Avalon, Part 1 (901)

[Nurgle]

Regarding the comment about getting a high medal for shooting down 2 alkesh... if the congressional medal of honour is anything like the victoria cross, then the award would have been for shooting down the two alkesh while flying a badly damaged starfighter (which was put into production after very few test flights [0]) while being persued by several highly advanced enemy fighters.

Sounds pretty damned heroic to me.

[0] It's stated in 'Fragile Balance' that o'niel has more flight experience in the 302 than anyone else, yet he's only been in it twice before this comment.

[ApophisLives]

This episode had a lot of really funny moments.

Mitchell: I was hoping you could tell me something about yourself. Something...personal.
Interviewee: ...people call me Dave.
Mitchell: [Looks at folder] ...says here that's your name.
Interviewee: .......yes.

Vala: I haven't been this disappointed since Daniel and I had sex.
Teal'c: [Looks at Daniel]

Teal'c: [Fires at door]
Mitchell: Woah! Woah! Woah...man! Bullets bounce!
Teal'c: [Grins in amusement]

Vala: Okay, how about this: we open both of them, and whichever one the treasure's in is the right one.

Vala: How much worse can it get?
[Ceiling starts to rumble downwards]
Daniel: How about that much?
Vala: I knew it was a mistake the moment I said it. ...the moment.

Daniel: Well, there are a number of conflicting interpretations, but certain threads point to the Knights of the Round Table. Gathering great treasures from the far corners of Arthur's domain and hiding them in a magical stronghold at Avalon.
Mitchell: Including the Holy Grail.
Daniel: According to some.
Vala: So this Grail...what's that worth?
[Everyone looks at her]
Vala: ...what?

Vala: ...now I could have come by ship and looked for it myself, but I know nothing about your fair planet...other than it seems to have a rather interesting but somewhat limited gene pool.
[Daniel and Mitchell look up at Vala, then at each other, sort of recoil, then look back at Vala.]

[TheGreatLordGeorge]

it was awesome!i totally think that bb and cb brought new life to the show.they should put cb on the show permanately! the funniest line in episode had to be when mitchell said to teal'c something like "o c'mon any minute now dr. jackson will come up with a beakthrough in the translation that will send us on another exciting adventure" then what ya know he does. i think it was the TPTB poking fun at themselves

[Skydiver]

this is what i've dug up so far:

10. What are the guidelines for which the medal could be awarded?
10A. On July 25,1963 Congress established a set of guidelines under which the Medal of Honor could be awarded:
a.) while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States;
b.) while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or,
c.) while serving with friendly forces engaged in armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.

11. What was the last action in which the Medal of Honor was awarded?
11A. The last action in which the Medal of Honor was awarded occurred at the Baghdad Airport, Iraq. Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith was posthumously awarded for his actions on April 4, 2003.

3. How many Air Force Congressional Medal of Honor recipients are there?
3A. Since the formation of a separate Air Force in 1947 there have been seventeen recipients. Prior to 1963 members of the Army Air Corps and the Air Force were awarded the Army Medal. In 1963 the Air Force acquired its own MOH design.

http://www.cmohs.org/medal.htm

http://www.medalofhonor.com/MedalOfHonorBreakdown.htm

http://www.medalofhonor.com/Regulations.htm

http://www.medalofhonor.com/RecommendationProcess.htm

The following organizations and individuals play key roles in the Army Medal of Honor recommendation process:
• CHAIN OF COMMAND
Submits award recommendation that meets the two year submission time limit to Department of the Army Personnel Command
• MEMBER OF CONGRESS
Submits award recommendation that is outside the two year limit for submission to Department of the Army Personnel Command or the Secretary of the Army who forwards request to Personnel Command.
• DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY PERSONNEL COMMAND
Army Decoration Board - Merit Review, can disprove based on criteria (Cdr, HRC can overrule)
Senior Army Decorations Board - Recommends approval, disapproval, or downgrade.
• MANPOWER AND RESERVE AFFAIRS
Concurs or nonconcurs with Board recommendation
• CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE ARMY
Concurs or nonconcurs with Board recommendation
• SECRETARY OF THE ARMY
Recommends approval or can disapprove. Also forwards packet to Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff for comment.
• SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
Recommends approval or can disapprove.
• PRESIDENT
Approves or disapproves.



so in one way, sure cam could qualify. course they also said that approval takes around 18 months....which doesn't work in the timeline of the show. also the simple fact that they haven't handed one out since 2003 (there might have been a recent one, i seem to recall a snippit on the news)

they don't just hand them out to folks. also, and i'm not saying this to diss cam, if cam gets one for shooting down two alkash, well then so should many other folks that were in his wing, not to mention jack for sticking his head in the head sucker.

