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SGA 3x18: Submersion
I'm kind of torn on this one...
It was a pretty basic SGA episode. Some action stuff, some team stuff, fun banter (and lovely to see so much of Zelenka this season, eee!), a handful of fun or cool moments. On the flip side, some serious plot holes and lapses in logic, and the last part felt very rushed -- I felt like there were pieces missing. All in all, as Season 3 eps go, I'd put this one about on the level of Ark or Progeny -- not lousy, not great, just a basic, middle-of-the-road SGA ep.
The trouble is, as depressed as I was about the show last week, I really needed more this week. I wasn't even surprised in particular that Carson's death wasn't mentioned; I was prepared for that. But I really needed one of two kinds of episodes. Either I needed one that actually dealt with the ramifications of what happened last week, or I needed another Tao or Echoes or M&MM ... an episode that was going to really blow me out of the water (heh, no pun intended) and, most particularly, an episode that was going to give me one or two of those little "OMG! these people really care about each other!" moments that they've been doing so well this year. The team moments or John/Rodney moments that I can watch over and over to squee about and get silly about. (Yes, I am a gigantic fangirl.)
This episode didn't have that, though. And in this case, I think the flaw is more in me than in the episode, because it was, like I said, a pretty standard SGA episode, and normally I would have been all over that. After last week, I just needed more, and didn't get more. So instead of my usual post-episode high, I'm back to being in a little bit of a funk. I needed reassurance and I don't really feel reassured. The funny thing is, you'd think that this episode SHOULD have been reassuring, because it's pretty obvious that the character dynamic is about the same as it ever was -- it wasn't horribly thrown off by last week's events. Unfortunately, the largest part of my angst lately is due to feeling like I've been misreading the dynamic over the last couple of seasons, so in this case "business as usual" wasn't really enough for me.
But just so that this post won't be too depressing, some things I liked about the episode:
- The water blasting through the windshield of the jumper! That was too cool. (And I loved that it happened because Ronon basically screwed up in a fight. It was just neat to see that.)
- Teyla got to do stuff! And I just love it when she gets exasperated at the boys, that "You people are such dorks but I love you anyway" eyeroll-and-head-tilt thing she does.
- Zelenka is always fun. And Rodney forgetting the names of his employees exactly as he does in fic. (I know he used to do it occasionally in the early episodes, but I don't recall seeing him do it since he finally got Zelenka's name right, back in early season 1)
- Some very engaging John/Rodney banter in the final scenes, even though I had some major problems with the way the actual plot was pulled off. I know it's shallow, but I just love the "John and Rodney road show", I really do. And Rodney emptying the P90 into the Wraith queen was cool. Plotwise, this episode had interesting parallels to both Defiant One and GUP, either of which would have been interesting to explore and neither of which was ... but I suppose that's what fic is for. It's intriguing, though, to think back to Defiant One-era Rodney, and how very different his reactions to being part of the Wraith-killing plan would have been. And John actually trusts Rodney to hide in the shadows and jump out at the right moment to kill the Wraith -- especially considering how notoriously jumpy Rodney is with firearms, and how bad his aim can be, that is a LOT of trust. He was totally putting his life in Rodney's hands. Okay, I guess that scene was quite a bit niftier than I'd realized at first glance. :D
So ... yeah ... a middle-of-the road episode, not one that I'll be rushing out to watch again immediately. On the other hand, the majority of this season has been so mindblowingly AWESOME that I figured there would have to be some more clunker-y eps eventually. I can't figure out if we've just kind of hit a run of those at the end of the season (with certain obvious exceptions -- Tao! Game!) or if my expectations are getting so much higher, due to all the Team!Love this season, that it's gotten to where an episode that would have delighted me last season is just kind of "meh" now. And, of course, on a personal level, I really needed a certain kind of episode this week and just didn't get it ... but it wasn't a bad episode aside from that.
It was a pretty basic SGA episode. Some action stuff, some team stuff, fun banter (and lovely to see so much of Zelenka this season, eee!), a handful of fun or cool moments. On the flip side, some serious plot holes and lapses in logic, and the last part felt very rushed -- I felt like there were pieces missing. All in all, as Season 3 eps go, I'd put this one about on the level of Ark or Progeny -- not lousy, not great, just a basic, middle-of-the-road SGA ep.
The trouble is, as depressed as I was about the show last week, I really needed more this week. I wasn't even surprised in particular that Carson's death wasn't mentioned; I was prepared for that. But I really needed one of two kinds of episodes. Either I needed one that actually dealt with the ramifications of what happened last week, or I needed another Tao or Echoes or M&MM ... an episode that was going to really blow me out of the water (heh, no pun intended) and, most particularly, an episode that was going to give me one or two of those little "OMG! these people really care about each other!" moments that they've been doing so well this year. The team moments or John/Rodney moments that I can watch over and over to squee about and get silly about. (Yes, I am a gigantic fangirl.)
