Sunday (317)

[Starxgate]

If there was a most pointless death in tv award shows this one would win it with no problem

[Franklyn Blaze]

TPTB = The Powers That Be. The people who control the show.

I liked the episode. Not a "woah REPLAY!" episode, but good enough for a once off.

chem

This season is not looking good for DVD sales. Theres a few good things intermixed with some really bad stuff. Reminds me of music albums with only one good tune, feh.

[majortrip]

Wow. What a fantastic episode. And I don't mean it's fantastic that a beloved character died. I mean fantastic that they managed to bring great character moments, sweetness, comedy and tragedy together in one episode that will definitely land in my top 5 for the year and possibly the series.

Sure there were some cliches. In fact, it's very difficult not to spot some in every TV program I watch. And sure, possibly some fuzzy science (I'm sorry, did you say explosive tumor?), but I wasn't able to get hung up on that stuff because I found the various vignettes involving each character too engaging to be distracted by those things.

I don't even know where to begin. Each member of the cast was brilliant. I like the ambiguity of the what-man-does-Teyla-want-to-talk-to and how-does-Sheppard-see-Teyla bits. Very mysterious, and their scene in the infirmary was lovely.

Sheppard + Ronon = Brilliant. I was laughing out loud during their whole bit.

Rodney was fantastic. He goes from being superior on his high horse to admitting he'd like to marry one day and very sweet with Katie. Wow. And she's right, there's really no subtext with McKay. I thought his bit was brilliant, too.

Elizabeth was lovely. Her telling Teyla about her lunch with Mike (what a cutie!) and her defensiveness with Carson about her 'hot date' shows how conflicted she is regarding the balance between her professional life and her personal life. It was very human to want the attention of another person, yet she doesn't want split her focus. Great character moment for Elizabeth, and her speech at Carson's service was good. I didn't feel it dragged on, and they needed to get everyone's reaction/sadness at losing another of their own. Not just their own, but a member of the senior staff. This season so far has placed an emphasis on how close this 'family' has become, so I didn't feel uncomfortable as the camera panned to get everyone's sad faces.

Which brings me to Carson. For me, Carson has always brought a warmth and a sweetness to the show, and I'm very sad to see him go. I'm disappointed that no one wanted to fish with him, and I was touched at his enthusiasm about his day off and the prospect of catching space trout. I think everyon's guilt was evident at the end. But he went trying to save a patient, and had I not read spoilers, I would've been shocked to see he almost made it. Makes me want to consider trying to be spoiler-free for S4, lol. It's a terrible loss, and I wonder where they'll bring that sweetness into the show now. I have to say, Paul McGillion as Carson has been worth every second of screentime he's gotten. I'll miss him.

Which brings me to another warm character, Zelenka. Worth every second, too. Playing chess for trades? A swedish massage? His chess partner? Brilliant. Oh, and Lorne's an artist? Fab.

The ending scene with Carson and Rodney was wonderful. The admission of best-buddydom and McKay's guilt made me feel Rodney's pain.

I'm reluctant to give any episode a 10/10, because there are always little things that pop into my mind to consider, but this is close.

[sgeureka]

Also, some relationships such as Rodney/Katie and Sheppard/Tayla were yanked out of stasis rather abruptly. I know I'm not the most avid SGA fan, but were we supposed to know that Rodney's still actually dating Katie?

The Game

McKAY: Well, I don't know. It's not the point. It's an ethical dilemma. Look, Katie Brown brought it up over dinner the other night. The question is: Is it appropriate to divert the train and kill the one baby to save the ten people?

It at least implies they're still in contact somehow.

At the end of the day, the problem I have personally is it was ultimate pointless. As a stand alone episode, pretty darn good, one of the best this season to a degree. As an episode that lead to the death of an important MAIN character....utterly pointless. The way they killed him was almost...an after thought, a....oh I cant think of a way to end this episode...ah ha! Not caring or thinking about any far reaching consquences to either the series OR the fans.

I don't question your feelings or anything , but what makes an episode pointless? When there are no mentions of the season story arc or the main villain? I'd argue the point of this episode (other than to ultimately kill off Beckett) was to show a day off, and give some insight into how/what characters think, what they enjoy, how they interact in non-perilous situations,... That's where I think this episode succeeded, making it IMO not pointless at all.

You (general you) can make up your mind if the death itself was (supposed to be) pointless or not. I could argue either way.

There was no grand finale to a story, maybe a sweeping under the carpet for the retrovirus arc. It wasn't even something to build up to the end of the season, to leave us on a heart stopping cliffhanger. There were no 'bad guys' to hate, no far reaching effects, no consquences, no way they will follow it up NOTHING to leave anything but a pointless waste of a character and a bad taste in the mouths of the poeple who worked hard to see him a reg. Who trust TPTB to USE him once they did so and have patiently waited for some of those promises to be fulfilled.

Sorry to hear about your recent loss, but IMO, TV deaths take place too often in the first or last two (huge) episodes of the season (usually because of imminent cast changes). It's gotten to the point where I expect characters to get killed/offed that it no longer has much of an effect on me.

