Crusade (919)

[T'saria]

They should get a ship, chinese too... and then they can sit on the front lines and face the Ori or whatever just like us. Then we will see how much they ask for more ships.

While were at it, they can send some of their guys to sit on the front lines to fight the Wraith too.

good point! ha ha! they'll stop their whining real fast
when they have to stick their necks out!

[Scarym1]

Great episode!!! I loved the Darth Vader line. Claudia Black's acting was so good. She can be serious!

I'm kinda glad they didn't have Daniel talking with Vala's mannerisms. True, it would have been funny, but what Vala was saying was not funny. I think it was a good idea to have some Daniel talking as Vala, but definitely not the serious scenes. The only thing I wish we had seen him say something like I'm pregnant... that would have been funny. But I think I would have been laughing way too much at Daniel as Vala that I wouldn't be getting the drama of the storyline.

Great post.

I was all for seeing more of Daniel talking as Vala but now I agree with you. I think seeing more of Daniel as Vala would have lessen the seriousness of the scenes.

Love the line by Cam "Jackson is there something about you that I should know about." LOL

[HoodatWhatzit]

I don't know if any fictional character "deserves" a storyline for their suffering. That seems to be mixing real life (storylines are given to actors, and CB didn't get shipped to the Ori galaxy) and fiction. I'm sure when weighing up the scales of justice and finding something to make up for her time there, no one in the Stargate universe would be thinking of storylines. Now, Vala deserved to be listened to, but as for the storyline, they could have given her one, but made it more show and not tell. Which would have accomplished the same thing.

I must have read your comments half a dozen times trying to get a handle on what you were saying. I would hope, personally, that fictional characters (and not actors) DO get storylines. The idea of adding up the screentime of the various actors or sorting out the season's storylines based on which actor has had an "episode" seems to miss the point of good storytelling to me. I think characters do "deserve" storylines if it those storylines are going to grow the characters in some way. My favorite character-focused eps have always been those that are pivotal moments for the characters. Isn't that the point of giving a character the major focus in an episode?

Whether we all like it or not, Vala is going to be a part of the Stargate universe. I needed to see what she'd been up to in the Orii universe and I think the episode did help me get a better feel for her (mainly because for 95% of the time we've seen her before now she has received the short end of the character development stick and been nothing more than comic relief). Did this episode win me over to the character? Not exactly but at least it gave me a little nudge.

That said, I totally agree with the "show, don't tell" comment. TPTB seem to have taken a lot of shortcuts this year and lots of stuff happens off-camera with talking heads taking the place of on-screen action. At least we actually got to see Vala in the Orii galaxy. This episode (as I've seen many people say as I've skimmed through this thread) was really a setup for the finale. This is one of those times when it might have been interesting to have Vala's story be an arc through the season. What if we'd been able to get little tidbits throughout the season via the communication device? Of course, given shooting schedules and such... that would have been an impossible task.

This ep had a "Meanwhile...back at the ranch..." sorta feel. The SGC needed the info about existence of a supergate and the impending Orii invasion. The writers chose to have Vala make contact "just in time" for the warning. Okay... its their call. Having done that, I don't mind that they tried to take the time to give Vala a storyline that focused on the hows,whens, and whys of her actions. If she's going to be THAT important to the story as a whole then yes, I think she deserves her moment in the spotlight.

[Dani347]

I don't think MS imitating Vala would necessarily be funny. It wasn't funny when MS imitated the people in Lifeboat, and if he had been Vala in this episode, he would have been serious. There would just be a few touches -licking the plate, the ice-cream on his nose, asking how the whole situation with Darth Vader turned out.

Of course, that would limit CB from being able to act that part. That's why I think it wasn't a good idea to do the story this way. They should have found some way for Vala to communicate without being inside Daniel. Because it's a waste to have a situation like that, and limit a mimic like MS.

[ParadoxRealities]

so what's the big deal with giving the Russians the gate? Can't we just fly the Daedalus to some random uninhabited planet with no real purpose and pick up that gate?

[Deejay435]

A previous post mentioned that SG-1 wasn't involved emotionally with Vala's story, but I wonder if that's because it was Daniel that they were seeing tell the story. If they were actually seeing Vala, it might have been a little different.

I also wonder how much of an uproar would have ensued if the show had been only Vala on the planet with just a little bit of SGC at the beginning and end of the episode. Something tells me that even if it made for a better episode, a lot of people would not be happy that they didn't get to see more of SG-1.

