S5: Critique and Contemplations

[Southern Red]

By now many have the season five set and I'm one that does like to listen to the commentary of each episode.Very disappointed that most of the actors were not on it if any at all.And this is a day late and a dollar short but most of us do not care about the tech jargon that it took to film it.Am I the only one out there that feels the same way?Having the actor(s)and director comment for the episode add to it.Maybe MGM did'nt want to pay extra for it or was rushing the production of it.

You are not the only one. I was literally begging somebody to kill me for most of the commentaries. They seem fascinated with lights for some reason and yet just talk through the parts that fans had the biggest questions about. Though at times they do pause to acknowledge what we said and scoff at it.

The one for BT was good because Jason was there and they actually talked about the show.

[maxbo]

this is why that although I have the set (got at a very very deep discount...not paying full price for that crud!) I refuse to watch the extras. MG is everywhere and the man is just too icky for me!

After reading MG's last Gateworld interview, I agree with the "icky" reference because, IMO, he shared too much personal information for his writing decisions and not nearly enough creative, storyline dictated reasons for why they took SGA in the direction they did.

MG's has written some very good scripts, but I think he is particularly good at talking himself up. Since Brainstorm had, shall we say, a mixed reaction in fandom, and because of his heavy investment in the McKeller romance, I would be interested to hear what he had to say, if just to play amateur psychiatrist.

On another note, it doesn't surprise me in the least to hear that TPTB promised more Teyla while we ended up with less - what's told and what's shown doesn't always add up in the stargateverse. Not that I'm cynical or anything. *coughs*

I agree that MG had decent scripts credited to him in the past, but I suspect the reason for this was largely because he was guided by a firm hand back then. When he was given too much freedom, we got the painful BS and character inconsistencies like Sheppard suddenly not being Mensa material and Radek's supposedly having always been a creepy, hair sniffing perv.

And, yeah, the disconnect between the promise of more Teyla in Season 5 and the fact that we got even less Teyla in Season 5 doesn't surprise me either because it was just one of the latest in a long line of disconnects in the "stargateverse".

Darlin', you just summed up what I loved about this show when it started. Too bad they veered away from this. I liked the team eps, but loved the eps that had the entire expedition involved. In season 5, I suppose I would consider S & R and The Shrine as expedition eps. Not sure there are any more. Team eps suffered as well since they kept splitting them up and then half the team usually disappeared for the rest of the episode.

Indeed. Early SGA was great because in addition to being more balanced between the main characters, it also featured the recurring characters well.

By now many have the season five set and I'm one that does like to listen to the commentary of each episode.Very disappointed that most of the actors were not on it if any at all.And this is a day late and a dollar short but most of us do not care about the tech jargon that it took to film it.Am I the only one out there that feels the same way?Having the actor(s)and director comment for the episode add to it.Maybe MGM did'nt want to pay extra for it or was rushing the production of it.

No, you're not the only one who looks forward to commentaries that feature the actors. Ideally, each episode commentary should feature at least one actor, the writer and the director. In addition, each should have the opportunity to significantly contribute to the commentary. Unfortunately, from what I've heard of Gero's commentaries, he loves to hear himself speak so any commentary that features him tend to be very Gero heavy and based on my reaction to his interviews, that's not something I want to pay money to see.

[Falcon Horus]

@ Skydiver - The episode that comes after Outsiders, which is... *searches*...

Inquisition
A new coalition of human worlds puts the Atlantis team on trial for their alleged crimes against the Pegasus Galaxy.

...not many people are going to turn the show off if he doesn't get shown.

Well, I'm the odd one out who felt quite differently about SGA after Kate died.

to be fair guys, as to rachel's time in season 5. she was pregnant, she had to leave the show 'early' so to speak because she had her child. and her pregnancy adn reduced availability no doubt effected her storyline for s5

Sweetie, that was during season 4 or didn't you see how she grew sideways during the season.

I think there was an interview somewhere with Rachel about it, that she ended early on in September while the others still had to finish up.

...most of us do not care about the tech jargon that it took to film it.

It's the only reason I buy DVD's with extra's and commentaries, for the technical stuff behind the scenes and how scenes were shot and worked out. The stuff on Panic Room is by far my most favorite commentary and extras so far. The rest is added bonus.

[Linda06]

Is that fanon, or has Luttrell actually said something to this effect? I only say this because I hear this repeated all the time in fandom, but I've never seen any official statement along those lines. And not to undersell the rigours of pregnancy and dealing with a new baby (and not knowing RL's personal circumstances) I have known enough women who have gone back into the workplace soon after - it's not as if she was battling a horrible long strung out affliction that caused her to need to be largely absent from work for a year.

There is obviously an unavoidable biological double standard, but there also seems to be an inbuilt social double standard - Hewlett and Mamoa were new parents around that time too - I certainly don't remember McKay getting less lines.

Ironically Rachel actually clocked up the most screentime in S4 than in any other season And less screentime in S5 than any other season

I've neber heard anyone say that Rachel requested time off...In fact Joe himself said on his own blog that we would see alot more Teyla this season (S5)

I don't believe Rachel wanted time off in Season 5 for two reasons - first, because none of the writers ever mentioned this, despite repeated criticisms that they had sidelined Teyla more in Season 5 than in Season 4, when Rachel was pregnant, and, second, because Rachel never mentioned requesting or wanting time off.