I'm glad he got a medal and all, i just think they might have chosen the wrong one. IMHO the Air Medal would have been far more plausible

[Major Fischer]

I think my basic problem with Mitchell being awarded the medal is two fold...

A) By virtue of awarding it it threatens the program's secracy. It's a high profile award, usually given postumously and the air force gives them less than any other branch of service. If IRC most of the Air Force MOH from Vietnam for instance went to Wild Weasel crews. People who by virtue of where they were flying were virtual suicide missions to protect others. I did not see anything in the flashbacks that suggested that Mitchell was doing anything different than anyone else in that fight. Perhaps if he'd RAMMED one of the Alkesh...

B) Sam and Jack only got an air medal for saving the planet from Apophis. My grandfather had three air medals in World War II. It's a relatively low grade award as far as valor comes.

[oragans]

ok just befor ei say anything i ordered Online television recently just incase you wondering cause im from the UK.

Im so glad i did - Beua bridges was the star of the show - ben browder was hilarious - Claudia was great - Teal'c was teal's - Daniel jackson enoyed me know, hopefully he will stop moaning.

Favourite moment - Camerons reaction to tealc firing at the wall/and him constantly following him.

I just cant wait for the next episode i am dying to see how they get out.

[Acropolis]

vala beats out carters humor anyday love her the new team is just hilarious they are just missing RDA's humor

[ApophisLives]

The only problems I had with it were very minor.

First, they didn't explain what was going on with O'Neill. I inferred that he had retired, but where, and why? (I would assume the why was from the last couple of episodes of S8, where he was encouraged to retire so military regulations wouldn't get in the way of love, but Jack's moved away and Carter's gone to Area 51, so...what's going on?)

Second, a few odd inconsistencies, like the following:

Tech: We were able to map around the energy distortion that would have normally fooled deep-ground sonar. It was able to define a large main cavern, a network of tunnels, and some smaller caves.
Mitchell: Well done, Lieutenant.
Vala: Can you see what's in there? Say, large piles of precious metals?
Tech: Like I said, we can only map the exterior of the structure.

Really, Lieutenant, when did you say you could only map the exterior? In fact, you just got done telling us about the interior of this hill, and pointing out that you had successfully penetrated the only sort of shielding present.

Just seemed kind of odd.

[donniepw]

#2

Vala: "Play hard to get!"
Mitchell: "That's funny, coming from you."


#3 I'm not so sure about anymore... actually, I'll just get rid of it. Only TWO Farscape references.

The third reference to CB & BB on Farscape was after Vala came through the gate and said to BB's character "I know we've never met, that much I'm sure I'ld remember".

All in all the show had alot of funny moments. My favorite was the look Teal'c gave Daniel when Vala said they slept together. Classic.

[Ace]

they don't just hand them out to folks. also, and i'm not saying this to diss cam, if cam gets one for shooting down two alkash, well then so should many other folks that were in his wing, not to mention jack for sticking his head in the head sucker.

I'm glad he got a medal and all, i just think they might have chosen the wrong one. IMHO the Air Medal would have been far more plausible

Ahh... well that's easier to explain! If we are to believe TPTB and Mitchell is the person who lead all of the F-302's into battle than as the person who was the commander and therefor had more responsiblity he would have received the higher award.

The other squadron commanders probably would have received the Air Force Cross and the individual pilots the Silver Star or something.

Unfortunatly that is how the military works... it's usually the officers who receive the "higher" award in a combat operation than the enlisted men. Why because they were the ones in command and in charge of seeing the enlisted men through the battle.

While it's not always the case... that's how it usually goes down. As the, I'm guessing here, Group Commander of the F-302's Mitchell is the one to receive the MOH.

Other pilots may have also recieved the MOH for blowing up 6 Alkesh and 20 Death gliders... we don't know it is never stated. But that is probably why he was awarded the MOH instead of an Air Medal like you stated.

Ace

[TameFarrar]

Well I have read a smattering of posts both good and bad...and I guess i fall on the side of GOOD ... I had a GREAT TIME watching this first episode... I had no expectations since the show had the onus of introducing new characters and exiting out one very beloved one....so I was VERY HAPPY with how things were done....

BEN .... I was completely entertained by his performance. He did a great job of showing me a charcter that had high hopes that seemed to have very little chance of being achieved. Ben has some very good comedic timing and he can pull off some of the dryer humor better then anyone I have ever seen on SG1

I look forward to watching him find the voice of *Cameron Mitchell*... and as that voice grows I expect we will all be pretty impressed with the range this man has

Teal'c and Daniel ...Chris and Micheal... seemed very *THERE* and that was a joy to watch.... Especially Micheal... he and Claudia have a great rapore and it is so wonderful to watch them react to each other. Chris and Ben just made me laugh continously... Chris has a great way of just using those facial expressions that you can't help but KNOW he is just thinking *Oh Please*...LOL Watching those two characters interact was yet another bonus!!