This episode didn't have that, though. And in this case, I think the flaw is more in me than in the episode, because it was, like I said, a pretty standard SGA episode, and normally I would have been all over that. After last week, I just needed more, and didn't get more. So instead of my usual post-episode high, I'm back to being in a little bit of a funk. I needed reassurance and I don't really feel reassured. The funny thing is, you'd think that this episode SHOULD have been reassuring, because it's pretty obvious that the character dynamic is about the same as it ever was -- it wasn't horribly thrown off by last week's events. Unfortunately, the largest part of my angst lately is due to feeling like I've been misreading the dynamic over the last couple of seasons, so in this case "business as usual" wasn't really enough for me.
But just so that this post won't be too depressing, some things I liked about the episode:
- The water blasting through the windshield of the jumper! That was too cool. (And I loved that it happened because Ronon basically screwed up in a fight. It was just neat to see that.)
- Teyla got to do stuff! And I just love it when she gets exasperated at the boys, that "You people are such dorks but I love you anyway" eyeroll-and-head-tilt thing she does.
- Zelenka is always fun. And Rodney forgetting the names of his employees exactly as he does in fic. (I know he used to do it occasionally in the early episodes, but I don't recall seeing him do it since he finally got Zelenka's name right, back in early season 1)
- Some very engaging John/Rodney banter in the final scenes, even though I had some major problems with the way the actual plot was pulled off. I know it's shallow, but I just love the "John and Rodney road show", I really do. And Rodney emptying the P90 into the Wraith queen was cool. Plotwise, this episode had interesting parallels to both Defiant One and GUP, either of which would have been interesting to explore and neither of which was ... but I suppose that's what fic is for. It's intriguing, though, to think back to Defiant One-era Rodney, and how very different his reactions to being part of the Wraith-killing plan would have been. And John actually trusts Rodney to hide in the shadows and jump out at the right moment to kill the Wraith -- especially considering how notoriously jumpy Rodney is with firearms, and how bad his aim can be, that is a LOT of trust. He was totally putting his life in Rodney's hands. Okay, I guess that scene was quite a bit niftier than I'd realized at first glance. :D
So ... yeah ... a middle-of-the road episode, not one that I'll be rushing out to watch again immediately. On the other hand, the majority of this season has been so mindblowingly AWESOME that I figured there would have to be some more clunker-y eps eventually. I can't figure out if we've just kind of hit a run of those at the end of the season (with certain obvious exceptions -- Tao! Game!) or if my expectations are getting so much higher, due to all the Team!Love this season, that it's gotten to where an episode that would have delighted me last season is just kind of "meh" now. And, of course, on a personal level, I really needed a certain kind of episode this week and just didn't get it ... but it wasn't a bad episode aside from that.
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That said though I still thought it was awesome (you can read my squeeing about it on my lJ). :O) And also I think for me I was happer with a sort of "standard" episode after last week, in that didn't really want another heavy emotional one agian. This one being silly and fun and goofy and crazy was just what I needed. But yeah I can understand that you actually needed something else.
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I think that's the big thing, yeah, is just that I kind of needed something that WASN'T standard and instead got a basic action-y type episode. But there's nothing wrong with that. Heh ... earlier in the season, I was commenting (not complaining, per se, but just pondering) to my hubby that the show didn't seem to be doing the action-type episodes very much anymore, like they used to in the earlier seasons. And now we've had Ark and Submersion right on top of one another.
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Yes, after last week we needed more than this. If a TV show can't fulfill us with a really great story, it should at least have enough pathos to fuel our friendship fires. Jesus! We're not asking Cuperus to build the freakin' Brooklyn Bridge! All we want is a couple of lines of dialogue!
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I also have to admit that the example you gave for what could have been done REALLY doesn't work for me at all. Just seems far to over the top for someone as reserved as Telya. Which is another problem - no matter what lines they put in it would have worked for some but not others.
I think in some ways I prefer nothing being said instead of having something seem forced into the episode - the episode they wrote just didn't allow for those kinds of lines I don't think. I'm also going to throw out again the idea that the episodes are filmed out of order - so who knows when this one was made in comparison to Sunday.
*shrug* I loved the episode - yeah it was a standard episode after a heavy emotional one but it was exactly what I needed. I needed to laugh and I laughed a LOT by the end of the episode.
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I have to agree with that. But I do think there could have a been a way to indicate what was going on - even if it wasn't really said.
I need to do my review, (I will do so later today/tomorrow but one problem I had was what heck was Elizabeth doing there? Why would did they bring the leader of city on what they thought would be routine science mission. Now they could have tied it last weeks events by hinting that Elizabeth didn't want to stay in the city because it was ...something (lonely, quiet, what have you) The subtext would have been clear, and it would have explained why Weir was there (other then fact that they were didn't show Atlantis at all and they needed to find a way to have Torri on the show).
