Arthur's Mantle (918)

[JUNIOR]

mitch is so incoherently written that he's becoming a joke.

not only is he a maverick, he seems to be a maverick with a death wish. either that or they think for him to be the big man and hero he has to senselessly endanger his life on a weekly basis.

i do agree iwth sam and daniel's annoyance at him. they have this 'yeah, we'd love to kick him to the curb, but we're stuck with him. And the only reason we haven't assigned him to another team is cause at least we're experienced enough to fix what he screws up' attitutde.

I have to disagree with the death wish part of your post Skydiver. Yes he is a maverick but in my opinion that’s what makes him likeable. I think he just looks at himself as the new member of the team and he sees all of the accomplishments and self sacrifice that the Original SG-1 has been involved with and feels he has to prove himself (most of the time getting the team into more trouble than they asked for), but to me this is what makes him likable because he’s trying to fit in with “the big 3" as some people might called them (hate that phrase), and he’s not just sitting back any saying I'll just let "The Big 3" figure out this problem and I’ll just sit back and take notes. If he did that he might as well be an extra who gets killed in the episode. It seems to me that this is the only way that he is going to get experience, and become an asset to the team by learning from his bone headed mistakes like the original SG-1 did. Some people believe that when he went off world with the extraction team that it was a huge mistake, but it actually turned out to help Teal’c from being stranded off world. He was sort of invincible at the time anyways so why not. If the SG team didn't survive he’d at least know what happen to them and he’d also have valuable intelligence that the Priors can turn people into powerful zombies who look like they have rabies. Yes its true that “The Big 3” seem very much annoyed with his actions but its still my belief that he will learn from his less than wise choices in the future or he will be destroyed by the power of the Ori. LOL!!!!

[Dani347]

This is another case of me seeing things differently from people when it comes to the view of "Mitchell saving the day." (Man, do you know how hard it is to write a sentence when you're worrying that the wrong turn of phrase will sound dismissive/accusatory?) Just like in Stronghold, I feel that Mitchell played a small part in helping, but he didn't singlehandedly save the day.

And, I thought this was a nice episode for Sam, just character-wise. No, she didn't solve anything, but she got to just be pretty delightful, imo. I thought she played off everyone nicely, even characters that couldn't see her, like when she was trying to get them to notice the variance or whatever, and got frustrated.

But, hey, I'm also the person who thought Stronghold was a great episode for Daniel, and a lot of people felt he was wallpapered in that.

[Skydiver]

Or if McCullough didn't write Carter as so... nothing. Yeah, she shouted ineffectually at the Gate techs, and yeah, she pushed buttons for Daniel -- AFTER Mitchell surrendered the task. Beyond that? A whole lotta nada. No critical thinking, no problem-solving, nothing but standing around and waiting.
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maybe that's another thing of his. he writes mitch as a goof and has no idea what to do with sam, so she's....there. hey, on the upside amanda has less lines to memorize.

Yes, because where would we be without Mitchell to save the day -- by bucking the system and having someone else save his hide. Enough already!
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of COURSE he does. he's the HEWO.

how about just writing him as competant and let the hero stuff take care of itself?

I had the same question about the plan to blow the guy up.
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and there was another plot hole. zombie boy has the crystal to make the beamie thing work...likely on his person. which kinda makes blowing him up to be sorta silly since the crystal stands a dang good chance of blowing up with him.

then again, i'm sure the other alternative would be for odyssey to come and beam them all to safety AGAIN, so at least they did something different

[Zoser]

Zats probably wouldn't have worked. One of those things they used on the Kull warriors might have, but I don't think that had one of those at the time.

The zats didn't work on the Kull warriors because of their armor not their physical structure. This Sodan zombie wasn't wearing Kull armor.

[Skydiver]

I have to disagree with the death wish part of your post Skydiver. Yes he is a maverick but in my opinion that’s what makes him likeable. I think he just looks at himself as the new member of the team and he sees all of the accomplishments and self sacrifice that the Original SG-1 has been involved with and feels he has to prove himself (most of the time getting the team into more trouble than they asked for), but to me this is what makes him likable because he’s trying to fit in with “the big 3" as some people might called them (hate that phrase), and he’s not just sitting back any saying I'll just let "The Big 3" figure out this problem and I’ll just sit back and take notes. If he did that he might as well be an extra who gets killed in the episode. It seems to me that this is the only way that he is going to get experience, and become an asset to the team by learning from his bone headed mistakes like the original SG-1 did. Some people believe that when he went off world with the extraction team that it was a huge mistake, but it actually turned out to help Teal’c from being stranded off world. He was sort of invincible at the time anyways so why not. If the SG team didn't survive he’d at least know what happen to them and he’d also have valuable intelligence that the Priors can turn people into powerful zombies who look like they have rabies. Yes its true that “The Big 3” seem very much annoyed with his actions but its still my belief that he will learn from his less than wise choices in the future or he will be destroyed by the power of the Ori. LOL!!!!

