. My thoughts, in no particular order:
--I didn't have a problem with all of the Will's POV shots. I felt it was especially effective when we realize that Will can no longer speak. Watching from behind his eyes as he freaks out felt more visceral to me than if the camera was on Will and he started grunting and thrashing around. Also, seeing Helen Magnus/Amanda Tapping looking at us straight on - be still my heart!
--The humor in the episode was pretty great. The gecko joke. Biggie's look to Will when Henry and Kate gush about the latest mission. Helen's incredulous reaction to Henry explaining what Will was doing climbing the walls. Helen: "It's on a winch! There's a control panel under the staircase!" Henry: "Yeah, I probably should have known that."
--Some great character moments: Discovering what Biggie does while the others are off on a mission he can't be part of. (Interesting how Biggie lets Will into his inner circle with Chuck.) Kate is obviously uncomfortable around Will but she stays to feed him. Helen refusing to give up on Will.
--I liked the callback to Hollow Earth - both that it was where Will contracted the spores that caused his transformation, but I also liked the clever way they were able to get the help they needed from Ranna. As I had mentioned in the Pax Romana thread - Ranna is a compassionate person. She would help if she could. And I like her confidence in Helen's intelligence and resourcefulness. Her message was just one word - and Helen knew just what to do.

[KayLyne]

I think the thing that began annoying me the most with the Will-vision camera is that it was set to have too much tunnel vision instead of a normal person who has more of a peripheral vision. It looked like we were seeing it through binoculars. Even the lens closures to indicate eye blinks were too slow.

[EvenstarSRV]

I enjoyed this episode.
I don't normally like the shaky-cam but I think it worked here, especially when it got more and more misty as Will changed.

I really enjoyed the effect as well, the way it incorporated Will's transformation into filming of the episode, including returning to the 'normal' filming style when he'd completely turned into the creature. It reminded me a bit of Instinct and how the POV filming style allowed us to see the Sanctuary team from an outsider's perspective, in this case showing us glimpses of Helen and Biggie and their relationship that Will normally doesn't get to see.

Was the dream scene showing us that Will was 'leaving' and the creature taking over? I liked the visuals for it.

That's how I interpreted that scene, esp since he lost the ability to communicate and became violent after waking up from it.

Overall I really enjoyed this episode, it was Will-centric but also had a nice team dynamic and I liked that we got to see slightly different angles on the other characters and their interactions. It was great to see what Biggie and Chuck do while the team goes off on their ops, seeing Helen and Biggie's working dynamic esp the way he both supports and challenges her, and seeing the softer side of Kate as she tries to deal with potentially losing Will, esp the scene in his office with Henry.

And while I'm glad for a break from the Hollow Earth storyline, the use of it and Ranna here worked for me, acknowledging the storyline without dwelling on it. I do hope that communication with Praxis remains difficult going forward, since I can see it becoming a crutch for the writers to use to get the team out of trouble if used too often.

I disagree. Think about what he was saying to Helen. She's told him before that she has learned not to get too close to people. Here he is telling her that he sees himself slipping away, and all the people he loves becoming distant. He's describing her life in fast forward. You can tell if you look in her eyes - she knows exactly what he's talking about. I say again, you enjoy the show so much more if you can catch the subtlety of the characters.

Well said, I was thinking along the same lines at her expression in that last scene.

[majorsal]

i liked the ep.

i liked it a LOT more than last weeks , but it seems buffy-the-fbi-agent is back next week


comments in random order:

*i liked the camera-from-will's-perspective effect. i thought it was done well too.

*the will-biggie-chuck stuff was funny, especially with how kate and henry did exactly what biggie and chuck said they would, which was talk non stop about their adventure. nothing wrong with that at all, but lonely for the peeps not able to go.

*this was a tighter script and worked well.

*laughed when will wanted to keep some of his abnormal abilities.

*once again, henry gets excited by the idea of aliens!

*my mom likes kate the most now, just after helen of course.

*the gekko remark was funny.

*helen whumpage!

*will should have been able to keep some of his abnormalness.


my fave and least fave part are in the same scene: helen getting upset at biggie about will's condition.

loved seeing amanda playing helen losing some control , but... it felt forced for me. i know these ppl are friends, they've spent quite a lot of time together and feel a family bond, but i just couldn't see helen feeling it *that* strong for will, when i haven't seen her feel it that strong for anyone else, especially those that she's known longer. it just felt false for me, like it was a show to let the viewers know how much she cares.

[Feast of the Muse]

As I had mentioned in the Pax Romana thread - Ranna is a compassionate person. She would help if she could. And I like her confidence in Helen's intelligence and resourcefulness. Her message was just one word - and Helen knew just what to do.

Yep, Helen and Ranna seem to share and appreciate each others' resourcefulness. Remember when Helen and Biggie conspired to catch the crooked Triad girl? The key to unlocking the whole thing was Helen misspelling a word in the header of an email. I can't believe it took her so long to get back around to studying the message, actually. I thought the "putting on a show" line was a little convenient, until I remembered that Helen had put on a show not long ago (and probably many times before). It had to have been bubbling around in her mind while she was brainstorming for a cure.

