sholio | 3x17: Sunday

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episode reactions:sga

3x17: Sunday

Ow. Just ... ow. On so many levels.

Okay. Obviously, I had seen THE big spoiler for the season (who hasn't?) and so I was, sort of, expecting this. I even knew that it would probably happen in this episode (due to a number of OMG SUNDAY AHHHGH) type posts in various message forums over the last couple of months).

I just wasn't expecting the OW to be so very, very OW.

And I *know* there is going to be a lot of doom and gloom over this, so I want to say one thing. I'm very, very curious about where the show is going to go from here. I'm honestly curious about the new character(s) that will be brought in and what she/he/they will add to the mix. I want to see how everything is going to be affected by all of this. I truly believe that in TV or books or movies or life, to be static is to die. Not every change will be good, but I honestly would rather see the show change and evolve than keep the status quo for umpteen seasons. I have *always* liked that about the Stargate universe, even when it gave us things like Daniel's death which was part of what made me stop watching the show for a while. I really, truly LIKE that the series changes and evolves. See, SG-1 right now? If you'd asked me if Daniel could die and Jack could leave and they could bring in new actors on the core team, if I'd still be watching -- I would have said "No." But here I am in season 10, watching the show again and really enjoying it. And Daniel's back, and Vala's awesome, and I actually like Cam! And I started off with an irrational hate of both Ben Browder AND Claudia on Farscape ... yes, I know, it makes no sense, but I was predisposed to dislike them and my initial reaction when I heard they were both going to be on SG-1 was "Oh God, not THEM!!!" And now I adore Vala, and Cam is a kick in the pants!

Okay, that was more than one thing. ;-) But you know what I'm trying to say. I honest-to-goodness WANT to see the show change and evolve, even if some of those changes really hurt. As a writer and a fan and just as a person, I want to see that. I'm not glad Carson's dead, but I'm glad that this show is not afraid to kill characters and shake up the status quo. And I am really, truly curious and even eager to see what happens next.

All right now, having said that, I'm going to move along to my usual rundown of the various squees and the occasional WTF? for the episode.

The squee:

We actually got a BIG tidbit of Sheppard backstory! He was married! I mean, this is actually quite a big thing.

The first half of this episode was just a barrel of happiness. There were so many awesome little moments. Ronon called Sheppard "John"! Lorne PAINTS! Zelenka kicks ass at chess! (Which means he is probably better than Rodney ... *dies of squee*) The characters have friends and acquaintances outside the core group, and it was just so, so awesome to see that. We got to see Sheppard and Ronon bonding and hanging out, which was just beyond awesome. Everyone in casual clothes! My cup of squee runneth over!

And then there was the second part ...

On a very personal level, I had a few problems with the second part.

Yes, I know. Carson died and that's ... probably going to take me some time to come to terms with. But that honestly wasn't the ONLY problem that I had with it.

This is all VERY much IMHO and totally plays into my own personal preferences. Bear this in mind and please read the following with a grain of salt.

I felt as if there wasn't ... enough. In some ways it was similar to how I felt after Sirius died in the Harry Potter series. (I hope I'm not spoilering anyone there, but I really would be shocked if nobody knows that by now...) I was quite involved with the books at the time, and it was such a HUGE thing that she was going to kill off a character in that book -- and then the actual death was this tiny little, accidental thing, and we saw hardly any aftermath at all, and I just ended up feeling angry and cheated.

I'm not really *angry* in this case, but I feel as if there was incredibly little aftermath for having killed off *that* major of a character. Fade to white, then a couple of brief interludes days later -- that's all we get? No initial reactions, and such a small sampling of individual scenes with the characters? Excuse me, but ... VEX! Very much VEXATION here! I mean, this is honestly the biggest thing that's happened to the cast since they've been in this galaxy. We could have had much less funeral and much more individual reactions to the death, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Thing Two was that scene at the end with Rodney and Carson. Okay, it broke my heart, as it was no doubt intended to. But ... I didn't understand what under the sun we were supposed to be looking at here, and that really detracted from my enjoyment of the scene. Was this a dream that Rodney was having? Was he dreaming this on Earth? Atlantis? Was it something else entirely? The fact that there was no scene-setting whatsoever for this -- you have no clue where in the timeline it falls, if this is right after they step through the gate or a month later, if this is Rodney asleep in his quarters dreaming or if he'd actually used some kind of Ancient device or what -- it made the scene feel incredibly tacked-on and cheap to me. I didn't know what I was supposed to be seeing or how I was supposed to be reacting. I mean, it obviously makes a tremendous difference if this is happening 6 hours after Carson dies or three weeks later! I could not place this scene into the timeline of the episode. That bugged me.

