Bounty (1015)

[Mio]

Anyone else catch the "Peter Deluise for Class President" in the school?

[sgeureka]

I hated the resolution too. It completely disregarded one of the most basic elements of the series; The secrecy of the Stargate programme. I loved season 9 and I really like season 10 but the truth is nothing like this would ever have occured in seasons 1-6. Things like tis betray the nature and believability of the show.

1969? Seth? Maybe Foothold? Small Victories? Watergate? Point of No Return? The Curse? Desperate Messures? Wormhole X-Treme? Descent? Nightwalkers? Prometheus?

I may be wrong with a couple of those, as I haven't watched them in some time, but there are several where I am darn sure that the SG program should not have been a secret any longer afterwards.

More reason to believe Daniel is a homosexual! What straight man in his right mind would turn down an offer like that from a woman like that.

A smart man who realizes he is being used?

[P-90_177]

Or for the sake of all thos Danny/Vala shippers Perhaps because he loves someone else.

Anway just watched it Again and there was yet another DeLuise in the Show.
Mary Ann DeLuise I believe. What relation is she to the others? Does anyone know?

[RealmOfX]

That's Peter DeLuise's wife Anne Marie and you would have seen her in "The Other Side" back in Season 4 and I've seen her in quite a few other sci-fi shows too.

Or for the sake of all thos Danny/Vala shippers Perhaps because he loves someone else.

Anway just watched it Again and there was yet another DeLuise in the Show.
Mary Ann DeLuise I believe. What relation is she to the others? Does anyone know?

[Agent_Dark]

The bounty hunter that went after Cam was one of the "Sunshine Boys" from the BSG episodes 'Pegasus' and 'Ressurection Ship' (those guys that start beating up Helo and Tyrol in the brig)

[mcbarr]

I liked the story and everything, but is it fair to "waste" one of the last precious SG-1 episodes with a "high school reunion goes wrong" filler? Why didn't they extend the Ori plot?

[NowIWillDestroyAbydos]

Just finished the episode. Damn did Vala look hot in the ep, Sam also looked hot in that dress. You don't see that very often. I thought Bounty was going to be worse than it was. I give it a **1/2. 5 episodes left of the legacy.

[Nakor]

I liked the story and everything, but is it fair to "waste" one of the last precious SG-1 episodes with a "high school reunion goes wrong" filler? Why didn't they extend the Ori plot?

Look at it like its their last chance to do some of the shows they may have always wanted to do.

[RainbowMist]

Anway just watched it Again and there was yet another DeLuise in the Show.
Mary Ann DeLuise I believe. What relation is she to the others? Does anyone know?

Peter's wife I think. Oh DeLuises...

I liked this episode, the randomness was interesting, there was enough plot that I was happy. Got a huge kick out of the bus scene, especially since something similar happened in 'Lost' shortly after I seen it. Television bus drivers suck.

[jenks]

I wasn't expecting much from this episode, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, a non stop entertaining episode

[Freekzilla]

You want pithy? Don't bother watching.

It's not Stargate. It's not anything. It's just a bunch of random scenes strung together by the flimsiest of "plots". It's not even full of sound and fury, it's just plain old nothing. And there's certainly no signifying going on. Bounty is far and away the worst episode of season ten, and probably one of the absolute worst, most pointless episodes that the show has ever, ever done. And SG-1 has done more than 200 of them.

The wrongness of this episode is not Mitchell's fault. Well, it's not his fault in the same way that Stronghold and Off the Grid were his fault. No, this was the writers totally and willingly abrogating all responsibility to tell a story that is in any way coherent or in concert with the rest of the show, season, whatever. The only way that the awfulness of this episode can be attributed to Mitchell is in the necessity to write something, anything for the character. It's episodes like these (and there have been way too many of them) where the character's weakness is fully revealed. These writers don't know how to fit Cameron Mitchell into a Stargate story. They don't. So, instead of producing a mutated monster like Off the Grid, they just decided not to write an SG-1 episode at all. My God, I can't believe how bad this sucked. The idea that something this ridiculous passed the muster of so many people while it was being made is enough to scare me off of the whole show.