[majorsal]

Strangely enough, I think my favorite part was the Helen/Biggie scene where he's telling her she needs to sleep and she's telling him that he knows she has to work in times like this. (snipped)

another thing about that scene...

when helen was yelling at biggie, about how she reacts to things like this, instead of sitting in the corner and whimpering (can't remember her exact wording)... when she said all that, my immediate reaction was 'me too!!', in how i'm handling the no sam/jack confirmation.

i found her reaction to be a telling scene, b/c it helps to explain how she got to where she is in her life. she's not a quitter.

(but i'd still like to see her not giving up on finding closure with her daughter)

(((helen)))

[MidwifeOnBoard]

My 2 cents for what they are worth:

I enjoyed the ep overall, but still I feel like S 3.5 is not living up to the bar set in 3.0. I like Andy Mikita's direction most of the time (he directed some of my favorite SG1 eps) but I felt it was really intrusive and distracting this time around.


The Will-vision literally made me dizzy. Too much. I don't mind seeing part of the story from Will's POV, but the shaky-cam stuff was overdone. I'm also not a huge fan of the documentary-style talking into the camera stuff. It was a novelty with the office, but now that everyone is doing it, it's lost its bite.

LOVED the teamybits. So funny! Just enjoyed they obvious camaraderie so much. It's very obvious they had a blast shooting this. Though it also seemed kind of obvious that they had some kind of ongoing joke with the steadicam operator. I'd love to see the outtakes from this episode.

Magnus is getting soft. This is the second time she couldn't bring herself to shoot someone she loves when they were a danger to the planet at large. Interesting.

And she did look great. Wardrobe did pretty good this time. Well, except that ugly cardigan with the leggings.

[JanSam]

I really enjoyed this one . I like the use of Will's POV camera; it is different look and gives the episode a whole new feel. I'm in the minority because I also liked its use in Instinct. Great use of the whole cast. I especially liked how we got to see a glimpse of the inner workings of the Sanctuary and the different character interactions.

I'd really like to see more of Helen and Biggie's relationship as they must know each other very very well. I took the comment of "putting on a show" to mean Helen didn't need to hide her feelings from him because he knew her better and knew it was affecting her. Helen seems to keep her emotions locked down and not let anyone in and Biggie was letting her know he was onto her.

Off to watch it again.

[majorsal]

As much as I was not a major fan of Hollow Earth overall, I did like that there was fallout from that mission.

you know, i was thinking about how much i LOVE space shows (surprised? ), and i think this 'hollow earth' storyline is sanct's way of going to another planet. and it kind of was...

i just think there was something kind of meh-ish about it , but not the 'idea' of it.

[Feast of the Muse]

Magnus is getting soft. This is the second time she couldn't bring herself to shoot someone she loves when they were a danger to the planet at large. Interesting.

I've been thinking about this. Someone said that she showed more attachment to Will than she ever has, and I agree. But I don't think it was about Will personally. I think she would have been just as headstrong and unwilling to give up if it had been Kate (I pick her as the new girl). It wasn't about who was the victim, it was about Helen not losing another person she was responsible for. She's still processing Ashley's loss and I don't think it will be resolved any time soon. She's like a warrior going through self-doubt - a danger to herself and others until she gets back on her psychological feet. She sees her crew as 'her kids' (especially now that her own nest is empty) and she'll do anything to save them - even if that's pushing further and further into a place of endangering everyone else.

[KayLyne]

Magnus is getting soft. This is the second time she couldn't bring herself to shoot someone she loves when they were a danger to the planet at large. Interesting.

Yeah, I found that part interesting as well. I could understand her reluctance with Ashley, but previously with Adam, and now here with Will, I was confused at her reluctance - especially when she could have at least just wounded him somewhere to hold him back after she lost her tranq gun.

I also find it interesting that she seems to have absolutely no problems with shooting (and even killing) her longtime love - Druitt.

[majorsal]

more notes:

i liked the scene where will woke up and lost his voice and panicked big time. i liked it even more when he woke up and ended up attacking kate. i don't thnk it was just the creature taking over, but will freaking that he was losing himself, like a slow death. that dream, i think, represented that fear.

and what's wrong with mothers on this series? helen's the only mother, but we've got daddy magnus and now dad zimmerman. how about a mom!?

(that's where i wish helen would have had a mom *alive*, b/c the daddy magnus is too close to sam-jacob for me)

[MidwifeOnBoard]

Yeah, I found that part interesting as well. I could understand her reluctance with Ashley, but previously with Adam, and now here with Will, I was confused at her reluctance - especially when she could have at least just wounded him somewhere to hold him back after she lost her tranq gun.

I also find it interesting that she seems to have absolutely no problems with shooting (and even killing) her longtime love - Druitt.

Exactly!! This is what I was thinking. Her hesitation to even wound him perplexed me.

It's gotta be because John appears to be unkillable.