My Journey through Stargate SG1 - episode by episode.

[TryWhistlingThis]

SG1 - 8.04: Icon

The relatively pared down SG1 team this season is actually working a lot better than I had anticipated. Even with O'Neill's reduced role, which is being nicely utilised by the writing in having him as base Commander, nothing of the team feel has been lost at all. They still feel as closely knit as they were in the first few seasons.

Another enjoyable aspect of the episode was the story which seemed to be a hybrid between American Civil War and the tensions between Israel and Palestine. Its effectiveness can be attributed to its simplicity in not having continuous references to ancient deity figures or mythology. The situation instead was mostly drawn from the characters and settings of that planet with a fairly straight forward mission; get Jackson out.

There was one unusual aspect of the episode which i've never seen in a Stargate episode and that was the filming. Did anyone notice in the shootout scene in the sandbag room where a different style of camera was used? Those scenes seemed to have a handheld/digital camera feel to them, sort of like one of Michael Mann's recent films.

5 out of 5


SGA - 1.04: Suspicion

The pattern for the previous couple of episodes has been to focus on a particular character. This episode seemed to have Taylor as the focus of the episode for perfectly logical reasons. Although not a lot was learned about her, it was nice to see her interact with the crew more but also with her own people. I have to admit that Sheppard did annoy me a little in the way that he unquestionably stood up for Taylor despite the fact that she herself did have a small role in the reason the Wraith had a leg up on the SGA team. Keeping in mind all of the evidence was there for him to have his suspicions, albeit his feelings for her.

Other than that the episode was nicely paced, well filmed and we even captured a Wraith. Nicely done.

5 out of 5

[Snowman37]

Who is Taylor?

[hlndncr]

Who is Taylor?

I think he means Teyla. I've seen this mistake made before. It's easily done given how the name is often yelled or mumbled and not everyone is an uber fan who would look up the correct spelling.

[hlndncr]

SG1 - 8.04: Icon

The relatively pared down SG1 team this season is actually working a lot better than I had anticipated. Even with O'Neill's reduced role, which is being nicely utilised by the writing in having him as base Commander, nothing of the team feel has been lost at all. They still feel as closely knit as they were in the first few seasons.

Another enjoyable aspect of the episode was the story which seemed to be a hybrid between American Civil War and the tensions between Israel and Palestine. Its effectiveness can be attributed to its simplicity in not having continuous references to ancient deity figures or mythology. The situation instead was mostly drawn from the characters and settings of that planet with a fairly straight forward mission; get Jackson out.

There was one unusual aspect of the episode which i've never seen in a Stargate episode and that was the filming. Did anyone notice in the shootout scene in the sandbag room where a different style of camera was used? Those scenes seemed to have a handheld/digital camera feel to them, sort of like one of Michael Mann's recent films.

5 out of 5

I agree with you that they are using O'Neill really well as the base commander. I thought it was a good move for the show to put him in that position because it works around the actors reduced schedule while giving us a different perspective on the workings of the base.

I don't agree that the team dynamic stays intact. One of my few complaints about season 8 is that we don't ever really see just SG-1 out on a mission together with Sam in her new role as team leader. This episode is an excellent example. It was originally conceived as a Carter ep to show off her leadership of the team, but then it turned into Daniel as "The English Patient."

[discodiva]

SG1 - 8.04: Icon

The relatively pared down SG1 team this season is actually working a lot better than I had anticipated. Even with O'Neill's reduced role, which is being nicely utilised by the writing in having him as base Commander, nothing of the team feel has been lost at all. They still feel as closely knit as they were in the first few seasons.

Another enjoyable aspect of the episode was the story which seemed to be a hybrid between American Civil War and the tensions between Israel and Palestine. Its effectiveness can be attributed to its simplicity in not having continuous references to ancient deity figures or mythology. The situation instead was mostly drawn from the characters and settings of that planet with a fairly straight forward mission; get Jackson out.

There was one unusual aspect of the episode which i've never seen in a Stargate episode and that was the filming. Did anyone notice in the shootout scene in the sandbag room where a different style of camera was used? Those scenes seemed to have a handheld/digital camera feel to them, sort of like one of Michael Mann's recent films.