Thing Three is entirely, 100% personal and has to do with my own all-consuming bias for Sheppard-McKay interaction and the fact that I insist on seeing them as best friends and ... yeah. Very, very vexed that we got darn nearly nothing with them after Carson's death (except that little sideways look over the coffin).

Rodney telling Carson that he was his best friend ... oddly, aside from a pretty huge initial OW, that ended up not really bothering me on the Sheppard/McKay front because that actually, oddly, DOES fit with the way that their relationship seems to work (although I had to think about it, and maybe I'm totally rationalizing here). In fact, it kind of finally made the differences between the Rodney/Sheppard and the Rodney/Carson friendships pop out for me.

with_apostrophe recently described Rodney and Sheppard as "accidental, unaware" best friends. And I totally, totally think that is true. I think that canon has amply showed us by now that in a personal crisis, Rodney goes to Sheppard, and that Sheppard, for his part, spends a good part of his time pestering Rodney. The relationship that the two of them have is incredibly deep, but it defies easy characterization and I don't think either one of them really understands it, and it really *doesn't* lend itself to emotional displays at ALL. Rodney's friendship with Carson is more emotionally open and goes back a lot farther, and as a friendship, it's simply more *conventional*. I'm not sure if Rodney is entirely aware that he's friends with Sheppard, but he knows for sure that he's friends with Carson. And Carson may well have been the first really close friend that he's ever had. And it makes perfect sense, both for Rodney's personality and in keeping with the way that I've sometimes seen friendships go, that he would have decided early on that Carson was his best friend, and still think of him that way. I have seen people insist that (x) was their best friend despite the fact that (x) lived in a different state and their personal interaction was almost entirely with different people now. With Rodney and Carson, it's nowhere near that extreme. But I think that his relationships with other people have moved on in a way that his relationship with Carson hasn't really. This isn't to say that he isn't close with Carson, doesn't care about him. Obviously, so very obviously, he does. But ... like Sheppard's "... except for McKay" caveats to his declarations of friendship, the fact that Rodney tells Carson he's his best friend kind of tends to imply to me that Sheppard is.

Strange, that ....

Anyway. Let me move along to my favorite bits of the ending. I had two favorite things, and both, rather unusually for me, involved Ronon.

One was the scene in Carson's quarters where Ronon asks Rodney if he's okay. That was incredibly powerful -- much more so, I think, than if it had been someone who was more emotionally open (like Teyla) or someone he had a stronger bond with (Sheppard). The fact that it was Ronon speaks volumes for how close those two have actually become over the course of season 3.

The second thing, which didn't actually hit me 'till after the credits rolled, was: Ronon just went to Earth. Considering his reaction to the whole idea in "Return", that was an incredible testament to how he felt about Carson, how much he respected him. We didn't specifically get a Ronon mourning scene, but that was ... wow. And the tag potential here is just incredibly, incredibly huge.

I really, really hope that there is fallout from this in the next episode(s). I truly do hope that the next episode doesn't just go back to being "plot-of-the-week" with no mention whatsoever of Carson's death, because I think that I really WOULD feel cheated then.

*ahem*. Moving on now.

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I am still reeling from this episode, - yes from the big impact and from other little things. I've just sat and thought for over an hour, adn am so glad that I finally have this review to try and focus myself a bit.

I couldn't agree with you more concerning the evolution of a show, and it not remaining static. I wrote the very same thing in a comment in Atlantis_fan's LJ yesterday.

Yeah, the squee. The golf/the flag game - John's competitive Alpha maleness vs the same in Ronon (and the fact that John's ass was always going to be royally kicked and we knew it). The fact they ended up just being lazy and having THAT conversation. I am still reeling over the revelation that John was married - that is HUGE - and goes against various decisions I had made about him - so yeah... working through it.

The painting, the chess, Elizabeth's "date" - showing how committed she is to Atlantis and her job, the other friends, all lovely.

It's so sad that for the first time in a long time I once again saw, and discovered more about the Carson I adored in season 1, and saw so little of in subsequent seasons, and it had to be THIS episode. He was so lovely, charming, gracious, warm, clever (in getting Elizabeth to revela about her 'date') secure in himself (he didn't get depressed that no one wanted to go fishing, he just accepted it and got on with his job), the super-efficient way he reacted to the explosion, and the core of the man - a core very similar to John's 'we leave no one behind'. That he died in such a manner was utterly fitting IMHO - he died doing what he always did.

