S10: Critique & Contemplation

[ReganX]

IMO S9 was just schizo. After the first 6 eps, it became a different show. The first six eps featured Vala/Daniel, so when she left it was like, ok now what do we do. Now they had to play catch up with Mitchell. They were all over the place with Mitchell's character. Then they threw in the Landry/Lam issues that were horrible. Don't know what to do with Sam, well write in a old admirer.

And shrink him for a funny joke.

[Jackie]

I think that was essential. Major Mitchell would have been far better liked than Lt Colonel Mitchell has been. There also wouldn't have been the same issue over Jack-vs-Mitchell comparisons if he had been brought in as 2IC instead of as leader.



Did they know for certain at the time they were making the first five episodes of Season Nine that they would definitely be bringing CB back as a regular for Season Ten?

I would have thought that even if TPTB wanted her back and CB was willing to join the cast full time, budgetary issues would still have to be sorted out. If cast costs increase, the overall budget has to increase too or else money has to be taken from another area.

With Vala, I think the sex jokes have to be removed altogether or, at the very least, heavily rationed - for example, if the writers use a sex joke in episode one, they've used up their allowance for the next five episodes.

CB stated in an interview I read some time ago...can't remeber where though...that when she did Prometheus Unbonded, TPTB THEN said they wanted her as Vala full time. CB replied that she was amazed that it actually happened. Usually in that buisness you never believe anything till it's signed and sealed in a deal. She was remarking on how she didn't think she would really come back to play Vala ever again after P.U. episode.

The funny thing is I always like CB and found her interview more intresting then the character she was trying to explain in the interview. She said Vala was insecure and used the sex remarks to hide behind.

I would figure if someone was that insecure they would be less "look at me" statements to hide behind. I found the character just too childish and more like an adult having a mid-life crises than an insure former host.

[Jackie]

Funny thing is happening to me. I read here and see how many feel exactly the same as me on the exact same points: Vala (immature childish whorelette), Vaniel (waste of time, energy, space, etc.), Mitchell (uuggghh!! is all I can muster he's so pathetic), Landry/Lam issues (pathetic too but in a different sort of way); makes me realize that by stopping watching the show I really did the right thing. In my opinion what it boils down to is that the show really truly sucked in S9 and was no better in S10.

Yes, old habits are hard to break. The show is a shell of its former self. The old repeats are still far better.

They should have ended the show in season 8 and told Skiffy they didn't want the record. (IMO there must have been some sort of a deal going between the pair.) They should have placed thier efforts on SGA and then took the time to decided if they want to do a 3rd spinn off or movies.

It takes years to write a good book. Why should it take only months to come up with a new show or movie? If the writers took thier time and really thought about the changes and admitted it would be the launch of a new series and held to that view. I bet Stargate Command (as I refer to season 9 and 10 now) would have been a really good series. The potential is there but they just didn't think it through.

[Skydiver]

They did a lousy job with the transition. TPTB pretty much failed on all counts.

Vala still rubs me the wrong way. She is just silly now. She a little girl in a grown woman body. I find that to be a real turn off.

she is. the pigtails are just silly. as is her 'let me quip of' trait. ok, once or twice, sure it can be a joke...but every single thing she says??? and i'm supposed to believe that this character is a master manipulator when all she does is snark off and make jokes??? maybe the writers are so distracted having fun that they forgot that she's supposed to be this super duper con artist who's smarter than your average bear.

I think that was essential. Major Mitchell would have been far better liked than Lt Colonel Mitchell has been. There also wouldn't have been the same issue over Jack-vs-Mitchell comparisons if he had been brought in as 2IC instead of as leader.

i've always been and always will be a fan of Major Mitchell joins the sgc, gets handed SG-1 and leads the team in sam's absence. then has a choice when she comes back...does he take another team and keep command or step down to second to continue to learn fromthe best???

course that wouldn't fit into the white male action hewo stereotype where 'me man, me boss, you woman, you subordinate' that these writers seem to love to perpetrate

Did they know for certain at the time they were making the first five episodes of Season Nine that they would definitely be bringing CB back as a regular for Season Ten?

not to pry ito CB's life, but in the since pulled blog from levenstein in which he anounced cb's pregnancy, it was stated that CB knew that she'd be back for s10, and so timed her pregnancy to be completed before she'd have to tape. diong the math, for her to deliver in december (her son's one year old by the way) she would have had to be working on things just before or during her taping of ther first eps in s9 which were done in jan-march of 2005.

she knew before vala departed in s9 that - if there was a s10 - she'd be a part of it.

my beef is...if they knew from the getgo that she was joining the show, why the heck didn't they take the time to make her three dimensional and 'good' from the beginning??? if the Frat Boys had done thier job right the first time, there would have been no need for 11th hour rewrites adn tweaks to 'fix' season 9

[ReganX]

i've always been and always will be a fan of Major Mitchell joins the sgc, gets handed SG-1 and leads the team in sam's absence. then has a choice when she comes back...does he take another team and keep command or step down to second to continue to learn fromthe best???

course that wouldn't fit into the white male action hewo stereotype where 'me man, me boss, you woman, you subordinate' that these writers seem to love to perpetrate

What a shame that they couldn't see that maybe, just maybe an interesting character would be a better fit that a stereotype.

