Avalon, Part 2 (902)

[SierraGulf1]

It moved very quick for sure, from Merlin to Knights to Devices to Orii, but it did feel a bit like an older Stargate episode, only because we met a new culture. Only thing is, we didn't learn much about them.

I missed Part 1, but I found this somewhat enjoyable, moreso than some Season 8 episodes, and I was somewhat fond of season 8. I shall see what's in store. Perhaps they shoved too much into Avalon, and things will slow down from Origin on and we'll have an enjoyable season 9.

[ToasterOnFire]

A quick question before a more detailed analysis later...

Cam's puzzle appeared to be the reflections of Arabic numerals. Is this even remotely historically accurate? I was under the impression that Arabic numerals didn't get over to Europe until the 1200s AD and the King Arthur legend and Merlin was supposedly between 400 and 600 AD? Any history buffs out there to clarify this?

[Dani347]

I'm not sure WHAT Daniel figured out though as I couldn't understand HALF of what he said. Cut back on the exposition so Michael can SLOW DOWN.

There's only one great truth, that the universe is infinite. Therefore, the pot that said that must have been true and the other one must have been false. So, they needed to open just the gold pot. That solved it.

[airic82]

my only wish is that SciFi would have just had an SG-1 night. Show all of the first three episodes together. The problem I have is that each episode totally doesn't stand alone and they seemed too chopped up. Like the first half of this episode belonged to the last half of last weeks. Then the second half seemed to be a totally different episode to me.

[Dana_Jeanne]

1. Daniel DOES talk awful fast. It's cute and it proves that MS is great at learning & reading his lines, but it does make it hard to understand him & follow the story.

I'm getting rather preturbed at the fact that the writers are giving him so much to say and not enough time to get it all in without speed-speaking. Yes, Daniel has always spoken fast when he gets excited, but it's never been as fast as it has since Season 7 started, and these first two episodes are simply ridiculous as far as trying to understand him goes.

Everyone else seems to be talking faster, too.

Watched the episode again, like it even more. The scenes with Vala being burned and then dying in the infirmary were wonderfully edited together. And the acting by Claudia Black and Michael Shanks was fantastic.

Dana Jeanne

[alz0rz]

b

Definitly going to have to watch it again before I review it. Daniel is talking way to fast and I think he is rubbing off on everone else. I thought the Landry\Lamb scene was uncomfortable, cant put my finger on why but it just was off somehow.... Dr Lee was funny though. And Tea'lc is nice and angry, stupid politics, Raknor actually had a few lines. I thought the sword fight was well done. I did get the visceral feeling with Mitchell, the damit I aint gonna give in feeling, thought that was well done... Vala had thew out no enduendos that I noticed..... Well except for the "suggested that she commit a sex act on herself one" (paraphased) that was actually pretty funny and appropiate though. So initial reaction is I liked it as the second half of Avalone I but not sure it could have stood as a one off ep.

I believe Lamb is Landry's daughter - I did get that initial 'wtf?' vibe first but my spoiler reading techniques shot this fact at me

[MasySyma]

What a great episode!

Admittedly, I was a little disappointed when Vala stole the coin and when the treasure appears. I was thinking please tell me the episode isn't over yet. However, when introducing the Ori, I found myself more attracted to the episode, and the scene where Vala basically burns at the stake is incredible. I was furious when I saw the be continued sign.

I agree airic82. SciFi should have let the episodes be aired together. It would have made both shows feel more solid and the first half of Avalon Part 2 might have seemed a little less predictable.

This felt like classic SG-1. Go Season 9.

[the fifth man]

Well, I can smile a little wider now. After seeing part 2, I am definitely not disappointed. The story did pick up the pace some, and we learned quite a bit. That vivid scene with Vala going up was shocking to say the least. To me, this looks like the old sg-1 a little more. Cannot wait for next week to see the Ori. If this keeps up, hopefully my wish for many more seasons of stargate sg-1 will be granted.

[kharn the betrayer]

This was a great episode IMO

It had me feeling I was watching S1-5 again.

Also I apllaud the fact they had the guts to show something as graphic as Vala being burned alive.

Also was it me or was Vala toned down between this episode and episode 1?.

she came off more likable in this episode IMO.

[TechnoBoY]

Okay this episode was much better then part 1! Good ep! Now lets hope the next ep is as good! Yup, much much better.

[the fifth man]

Yeah, she was definitely more likeable in this one. Just have to comment, can't wait to see more of Vala and Daniel's interactions. They just drive each other crazy, and it is awesome to see on screen. Shanks and Black play the parts very well.

[GateMan2000]

I think this episode rocked! I was kind of ticked that I have to wait until next week's to see what happens!

[Arative]

I thought that this episode added a lot depth to Vala's character. When the prior or doci, what ever it was healed Vala, I saw a vulnerable person that uses the sexual inuendo, the greed, basically the facade that she's only out for herself, to hide the fact, that she is just a normal, scared person at times. It humanized her a lot more in my eyes. When she said that she felt tingly all over and that it wasn't from Daniel, just made me like the her character more than I already did because I saw that she was using her behavior as a defense mechanism. I mean if everyone expects her to look out for herself, then no one will expect anything of her, its an easy way to get through life. I'd love them keep Vala around for more than 5 episodes and really want to see how she'd play off of Carter, since Carter is a rather strong woman.