As things go, I didn't expect the teaser to be the best part of the episode. I've never liked the Lucien Alliance. The idea is somewhat sound, but the execution has been horribly slipshod, resulting in me be subjected to regular visits from cartoon characters like Netan and sundry bounty hunters. Here again the Alliance and its cohorts are displayed as a comic book regime, full of arch villains perpetrating evil acts upon each other and the general populace, with nary a thought being given to their motivations or objectives. And speaking of motivations, I still haven't figured out SG-1's. Why are we destroying kassa shipments? Are we protectors of the galaxy at large? Do we police the universe, are we the intergalactic DEA? Aren't there bigger fish to fry? And did we just release a bounty hunter on a mission to assasinate the head of the Lucien Alliance? What?

Bounty tries to make up for it's lack of plot by conjoining as many "cute" moments as the writers thought they could resonably get away with. Daniel's assault at the library is bizarre and pointless. Not to be outdone, Sam's and Dr. Lee's "performance" on stage at the conference with goofy space guns is equally asinine. Only Teal'c's ambush is played straight, and the intelligence with which Chris Judge imbues the character is the only thing to save this segment from descending into bufoonery as well. He must not have gotten the memo on this story's tone. Either that, or he got a different director. Each moment could have been used more effectively. The conference was perhaps most worthwhile for the glimpse as to how alien tech is disseminated, but the manner in which Dr. Lee is portrayed at this point just makes me cringe. Of course, my face is permanently contorted after seeing how Daniel dispatched his assasin. I like Loony Tunes more than the next guy, but wow.

For all the criticism that gets slung around about how Richard Dean Anderson joked too much as O'neill in the later years, and how he became "Cosmic-giddy Jack", there is no way this cartoon would ever have been made while he was still around. Slapstick, goofball sight gags that mock the audience for watching and the characters for participating were not his thing. It's too bad that the show has lost that respect. If this is the epitome of the show's humor these days, then by God I'm thankful it's been put down. It was a mercy kill.

I'd talk more about the plot, but I am unable to locate it. Neither can I expound upon how Bounty fits in with the current storyline. Nor can I really talk about the great character development that Bounty afforded the team. In fact, the only thing I can find to talk about is how bad it is. So, I'll stop. Oh, who am I kidding? I can't stop yet. Doors that slam shut at the push of a button, a patented Krusty the Clown hand buzzer that knocks a guy out after we get to delightfully watch his head bob around, and bad guys shoving other bad guys into broom closests all help Bounty to convey its utter crappiness. And let's not forget the stellar performances of the guest characters in this one. Cam's bumbling friend, all the inept bounty hunters, the stereotypical high school flunkies, and, yes, even Mitchell's remarkably uninteresting or unique family all highlight the mediocrity of this script.

After a handful of episodes wherein the character has grown and been used to great effect, Vala here is again reduced to simple slapstick comedy. There's no real depth behind her words or actions, save in the quick scene where she mentions Tomin with melancholy. It's the worst kind of regression, with the writers ineptly falling back on a character's barest traits and totally ignoring any growth that may have been achieved through previous experiences. For a better look at the writers performing similar criminal acts, see Rodney Mckay on Atlantis, who often exhibits similar bouts of develoment followed by regression.

This was supposed to be a Mitchell episode, but I kind of think that Vala stole most of "his" scenes from him. There's almost no interaction between Cam and his parents, or between Cam and Daryl. The best stuff in the episode for Mitchell was between him and Amy, but even that never aspired to be more than the worst kind of cliche. I'm glad that there's the hope of something more there for Mitchell as I think it would help develop his character some, but I'm also astoundingly certain that it will never, ever come up again. Go figure. Overall, I expected Cam to be front and center more in this.