Major Mitchell would have been able to carve out a role for himself in the show. Lt Colonel Mitchell was crammed into Jack's former role, despite the fact that the job had been taken, and the show was mutated around him.

Now he's been dumped by the wayside in favour of the "bad girl with a heart of gold" cliché.

[Rogue]

What a shame that they couldn't see that maybe, just maybe an interesting character would be a better fit that a stereotype.

Major Mitchell would have been able to carve out a role for himself in the show. Lt Colonel Mitchell was crammed into Jack's former role, despite the fact that the job had been taken, and the show was mutated around him.

Now he's been dumped by the wayside in favour of the "bad girl with a heart of gold" cliché.

With all his faults and lousy introduction, I can live with Mitchell. Vala on the other hand irritates me as she is currently written. It also bothers me how the other team members just seem to put up with her. I could easily live with S10 without Vala.

[ReganX]

With all his faults and lousy introduction, I can live with Mitchell. Vala on the other hand irritates me as she is currently written. It also bothers me how the other team members just seem to put up with her. I could easily live with S10 without Vala.

For me, the main problem with Vala is Vaniel - we hardly ever see Vala the character, all we see is half of Vaniel. When Daniel is around, Vala is glued to his side and doesn't get the opportunity to be a character in her own right.

I don't think that Vaniel is doing Daniel any favours either, but at least Daniel has had nearly eight seasons (cumulatively) plus a movie without Vala around in which to develop his own character. Vala has not had this chance.

As long as Daniel is around and he and Vala are joined at the hip, Vala is not going to get a chance to be a character, she'll be half of Vaniel.

[jckfan55]

Yeah, that interview thing worked great on the COMERCIAL promoting the TV show SG-1. It freaking has no place in the universe of SG-1 at all. It made the USAF look like a bunch of loser dorks. How did SG-1 go from a show that made the USAF look so good to one that made fun of them and treats them like losers. I am so disgusted.

I agree. It was like in order to show how coool Mitchell is, they had to diminish others. Kind of an adolescent approach.

[jckfan55]

]For me, the main problem with Vala is Vaniel[/COLOR] - we hardly ever see Vala the character, all we see is half of Vaniel. When Daniel is around, Vala is glued to his side and doesn't get the opportunity to be a character in her own right.

I don't think that Vaniel is doing Daniel any favours either, but at least Daniel has had nearly eight seasons (cumulatively) plus a movie without Vala around in which to develop his own character. Vala has not had this chance.

As long as Daniel is around and he and Vala are joined at the hip, Vala is not going to get a chance to be a character, she'll be half of Vaniel.

I'll never be a big fan of Mitchell, but I have sort of adjusted to him. But why not let Vala interact with the other characters? The writers (who are all producers) are so in love with Vaniel that they don't see it. I think a lot of their problem is no checks and balances. RCC has done some good writing in the past, but that doesn't mean all his ideas are brilliant.

[Skydiver]

I agree. It was like in order to show how coool Mitchell is, they had to diminish others. Kind of an adolescent approach.

yeah. it's kinda like, ok, i'm gonna write a sam/jack ship fic, oh yeah and laira's gonna be a vindictive witch and pete will be abusive and so will kerry....in other words, destroy/villify the existing characters to make your ship easier to portray.

that's the easy way out. Tossing sam and jack together is easy if pete's obsessive and abusive...it's a bit harder for sam to dump him though if he's nice. so, as a writer, you'd have to work harder

instead of working mitch into things - and yes, the show would have to be tweaked, they decided to toss teh show out on its ear, put in place mister Marty Stu Mitchell and then prop up the fallen walls of the show around him

all it did was make mitch look worse adn made long time fans sad to see characters they'd come to know and care for destroyed in favor of teh new golden boy, which did nothing to help him out in the acceptance department

[Jackie]

For me, the main problem with Vala is Vaniel - we hardly ever see Vala the character, all we see is half of Vaniel. When Daniel is around, Vala is glued to his side and doesn't get the opportunity to be a character in her own right.

I don't think that Vaniel is doing Daniel any favours either, but at least Daniel has had nearly eight seasons (cumulatively) plus a movie without Vala around in which to develop his own character. Vala has not had this chance.

As long as Daniel is around and he and Vala are joined at the hip, Vala is not going to get a chance to be a character, she'll be half of Vaniel.

