'Pain' (117) General Discussion

[The Mighty 6 platoon]

Well personally having watched Pain, I enjoyed it but definitely for me was one of the weakest episodes so far. Enjoyable but formulaic, the whole everyone goes crazy thing has been done before, its a cheap way of getting some effective character moments out of people. I enjoyed the ep for the fact that it showed there were still suspicions about people left over from the mutiny, the nutty moments everyone had and the gore at points, but overall all it was filler, and nothing we really haven’t seen before from stargate. However not every episode can be ground breaking and I look forward to next week.

On another note I see people on the thread annoyed that Greer has somehow returned to the “angry black guy” stereotype. I don’t see it, clearly he was supposed to be hallucinating and not acting himself. Then again I never saw him as an angry black guy to begin with, in fact the anger and the shouting in this ep from him showed to me that he wasn’t himself, usually Greer is much calmer, compare this episode to Divided where Greer is calm and collected through the whole mutiny. The whole point of the ep was people behaving abnormally, and people are way over thinking this. Was the episode also implying that Scotsman are violent madman and women are vicious harpies who will attack people when jealous?

[12OzMouse]

But what I did say about women going for the wrong guy early on, learn from their mistake, and now find the "nice guy" attractive is pretty much true. Scott is a "bad boy" in the sense he's "rougher" than Eli, as far as a female is concerned. I mean, he expects a girl he banged to get an abortion, and when she doesn't, he tries to make his guilt go away with money. And yet, he learned nothing from casual sex, as he's banging James later and totally disregarding her feelings; and then quickly jumps into bed with Chloe. Do you really think he deserves a regular relationship now? Considering he has learned *nothing* about consequences for his actions? Due to TPTB, Chloe won't get pregnant, so that's another bullet he gets a free pass on.
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I think you have missed a few points early on. One, Scott was told that his GF had an abortion before he had an opportunity to weigh in on the issue. He attempted to contact her but she no longer wanted to see him. He had no idea that she in fact had a baby till he, through the stones went and visited her. He was, justifiably, surprised and reacted the only way he could, considering he's millions of light years away from her, by providing financial support for his child. I don't see how a person could respond in a better way. With James, he obviously was engaged in a casual affair. Other than Jame's hallucination, I don't believe that he has carried on the affair since arriving on Destiny. Now, if he was still involved with her, then yes, he would deserve a little criticism. It's plain from the story that James thought that their affair was more than it turned out to be. That happens in real life quite often. One party thinks that it's all fun and games, the other one thinks its serious. I've often seen the roles reversed from what's portrayed in the show, where the man thinks he's getting into a serious thing, and the woman is just having fun. Nobody but bad communication is at fault.

I think that Eli is finally discovering that, "he's not in Kansas, anymore". Whereas, Scott has realized that from the beginning. I think the show is doing a good job showing Eli's emotional development, you don't just change from man-child to a man over night. Eli has got that hurt puppy dog thing working for him right now, but the time to grow up is quickly approaching.

[Commander Zelix]

Horrible episode. Boring, bad pacing, not original plot, bad dialog, ridiculous. I was looking at my watch wishing it was ending soon but yet not wanting to lose plot points that may come back in future episodes. I won't review it furthermore since there's nothing to review.

I give it a 2/10.

[Kaiphantom]

I think you have missed a few points early on. One, Scott was told that his GF had an abortion before he had an opportunity to weigh in on the issue. He attempted to contact her but she no longer wanted to see him. He had no idea that she in fact had a baby till he, through the stones went and visited her. He was, justifiably, surprised and reacted the only way he could, considering he's millions of light years away from her, by providing financial support for his child. I don't see how a person could respond in a better way.

You have to read between the lines. Scott was the one all broken up about her getting pregnant, and then "they" decided to get an abortion. That she didn't go through with it, tells us she didn't really want to, and thus it was more from Scott's angle. He didn't want the responsibility or cost of a child at that age. And when he showed up later, he was quick to toss money at her without considering her feelings; especially since he attached terms to the money. While she would have been grateful for the cash, she doesn't want to be beholden to him.