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, I really liked this episode. The first part was pretty slow, but this one was action-packed and had a lot of interesting parts to it. The two parts that I didn't really like too much were the climax of the sword fight and Vala hiding the coin in her cleavage. The slow-mo holographic trail of the former and the obviousness of the latter were both kind of cheesy, but outside of that the fight itself was nice and Vala was much improved. I really liked when Mitchell ringed back to the Prometheus to report that they did something wrong and Daniel immediately asks Vala what she took. Speaking of whom, Vala herself wasn't nearly as annoying in this episode. Hopefully being burned at the stake will result in her accepting the gravity of the situation and being a bit less glib. Similarly, Mitchell finally shed a bit of the fanboy aspect and began to realize the gravity of gating himself when Vala appeared to die. Plus, he distanced himself a bit from Jack by taking so active a role in Dr. Lee's explanation. And Teal'c finally got a bit of development after stoically standing aside all of last episode. His outburst to Rak'nor, as well as their conversations in general, spoke volumes about the general direction that the Free Jaffa story is going in.

So, all in all, I'll just echo most of you guys and say that this was the closest to the purely fun, off-world Stargate adventuring of the earlier seasons of SG-1 than anything from the last few seasons has been, and it was a great return to form. While I had to watch "Avalon I" another 2 times before I really got past my initial disappointments with it and began to look forward to "Avalon II," this time around I'm already chomping at the bit to see what happens next week.

Best line of the episode: "Room full of gold and jewels and Dr. Daniel Jackson finds the ONE book."

[Jeff O'Connor]

Wow, excellent episode. I like it more than last week's, which I definitely dug quite a bit. For those of us who found Vala unbearable last week, yes, she was toned down quite a bit after the initial 'so remember kids, she's back and she's a beeyitch' moments of seven days past. Personally, I liked her then, too, but I'll admit I liked her more when... subtle. Though that line in regard to the wife... yeah, that was priceless.

The final act was definitely the best, I'd say. Wow... just, wow. I don't think SG-1's ever done something quite like that before. We've seen our heroes tied with flames coming at them but they've always been stopped... the second I saw her dress being burnt, I blinked several times, my eyes widened, my ears perked up and by the time I realized it was happening, it was actually happening... it'd happened.

Did I know Claudia would be in six episodes? Yes. Could I resist a moment's utter belief in her being killed? Yeah... no. It was so well-done that for that brief candle, I... mourned her. Wow. Way to go, folks.

Mitchell and the knight was pretty nifty, I really hope the S9 DVDs feature the full-length version, though. I thought the size was pretty good but I'd prefer to have seen the entire endeavor, especially since I hear-tell Ben really threw himself into that, put his all in it and I saw it, too. I want to see the whole bloody duel! But I totally understand their cutting it for storyline progression.

Carolyn Lam, eh? Not bad, not bad. I've been seeing her in small scenes on 'The 4400' over the past few weeks and I felt she's a bit spunkier here... man, though, did I miss the line clearly stating she's Landry's daughter? My grandmother was watching and she went: "Isn't she a little young to have had a relationship with him in the past?" And I just shook my head with a sigh. Maybe we both missed it, I reckon my television's sound quality ain't up to its competitors...

The Jaffa thing's not so bad if you ask me, I just think they're showing too little for us to care so much. The way Joel played his music so dramatically when 'Gerak won the vote' was great, too bad I just couldn't get into it because we've had a little snippet of explaining him and now this big, dreadful, roaring trumpet, if you will, of agony over this man, this terror of a tyrant, having accomplished something so dire... no, didn't feel it, I don't feel him yet. Of course, knowing who he's played by, methinks mayhaps next week, I can scribble this out and say 'woot' a few times. Till then, though... eh.

Speaking of Joel... holy smokes. Talk about turning point. I've never particularly minded SG-1's music but it's never been by all-time favorite, either. This year, thus far... wow. If they keep this up -- Atlantis, too -- I'll be swept away. The quality of the tracks being played throughout the episodes is simply amazing. Powerful, intense, riveting... on par with Galactica's, IMO -- which I think most can agree is excellent, right? Too bad about the credits... I'm signing petitions, though. But talk about a way to remind me there's music despite the opening's absence.

Everything about this episode was well-done, I'd say. Did feel like a classic episode, I agree. The middle had its iffy points, though I'm not quite sure why at present and I'm heading to bed, as I'd said in the much smaller Atlantis post I made. (Why I dedicated most've my remaining focus on this rather than splitting them even, I'm not sure...)

I'd give it an 8.8/10 -- not perfect, why not? Because it wasn't non-stop. No, I don't mean non-stop action -- I watch these shows for the story and characters above all else -- I just... there's something about Acts 2 and 3 I didn't really dig quite as much. And yes, it felt like the first part belonged with the first part of the opener... not much they could do about that, but I still subtracted a couple of decimals because I'm a hard-nosed SOB sometimes. Excellent, excellent episode, though, don't get me wrong. 8.8/10 is actually incredible by the standards I arrogantly proclaim as lofty, hehe.

Also, consider I gave last week's an 8.4/10, too. I didn't write a big pseudo-review but mentally, that was its Jeff-o-meter score. *grins*

I might well have more to say about this episode tomorrow after work, but off to sleep I surrender.