I briefly mentioned Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c above, and now I find there's little else to say. I find such scant use of so many characters criminal, and am left dumbfounded at how little work the actors have to do sometimes. I suppose in some wholly mercenary way, this is the sweetest deal imaginable for Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, and Chris Judge.

I hate that Beau Bridges can't, even after two years on the show, come anywhere close to saying "Goa'uld" correctly. And Landry continues to be the most incompetant commander ever created. "Yeah, Colonel, there's a pack of bounty hunters after you. What's that, you can't hear me? Eh, nevermind then. You have a good time." I'm shocked that he even bothered to hurry SG-1 along to save the day. Backup is not Landry's usual M.O.

Ultimately, I can't fathom a worse indictment of TPTB's ability to produce 20 quality episodes in a season than Bounty. This is the point where I once again express my abundant joy at SG-1's end as a weekly series, and it's move to a less quantitative, but hopefully higher quality format. I don't think the concept is dead and I do think that the writers, especially Cooper and Wright, are capable of producing great stuff centered on SG-1. But I've almost no confidence left in anyone else. Mitchell didn't deserve to have yet another atrocious episode pinned to his character, yet here it is. I feel sorry for everyone involved.

ETA: I forgot about the hand waving of the whole event, including Asgard beaming tech, rings, personal shields, and ray guns. I imagine this was something akin to The Dead Parrot Sketch. So, General Landry sent in a bunch of goons to strongarm the guests into signing nondisclosure agreements. Right, good one. That definitely solves that.

Gee, you really don't like the show do you? Well, you don't have to worry, as there are only what 5 new episodes left? Then you won't have to watch anymore.

You know, the saying you can't please everyone all of the time. You can please some people some of the time, but not everyone will be happy.

Although I don't think it was a particularly great episode, I did like some things about it. We got some back story about Cam and his family, that's good. We had some laughs, that's good too. And we got to finally see some benefit to all those years of having alien technology to research, definitely good. The plot idea was good, but the it was a bit rushed and not fully coherent, and also not fully explained why there was a need to have a bounty on SG-1 in the first place. It certainly a better episode than several S9 or a few S10 episodes. Though, at this stage of the game, I'd expect a bit more from the writers.

[Web Of Hair]

One thing that woulda made the episode 10X better.... A nice splatter sound when the bus hit the Bounty Hunter girl! Then with blood splattering all over the woman and her baby!

OK maybe if it were still on Showtime........

[Gwin]

After this really creepy ending of The Shroud it was kind of a short relief to loose the Ori story for a while and focus on characters.
I mean, we know how helpless everyone was when the first ships came through the Supergate, this seven ships left into Hyperspace, so they are lost for the moment. And I guess there a lots of people working on it.
So it was right to focus on an enemy you can lay your hand on and who could hurt you deep. And it was right to go away from the heavy things, give us a chance to breathe deeply for the next big thing.

I bet this episode wouldn't exist, if the writers had known about cancelation earlier. And for that I'm glad that they knew first after the shooting of the 17th episode. Because this episode is full of great ideas, in a different way great, because it can't be compared to the episodes which deal with the Ori story, but nevertheless great... and really, there is plenty of time to finish the Ori story in a good way.

[golfbooy]

Gee, you really don't like the show do you?

Quite the opposite, I'm afraid. I believe I've liked it for too long, and with too discerning an eye. I approach it with the expectations of the past, not the reality of the present, and as such find it lacking where there is no chance for remedy. This was not an episode that exhibited professional quality or in any way met the standards the show has set for itself. That's the long and the short of it.

[DaCk]

I thought the episode was ok. Somethings were a bit cheesy but it was a fun episode. I thought the energy weapon was pretty cool. I hope we get some bigger versions soon on the ships!!!

And did anyone else notice that when Teal'c was ambushed at the stargate that when he fired back his staff weapon was still closed?