With James, he obviously was engaged in a casual affair. Other than Jame's hallucination, I don't believe that he has carried on the affair since arriving on Destiny. Now, if he was still involved with her, then yes, he would deserve a little criticism. It's plain from the story that James thought that their affair was more than it turned out to be. That happens in real life quite often. One party thinks that it's all fun and games, the other one thinks its serious. I've often seen the roles reversed from what's portrayed in the show, where the man thinks he's getting into a serious thing, and the woman is just having fun. Nobody but bad communication is at fault.

We don't know what went on between the two prior to the closet. However, we do know James had stronger feelings, and isn't the type to just jump into bed with anyone. So there obviously had to be signs before the closet that she liked him. Signs that Scott chose to ignore, in favor of "ooh, sex!" Greer obviously knew what was going on between them, so it implies it had been going on for awhile. And despite supposedly having been profoundly affected by the earlier pregnancy, he seems to have learned nothing since then. So all his worry earlier was just about the "drag" of having a kid, and how it could ruin his life.

And then, Scott didn't even think twice about James after Chloe offered herself. No second thoughts, no "should I really do this? What about James?" Those are typical traits of a "bad boy." If a younger, or more beautiful, or newer woman were to offer herself to Scott, he'd probably jump in with her in a second. If this were real life, James or Chloe should end up pregnant, to really drive home the lesson in him that sleeping around without considering feelings is generally a bad idea.

I wonder if there will be a good looking woman among the LA people who will arrive on the ship; if she knows anything, she'll know Scott is an easy target through his pants.

[kymeric]

Hey that was one of the rebel asurans from SGA!

[hedwig]

I thought on the last ep (Sabotage), they were about to go between galaxies and there was going to be a big empty space, with talk of rationing supplies until they arrive. At the end of this ep, they get out of FTL and find a planet. Did the time skip or what? It seems like the previous episode didn't happen.....

I had the impression they must have visited at least one planet in the new galaxy in between "Sabotage" and "Pain", and that was where the ticks came from. It might have been Young who said that Scott, James, the guy who thought he had snakes crawling on him, and another woman had gone on an away mission to a planet where they likely picked up those ticks, and it had to have been fairly recently, since they spent at least three weeks between galaxies trying to figure out how to get the FTL drive working properly. It seemed as though they all started hallucinating within days of visiting whatever planet the ticks were on.

[Petra]

I admit to being disappointed. It wasn't a bad episode, but overall it was pretty "meh". I expected something really extraordianry from James and Volker given that the actors were nominated for awards for their performances in this one, but as it turned out they weren't given more screen time than recently and their acting was their usual very good. Hm.

I think the ep started very strong, esp. the teaser was well done (the song though wasn't to my taste, I found it a bit jarring), but then it just petered out and became quite anti-climactic.

What I liked:

James. Her character is very realistic. She and TJ are the best written females in the franchise since Janet and earlier seasons Sam, and JB is a great actress. TPTB should bump her up to the main cast.

TJ and Young. Both solo and together were great. Their interaction was sweet.

Eli. He's growing up. I just wish he also grew out of his infatuation with Chloe, because franky he can do better and I don't think they'd fit togeter.

Volker was cool. It was nice to see Brody, Riley and Park too.

Rush - second ep in a row when I liked Rush. Woo hoo. Although I agree with the comments that it felt a bit OOC for him to succumb to his hallucinations so quickly and easily, and he didn't question them. I'm also curious what he wanted to talk about with Wray - as somebody else said, I too think it had something to do with Mandy.

Wray. She was, well, herself. But I loved the scene at the end when she was pleading with Greer.

And speaking of Greer...heh, I loved him! I was very pleasantly surprised that he got so much screentime and boy, it was time well spent. I got the impression that JWS really enjoyed playing a crazed psycho and pulled no punches. Great stuff. Having said that, I don't agree with whoever said that it was "angry black man" stereotype again. Never before had I seen it, and neither did I see it in this ep. Greer is all about duty, loyalty and protection of those with whose care he was entrusted. After Rush and Wray's little mutiny he sees them as a threat to security and well-being of people he feels responsible for, so it's only natural that he keeps an eye on them and is distrustful. I found it interesting that even in his altered state his mind felt the need to receive Young's permission to do anything about them -or to them.