oh i doubt he'll be destroyed by the ori. his name is first in the credits, he's immune

and i can see him wanting to prove himself. but if he wants to learn from the best, why won't he listen? why does he have to keep ignoring the wisdom of the experienced ones to touch that or touch this or do this or risk his life?

sg-1 hasn't survived for 9 years by being stupid

if he wants to learn from them i'd expect to hear him asking 'what should we do' instead of his normal 'ok, here's what i'm gonna do' and them just tagging along behind him, picking up the pieces

[JUNIOR]

snipped

Wasn't he explaining things to Teal'c that Teal'c probably knew better the he?

Again - Zats - Why didn't they use a zat against the zombie. It would have brought him down so they could have retrieved the crystal. Blowing the guy up (as well as shooting him filled with holes) while he possessed something vital seemed stupid.

Energy weapons might not work in that phase of dimension, or what ever it was.

[nccjones]

What makes you think the PTB would pay attention only to your POV and ignore all the people who are liking Mitchell?

Because it's not just my POV from the threads I'm reading. I'm glad you like Mitchell and it's working out for you. For me....nah, not so much.

[JUNIOR]

oh i doubt he'll be destroyed by the ori. his name is first in the credits, he's immune

Yeah that’s true, and maybe when the box set comes out it will say BB's Stargate SG-1. LOL!!!

[and i can see him wanting to prove himself. but if he wants to learn from the best, why won't he listen? why does he have to keep ignoring the wisdom of the experienced ones to touch that or touch this or do this or risk his life?

Yeah he could ask the others what they think or suggest sometimes but I like it when he just goes off without really sitting and thinking about it because he allows himself to get into situations that IMHO just adds to the story. IMO that character trait also gives him the opportunity to hopefully reflect (Just thought of the Ancient Avalon puzzle) upon his action in future situations and say "nah, I don't think I’ll go doing that again".

[sg-1 hasn't survived for 9 years by being stupid

if he wants to learn from them i'd expect to hear him asking 'what should we do' instead of his normal 'ok, here's what i'm gonna do' and them just tagging along behind him, picking up the pieces

Hey you have to remember he’s read all of SG-1 reports when he was in the hospital so he knows that his team will save his a** when he gets in trouble. That's why he requested them in the first place because he'd probably be dead on any other team that wasn't good enough to save his a**. j/k LOL!!!

[tsaxlady]

in many ways, the ori are like the borg

they were great enemies in small doses. but in a steady diet....well the trek folks beat the unbeatable so many times that it got old

again, this eps was enjoyable, but not becaue of the plot. the plot was paper thin. the only 'good' part for me were the character interactions

Okay I'm reading the thread from the beginning. I agree with you here Sky the best thing about this episode was the character interaction moments. Like Sam and Cam with the pushing each other and then later in the episode Sam and Daniel pushing on each other. The timing between the actors seems to be getting better.

I'm just ready for a story that has a better plot without so many holes. Great character moments will only go so far before the story had better be good to keep me interested.

[JackGyver]

Well, a decent episode. Pardon me for not reading the whole thread. That's a bit much to work through. Some random thoughts...

I'm glad they referenced Crystal Skull, so at least they acknowledged their recycling of old plots. It makes it a little more tolerable/believable. I still didn't really care for that storyline though. Teal'c's was much more interesting and, frankly, I was pretty much over the "out of phase" story back when Ro Laren and Geordi LaForge had to deal with it.

I'm really disappointed in Mitchell this week. First of all, there's the point that someone else brought up about his letting his emotions and impulses control him. Very bad form. And it's not even charming like when Shepperd does it. And then, on the flip side, he seems to not care that much about the entire Sodan village being destroyed once he gets there, and he seems to care even less about one of his Sodan friends being turned into a zombie that now must be blown into pieces. (I mean, this WAS the same Sodan he befriended, right? Am I wrong?) I mean, if they want to characterize Mitchell as a grade-A jerk (to put it nicely) then fine, but please make up your minds, TPTB. I love Teal'c's thinly vailed dislike of Cam. Good stuff.

I really like Dr. Lee, but I hate seeing him turned into the regular comic relief. He was much better as an occasional novelty character, as he was in Evolution and Resurrection.

REYNOLDS! So good to see him back and in excellent form. I just know he's going to die soon... TPTB are getting far too flippant with the lives of recurring characters, though I suppose it's pretty realistic in a military environment. I don't trust the writers anymore.

