Journalist's Day (218)

[Alex Rubit]

Stargate: Horizon - Season Two
"Journalist's Day"

"Journalist's Day"
Ep: 2.18
Release Date: May 4th 2006
Written by Alex Rubit

Through a special television broadcast, Zach Hoffmann tells viewers of a day on which he discovered a situation that had placed Horizon in grave danger.

[Alex Rubit]

With the episode being released later today, the thread is now open for discussion.

[Astroliar]

Has anyone else been able to view this episode? I get prompted that the PDF is damaged and unable to be repaired....

[Lt. Colonel Ryu Gaia]

I was able to read it just fine. In fact, I just posted a review about it on SG:U. I posted a topic on that, though, so, no need to mention it here.

Anyway, it was something of a 'meh' episode for me, because I didn't get much out of Zach from it. It didn't change him as a person much, so, I couldn't really give it a very high rating. It was certainly fun in the first few acts, but, it had a lack-luster ending. I gave it a **1/2.

[Alex Rubit]

Has anyone else been able to view this episode? I get prompted that the PDF is damaged and unable to be repaired....

It's working just fine now. Maybe there was a problem earlier, I'm not sure about that.

Anyway, let me know if you're still having trouble downloading the episode.

[Alex Rubit]

I was able to read it just fine. In fact, I just posted a review about it on SG:U. I posted a topic on that, though, so, no need to mention it here.

Anyway, it was something of a 'meh' episode for me, because I didn't get much out of Zach from it. It didn't change him as a person much, so, I couldn't really give it a very high rating. It was certainly fun in the first few acts, but, it had a lack-luster ending. I gave it a **1/2.

The intent was never to change Zach as a person, so I'm not quite following there. I guess you just don't like episodes with too much humor in them.

I have to admit though, I've come to expect you to not like the episodes. So I'm not at all surprised. I'm much rather surprised if you do end up liking one every once and a while.

[Lt. Colonel Ryu Gaia]

Eh? That really comes as quite a shock - I loved the first half of the season, and with the second half of the season, so far I've loved every other episode (literally, starting with "Path of Revelation, Part II").

And no, it has nothing to do with the humor - the humor in this episode was absolutely spot-on, and I found myself giggling quite a bit through most of it. It was just that I didn't really like the resolution.

[Alex Rubit]

Eh? That really comes as quite a shock - I loved the first half of the season, and with the second half of the season, so far I've loved every other episode (literally, starting with "Path of Revelation, Part II").

Don't be shocked. I'm just kidding. Just forgot to use smileys. And I know that can be confusing.

After all you're always the first to comment on the episodes, so you must be liking the show.

And no, it has nothing to do with the humor - the humor in this episode was absolutely spot-on, and I found myself giggling quite a bit through most of it. It was just that I didn't really like the resolution.

I will admit that in the end the episode didn't turn out to be as much a character episode as I had initially wanted it to be. Part of the reason is that the original story idea for it didn't work, and we litterly started from scratch. So it's really more of a comedy episode than it is a character episode.

However, let's just say this isn't the last Zach-episode of the series. Before all is said and done, he'll have gotten his share of character development.

And you mentioned "ship" before. I didn't think it would come as a surprise. And I will say toward the end of the season we might even have a bigger surprise coming up. Or dare I say even a bit of a shock. Depends in which direction you're leaning.

That said, may the speculations begin. In another thread, of course.

[SierraGulf1]

I do, in fact, like Ryu's impartiality when it comes to reviewing. He is always the first to make a comment as well. As many say, he is a tough one to please, but he is honest and mentions exactly what he liked and disliked. While I myself may feel differently than he does in certain criticisms, I do like to hear them.

I do think that the resolution was an interesting twist with the double agent bit, and it even opened future storylines involving Tomari. Shame you didn't like it too much, but I suppose we can't win them all.

[Lt. Colonel Ryu Gaia]

Don't be shocked. I'm just kidding. Just forgot to use smileys. And I know that can be confusing.