More in a while....

Yeah. I'm still trying to work through my feelings about the episode .. I kind of got most of my venting out above, and I'm not sure how much else I can manage to say about it.

I like the term 'accidental unaware' and agree, it fits with their relationship, it really does.

I'm really torn on this episode. I was dreading it once I heard confirmation on what was going to happen. It wasn't how I wanted it to go down and I admit, I didn't *want* it to happen at all...but this way is too permanent.

I'm not, I don't even know how to vocalize all the things I'm feeling. On one hand, I agree with you on shows need to change. Shows that stay static do die. They grow old, comfortable, stagnant and boring...but on the other hand, I've got issues here.

In SG-1, Frasier was killed off for drama. Since then, the lack of a strong doctor has been painfully evident. It left a hole that hasn't been filled and it's three seasons later. I have very big, BIG fears that this will happen to Atlantis.

I also have issues with the fact that it does seem painfully obvious of late, that the writing concepts are circling the re-use bin too much. Carson's death was very much a slightly altered version of Frasier's death. And that bugs me.

Some of the day off stuff just kind of struck me as 'not working'. I liked Zelenka. Liked Sheppard and Ronon. Liked McKay's chewing the scientists out. Liked Lorne painting. Didn't like the teasing over who Teyla likes. Didn't think the date with Elizabeth really worked. Didn't care for the Katie/Rodney because it just...they don't really work for me. Didn't like Carson having nobody in the end, that was kind of depressing. Didn't like the useless death.

The gateroom scene was very poignant, painful, and I agree with you totally on the Ronon and McKay, and then Ronon going to Earth. The ending was a little odd because we don't know if it's a dream. Stargate seems to like to write hallucinations as if people have them all the time. Do people really see things that often in real life? *huh*

I don't know, I'm really torn. I guess in the end I'm just glad this is behind us and we can move forward. I hope the new doctor works. I really do. Because it didn't for SG-1.

Yeah ... I think that's what I want, mostly, at this point -- I want to move forward, get past this, and see what the writers have in mind. I agree with you about the overall pointlessness of Fraser's death and the fact that they haven't replaced her in any kind of satisfactory way. For every successful character replacement that the SG writing team(s) accomplish (Ronon for Ford; Cam/Vala for Jack) they seem to botch one (Jonas for Daniel, [anybody else] for Fraser).

The more I think about it, the more certain aspects of this episode just seems so forced. The way they deliberately made Carson an outsider. The way they played up his friendship with Rodney in a way that none of the recent episodes have done. As if we need him to be Rodney's best friend in order for his death to mean something -- the existing character relationships are not enough.

*snort* Maybe the writers hallucinate all the time and think it's normal ...

One reason why I'm depressed about this episode is because the "ordinary day" concept is so AWESOME. And when I first heard about it, I was so psyched. But instead of getting to squee over all the awesome (like finding out more about Sheppard's past! yay!) the episode was overwhelmed by the depressing and the parts that just didn't work.

Yeah exactly, and another problem I had was the jumping around. I was looking forward to it until I heard how they were filming it. That they were going to go back over the same time frame with the different characters and that began to worry me because it can get tedious when you do that. And then they went and jumped almost a whole day back in Rodney's case and it just...it made it awkward I thought.

The concept was an interesting one, but I don't think it translates well to the screen and I also think it was killed by what they wound up doing.

I don't know -- it's canon now so we have what we have, and I don't want to be all 'omg, terrible' about anything with SGA because I love that I get this kind of a show and that means taking the good with the bad.

So in the end, just crossing fingers for a sucessful season 4 I think.

I don't know -- it's canon now so we have what we have, and I don't want to be all 'omg, terrible' about anything with SGA because I love that I get this kind of a show and that means taking the good with the bad.

That pretty much sums up how I feel. It's canon, and canon has given us a lot of wonderful things this season, so I can deal with this. And of all the possible ways he could have gone, this really wasn't *bad* -- he died saving a life, after all.

I just want to see what the future holds.

Well I actually liked Jonas,(for a while prefered him to Daniel) and I was a HUGE Daniel fan. I wasn't involved in any fannishness at all, and was shocked at the vitriol spewed against him when I finally ended up on-line.

But that's neither here nor there...

The friendship between Rodney and Carson really does fell forced. I didn't notice on my first viewing, but when R&C have their conversation in the Mess Hall Rodney uses the term 'best buddy'. The writers may think of them that way (doubtlessly to do with DH & PMcG's real life friendship) but for me, they have failed to show this on screen.