[Fargater]

Okay, anyone have a projectile vomitting smiley? I think I need one.

TESTING

[Skydiver]

TESTING

nope, didn't work

[MediaSavant]

Because it's not just my POV from the threads I'm reading. I'm glad you like Mitchell and it's working out for you. For me....nah, not so much.

I didn't mean to intimate that you are the only one with a negative attitude toward Mitchell.

I guess, though, if it is your opinion is that if the PTB are listening at all to the fans, they'll be listening to the Anti-Mitchell notes and nothing else.

We'll see, I suppose, in Season 10. They may not have had the opportunity to "fix" the character to your liking because of the Season 9 production schedule.

If you (plural) have influence, we'll see them try to change Mitchell to be more like you(plural) want. If they aren't, there won't be much change.

[Skydiver]

Hey you have to remember he’s read all of SG-1 reports when he was in the hospital so he knows that his team will save his a** when he gets in trouble. That's why he requested them in the first place because he'd probably be dead on any other team that wasn't good enough to save his a**. j/k LOL!!!

which is another similarity he has to jonas. in addition to reading daniels' notes, jonas also read mission reports.

which makes both of them the convenient 'i remember reading......' lead in to an expositionary 'let's refresh the viewers on the plot' segment

[Maxum]

This was an excellent episode. Plain and simple.

Each of the characters of SG-1 were utilized beautifully, in my opinion. If I had to pick out the one word to describe the episode, it was "chemistry." All the characters on SG-1 did great:

Mitchell: Geez, he can't seem to do anything right for some people, but I think in this episode he finally found his stride. Ben Browder is NOT trying to be Richard Dean Anderson at all. Ben has always had great comedic timing, and he's been throwing the one-liners around for quite a while - for those who have seen his years on Farscape, they would know this to be true. If anything, I think he is trying to tone down is personality for the role of Mitchell. In Arthur's Mantle, Mitchell is genuinely relaxed around Sam, and it shows. There is a comfortable humor between them, and it seems apparent that he knows her better than he knows Daniel and Teal'c (and I don't mean shippy). It would make sense that they may know each other as friends as they are both military and probably move in the same circles. Mitchell wants to forge a friendship with Teal'c as well, I think it's also about the military aspect of their relationship. He can relate to Tea'c since they are both soilder types. The person he probably can't relate to well, at the moment, is Daniel. Daniel is all books, languages, and philosophy. Not exactly Mitchell's forte. This might explain why Mitchell referred to the team: Sam, Teal'c and Jackson. I have no problem with him calling Daniel "Jackson." It makes complete sense. As for Mitchell going off to help Teal'c and the Sodan, that's also plausible and NOT out of character or stupid. It was obvious that Mitchell was not going to be of any help on base. He doesn't know Ancient and he isn't a physics genius. He's a soilder. His argument to Sam was heartfelt and logical, and although Teal'c saved his life, it was Mitchell who preserved the crystal from getting blown up, and enabling the ENTIRE team to get home. Good job!

Sam: Loved her in this episode. It was the first episode where I got to see Sam really show her comic flare. She was great. It must be frustrating being such a genius when the other local doctors and scientists can't figure out simple things (well, simple to her, anyway). Sam and Daniel's scenes together were great, and they really do seem like brother and sister. Their easy banter and the way they seem to understand each other without all the explanations makes them a joy to watch. They really need to have more interaction together.

Daniel: Great, as always. You kind of knew that Daniel might be of help since he went through the out-of-phase thing in "Crystal Skull," but the episode had enough twists and turns that it kept me guessing as to how it would all end up. I like that Daniel was ultimately able to figure out what happened to Sam and Mitchell, and he just went with it. "Press this key for 'yes' and this key for 'no.'" I loved his scenes trying to explain to Landry what he thinks happened, and Mitchell is happily excited behind him as Daniel figures it out. Those scenes were just hilarious. I think Daniel and Dr. Lee also have wonderful chemisry together. I don't think that Dr. Lee is stupid at all, he's a geek. That's what makes him so loveable. He doesn't need to be brillant and serious - we have Sam and Daniel for that.

Teal'c: He was good in this episode as well, and it was more than just the "shoot and kill" thing that Teal'c ends up doing. He was really interacting with other SG-1 soilders, and that was a nice change of pace for me. I also really enjoy his chemistry with Mitchell. They are coming along nicely.

Overall, I give this a five out of five. I did not dislike one single thing about the episode. I laughed out loud several times. Have not done that in a while. I think every character made them enjoyable and likeable. If I were a brand new viewer, this episode would have hooked me. It certainly held my interest, and would have had me asking lots of questions about character relationships and such.

Bring on next week.