'Air, Part 2' (102) General Discussion

[Stricken]

"It's Stargate but different"

I finally get what the producers have been saying for months, it would have been easy to reproduce SG-1 and Atlantis but that is how franchises lose viewers and end. SG:U is refreshing, it is still Stargate but its bringing the realism up a notch looking and how people react to imminent death, being stranded and how they work together to survive amongst other things. The roots to the Stargate "canon" are there, the video of Daniel explaining everything was a nice touch, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it I will defiantly continue to be watching

[knowles2]

who is supposed to be a lesbian ?

Wray is the full time lesbian. TJ is undecided or bisexual. Either way they had a sexual relationship in the passed. Obviously it ceased once Wray found out TJ was keeping secretes from her.

[Sweetsong]

I can't say I liked it to be honest. I agree with those saying that the characters didn't seem very likable and the action was blase at best. And for a pilot, they needed to do more than what I saw. Think back to SG-1's pilot, "Children of the Gods" or Atlantis's pilot "Rising." You liked those character right away, O'neil, Carter, and Shepard, plus the action was pulse pounding.

I don't know perhaps if I"m jaded after seeing so many action sequences throughout the course of 11+ years. Maybe if SGU's pilot had aired 10 years ago I might have liked it. Or perhaps it still would seem to be lacking in any circumstance.

[jelgate]

Wray is the full time lesbian. TJ is undecided or bisexual. Either way they had a sexual relationship in the passed. Obviously it ceased once Wray found out TJ was keeping secretes from her.

Um where did you draw that conclusion. I have seen nothing to suggest TJ is anything but a heterosexual

[Stricken]

Did anyone else notice the air force guy take one of the power bars and stick it in his pocket? or are we supposed to forget that?

[reddevil18]

Um where did you draw that conclusion. I have seen nothing to suggest TJ is anything but a heterosexual

It's in the eyes.

[knowles2]

Um where did you draw that conclusion. I have seen nothing to suggest TJ is anything but a heterosexual

There little conversation in Wray office.

An plus the writers would not of put just one lesbian women on the ship, they would of have someone on the vessel to have lesbian scenes with, always a good way to attract the young male demographic. TJ is the obvious candidate. As Cloe clearly not a lesbians as she was flirting with every male in sight before her daddy died.

[Madwelshboy]

Did anyone else notice the air force guy take one of the power bars and stick it in his pocket? or are we supposed to forget that?

Its probably a set up for something later.

[reddevil18]

Did anyone else notice the air force guy take one of the power bars and stick it in his pocket? or are we supposed to forget that?

Oh, definitely. I expect that will also cause tension in the coming episodes. The pilot basically did its job - it set up the series, planting seeds for future action, adventure, dissent and drama.

[MediaSavant]

I first want to give praise to Jelgate's review of the characters. It was the first one I read after finishing the pilot this morning and I was impressed with what Jelgate wrote.

As someone who always thought the previous show's were a bit old-fashioned in their style, I was impressed with how the same staff of writers and producers could essentially bring a new game to the table. SG1 and SGA were essentially 20th Century TV shows. This is a 21st Century TV show.

I found all the characters to be more realistic. They weren't "too good to be true" as most Stargate characters have been in the past. The dialogue and the acting style was more naturalistic than the previous shows. Credit the screenwriters for the former and the director for the latter. Using the handheld cameras enhanced that naturalistic feeling. It was jarring when we got a glimpse of former Stargate characters using this shooting style. Even they seemed more natural.

Most of critics focussed in on Rush and Eli and I agree that both characters were really interesting. We've seen so many people do the geek character in the past, but David Blue brings something to the role that feels very fresh. I can't say anything more praiseworthy about Robert Carlyle than has already been said. Outstanding. Just his presence elevates the whole thing.

My big surprise was Lt. Scott and the actor who played him. Stargate has such a bad track record with creating younger characters like this. There were so many nuances to Scott, however.

I also like Colonel Young and the hothead Sergeant more than I expected.

A lot of other king characters really didn't get much chance to register, such as Ming Na. But, it's ill-advised to try to do too much in the first episode of an ensemble like this. Heroes started to go bad when they tried to feature too many characters in each episode.

Overall, I was impressed with the casting and acting of even the minor roles. Did they get a new casting director?

To me the best shows like this are ones in which there are character arcs. As a viewer you get to follow their progress in a "beginning/middle/end" fashion. Farscape, for instance, began with Crichton being a stranger in a strange land where we was totally out of his element. The show was essential following his growth and the growth of the other characters he encountered. It was a character-driven show.

In a "plot-driven" show, the characters can be interchangable as the key point is to tell the story. Babylon 5 was an example of that. They essentially changed characters when they had to--such as when the original lead actor got removed or when an actress quit--but the underlying story was the same as originally conceived.

To me, the pilot laid the foundations of a good "character-driven" show. As Colonel Young explained when he let Eli go to the planet, each character has to step up or not step up. If the show is good, we won't know exactly what arc each character has. When a show like this is well-written, we won't be able to predict and there may be surprises. It will be mediocre if it becomes predictable.

I thought they laid a good foundation. Now, we need to follow what kind of house gets built. Welcome to the 21st Century, Stargate franchise.

[jelgate]

There little conversation in Wray office.

An plus the writers would not of put just one lesbian women on the ship, they would of have someone on the vessel to have lesbian scenes with, always a good way to attract the young male demographic. TJ is the obvious candidate. As Cloe clearly not a lesbians as she was flirting with every male in sight before her daddy died.

That scene was more about why TJ was still in the military.

Spoiler:

They would if they planned to the stones to have Wray see her lesbien partner on Earth.

I think if anything TJ had something with Col. Young. She was a little too dedicated to his health

[Madwelshboy]

SG1 and SGA were essentially 20th Century TV shows. This is a 21st Century TV show.

Agreed.

[Coronach]

My big surprise was Lt. Scott and the actor who played him. Stargate has such a bad track record with creating younger characters like this. There were so many nuances to Scott, however.

Your entire post is quite well-written and I agree with a good portion of it, but just wanted to comment here and say I totally agree. I commented on the nuances in my review on my LJ account, but it was something that stood out to me a lot as the show went on.

I thought they laid a good foundation. Now, we need to follow what kind of house gets built. Welcome to the 21st Century, Stargate franchise.

Totally agree. While I didn't love the pilot, I liked it a hell of a lot. I'm looking forward to "Darkness" & "Light" especially, as they'll be the first episodes where I have no idea what the plot is. I came into "Air" knowing most of what was going to happen and I'm guessing that might have played a small role in my overall feelings towards "Air".

Still liked it a lot though

[Osiris]

There little conversation in Wray office.

And plus the writers would not have put just one lesbian woman on the ship, they would have someone on the vessel to have lesbian scenes with, always a good way to attract the young male demographic. TJ is the obvious candidate. As Chloe is clearly not a lesbians as she was flirting with every male in sight before her daddy died.

I don't see how Chloe was flirting with guys and the conversation in Wray's offcice has to do with TJ having an affair with

Spoiler:

Col. Everett Young

which Camile Wray suspects.

[rlr149]

better than i expected, but not as awesome as i hoped. ship is nice, reminds me of "rapture" in bioshock (less art-deco and without the neon 50's style advertising)

characters are ok, no deep chemistry between any of them, but i've yet to see a pilot episode of any show that managed that!

i'll give it a season to settle in.