IMO, if Rachel had requested a reduced Season 5 schedule, then from what I've read of Mallozzi and Co., they would have quickly and repeatedly made that known. Because, not only would that have let them off the hook, but it would have also deflected some of the criticism that they took away some of Teyla's screentime to make way for Keller and McKeller.

Exactly

Now for the ep, I think we were up to Outsiders, weren't we?

[Linda06]

@ Skydiver - The episode that comes after Outsiders, which is... *searches*...

Inquisition
A new coalition of human worlds puts the Atlantis team on trial for their alleged crimes against the Pegasus Galaxy.

Ok.......NEXT

Sweetie, that was during season 4 or didn't you see how she grew sideways during the season.

*cough splutter*

[jckfan55]

what i definitely remember is that there was a day taping one episode and - maybe it was a blog entry of joe's - where he had a pic of a very pregnant rachel and that 'this was her last day filming' and that they'd finish the rest of the season without her

she wasn't there for all of it, just like amanda wasn't there for all of the end of s8 (like full alert, all she did was run a fax machine because she had a dr's appt so they cut her scene short) and she missed the first 6 of s9 since she had her baby in march - after they started filming.I don't know all the details, nor is it totally any of our business, but i do know for a fact that rachel's time on the set was shorter than others because she finished before they did to start her maternity leave

I actually just watched Full Alert and AT was in quite a bit of the episode--mostly briefing type scenes though. So our discussion on another thread about *all* Sam doing was to run the fax was a bit hyperbolic.

RE: RL they did film a bunch of her scenes for various eps before she was very big, so they did try to accommodate her in that sense.

I honestly haven't read the interviews and such regarding this topic so I'm writing purely hypothetical here, but. Rachel might have very well prefered it that way, really there's no telling. Just because one mother will go back to normal hours the next week after having a baby doesn't mean the other will feel as ready or, well, able perhaps.

That said, there certainly are ways to make character vital for the story even with limited hours. The writers were just lazy and thought that having Teyla stay behind and babysit the city or the kid was good enough.

I agree.

[Stormtrooper]

Inquisition:

Spoiler:

If everything else fails, you can always bribe your way out of trouble.

I'm not sure this is the kind of message a science fiction should be conveying.

[Linda06]

Inquisiton was one of the most boring eps i've ever watched and the biggest waste of my time There wasn't anything good about this ep

[maxbo]

Inquisiton was one of the most boring eps i've ever watched and the biggest waste of my time There wasn't anything good about this ep

I agree. Inquisiton was so boring that it didn't even make me mad because I couldn't muster up enough passion to care about it. From what I can remember, after this episode, I didn't just fear that the remaining episodes would suck, I expected them to suck.

[Linda06]

I agree. Inquisiton was so boring that it didn't even make me mad because I couldn't muster up enough passion to care about it. From what I can remember, after this episode, I didn't just fear that the remaining episodes would suck, I expected them to suck.

Me too...I dion't care enough about this ep to muster up a synopsis of what was wrong with it

And I think I was starting to fear the worse at the mid season two parter

[Irish Eyes]

If a clip show isn't going to advance the storyline, it should at least be fun. Inquisition failed on both counts.

Since one of the purposes of a clip show is to try and draw in new viewers, I would love to hear the opinion of someone who had never watched SGA before. Based on Inquistion, would they want to check out the show?

[Falcon Horus]

There's only one exception to the rule that clipshows are usually extremely boring, and that would be Letters From Pegasus. The best clipshow ever to be made in the Stargate verse.

And I snort at my own reply in the episode thread:

Behind like wow, I finally watched this .... and I mourn the loss of those precious 42 minutes and 14 seconds.

I think I have mourned more minutes in the whole of season 5 than I did over the entire run of SG1 and SGA season 1 to 4 together.

As far as clip episodes go, this one is by far the worst yet. It hurts to see the beauty of season 1 to 3, and be smacked back into season 5 after the bliss.

Like I said - the worst and the best remains LFP.

Woolsey played the game and cheated - the IOA at its best.

I guess this could be seen as the only positive thing... sort of anyway.

Teyla, Ronon and McKay should have stayed at home. Wasn't like they contributed much anyway, other than being screen filler.

Word. Still agreeing with myself.

For a family show, it's okay to smoke on TV and to have violence but not to have nudity or the sex-thing... It makes me roll my eyes at the double standard.

*gigglesnort* Still rolling the eyeballs.

Just another meh-episode.

Edit: Whoever is doing the CG-villages these days, should be fired and send back to school.

CG has lacked severally in my most honest opinion. Looks like they were given lesser software. Or they too were dumbed down for some reason.

[Linda06]

There's only one exception to the rule that clipshows are usually extremely boring, and that would be Letters From Pegasus. The best clipshow ever to be made in the Stargate verse.

And I snort at my own reply in the episode thread:

Still talking to yourself I see

But yes I agree...LFP was a great ep

[Falcon Horus]

Still talking to yourself I see

Yes, I am. And Kate is giving me weird looks now and then too.

[Linda06]

Yes, I am. And Kate is giving me weird looks now and then too.

Oh i'll bet...She'll be thinking..Oh no, not again