Vala... CLaudia... What a joy to watch her!!! I show love an actress that does NOT take this whole thing so freakin serious and really has fun ENTERTAINING people. It just comes across that she really is enjoying herself period...That in itself makes the show even better. I loved her last season and I know I am just going to love watching her this season. Who cares what she is wearing... the clothes aren't acting... The character is an obnoxious, pain in the butt that says what is on her mind and she wants to shock people into revealing things... she suceeds more then not... AND does it in a humorous way... How can I not love this character.

Beau Bridges... He did a really good job ... I think starting out stuffy and a hard ass leaves this character many avenues to act in ways that are going to be interesting...Much like Hammond was in the beginning.... straight and narrow and hard-nosed but over time the focus began to change. I look forward to seeing what this Oscar award winning actor does with this character. "D


Overall I was just thouroughly entertained... I liked how the story was slowly unfolded and I had no expectations of some deep major plot... Heck this is SG1 FCOL.. it isn't a deep show... It had everything I expected and more. I had a great time watching it and came away looking forward to next week... that is all I ask from any TV show

[Sam_o_Neill]

Just got to watch the ep, and made notes all the way through...

I thought this was a very funnny episode! It did feel wierd not having Jack and Sam but I love Colonel Mitchell and Vala and Daniel are just so great together! Actually Vala is great with everyone

The thing about this that annoyed me the most was the credits!!! I can't believe they shortened them that much! We don't even get the Stargate theme anymore! When I first started watching Stargate everytime I heard the theme song it got all excited and I would come running to the tv to watch! They've got to give us the longer credits back!!!

Anyways back to the good bits....
I think we had a few of the best lines of Stargate in this episode, especially Mitchell doing his funny pointing 'dance' while telling Teal'c that bullets bounce! That was FUNNY!

I'm glad they dropped in a few old faces for us to make coping without Jack and Sam a bit better even though I was surprised to see Sam on the computer screen I smiled when I saw Walter and Dr.Lee all i really needed was Siler then I would be over the moon!

I can't believe how easily SG-1 seemed to split up though but i guess they had to write it like that. I wish we had gotten a more detailed explanation of why Sam was away too..it seemed a bit vague to me

Can't wait for next week!!! This is better than I ever expected it to be!

My Rating: 7/10 i was expecting <3 to be honest!

[Feli]

I actually laughed quite a bit at Vala's remark about the 1 in 10 chance of the "baby" being Daniel's then her nod and wink towards Mitchell. It's something that only a Farscape fan would get.

Uhu. But can you imagine how absolutely senseless this remark seemed to someone who's never watched Farscape? Inside jokes are always problematic when they're not also a little bit funny for an outsider because then the outsider realizes that it was an inside joke and feels left out. Making parts of your audience feel left out is never a good thing.

[Uber]

My Feelings about Avalon...the Day After...

I confess I went into Avalon all ready to not like it...and so when I watched it the first time last night, I got exactly what I expected.

But then I realized I had been unfair to set such expectations on it...and watched it again. I liked it significantly better the second time. I haven't QUITE warmed to Cam just yet (which as a HUGE Ben Browder fan surprises me a lot)...but it is JUST the first episode...

First off, being that she is my favorite character, I was delighted to see ANY SAM at all.

Next, I love the fact that Cam and Sam seem to be genuine friends...like maybe more than just of a connection than we saw. And NO I don't mean a shippy kind of connection here folks but I sense there's more to their friendship than just her showing up at his hospital. For instance, it's clear that he didn't know Daniel Jackson at all except by his name and face from a remembered visit at the hospital but with Sam and that conversation he had with her, I sensed more rapport. I mean he felt comfortable enough to share his insecurities with her and to practically BEG her to return...

>>On a side note, I'm guessing there will be Sam/Cam Shippers....LOL Funny thing is, they'll have the same problem Sam/Jack Shippers had except in reverse. THIS TIME SAM'S THE RANKING OFFICER IN THE COMMAND STRUCTURE. Isn't that a hoot?

Okay...back to my yammering.

I loved how he tried to get the "band back together"...but Sam has her Area 51 thing plus personal issues *cough*Cassandra AND I THINK JACK*cough* Daniel has his dreams of going to Atlantis and Teal'c's too busy dealing with politics on Dakara...and realized it ain't going to happen (well not for a while at least). So for the first few episodes, SG-1 is just going to be SG-Him.