5 out of 5


SGA - 1.04: Suspicion

The pattern for the previous couple of episodes has been to focus on a particular character. This episode seemed to have Taylor as the focus of the episode for perfectly logical reasons. Although not a lot was learned about her, it was nice to see her interact with the crew more but also with her own people. I have to admit that Sheppard did annoy me a little in the way that he unquestionably stood up for Taylor despite the fact that she herself did have a small role in the reason the Wraith had a leg up on the SGA team. Keeping in mind all of the evidence was there for him to have his suspicions, albeit his feelings for her.

Other than that the episode was nicely paced, well filmed and we even captured a Wraith. Nicely done.

5 out of 5

Glad you enjoyed Icon....it's one of my favourite episodes of S.8...I really liked the character of Kane...great interaction between him and Daniel...and an interesting "take" on how quickly a religious-like fanaticism can take over...

Must have a rewatch of Atlantis soon as well..


Deeds xx

[TryWhistlingThis]

I'm not dead.


More soon.


Very soon.

[TryWhistlingThis]

Hey everyone, how have we been? I'm still around. Just been really busy with University and life in general. My Playstation 3 was also playing up. I've had it since the launch day and never had trouble with it but sadly it's effectively died on me which, apart from PC and laptop, has left me without a means of watching DVDs. But i'm back on track again.

SG1 - 8.05: Avatar

Isn't it interesting how the episode before this was titled Icon given that both an Avatar and Icon are essentially the same thing? This is definitely an episode that only could have been made somewhere in the early 2000s where The Matrix had inspired a whole slew of sci-fi alternate reality films. For that reason the results in this episode aren't too surprising nor are the events where Teal'c struggles between knowing who the computer generated avatars and legitimate player avatars are.

But it was generally a pretty good episode because the settings and plot devices were obviously relevant to Stargate, so it wasn't just a simple cut and paste job (see Star Trek:Voyager's two parter, Unimatrix Zero).

A good, action packed episode.

4 out of 5

[TryWhistlingThis]

SGA - 1.05: Childhood's End

Admittedly this one felt a bit familiar beneath the lick of fresh paint that's been provided for with the new cast and setting. I mostly enjoyed this episode but it could have also been easily written for the SG1 cast in terms of the type of scenario they were up against and the resolution. The debate between the team members felt quite familiar too so arguably the show hasn't quite come into its own.

But there were some good performances here plus the filming was quite good too along with the crisp CGI. Though the floating sphere looked dodgy.

3 out of 5

[TryWhistlingThis]

SG1 - 8.06: Affinity

This one probably got a little too weighed down in the narrative for its own good. I almost always enjoy it when SG1 takes itself outside of the usual off-world action formula and attempt something new. Although this one didn't totally fail, there were too many times where this just felt like another show rather than SG1 trying new things. The T'ealc was good where the chemistry felt natural with some good performances. But the tone and pacing of the episode was too consistent for its own good. Notable but one of the lesser experiments of the series.

3 out of 5


SGA - 8.06: Poisoning the Well

I mostly enjoyed this episode but the style and overall story felt like a left over SG1 script. The interaction between the SGA team didn't really bring anything new. I haven't got a lot to say because it was a solid episode and fairly enjoyable. Lets see what happens next.

4 out of 5

[hlndncr]

SG1 - 8.06: Affinity

This one probably got a little too weighed down in the narrative for its own good. I almost always enjoy it when SG1 takes itself outside of the usual off-world action formula and attempt something new. Although this one didn't totally fail, there were too many times where this just felt like another show rather than SG1 trying new things. The T'ealc was good where the chemistry felt natural with some good performances. But the tone and pacing of the episode was too consistent for its own good. Notable but one of the lesser experiments of the series.

3 out of 5


SGA - 8.06: Poisoning the Well

I mostly enjoyed this episode but the style and overall story felt like a left over SG1 script. The interaction between the SGA team didn't really bring anything new. I haven't got a lot to say because it was a solid episode and fairly enjoyable. Lets see what happens next.

4 out of 5

The less said about Affinity the better IMO.

Poisoning the Well is significant because it made Carson Beckett a regular. Paul McGillion was the heart of this episode and his character became the conscience of Atlantis the way some say Daniel Jackson once was for SG1.

