S10: Critique & Contemplation

[Petra]

Totally agree. TPTB got things totally topsy-turvy with Jack's use in Stargate SG-1's 10th season and Stargate: Atlantis's 3rd season. He should have been used more in Season 10. Plus I think '200' was just a waste of Rick's time (apart from the wedding scene that is ). Rick shouldn't have been in 'The Return'. I enjoyed that 2-parter but those 2-hours odd use of Jack would have been put to better use by having him appear in Unending when it should have been him seeing his "old buddy" Thor again. Jack had the distinction of being the first to meet him and the Asgard so he should have been the one to have had the honour of accepting the Asgard technology.

Yep, Unending and The Road Not Taken were 2 episodes that begged for Jack. His presence in SGA's "The Real World" made little sense and his role in "The Return part 1" was almost non-existent. It's such a shame he was wasted on them I must confess though that I loved him being a hero to save the day in Part 2..

Anyway, I watched The Shroud some time ago. And again I feel the need to rant. Don't get me wrong, I loved Jack in it and the episode itself isn't so bad (will you throw rotten vegetables at me if I say that I didn't like MS' performance though? ), even if I wish there was more than one short scene between Sam and Jack and something between Jack and Teal'c. Nope, my rant is about Landry. Again.

Landry didn’t have to be in this episode at all, after all Head of Homeworld Security was there. HoHS as in Jack. As in Landry’s boss. As in Landry’s superior officer. As in someone with higher rank than Landry. So why was Woolsey talking about his proposal with Landry and not Jack?! Later Landry was acting as a mediator between Jack and Woosey and he was quite good at it but I still don’t know why was he involved in the first place. And Jack’s last scene in the SGC: why was Landry lecturing him?! I’ll say it again, Jack has a higher rank, superior position and more experience; he was in command of the SGC for over a year and now oversees the SGC and is Landry’s boss and yet Landry had a nerve to lecture him on burdens of command? And Jack thanked him and called him “Sir”? With all respect due to BW, but I think he confused Jack/Hammond relationship with Landry/Jack. And this scene was absolutely redundant. I’d much prefer more Jack/Sam/Teal’c goodness. Heck, show me how Jack interacts with Vala instead of shoving Landry down my throat!

It's like the writers forgot their own canon. Forgot how to write their main character. It's just sad.

[Alan]

Yep, Unending and The Road Not Taken were 2 episodes that begged for Jack. His presence in SGA's "The Real World" made little sense and his role in "The Return part 1" was almost non-existent. It's such a shame he was wasted on them I must confess though that I loved him being a hero to save the day in Part 2..

Anyway, I watched The Shroud some time ago. And again I feel the need to rant. Don't get me wrong, I loved Jack in it and the episode itself isn't so bad (will you throw rotten vegetables at me if I say that I didn't like MS' performance though? ), even if I wish there was more than one short scene between Sam and Jack and something between Jack and Teal'c. Nope, my rant is about Landry. Again.

Landry didn’t have to be in this episode at all, after all Head of Homeworld Security was there. HoHS as in Jack. As in Landry’s boss. As in Landry’s superior officer. As in someone with higher rank than Landry. So why was Woolsey talking about his proposal with Landry and not Jack?! Later Landry was acting as a mediator between Jack and Woosey and he was quite good at it but I still don’t know why was he involved in the first place. And Jack’s last scene in the SGC: why was Landry lecturing him?! I’ll say it again, Jack has a higher rank, superior position and more experience; he was in command of the SGC for over a year and now oversees the SGC and is Landry’s boss and yet Landry had a nerve to lecture him on burdens of command? And Jack thanked him and called him “Sir”? With all respect due to BW, but I think he confused Jack/Hammond relationship with Landry/Jack. And this scene was absolutely redundant. I’d much prefer more Jack/Sam/Teal’c goodness. Heck, show me how Jack interacts with Vala instead of shoving Landry down my throat!

It's like the writers forgot their own canon. Forgot how to write their main character. It's just sad.

I completely and totally agree with all your points made (no you won't get rotten vegetables thrown at you btw...at least none from me). It IS sad.

[Mandysg1]

No veggies here either, it reminds of a quote from Tangent, when Jacob tells Jack, "you can't just slap a US airforce sticker on it and call it your own." Talking about the Goa'uld ship they modified. Well is sure felt like the stuck a SG1 sticker on S9 and 10...but it never was SG1

[Skydiver]

he didn't even have to be IN road not taken, but at least mentioned. but i consider it a near criminal (as criminal as casting can be) lapse to not have him in unending.

that was just a frak you to the fans as far as i was concerned.

[Petra]

Thanks for unerstanding and all wonderful comments This thread is possibly the only place on the forum where I can say I'm not that impressed with MS' performance and not be attacked for it.