Yeah, the whatever that was at the end was just weird. I don't get it. Maybe some strange after-effect of Rodney having nearly ascended? I know they were trying to make us feel better, and that is appreciated, but it just confused me.

Yeah I loved the day off stuff too. I had no idea that Carson's demise was going to be part of this episode.

I disliked Jonas at one point, but have since come around to realize (especially after re-watching Meridian just recently) that the main reason has nothing to do with him as a character; it's just that I didn't like the team dynamic nearly as well with Jonas as with Daniel. It's kind of like Ford vs. Ronon, because I did like Ford as a character and an actor, but prefer the team dynamic with Ronon. I agree with you that the Jonas hate online was extreme and way out of proportion, and when I'm able to separate the character from the team, I like him fine. But I still don't think that he worked as a successful replacement on the team ... at least not for me.

I'm glad it's done, and like the rest of you I'm ready to move on. I can say that after reading this post and knowing about the ep, I'm letting it go to the extent that I'm even avoiding the groups for a while, because I've no interest in the backlash.
:) We know SG writers can't write good death scenes, but on the other hand, I can safely say that my death scene with my mom amounted to a "she's dead, Jim" moment, and that the mourning afterwards can't be covered in the last three minutes of an episode. I'm sure Carson's loss will be felt over a period of time, like it should be.

Jumping back and forth technique...dunno.

John was married???? Sweet!

All that said...I'm not watching the episode (dammit, I was SO looking forward to it) because I've got such a bitter taste in my mouth from this whole fiasco. I mean, I've seen where people are just giving up right now...

I'm diving into my Sg1 fic for a week or so. :) And lingering here, obviously. But yeah...glad it's been done and maybe we can move on.

OH! The Rodney/Carson best friend thing...my god I've got deja-vu typing this, you know how you dream of a random event and it comes true... it is possible to have more than one best friend. It's been obvious that Carson and Rodney have a very close relationship, one that I wish they had really capitalized on. But it's a different friendship with Shep. My husband is my best friend, and so is soberchef. My friend Jen is very close, provided I do my duty and listen to her rant about motherhood. :) Rodney saying that Carson was his best friend just clarifies, and doesn't change the dynamic with Shep, IMO.

About what you said there at the end, about friends and best friends ... I absolutely agree with you, and I'm actually futzing with a tag right now that deals more or less with that idea. For one thing, we already KNOW that different characters on the show have different levels of openness with each other -- for example, John obviously finds it a lot easier to open up emotionally to Teyla than to any of his other friends.

It was, I guess, a little startling to hear him say that. But the more I thought about it, the more it really *didn't* bother me or affect the way I saw the character relationships prior to that. We know that Rodney and Carson were close, we know that John and Rodney are close too, and caring about one person doesn't preclude caring about another one. I'm feeling a whole lot more mellow about that whole thing now.

And yeah, I think the fandom is doing more right now to make me lose interest in the show than anything that's actually happening IN the show. I'm starting to take stuff a little too personally and I think I need to pull back for a while.

Are you over at the community that Tazmy made? sgafriendly. It helps to sort of bypass the feelings of anger everyone is having.

I haven't seen the episode yet, so this question may be totally off base. But...

... is it possible he could have Ascended, and that's why Rodney "hallucinated" him?

I'm very sorry to say that it didn't look that way. It seems like the death was very fast, and without an Oma Desala figure around it wouldn't be possible. Also we've seen how Ascended beings come and go when they appear to people - it didn't have that feel. I could be wrong. I think I hope I'm wrong!

I haven't got a clue, either. In a way it's kind of nice that they don't tell us for sure, considering what a huge cheat Ascension can be if it's not handled very, very delicately. (I was overjoyed to get Daniel back on SG-1, but it was still kind of a cheat.) I really wouldn't be surprised if we were to at some point find out that he is, but I consider it extremely unlikely with regards to the actual way that he died ...

*Thinking out loud here* If he was talking to air, then he's supplying both sides of the conversation (like in GUP - but without the hallucination) which is weird. Is Rodney that well adjusted to be able to comfort himself that way?
I want answers. I think I might just not think about it.

Hmm good question... I'd like to think that Rodney and Carson were close enough that Rodney pretty much knows what Carson would have said in that situation...

Hmm... Was there an actual body in the coffin, or did the explosion not leave enough? (If the latter, there's more potential to bring him back...)

