S10: Critique & Contemplation

[DEM]

They've turned Vala into comic relief... This is the same woman who took over the Prometheus by herself? I'd like to see her be savvy, not silly.

Yes, I agree; she was a bit much tonight. She had good moments, I thought, but that just made the goofiness stand out even more.

And it's not even science fiction anymore. It's fantasy. It's so far gone from the original show I hardly recognize it.

Rue the day

Spoiler:

they built that village set. I thought I'd gone back in time to a Xena episode.

It's bittersweet that such a heavily team ep was so... not that especially great.

These writers are clearly struggling with such a large ensemble. Whatever posessed them to include Adria and Baal in an everyone-in-one-location episode?

[Crow T. Robot]

QUOTE=Strix varia]They've turned Vala into comic relief... This is the same woman who took over the Prometheus by herself? I'd like to see her be savvy, not silly. And it's not even science fiction anymore. It's fantasy. It's so far gone from the original show I hardly recognize it.[/QUOTE]

So they’ve gone from doing the Vaniel thing to making Vala the village idiot in this episode huh?

-Shakes head- They really have NO clue what direction they want to take Vala in do they? I’m surprised we don’t have whiplash from the weekly extremes. My sister did say however that this episode proves beyond a shadow of a doubt the writers should keep Daniel as far away from Vala as possible. She actually could actually stand Daniel tonight.

[Albion]

I've been reading the ep thread. Okay...NOW they've done it. Crossed the line that shouldn't be crossed. Done the unforgiveable. Stepped smack in the pile of doodoo.

Mitchell says "For crying out loud."?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?



It's bad enough what they've done to this character from the start of S9. But if they have the idiotic idea in their heads that now they can try and turn him into Jack...well, all I can say is, dream on, boys. Ain't never gonna happen!

I'd love to know whose looney tunes idea this one was! "Hey, I know, let's take a catchphrase strongly connected with the last guy and give it to this one! That'll work! They liked it when Jack said it. So bound to love it when Mitchel does! Right? Huh? Fellas? Right?"

Albion

[AGateFan]

I've been reading the ep thread. Okay...NOW they've done it. Crossed the line that shouldn't be crossed. Done the unforgiveable. Stepped smack in the pile of doodoo.

Mitchell says "For crying out loud."?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?



It's bad enough what they've done to this character from the start of S9. But if they have the idiotic idea in their heads that now they can try and turn him into Jack...well, all I can say is, dream on, boys. Ain't never gonna happen!

I'd love to know whose looney tunes idea this one was! "Hey, I know, let's take a catchphrase strongly connected with the last guy and give it to this one! That'll work! They liked it when Jack said it. So bound to love it when Mitchel does! Right? Huh? Fellas? Right?"

Albion

See if you had an actual show runner he could have been the one to say. "No, bad idea lets actually come up with something for this guy instead of stealing crp from the other characters".

I mean it would have been one thing if he spent a lot of time around jack and it rubbed off on him. Or if he was actually from the part of the country that uses that phrase a lot.... Sky do they use that phrase a lot in Kansas? I always thought of it as a northern type thing to say. For Kansas (which he now is apparently) or the southern types (which is how the character was played in S1) I would think something like "for chirst sake" or "for goodness sake" or something like that would be more in character.

EDIT: Maybe "awe jimmity crickets" or something, ANYTHING that actually makes this character actually be a whole and separate character and just not a bunch of random traits from other characters all smushed together.

[JessM]

I posted this on another thread but thought it also belonged here:

I broke down while at a friends house and watched this ep tonight (under duress I might add) and while I have not read anything about others views on the ep all I can say is hooboy am I glad I have not wasted any more time watching this show. As a mid-season finale this had to be the worst one I have seen in 10 years. (I could care less if I see the next part.) I thought at one point I was going to fall alseep - yeah they were together but if THIS is what TPTKTS have to offer with the team together than I say it is well and truly dead now.