Next on my rewatch is Bounty. Chances are, I'll come back here very soon..

[kusanagi]

he didn't even have to be IN road not taken, but at least mentioned. but i consider it a near criminal (as criminal as casting can be) lapse to not have him in unending.

that was just a frak you to the fans as far as i was concerned.

And not for the last time if we consider SGA

[Ashizuri]

Thanks for unerstanding and all wonderful comments This thread is possibly the only place on the forum where I can say I'm not that impressed with MS' performance and not be attacked for it.

That's just silly. I love RDA to the moon and back and Jack is my favorite character, but I don't feel the need to jump all over people who think he's giving less than 100% in a performance. As much as I like season 8, he wasn't always at the top of his game in that season and it showed. *shrugs* I always thought Daniel in season 9/10 was more MS than he was Daniel, and I think that shift started in season 7. I didn't notice it as much in 7/8 because it was still an ensemble show for the most part, but it became very glaring when it became the Daniel show in the last two seasons.

I must say, I might think it was some of his weakest performances, but he certainly was looking very pretty in those last 2 years.

Next on my rewatch is Bounty. Chances are, I'll come back here very soon..

I kind of liked Vala in Bounty, if I'm remembering the episode correctly. It's the one with Mitchell's high school reuinion, right? I think she might have been the only thing in the episode I did like.

[EvenstarSRV]

Thanks for unerstanding and all wonderful comments This thread is possibly the only place on the forum where I can say I'm not that impressed with MS' performance and not be attacked for it.

The main disappointment I had with MS's performance in the Shroud was that aside from the opening scene of him preaching, I wasn't really sold on the idea that Daniel was possessed by Merlin or Prior-itized, because once he was beamed up he talked and acted exactly like Daniel, just with odd makeup. Maybe that was necessary in order for MS to deliver all the required exposition, but for me it removed any of the 'can we trust him or not' tension they were trying to build up between Daniel and the others. It's a shame because I think MS has shown he can do a good job portraying mixed personalities like in Lifeboat.

[jckfan55]

^and he did pretty well in Merlin's cave too.
I think it would have served MS well, in general, if they had written more for him with characters other than Vala. Maybe I'm influenced by my dissatisfaction with the Daniel-Vala show, but you'd think as an actor, it would give you more to work with to have meaningful scenes with various actors/characters. I really felt the loss of Sam/Daniel in the last two seasons in particular.

[Petra]

That's just silly. I love RDA to the moon and back and Jack is my favorite character, but I don't feel the need to jump all over people who think he's giving less than 100% in a performance. As much as I like season 8, he wasn't always at the top of his game in that season and it showed. *shrugs* I always thought Daniel in season 9/10 was more MS than he was Daniel, and I think that shift started in season 7. I didn't notice it as much in 7/8 because it was still an ensemble show for the most part, but it became very glaring when it became the Daniel show in the last two seasons.

I must say, I might think it was some of his weakest performances, but he certainly was looking very pretty in those last 2 years.

Yep, I pretty much agree with your assessment regarding MS.
As for RDA..that's why I don't understand personal attacks at someone who says they didn't like how actor X played scene X. If I got a penny each time I read complaints regarding RDA's acting in season 8 I'd be a millionare by now And the thing is, I don't agree. There were virtually one or two scenes right at the beginning when I thought he was kinda wooden but apart from it I loved his performances and found them very believable and in tune with where Jack was at the time. But this is of course just my personal opinion based on my subjective interpretation of the character and acting itself. *shrug*

I kind of liked Vala in Bounty, if I'm remembering the episode correctly. It's the one with Mitchell's high school reuinion, right? I think she might have been the only thing in the episode I did like.

That's the one. However Vala is one of the things I dislike the most about this episode. I love Vala as a sassy, selfish treasure hunter of season 9 and her serious incarnation (it comes out when she's with Tomin) of season 10 but I can't stand it when TPTB use her as a comic relief. Mostly because slapstick, physical humour isn't my thing (I hate Jim Carrey or Will Ferrel for the same reason). Vala has a good scene at the beginning when she asks Cam to take her with him and some nice scenes with his parents and that's it. Throughout the rest of the episode she's at her worst, IMO.

I think it would have served MS well, in general, if they had written more for him with characters other than Vala. Maybe I'm influenced by my dissatisfaction with the Daniel-Vala show, but you'd think as an actor, it would give you more to work with to have meaningful scenes with various actors/characters. I really felt the loss of Sam/Daniel in the last two seasons in particular

I haven't thought about it this way, but you may be onto something. My main problem with Daniel/MS in The Shroud is that he tries to be snarkier than Jack himself and I don't know where that came from. But indeed this is mostly how he acts around Vala and in the last season majority of his scenes are with her..So maybe MS got stuck in the "Vala mode"..?