No way of knowing. Closed lid. But the explosion did seem fairly large, and he wasn't far away.
Oh Carson!

It seems I'm not very demanding :)

I loved the episode. I loved it from start to end, top to bottom. The only real problem was that Carson's death feels too much like Janet's death, a bit pointless, as of now. Who knows what they're going to do with it.

I liked that they balanced the very heavy with the very light. I loved that Ronon spoke with Rodney. I adored that it was subdued and painful in the end. I enjoyed the last scene, mostly because of something that was said to e which contains spoilers for another episode so I won't say. It's a good theory though, so I liked the ending for that, works with the theory!

The thing that I appreciate the most is that Carson saved that man, and they showed that to us. He saved him, and that...

Ok, I'm going to get all teary again.

I was planning on avoiding most posts about this because I knew there would be negativity and I don't want it to ruin this. I guess I just got used to Carson's death because we've known for a while it was coming. I'm just glad they did it like that, that it made me feel it, and that Carson saved that man.

I loved this episode, and I will miss Carson, but if he had to go, I'm glad he did because he was saving lives.

*sigh* Ouch. Beautiful ouch.

Yeah, he went out being a hero and doing what he does, and that was awesome. There are still a few things about the episode that really niggle at me, but all in all, there's a whole lot more positive than negative in the way I feel about it -- and considering how utterly SAD the final scenes were (oh, Rodney, my heart breaks for you!) that's really kind of amazing.

I'm just gonna have to avoid most of the online discussion of this one. I can understand people being upset about the character's death and the direction of the show, I really can. But like the extreme negativity about season 2, which you'll still see some places, it just doesn't do anything more than make me kind of irritated with the fans and slightly decreases *my* enjoyment of the show. I don't want that, and I don't want to read a lot of doom and gloom about the next season. I just want to enjoy my SHOW! *grin*

Oh yeah, of course people are going to be upset, but, like you, I don't want to encounter negavity of the it sucks, I hated, I'm not watching anymore kind because of the subject matter and not the actual quality of the episode.

That's why I stopped going to SGAHC. There seemed to be a negative vibe there and it sucked the fun out of it. It's alright, people can have whatever reaction they want...I'm just not interested in all the woe me talk :)

I loved the episode just the way it was too... I mean I DO get why people are a bit upset but I totally saw it differently than those who are really being negative about it. Both of you should check out my post about the episdoe when you have a moment.

The only real problem was that Carson's death feels too much like Janet's death, a bit pointless, as of now. Who knows what they're going to do with it.

This part I don't really understand why people are upset with ... neither Janet's or Carson's death seemed pointless to me. Both of them died doing exactly what they've always done - saveing someone else. Maybe they didn't HAVE to die but do you honestly think they could have lived with themselves if they had run away from the situation without trying to help?

It was upsetting, but it was a good episode, I thought.

The pointless part was more in terms of storyline? Not really "in" the show, but more as in an event happening on the show? I always thought Janet's death, when seen not in the show but as part of a plot, was a bit pointless, and so is Carson's. Now, of course, in the show, in regards to the actual events, Carson had a beautiful death because he went doing what he knew was right. I wish he wasn't dead, but if he had to go, I'm glad he went in such a nice way. We saw him interact, we saw the Carson we love, charming, nice, lovely, and giving.

*sigh* I don't think I'll be watching the ep again for a while though...well, at least not without crying :) Feels like a friend left, doesn't it? Oh Carson...

Gonna check out your post. I trust some people to make a good argument, not just pout and hate everything for the sake of hating it, mainly people on my flist. Avoiding the more "public" places.

I ended up asking about this in my LJ and got clearification on what people meant by "pointless" I totally get it now.

There's actually three posts from me now... the initial reaction, me asking the question about "pointless" and a more recent one ... *shrug*

I hadn't noticed him there in the infirmary until you mentioned this. I however, did assume that he survived - but still, seeing him - yeah, that was good.

LOL

It hadn't occured to me until I saw him, and I was so happy they showed him because, I don't know, it *means* something, doesn't it? Carson, saving lives until the end. I love that.

Yeah. His tenacity, and utter conviction that putting himself in harms way to save a life has been the core component of his character for me. I loved that too.

Concerning the scene at the end with Rodney and Carson...well, I live near a cemetery and people go there all the time to talk with loved ones whom they have lost. Rodney is simply doing the same thing while by himself in a private place out by the water. It really doesn't matter whether it's a day after returning to Atlantis or a month or more. It doesn't matter whether or not he's at Carson's grave, either. Some people never stop talking to the dead.