I really don't think so. Remember it's Daniel that they're invested in, especially Teal'c and Sam. It's Daniel that they care about, and have a history with. I would think seeing Daniel going through the emotion of the story, seeing the tears in Daniel's eyes, hearing the fear in his voice-instead of Vala whom they have little emotional investment in-would make their reactions stronger to the story, not weaker.

It wasn't as if Daniel was there telling a second-hand story. The emotions, and worry, and fear that were being portrayed, as far as the observer saw were Daniel's.

And of course there would have been an uproar. I don't tune in to see a guest star-I tune in to see SG1. Like the team, I, as a viewer, have far less emotional investment in Vala than I do in Sam, Daniel, Teal'c and even by now, Mitchell. I have no interest in seeing an entire hour devoted only to her. Guest stars are not why I watch the show. The SG1 team is. Seeing them deal with the crisis of the universe is the appeal to me (and I imagine to a whole heck of a lot of fans,too). Frankly, I would have been almost as bored watching a show with only the flashbacks as I was watching Vala sit at a table telling, telling, telling, telling about the flashbacks.

[ChillinTheMost]

It was a good episode, but I admit that I was bored in some parts. "What I Did On My Summer Vacation by Vala MalDoran".

Claudia did an amazing job, as usual.

While watching, I had wished that Michael Shanks had played the Vala/Daniel scenes set in the SGC, but I've read some decent arguments here for having Claudia play them, so either way is fine for me now.

It was nice to know what Vala had been through, but I think dragging it out for the entire hour was a bit too much. They might have made it move better if Vala had been a more integral part of the resistance and we had seen her involved in whatever sabotage was planned. If we had seen her involved in clandestine operations to sabotage the Ori and then seen the scene on the hill where nothing happened, I think it would have been even more poignant.

It was a good character study for Claudia to act in, and heaven knows she can sure do the acting for that, but it's not really what I expected. I only saw it once, so maybe the next time I watch, I won't be as disappointed. I kept expecting more stuff to happen, but now that I know it's just a character piece, maybe I'll enjoy it more next time.

Besides Claudia's wonderful acting, there were some great lines/scenes from the team. Ben, Amanda, Chris, Michael and Beau did great jobs with the few lines/scenes they were given.

[Mattathias2.0]

Overall, excelent episode!

I have to say I have been loving episodes following Off The Grid...

I enjoyed the flashbacks. It gives us a good idea on the normal behavior and culture of their followers. Possibly even a way for us to connect with the Underground Resistence Movement against the Ori... and set traps in their galaxies! But all in due time.

I do agree they packed alot in one episode, but everything introduced in this episode will have implications for a long time... so I am happier, atleast for a little while, we have some really great storylines with our new enemy.

Mattathias

[golfbooy]

zzz.....zzz.....zzzz......

Sorry, I just awoke from my Crusade-induced slumber. Did I miss anything important? Serious character development or interactions for Carter, Teal'c, or Daniel? No? Oh, good. Rare as it is these days, I'd hate to miss any of that.

Anyway, contrary to the above preface, I didn't absolutely hate Crusade. It was just exceptionally boring. And I'm one of those fans who usually loves the "talky" episodes. It's just that those talky episodes usually involve some sort of conflict for SG-1. This one, well, didn't. There were some splendid Mitchell/table scenes and a couple really good Carter/stool moments. And as so many others have already commented, Teal'c is the star of the show with his love of Star Wars.

But aside from picking out the one or two good lines each character had in Crusade, there is really not all that much to say. Nothing happened, nobody did anything, and even Vala's story was just a rehash of stuff we already knew about the Ori. And while it all played dramtically in Avalon and Origin, here I found it to be very flat. Sorry to all the Vala fans, but the sole point of the episode was to cram Claudia Black back into the story, even though it made little sense. I'm torn between thinking TPTB made the best of a bad situation and thinking that they just gave away a complete episode of their show. In the end, the most that I can say came out of Crusade was a patch job/rewrite/overhaul of Vala into a more workable player, although given the uneven characterization plaguing a number of characters this year, I'm dubious of giving in to this version of her completely.