BOUNTY

Okay, so I watched it, second time in my life. I wish I could say "and the last time ever" but it's so bad that I'm oddly fascinated by its utter cr**ness.

There are quite a few SG-1 episodes that were horrible and which I hate with passion and wish they were never made (Affinity, PU, most of season 9&10) but I don't think any of them was quite so daft. Bounty is an embodiment of campiness.

The acting throughout is bad. Just as The Shroud marks the weakest performance of MS in the series Bounty is the weakest BB's performance. He seems to alternate between being dramatically over the top and being embarassed by his involvement in this one. To be fair it's hard to blame him because I doubt De Niro would do better with such an awful dialogue. Guest characters are all equally bad, with an honourable mention of the guy who plays Natan (probably the worst recurring actor ever). The saving grace is as usual AT and CJ who apparently didn't get the memo that this ep is a farce. And though I don't like Vala here, CB plays her with usual charm and conviction.

What else? The epi should have been scrapped as soon as "highschool reunion" was mentioned. This whole plot, and I'm using the word loosely, is the worst cliche imaginable. Cam meeting his childhood sweetheart and falling for her again (together with such hilarious gags a falling off the chair when she comes by, being tongue-tied, juvenile whispering with his immature best friend and man-handling Vala - was he taking lessons from Daniel?), the ridiculous bounty hunters, Vala plotting Cam's death in order to get money from his life insurance, bobbing head of one of the guests..add to that "funny" scenes with dr Lee being an idiot yet *again* and being shown as a ladies man and Daniel subplot with an attempt to seduce him in the library because he's "so attractive" and then with his scorned would-be-lady-friend-turned-bounty-hunter being run down by the bus no one heard nor seen coming..overall a perfect example of how not to do a series/movie.

Honestly, it's so silly and cliche that I can't even work up the energy for a real rant, and that says something

[Ashizuri]

Yep, I pretty much agree with your assessment regarding MS.

It just seemed that it was the same person on my television that I saw at the conventions, and that's not acting. And hey, MS is an entertaining guy and he makes me laugh, but he's not Daniel and that's what I wanted on my show.

As for RDA..that's why I don't understand personal attacks at someone who says they didn't like how actor X played scene X. If I got a penny each time I read complaints regarding RDA's acting in season 8 I'd be a millionare by now And the thing is, I don't agree. There were virtually one or two scenes right at the beginning when I thought he was kinda wooden but apart from it I loved his performances and found them very believable and in tune with where Jack was at the time. But this is of course just my personal opinion based on my subjective interpretation of the character and acting itself. *shrug*

Opinions and all that. Now if only we could get the word out on the interweb that you're supposed to respect other people's we could all play nicely.

I love Vala as a sassy, selfish treasure hunter of season 9 and her serious incarnation (it comes out when she's with Tomin) of season 10 but I can't stand it when TPTB use her as a comic relief.

Interestingly enough, I find that as long as she's not with Daniel I tend to enjoy her. My hate for them together is strong.

Honestly, it's so silly and cliche that I can't even work up the energy for a real rant, and that says something

The whole last two seasons were silly and cliche, and episodes that didn't fill me with rage were few and far between, so I'm not going to examine too much why this episode was enjoyable for me. I don't want to ruin it.

Plus, CB just looked spectacularly hot in this episode.

[jckfan55]

The acting throughout is bad. Just as The Shroud marks the weakest performance of MS in the series Bounty is the weakest BB's performance. He seems to alternate between being dramatically over the top and being embarassed by his involvement in this one. To be fair it's hard to blame him because I doubt De Niro would do better with such an awful dialogue. Guest characters are all equally bad, with an honourable mention of the guy who plays Natan (probably the worst recurring actor ever). The saving grace is as usual AT and CJ who apparently didn't get the memo that this ep is a farce.

virtual green

[Mr Prophet]

So, my big problem with Bounty - Some guy gets shot in the parking lot. As far as I can tell, there's no suggestion it's a stun shot.

No-one ever mentions this again.

I'm sure this show used to care what happened to the background characters.

[Ashizuri]

I'm sure this show used to care what happened to the background characters.

I'm sure this show also used to care about it's main characters...

[hedwig]

So, my big problem with Bounty - Some guy gets shot in the parking lot. As far as I can tell, there's no suggestion it's a stun shot.

No-one ever mentions this again.

I'm sure this show used to care what happened to the background characters.

Unfortunately, throughout the series, there's a lot of stuff that never gets mentioned again, glossed over, diminished, dismissed as though it never happened. I sometimes get caught up in an episode and when it's over, find myself going "oh, yeah, but what about ..... ?" only to never hear or see anything about it again. Or even a character brought in for one episode or even to be used for one specific purpose and then tossed away never to be heard from or mentioned again.