They were right years ago when they said they didn't keep Jonas because 5 is too many for a team - this proves, to me, that with 5 there is just nothing to make any of them stand out, this was just outright, plain and simply boring - bored the life right out of me and I said so out loud at the point when they were all in a line dazzling me with their prudence. Sure it was cool that Carter was in the lead and figuring this out and Teal'c had a few lines (a real zinger for Ba'al and Carter's "get a room" was a good one too) but that is not nearly enough to redeem this show.

The ending was ludicrous and cheesy, IMO. That flying thing reminded me of the dragon in Shrek except the Dragon in Shrek was sacrier until she fell in love with Donkey then she was just totally cute and cool (maybe this one falls in love with Daniel, or mitchy, and then we have a whole new kind of "ship" to explore which I am sure TPTKTS would just lurve since it would be sooo much fuun).

Note to cooper and the rest of his band of merry men: "you have GOT to be kidding me!!" Worst excuse for a cliff-hanger, mid-season finale EVA!!! Geez there is really just nothing else for me to say. Clearly TPKTS have done nothing to change my perception of this show. It stinks and it is sad to see it continuing it's slide right down the dumper, IMO.

Totally agree, I almost fell asleep myself watching. And Vala really bugged me here.

Spoiler:

With her stupid "Oh, I love riddles!!" everytime Daniel came across another riddle. The way she had to run up there and try to figure it out made her come across as a really annoying, bratty kid.

[JessM]

I tried to avoid spoilers for tonight's ep, just to see if part of my disenchantment was caused by spoilers. Nope.

Spoiler:

I was mildly surprised by Adria's appearance, but the rest of it just had me snoozing. They get to the wall of flame. Okay, FAITH, people. Somebody has to walk through. Well, you know it has to be Daniel. Come on, Daniel. Figure it out. zzzzzzz. Oh, about time. Hmmmm, I wonder how long it will take them to figure out that Adria can't use her powers? Okay, good boy, Daniel, everyone else must be too busy picking their noses not to have noticed. Well... I wonder when the stupid dragon will show up? Ah, about time! Cliff hanger? Hardly. I was glad the hour was over.

They've turned Vala into comic relief... This is the same woman who took over the Prometheus by herself? I'd like to see her be savvy, not silly. And it's not even science fiction anymore. It's fantasy. It's so far gone from the original show I hardly recognize it.

Same here. I kept rolling my eyes throughout most of her scenes.

Spoiler:

And of course they had to make her be the one who gets them to arrive at a better solution when they were trying to get through that "maze" or whatever it was. Please...

I also didn't like the way that, even though it was a "team" episode, Daniel had to have just about all his scenes with Vala. When they found Baal and saw that chest, Vaniel shrug their shoulders and sit down to open it. Why did Vala have to check it out with Daniel ... why couldn't it have been Teal'c or Sam? I was actually a bit saddened in that scene because the little conversation they have about the five virtues there was reminiscent of conversations he's had in past episodes with Teal'c, Jack, and Sam.

To those who were watching/paying attention during the whole Adria sequence. There was a part where Adria says she'll kill them, "starting with her." Daniel then yells, "NO!" Okay, so who is the "her" they were talking about. At first, I thought it was Sam, but then I figured it was Vala. One of my friends said it was Vala, but another said Sam. Does anyone here know? I don't want to actually go back and watch the danged episode again to find out...

[DEM]

JessM, it was

Spoiler:

Carter. Vala and Carter were on opposite sides of the lineup, and Adria looked toward Sam's side of it.

[nell]

Cam said WHAT????

Spoiler:

I watched The Quest. Really! But, I missed that. That is Heinous! Outrageous! Inexcusable! FCOL is JACK O'NEILL!!

Now when Carter says it, that's OK with me! I like her use of Jackisms because it reinforces my belief that they have a relationship. Which leads me to my ultimate complaint.......there has been no direct reference to Sam and Jack ship in this season. I loved 200 but that was a spoof. Of course, I want a substantial scene between Sam and Jack but I have accepted TPTB want to develop the regular cast's stories and build the team dynamic. Nonetheless, there are plenty of opportunities for some ship references to validate that storyline.