Now I was alittle disappointed with how flat his jokes came off while on Dakara...asking every Jaffa in sight to join SG-1...

As for Cam winning the medal, I know some who were upset by him winning something SG-1 never has...I didn't mind it at all. I could be wrong here, but my sense is that maybe they weren't quite sure he was going to make it for quite a long while...and primarily it's thanks to him and General Hammond that SG-1 was able to get to the chair in Antarctica. And it seems clear that Sam wasn't bothered by it...she was brimming with pride in awarding it to him on behalf of the President...who was perhaps unavailable because he still needed to fill his Vice Presidential slot...

>>On another side note, I sure hope we get to see Kinsey again...I mean come on...Kinsey as Goa'uld. You know you love it too...

What was I saying? Oh yeah...

The Teal'c/Cameron friendship...or lack thereof. I got quite a kick out of the fact that Teal'c doesn't seem to like Cam at all right now. I mean, he appreciates what Cam did in Antarctica...but personality-wise, think OIL and WATER. It'll be interesting to see how Cam wins his friendship.

Now for Vala. She served her purpose in annoying Daniel to no end and by preventing him from going to Atlantis...(sigh, I don't think he's ever going to go). Some of her quips were a LITTLE over the top for my taste but not enough to make me cringe and change the channel. I love how she kinda got caught in her own trap which made me laugh... We started to get a small sense near the end of Prometheus Unbound that she was really ready to tell Daniel the truth so I sense hope for her.

Plus, Vala is a survivor. We know she hosted a Goa'uld...but for how long? And we know that she was tortured because of what the snake did using her as a host...and I also wonder about how much psychological damage she suffered during that time. I think we also saw hints of this in Prometheus Unbound and it was interesting then to watch Daniel try to figure her out. And I know I'm in the minority, but in PU, I loved watching her beat the crap out of Jackson (who as some of you know isn't my favorite *cough*understatement*cough*) who she was clearly attracted to...but again, she's a survivor. And an opportunist. Kind of Ferengi-like in her approach to obtaining wealth. But as for Daniel, she had something to do and wasn't about to let a hunkahunka burnin love stop her...either in PU or in Avalon.

>>Okay yet another sidebar here...but in PU, did any of you catch Daniel doing the "I'm crushing your head" act on Vala? So in his spare time, he must watch old episodes of "Kids in the Hall"...

And now back to the review...

General Landry...hmm. I don't adore him yet...but I'll give it time. His relationship with Cam should be interesting...especially when the whole thing with his daughter develops.

I hated seeing so little of Jack...but then I already miss Jack and RDA. *sigh*

>>Hmmm...time for another sidebar. Since when does Jack have a motorcycle? I mean, we know Sam does...*thinks happy shippy thoughts*

Back to the show...

Cute acknowledgement about "not ever seeing Cameron before" kind of a nice wink and a nod to Farscape fans who enjoyed seeing them as John and Aeryn (like me) and of course the "limited gene pool" quip...again, just a cute way to acknowledge the similarities between their appearance (which I only kinda see...but then I know them both so well as separate personalities).

Here's a question for you all who have seen the episode...when Daniel and Vala are in the tunnel and she comments that she's a little afraid of whatever creature might have been left behind to guard the treasure, and Daniel said something like "it would be running from you when it gets to know you," was it just me or did you see kind of a hurt expression on her face? I saw that and it kinda told me that Daniel's judging her by the way she's acting/has treated him...but perhaps that's just a façade and he doesn't really know her at all. She seemed genuinely to have her feelings hurt...which tells me that there might be some more depth to her character and personality than maybe was first thought...

I still think it was a little slow...but sheesh, compared to SGA and BSG with MAJOR cliffhangers, there's no way this slower paced episode could compete with what happened in those two...and that kind of comparison isn't quite fair to Avalon. And I've decided to give SG-1 a fair chance to keep me as a fan...and that means probably at least the first half of the season.

All in all, right now I'll give Avalon a 3.5 out of 5 possible zats (originally it was a 3, but I upped it a half point for the inclusion of Sam clips and for the line by Cameron to a not very impressed Teal'c "I just love the rapport we're building between us..."

And this number could easily increase or decrease depending on the next few episodes and how Avalon served as a foundational, laying out the pieces kind of episode leading up for Sam's return.

[Kalliope]

Uhu. But can you imagine how absolutely senseless this remark seemed to someone who's never watched Farscape? Inside jokes are always problematic when they're not also a little bit funny for an outsider because then the outsider realizes that it was an inside joke and feels left out. Making parts of your audience feel left out is never a good thing.

It's also a kind of invitation to take a look at this other show...