The "meh" things:

Chloe. I don't know, I found her scenes with her dad pretty boring. Although it's interesting that her longing after her father is stronger than her fear of the Smurfs. And when she was walking him around the ship talking about *everything* I suspected for a moment that the aliens were really somehow probing her mind.

Scott. His scene with James in the teaser was great, and BJS played a cold-hearted b****** really well, but then..meh. IMO using a child to get under character's skin is pretty overdone in the Stargate franchise. I would have prefered to learn something new about the priest who took care of him, or something new about his past.

What I didn't like:

The plot. Very contrived and, well, boring.

Overall then, one of the weakest episodes in the series so far, although it had its moments. The only thing that got me excited post-intro was preview of the next week's episode. There's Jack! Yay! And Daniel! Double yay! And Telford will be back...looks interesting. Have I mentioned Jack O'Neill's return? I can't wait.

[g.o.d]

I was sooo wrong when I said "Sabotage" was the worst episode. This was bad, really bad. SGU is getting back to the SG's roots and I was afraid of that. I hate old SG style so much, so if this is going to continue, I will stop watching SGU.

There was nothing I liked in this episode. I was almost sleeping, used FF button few times

[Commander Zelix]

I was sooo wrong when I said "Sabotage" was the worst episode. This was bad, really bad. SGU is getting back to the SG's roots and I was afraid of that. I hate old SG style so much, so if this is going to continue, I will stop watching SGU.

There was nothing I liked in this episode. I was almost sleeping, used FF button few times

This episode has nothing to do with the style of the other series. It was all emo, character development crap. In a real Stargate episode (beside a few character centric ones) it would be about what causes those hallucinations not the hallucinations themselves.

[g.o.d]

This episode has nothing to do with the style of the other series. It was all emo, character development crap. In a real Stargate episode (beside a few character centric ones) it would be about what causes those hallucinations not the hallucinations themselves.

Doppelganger, Grace. Two examples of the stupidest episodes in the entire SG history. Pain is the newest addition to this group. I had the same feeling like I had while watching SGA. Despair, mysery, anger...

[jelgate]

Doppelganger, Grace. Two examples of the stupidest episodes in the entire SG history. Pain is the newest addition to this group. I had the same feeling like I had while watching SGA. Despair, mysery, anger...

If a TV show is making a person angry I think they a little too emotionally invested in the show

[g.o.d]

If a TV show is making a person angry I think they a little too emotionally invested in the show

better than feel nothing

[aretood2]

Doppelganger, Grace. Two examples of the stupidest episodes in the entire SG history. Pain is the newest addition to this group. I had the same feeling like I had while watching SGA. Despair, mysery, anger...

Grace was one of the best SG-1 episodes...

This episode was...forseen. I mean you're in a void, between to galaxies on a strange ship in an unkown part of the universe. I was expecting something funky, something that messed with their minds...Sci Fi's do that in this situation...someone said (In the first page) that it was cliche...and it is, for Sci Fi. However I like some cliches...and this is one of them.

So I liked this episode quite well Now it's not the best, nor great, but it was good.

[Commander Zelix]

Doppelganger, Grace. Two examples of the stupidest episodes in the entire SG history. Pain is the newest addition to this group. I had the same feeling like I had while watching SGA. Despair, mysery, anger...

Those were the few odd character centric one. SGU takes the cake with all this character development crap with no plots to speak of.

Sabotage, Human was the same thing. Not much plot just character stuff. The sci-fi part is only a plot device so we can learn more about the character.

[aretood2]

Those were the few odd character centric one. SGU takes the cake with all this character development crap with no plots to speak of.

There were more.... The one where Jack infiltrate's that Trust SG team, Avatar, The one where Teal'c is trapped in that game, When Jack and Sam got trapped in Antartica for the first time, When Jack got tortured by Ba'al, The one where Sha're died, the one where Daniel had a dream that he took over the world (Shi'fu).

There are others...