See, it hadn't even occurred to me (till you posted this) that he might be actually, physically standing on the pier, and that Carson wasn't really there. I really LIKE that interpretation -- that it's after they come back, and Rodney feels so guilty that he needs to unburden himself even though Carson's not there to actually unburden to.

I think I was mainly frustrated by not being able to figure out how to fit that scene into canon.

That's exactly how I saw it too. :O)

I'm so glad I wasn't the only one that had a "Ronon went to Earth...for Carson" moment. Because seriously, that is a huge unspoken statement right there.

The largest part of my love for the show is based on things like that, I think. Because it was so subtle, and I didn't even really get it at first, 'till I started thinking about it. And yet, for him especially, it's such a huge gesture.

Yeah, that was special. I think Carson is special to Ronon - the first doctor to remove his tracking device - and he did it TWICE!

Before I came and read this, I saw that you have another "more on the friendship thing" post - so, I'll go and have a chat about those aspects there ;-)

As to Carson's departure...

I felt as if there wasn't ... enough.

Yeah, me too. I felt that the simply wasn't enough significance to it.

I know you could argue that they were going the All Quiet on the Western Front route where the insignificance is what it's all about - but I think they put in *way* too much foreshadowing and symbolism in the episode for that to really work for me.

And I know that Carson died "doing what he did best" and that another person lived because of what he did, etc. But really, they did pretty much exactly the same thing for Janet Frasier - she does her duty as a doctor, she saves the life that she was working on, she suddenly dies - unexpected except for the rampant spoilers going around the fandom. Two regular/recurring doctors on the two series dying under remarkably similar circumstances. Not enough thought put into it for me. Not enough significance for Carson as a unique character for me.

I mentioned this in one of the responses to someone over on my LJ, but I'll say it again here (coz I have this reputation for being long winded apparently). The way *I* think Carson should have gone out is fighting the Wraith - preferably with Michael being part of his downfall. Because that story arc was Carson's biggest crisis of faith and his most significant character arc. That would have brought significance and resolution to his departure - and that would have brought the tragedy of it all home - not some flowerly eulogy or the symbolism of flag draped caskets. The eulogy and caskets are far too easy. You could make something like that up for any character. Any character could have had a hitherto unknown love of fishing - even all that was just tacked on. We've never to my knowledge heard Carson talk about fishing before. You can't create a hugely significant character trait in one episode!

It should have all been about something that has been established as having significance to Carson Beckett - his strengths and his weaknesses.

I mean they frickin did it better for Rodney in Tao just a few episodes ago and Rodney didn't even die!

Just. Not. Good. Enough.

Umm... have I started ranting in your LJ again?

*blush*

*laughs* Rant away, by all means!

I've seen the episode twice now, and I find that I'm better able to appreciate the good and overlook the bad now that I know exactly what's coming (as is often the case). But ... yeah. For something of this significance, the death was not treated with the depth and gravity that it deserved. And you make a very good point about it simply not being *unique*.

I compared it somewhere else to Grodin's death. I hated losing Grodin, but I found his death very plausible, touching and dramatically necessary. That mental image of Grodin looking up, with sparks falling on him and a Wraith ship about to blow him to smithereens, giving his life to save Atlantis -- it's a haunting and gorgeous image that has stuck with me. If he had to go out, he went out well. But this one -- Carson dissolving in bad CG from an exploding tumor? Er ... no. There was a stark and terrible beauty to Grodin's death. Carson ... even on the second go-around, I found myself wanting to laugh or cringe at the really terrible CG and just the general, utter implausibility of the way that whole scene was staged.

I can definitely see the rightness to having one of the characters finally take a heroic risk that results in their death, as opposed to continually taking risks that save the day and kill no one. But ... not the way it was done.

I compared it somewhere else to Grodin's death. I hated losing Grodin, but I found his death very plausible, touching and dramatically necessary.

Yes, someone else also mentioned this comparison to me. I dunno if they might have been talking to you ;-)

But yeah, I totally agree. Grodin's death had some of the same elements - like the foreshadowing (although in that case, it wasn't certain who was going to die, although the rumour that someone was had been circulating). But yes, his death seemed much more plausible and was enshrined in some wonderful stark imagery.

And there wasn't some seemingly very tacked-on hallucinated(?) farewell scene to have me going WTF?!? at the end. Everyone's reactions were just allowed to speak for themselves. Once more with the bafflingly ham-fisted approach this time round. I'm getting more and more convinced that it Pod!Gero...

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3x17: Sunday

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