Vala has huge potential. Her background as a host to Quetesh is a great start. Even the time as a thief is good. If they had wrote Vala to be more shrewed and little more mature, I think that character would be fantastic.

However, the current writting for Vala is centered around Daniel and childlike behavior. When Vala does show some maturity it is good. But the character needed to be shrewed and mature from the begining. Her being a former thief doesn't bother me--it's the general child like statements and behavior that the writers think is cute and funny that irritates me.

The interactions between Vala and Daniel is not appealing to me in the least. I cannot see how some have come to the conclusion that they have sexual tension or should be a couple. That just blows my mind because they really don't have good chemistry together. Their timing is not great and the delivery of lines are too over the top. When MS keeps Daniel in a calmer state--that interaction is better than when they are bickering and fighting. (the moonlighting effect was never real-only worked for David and Maddy) IMO--it's better to have two main characters give sublte glances and linger to long then it is to have 3 stooges bickering. (I guess some men would find it funny though. Hubby thinks it's cute--he loves the 3 stooges though.)

"Vaniel" is not a romantic combo. It's like watching two little kids fight and taunt eachother. Daniel actually turns into a bully around Vala. I hate the interaction for most of thier screen time.

Vala interacts far better with Sam, Mitchell and Teal'c. (IMO--Vala and Teal'c have great timing.)

"Vaniel" needs to go...nothing like having to have them sit in seperate corners for the rest of the season.

[Skydiver]

I'll never be a big fan of Mitchell, but I have sort of adjusted to him. But why not let Vala interact with the other characters? The writers (who are all producers) are so in love with Vaniel that they don't see it. I think a lot of their problem is no checks and balances. RCC has done some good writing in the past, but that doesn't mean all his ideas are brilliant.

i dont' get vaniel either. and i feel sorry for claudia. I havent' seen a ton of her work, but there's so much more that she's capable of than simply being 'daniel's girl'

and that's all she is. a prop for daniel. nothing more, nothing less.

what the writers tried to do with sam, turning her into jack's girl, they've accomplished with vala.

and, let's play let's pretend and say that MS doesn't sign for the movie....where will that leave vala? she has no real relationship with any of the others cause she's not allowed to interact with them.

teh fatal weakness to being the guy's girl...you're only needed if the guy is still around. I can't imagine any actress who's got a choice being too fond of her potetial future employment resting solely upon the whims of others

[Skydiver]

cute, cocquetish, pig tailed immature vala....she makes no sense as the kick tushie former host, ex-goauld system lord, imprisoned, freed and then tossed out to survive on her own wits.

vala can be fun, but that fun needs to be tempered with age old pain and hurt. a simmering rage needs to be uner the surface. the desperation and longing to be part of something big...but the inherant mistrust and suspicion and cynicism to be too afraid to commit lest you be hurt.

that's what vala COULD be. butthe Frat Boys can't get beyond purile humor and having fun to do the character some justice

[Jackie]

i dont' get vaniel either. and i feel sorry for claudia. I havent' seen a ton of her work, but there's so much more that she's capable of than simply being 'daniel's girl'

and that's all she is. a prop for daniel. nothing more, nothing less.

what the writers tried to do with sam, turning her into jack's girl, they've accomplished with vala.

and, let's play let's pretend and say that MS doesn't sign for the movie....where will that leave vala? she has no real relationship with any of the others cause she's not allowed to interact with them.

teh fatal weakness to being the guy's girl...you're only needed if the guy is still around. I can't imagine any actress who's got a choice being too fond of her potetial future employment resting solely upon the whims of others

I think they really need some female writers on the show to balance out all the male macho writting. Well, I guess it's too late for that now. Perhaps they will run the script by some female editors before shooting the movies. Doubt it though.

[ReganX]

I agree. It was like in order to show how coool Mitchell is, they had to diminish others. Kind of an adolescent approach.

It shows how poor a character Mitchell is if he is deemed so weak that he must be protected from comparison against other, stronger and better written characters next to whom he will end up looking like a poor relation.

Imagine if RDA's five episodes had all been on SG-1 and all involved a substantial role - do you see Mitchell comparing favourably next to Jack?

Since Sam's return, has the fact that she commanded SG-1 before Mitchell showed up ever been mentioned? Not to the best of my recollection, not even when Mitchell was complaining that he couldn't give orders to anyone on SG-1.

Instead of having Sam, Daniel or Teal'c fill Mitchell (and the audience) in on pre-Season Nine events, that role frequently falls to Mitchell. Apparently it is unthinkable to remind viewers that SG-1 did exist, and do extremely well, before Mitchell ever showed up, without including Mitchell by having him refer to the events in question.

Having Mitchell be the one to explain everything by virtue of him having read every report seems to be considered a preferable course of action.

I would love to have one of the other characters say "I know what happened on P-Whatever, I was there. I wrote the mission report you read."