Landry had a few good scenes in this one as did Colonel Chekov, though I'm sad to see the Chinese play for the stargate dealt with so swiftly and with such ease. This could have been a more contentious affair than we got, and it should have been the focus of its own episode. There was enough story there and enough groundwork laid in The Scourge to turn this into an interesting episode for Daniel, Landry, and for the Stargate Program itself. Of course, that would have been a tough episode to pull off without the head of Homeworld Security, which is a problem in and of itself. Still, I'd have preferred just about anything else to come from this than yet another blasted spaceship. Here's hoping that it gets blown to little tiny bits next week along with its brethren.

As for the rest, meh. Good stuff with Sam at breakfast, in her lab, and with Vala and the ice cream. Michael Shanks does a pretty decent Vala (there's a joke or four there), Teal'c stood around as well as ever, and Mitchell is apparetly apprenticing under him to learn the wallpaper job. The characters in Vala's story? Who cares. They're all dead or soon will be. What's the point in bothering with them at all.

That last scene in the briefing room didn't help with my impression of the episode either. A brief line of explanation about what the Tok'ra, Jaffa, and Asgard are doing to help fight the Ori is just a waste. A full half of this episode could have been a member of SG-1 each going to one of our allies with Vala's intel. A montage of Mitchell standing amidst a room full of Tok'ra, Sam surrounded by little gray Asgard, and Teal'c planning with the Jaffa in the council chamber would have helped build the drama of next week's finale and given the main characters something to do while Vala/Daniel relays the rest of her sob story to Landry.

So like I said, meh. I don't hate it, I don't love it. I just don't really care one way or the other. Hopefully I'll find something more in Camelot. Bring it on.

[Jace021903]

I enjoyed the episode. I thought it was well written and well acted--turns out I *could* just sit and listen to Claudia Black read the phone book--

I think this episode gives Vala some depth. I thought her relationship with her husband was very sweet and sad. She seem to come to care about him in her own way--trying to get him to stay home when the explosions were supposed to occur and being really saddened that he was going to change into a different person when he returned from war. And the lines about part of her wishing the baby didn't survive and realizing that part of her did want the baby--good stuff. I loved the body language at the end when she puts her hands protectively over her stomach while facing down the staff weapon.

I appreciated the funny parts too--my favorite was Vala beating up the bread dough.

As this was truly a Vala episode, Sg-1 didn't have tons to do, but they were all very good in the parts they had. MS was spot on with Vala's facial expressions. Landry rocked. Again. I really like Beau Bridges in this part.

Looking forward to next week...

[Skydiver]

I don't think MS imitating Vala would necessarily be funny. It wasn't funny when MS imitated the people in Lifeboat, and if he had been Vala in this episode, he would have been serious. There would just be a few touches -licking the plate, the ice-cream on his nose, asking how the whole situation with Darth Vader turned out.

Of course, that would limit CB from being able to act that part. That's why I think it wasn't a good idea to do the story this way. They should have found some way for Vala to communicate without being inside Daniel. Because it's a waste to have a situation like that, and limit a mimic like MS.

exactly. one reason they couldn't have MS immitating vala is because it would eliminate the sole purpose of hte episode, to bring vala and the actress who plays her to the front and center. it wasn't necessarily as much telling vala's story as it was to establish claudia black as the new focus of the show

[Formerhost]

exactly. one reason they couldn't have MS immitating vala is because it would eliminate the sole purpose of hte episode, to bring vala and the actress who plays her to the front and center. it wasn't necessarily as much telling vala's story as it was to establish claudia black as the new focus of the show

Don't forget that in Avalon pt. 2 and Origin we had only miliseconds of the original Harrid and Salis and most of the time we saw Daniel and Vala. Why are you always so negative about Claudia Black? It's really unfair...

[Skydiver]

not claudia. claudia is simply doing her job. Vala however....i didn't care for vala back in prometheus unbound, didn't care for her character during the early part of s9 and i don't have much faith in these writers redeeming her for s10

others like her though. good for you. have fun and enjoy. it's good that someone is going to find something they like and, given all indications, those that love vala will find plenty to love in the coming season.

it's good that the show is gaining some new fans. they just might make up for the ones that it's lost in the past year.

this episode was created and conceived to focus on vala, just as meridian was created to facilitate daniel's departure and Jonas' inclusion into the show.

[valaCB]

I appreciated the funny parts too--my favorite was Vala beating up the bread dough.

It was sooo funny

[Dani347]

"What I Did On My Summer Vacation by Vala MalDoran".

"I Went to the Ori Galaxy and All I Got Was This Lousy Baby"