After all you're always the first to comment on the episodes, so you must be liking the show.

Yupyupyup! Horizon is excellent.

I will admit that in the end the episode didn't turn out to be as much a character episode as I had initially wanted it to be. Part of the reason is that the original story idea for it didn't work, and we litterly started from scratch. So it's really more of a comedy episode than it is a character episode.

However, let's just say this isn't the last Zach-episode of the series. Before all is said and done, he'll have gotten his share of character development.

That's good to hear. I look forward to a Zach-developing episode in the future.

And you mentioned "ship" before. I didn't think it would come as a surprise. And I will say toward the end of the season we might even have a bigger surprise coming up. Or dare I say even a bit of a shock. Depends in which direction you're leaning.

That said, may the speculations begin. In another thread, of course.

Very, very little could possibly shock me in the direction of ship. Ah, but yes, let the speculations run rampant.

[Lt. Colonel Ryu Gaia]

I do, in fact, like Ryu's impartiality when it comes to reviewing. He is always the first to make a comment as well. As many say, he is a tough one to please, but he is honest and mentions exactly what he liked and disliked. While I myself may feel differently than he does in certain criticisms, I do like to hear them.

I do think that the resolution was an interesting twist with the double agent bit, and it even opened future storylines involving Tomari. Shame you didn't like it too much, but I suppose we can't win them all.

Well, it's not that I didn't like the story of Tomari, I just think that it wasn't introduced as well as it could have (important story-builders like that don't really fit in comedy-based episodes, in my opinion).

[Alex Rubit]

Well, it's not that I didn't like the story of Tomari, I just think that it wasn't introduced as well as it could have (important story-builders like that don't really fit in comedy-based episodes, in my opinion).

Oh, I wouldn't agree with that. In fact, I personally love blending humor and drama together like that. Or I should say developing part of a more serious storyline (like the Kih'Andari) in a more comedic episode.

The reason is simply that I (as a fan/viewer/reader as well as a writer) like to have such contrasts between humor and drama. Not too many shows do that actually, and it can be tough to pull off. Sci-fi of course allows you to do all kinds of genres.

I just think that a show that's just serious or that's just funny isn't always that realistic. Realistic isn't the right word. It's hard to find the right word for that actually. Shows like that can work of course. But I don't think they'll be as true to real life as they'd be otherwise.

The reason is I believe that life itself is never just serious, and never just funny. How often do you find something funny happening somewhere, and just close by something not so funny is happening. Or even in people's own lifes there'll be both funny things as well as not so funny things going on every once and a while. It's complex, and strange sometimes. And as a writer (not just on Horizon) I try to reflect that complexity as much as I can. And I think we all as a staff on Horizon are pretty happy and pretty proud how this series is able to pull off very serious dramatic episodes, and just a week later a comedy episode. That kind of versitality makes a show much more unpredictable. You'll tune in every week, and you'll never quite know what to expect. Pretty much like how things can work in real life. And "Aversion" is a great example. That's a pretty dark character drama, and also deals with a rather serious moral dilemma. So that will be the exact opposite to this week's episode.

Anyway. I know I'm rambling myself now. But some of you know I tend to do that every now and then. I'm not really getting off topic either, I think.

Of course there's nothing wrong with disagreeing with all that. But I personally think that mixing two completely different elements of a show together like that works very well. It is something that you wouldn't normally expect, which is probably what I like about it too.

[Alex Rubit]

Very, very little could possibly shock me in the direction of ship. Ah, but yes, let the speculations run rampant.

I will give a little hint in order to make future speculations easier. And I usually don't give away this much, so this is a special occasion.

This "ship" (if that's we're calling it) involves two characters. And - one of them is male, the other is female.

That should really narrow it down.

[Lt.Colonel John Sheppard]

i cant read it.

[Alex Rubit]

i cant read it.

That's strange. It's still working for me.

What exactly isn't working right when you try to download it?