Killing off a character in an episode somewhere in a season in a not-so-obvious episode seems refreshening to me (in a weird way). Of course, I've been spoiled, and I never cared much about the character, so it didn't hit me like the average non-spoiled fan. But since we're already talking about cliché in this thread, I'd say killing Beckett off in the way you proposed would have made the death cliché (IMO, and I reserve the right to change my opinion about this any time. )

[crompton20]

why did they kill him off why? and is it just me imagining things or when there were first announcments made of him no longer being a season reguler were we told he would be in some eps in season 4, certainly there were comments that suggested this. Which makes me question did the episode change? or were they just trying to shut fans up and blatantly lieing to us!!?????

one thing i would have liked for this ep? hmm we can't bring michael back how about ford, him and beckett have the history over fords treatment, that way they could have wrapped up both characters storys in one final episode. maybe with beckett curing ford and dying in the process and ford having to leave for abit to go see his family. or even better not kill beckett at all

[Domesticated Equine]

The Game

McKAY: Well, I don't know. It's not the point. It's an ethical dilemma. Look, Katie Brown brought it up over dinner the other night. The question is: Is it appropriate to divert the train and kill the one baby to save the ten people?

It at least implies they're still in contact somehow.

Good catch. Even so, it seems this relationship was essentially forgotten about by the writers. I really hope it doesn't happen again and we are at least kept somewhat in the loop. Anyone know if the actress who plays Katie is scheduled for more episodes?

The Game
Killing off a character in an episode somewhere in a season in a not-so-obvious episode seems refreshening to me (in a weird way). Of course, I've been spoiled, and I never cared much about the character, so it didn't hit me like the average non-spoiled fan. But since we're already talking about cliché in this thread, I'd say killing Beckett off in the way you proposed would have made the death cliché (IMO, and I reserve the right to change my opinion about this any time. )

I agree. I'd say giving Beckett a heroic death at the end of the season while fighting against the wraith (replicators) would have been a much bigger cliche.

[Domesticated Equine]

why did they kill him off why? and is it just me imagining things or when there were first announcments made of him no longer being a season reguler were we told he would be in some eps in season 4, certainly there were comments that suggested this. Which makes me question did the episode change? or were they just trying to shut fans up and blatantly lieing to us!!?????

Based on just what we saw on-screen, nothing's stopping Paul McGillion coming back in season 4. There are always flashbacks, hallucinations, virtual realities, time travels, alternate universes, etc. that can be used if he's wanted back.

[Azriel]

Reading this thread, there is one thing I do not understand, Sunday is listed as being the 14th episode of Season 3 with Tao of Rodney being 03x15. What is confusing me is if Carson dies in Sunday, how is he then in TOR treating Zelenka when he is injured (assuming the episodes are in chronological order). If not, why not have Sunday as episode 15 and TOR as 14?

[crompton20]

there listed in production order, sunday was produced/filmed before those eps

[prion]

No, the url was just a bit wrong

http://josephmallozzi.blogspot.com/

could someone just posted the relevant portion from the blog here? it won't open for me (it';s just SLOW........). I'm curious precisely what he said (probably won't surprise me though). thanks!

[sueKay]

from the blog of Joe Mallozzi

Fondy and I are working our way through the second season of Boston Legal and are really enjoying the series. But one thing I found quite bizarre was the disappearance of one of the cast members. She’s in the show’s opening credits but only appeared in a handful of episodes before vanishing completely. Strange. She was a likable enough character. I wondered who was to blame for her disappearance. Was it the producers? The network? The studio? The actress herself? Was it a variety of factors? Some of the above? All of the above? Or maybe none of the above? Well, there was one thing I knew for sure, and that was that I knew nothing for sure. I considered joining some online fan forum and joining the chorus blaming the producers for her sudden disappearance, that episode with the singing, and my dog’s eye condition - but ultimately decided against it because I realized it would only make me sound like a shrill and ill-informed lemming. Still, it was tempting. There’s something strangely comforting and delusively empowering about chiming in with an anonymous mob, albeit one that lacks any true insight into the reality of a situation.

[Starxgate]

I am sure that Paul will visit the set & can easily be kept in the loop with whats going on. Remember he is pretty much Jewels neighbor they live close to each other so I am sure they all will keep in touch.

[Alipeeps]

Based on just what we saw on-screen, nothing's stopping Paul McGillion coming back in season 4. There are always flashbacks, hallucinations, virtual realities, time travels, alternate universes, etc. that can be used if he's wanted back.

Yeah, that's pretty much what TPTB mean by the "nobody ever really dies in sci-fi" line - it's not saying that the character isn't gonna be dead.. just that there are always ways to wangle it to bring them back for an ep now and then etc...

[Domesticated Equine]

Ah yes, the writers blatantly insulting the fans is always good idea. It's not like we pay their wages. Oh, wait.

[prion]

from the blog of Joe Mallozzi

Oh, okay, I considered joining some online fan forum and joining the chorus blaming the producers for her sudden disappearance, that episode with the singing, and my dog’s eye condition - but ultimately decided against it because I realized it would only make me sound like a shrill and ill-informed lemming. Still, it was tempting. There’s something strangely comforting and delusively empowering about chiming in with an anonymous mob, albeit one that lacks any true insight into the reality of a situation.

Alas, he's a twit. He also doesn't know a damned thing about lemmings. He's il-informed. Argh.... of course, he can say this all safely behind his moderated blog...