[ses110]

nell examples like this show TPTB cannot be bothered to come up with

Spoiler:

original lines for Mitchell.We need people who have pride in their work to be in charge.People like RDA and Michael Greenberg.TPTB have been sloppy for the last 2 Years and it's like they just want to stop working on SG-1.Anti Season 9 and 10 people are catching the heat because we bring up valid problems with the Show instead of excepting everything.This is the reason why I'm against a Season 11 if it's going to be the same old show and the same people running the Show.

[MediaSavant]

What really amazes me is how effusive most of the people are in the episode discussion thread and the poll for this episode. I found it to be unremittingly dull and uninspired. It was cluttered with too many characters and totally lacking in suspense. I even felt the actors were bored and annoyed with it. I couldn't care less about what happens at the cliffhanger because they didn't draw me into the situation at all.

What are these other fans seeing that I'm not?

Maybe this was a "traditional SG-1" episode and that's they liked it. I never thought SG-1 was a great show when it was like this.

[AGateFan]

I doubt they liked this because it was a "traditional SG-1" episode.
Although I cant speak for the people that liked the ep or all the reasons they liked the ep. But keep in mind that there are a fair number that liked this ep that never liked Classic SG-1 in the first place. Apparently now-a-days anything that is not "bad" is considered "great" there does not appear to be any in between.

Atlantis seemed more like a classic SG-1 episode which is not necessarily a good thing since it is supposed to be a different show. However its not necessarily bad because at least it seemed to be in the spirit of stargate of old.

[JessM]

JessM, it was

Spoiler:

Carter. Vala and Carter were on opposite sides of the lineup, and Adria looked toward Sam's side of it.

Thanks DEM. I thought that's what it was - but wasn't sure after what my friend said.

[ParadoxRealities]

Spoiler:

Vala was such a brat in this episode. i truly think they've ruined her character entirely for me, which is actually saying quite a lot. the 'riddles' thing and the 'i have the answer' scenes were HORRIBLE and the one mother daughter scene we got was poorly done. the entire thing was hopelessly predictable, only slightly saved by Sam leading through the maze, and a few Ba'al lines, and maybe Adria answering one of the questions (though i predicted it, i still liked it a bit). Daniel took WAY too long to figure out the fire riddle. he's never been that slow. the plot went from one rip-off to another, sometimes two at once, and mitchell yet again didn't have one single useful line and yet still remained front and center. <headdesk> fcol, yes, i hated that too, he didn't even figure out the old man was Adria! thank goodness Sam, Teal'c, and Daniel (though the last rather late by my count) did. the rock thing was smart though i doubt Sam really needed Vala prompting. and a DRAGON!? i give up.

[JessM]

So they’ve gone from doing the Vaniel thing to making Vala the village idiot in this episode huh?

-Shakes head- They really have NO clue what direction they want to take Vala in do they? I’m surprised we don’t have whiplash from the weekly extremes. My sister did say however that this episode proves beyond a shadow of a doubt the writers should keep Daniel as far away from Vala as possible. She actually could actually stand Daniel tonight.

I agree with your sister. They need to do that but I have doubts that they really will. Still, it was nice to see Daniel interacting with people other than Vala.

[JessM]

nell examples like this show TPTB cannot be bothered to come up with

Spoiler:

original lines for Mitchell.We need people who have pride in their work to be in charge.People like RDA and Michael Greenberg.TPTB have been sloppy for the last 2 Years and it's like they just want to stop working on SG-1.Anti Season 9 and 10 people are catching the heat because we bring up valid problems with the Show instead of excepting everything.This is the reason why I'm against a Season 11 if it's going to be the same old show and the same people running the Show.

That's how I feel about it. Some of my friends can't believe that I'm not so broken up over the show being cancelled and that I'm against a Season 11. I tell them that if things would just keep going like they have in S9 and 10 - and I strongly believe that they would - I won't be interested in a Season 11. They usually drop it after that.

Interestingly enough, one of my friends is a big Daniel/MS fan, and when I told her that MS even said that he was the only one who hadn't signed on for another season (so we probably wouldn't get Daniel in a S11), she said something like, "Oh, he'd probably do it though if he found out the show had been renewed."