[TryWhistlingThis]

SG1 - 8.08: Covenant

The first thing I have to comment on is that I noticed quite boldly the wink and nod to fans of The Nanny when Charles Shaughnessy's character was introduced to a character with the surname of Sheffield - very funny. I liked this episode better than the previous one but i've definitely seen this type of episode before. You know the one; someone outside of the SGC has knowledge of the activities at Cheyenne Mountain and the team are called upon to attend to it.

Though i've always enjoyed these kinds of episodes, for the second half of the episode it really went through the motions and became really predictable. This further confirms my opinion that the show seems to be overstaying its welcome in that i'm now starting to see a lot of repetition in the episodes. Though well performed, it just didn't do much for me.

2.5 out of 5


SGA - 8.08: Underground

Great to see even more Trek alumni appear in SG. This time around we have Colm Meaney of DS9 fame. Though his performance didn't surprise me so much in the character he played, his presence was definitely fitting and he did a fine job with his character. It's very much hinted that we'll see more of him so I look forward to that.

As with previous episodes though, as enjoyable as they've been, it's so far feeling like the SG series for those who didn't hop on board for SG1 as a lot of the themes and plots are reminding me a lot of the previous show. The team dynamic is interesting though. McKay is starting to grow on me a lot and will possibly be my favourite amongst the crew. Overall it was a generally well paced episode with some pretty good action in it.

4 out of 5

[Petra]

This further confirms my opinion that the show seems to be overstaying its welcome in that i'm now starting to see a lot of repetition in the episodes. Though well performed, it just didn't do much for me.

Welcome back!

I don't particularly enjoy Covenant so I'll refrain from comments on the episode.

I just wanted to remark that season 8 is very uneven, as it has strong beginning and very strong finish, featuring some of the best episodes of the whole series, but it sags in the middle a lot. "It's good to be king" is the first episode since "Avatar" I care to rewatch sometimes but for me personally, things really become great again with "Full Alert". Generally I pretend the string of episodes from "Affinity" to "Prometheus Unbound" (now that's a controversial ep!) doesn't exist

[TryWhistlingThis]

I know, I know. I swore I was back and I never did forget. It's just been my busiest few months with Uni and work. I've had a lot of life changes that have stood in the way. I think the best way to go about this is to just get through the series in a huge burst once exams are over. One ep per night, that type of thing. This thread is aging disgracefully and i've under delivered my promise to you one too many times. I have to finish this thing.


SG1 - 8.09: Sacrifices

I couldn't really invest myself in this episode. Granted, Jolene Blalock made for some very nice sweetener to help pass the time, but that was about it. The marriage subplot was never really fleshed out enough to take seriously or become curious about while O'Neill, Carter and Jackson took yet another backseat. The show seems to be going in a less team oriented feel and rather just have a "character of the week" type focus. This can be good but i'm finding it isn't really bringing a whole lot that's new to the series since we haven't learned anything new about the character in focus nor are the main plots that interesting anymore.

I'll be honest; it's getting boring. But at the same time, the show is just over 8 years old by this point. Even TNG was aging disgracefully in its ninth Season, I guess it's entirely inevitable.

SGA review coming up.

2 out of 5

[blueray]

TNG only had 7 seasons... And I'm currently watching it and season 6 is the best season so far.

[hedwig]

I know, I know. I swore I was back and I never did forget. It's just been my busiest few months with Uni and work. I've had a lot of life changes that have stood in the way. I think the best way to go about this is to just get through the series in a huge burst once exams are over. One ep per night, that type of thing. This thread is aging disgracefully and i've under delivered my promise to you one too many times. I have to finish this thing.


SG1 - 8.09: Sacrifices

I couldn't really invest myself in this episode. Granted, Jolene Blalock made for some very nice sweetener to help pass the time, but that was about it. The marriage subplot was never really fleshed out enough to take seriously or become curious about while O'Neill, Carter and Jackson took yet another backseat. The show seems to be going in a less team oriented feel and rather just have a "character of the week" type focus. This can be good but i'm finding it isn't really bringing a whole lot that's new to the series since we haven't learned anything new about the character in focus nor are the main plots that interesting anymore.

I'll be honest; it's getting boring. But at the same time, the show is just over 8 years old by this point. Even TNG was aging disgracefully in its ninth Season, I guess it's entirely inevitable.

SGA review coming up.

2 out of 5

Christopher Judge wrote this episode. It was his way of getting to actually have something to do in an episode instead of being more or less wallpaper like he has been for most of the series.