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But anything overly emotional would have just felt off in this episode becuase the team seems like the kind of people who would rather focuse on there work than get bogged down with emotional stuff.... *shrug*
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And I think it does say something that the first episode after Carson's death we didn't see Atlantis at all...
The first two Christmases after my father died we (my mother, my sister and I) went away - prior to the 25th. Now, given that before almost all our holiday trips we left the day after Christmas there was really only one reason for this change. However, we never really talked about it - we didn't need to. We all knew why.
It could have been the same sort of thing here.
That said, I will be annoyed if they ignore the fact that Carson is no longer there the next episode - given that a particular character is suppose to reappear. One that does have a strong history with Carson...
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*nods* yeah that's how I took it.
That said, I will be annoyed if they ignore the fact that Carson is no longer there the next episode - given that a particular character is suppose to reappear. One that does have a strong history with Carson...
Yeah that is going to be intersting... and now I have a very snarky scene running through my head with Michael - though I'm not sure I want to describe the scene in a public post - probaly would and up sounding flippent or something...
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Some believe that McGillion pissed off somebody who sits in a very big chair. I'm not going to go there. I share your feelings that moving to a no-mention-of-Carson episode seems abrupt. Other than that, I thought it was an okay ep. I'm a big Teyla fan, so it was great to see her doing lot o' stuff. I do like the idea of the underwater drilling station. It has potential.
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It wasn't a bad episode and if I wasn't still reacting to the blow taken last week, I might well have considered it a fairly good episode. The Zelenka stuff was lovely. It was really nice to see Teyla really get into the action once again. And the final few John & Rodney scenes with them going over to the Wraith ship - well, I actually thought they were full on gorgeous, especially the discussion about who was made the "bait" and why.
Overall, I was left with the feeling it was SGA does "The Abyss" or "Leviathan" or any other of the Deep Sea Menance flick - John actually referring to "The Abyss" didn't counteract that feeling, just heightened it, really. I've never minded the show being derivative, but what usually makes up for that wasn't enough to make me really appreciate this episode.
I think I'm still in a slight funk from last week, but I desperately want to be optimistic for the future. Maybe I'm actually trying too hard in that respect?
But we are definitely approaching crunchtime to build up for the season finale. This would be around about when the "Michael" episode was last season, so I expect something absolutely HUGE is about to happen - for better or worse. And that's making me look forward to the next episode with interest.
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And yeah, I agree with you -- I'd probably have loved this episode quite a lot if I hadn't been craving more this week than it had to offer me. Although I really do feel better now than I did then ... and I'm more inclined to notice the parts of the episode that really were quite neat. Like the buddy bits, or Zelenka telling Rodney that it wasn't his fault the scientists died. (Aww!)
I'm definitely looking forward to the next two. (Wow ... almost done with the season!) And I still maintain that I'm eager to see how the character dynamic develops next season with a slightly different mix of characters. I think just as much, though, I'm looking forward to a break -- this season has been one of incredible highs and lows, and I think I just need a while to let the emotional overload calm down, to digest the events of the season, write some fic and just be in maintenance-mode for a while.
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1. 'Sunday' was originally slated for showing earlier in the season and got pushed back to it's present position. Hence, by the time this episode was filmed, the fact of Carson's death was several episode filmings old. It would be nice to get an acknowledgement of Carson's death at some point in the future eps - someone making a reference to him in a casual and subtle manner, "Oh, Carson will--" and then fall silent in an awkward pause. We might get something like that, but I don't think it's likely.
2. As someone who thinks that the John/Rodney this season has gone way, way, way overboard, I really liked this episode for throttling it back. It was such a relief and pleasure to see something that wasn't so virulently "the John-and-Rodney" show. I realise that's what most of the fandom enjoys seeing; I'm just not in that majority, so this episode was a breath of fresh air - and even more so in its actual use of Teyla.
It seems that the two points which you had the most issue with are the two points that I have the least issue with - probably because we're coming at the show from very different viewpoints.
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But that's sort of immaterial, because it doesn't change the fact that NONE of the episodes that have been shown to date referenced Carson's death at all; he's simply off-camera. So regardless of when the episode was filmed, it was still sort of a throwaway death. I mean, it doesn't particularly matter if that particular quibble applies to "Game" or "Ark" or some other episode entirely; it's *still* a lack of follow-through!
Besides, like I'd said above, I wasn't really surprised or even disappointed by the absence of mention of Carson, because I did expect it. It was more that I needed an emotionally powerful episode to counteract the general depressive-ness of last week's episode ... whereas this one was more of a light, fast-paced adventure type of episode, more like a Season 2 episode in flavor, which wasn't really what I was craving. But that's just me and no reflection on the actual quality of the episode. (I did have problems with certain not-especially-convincing plot elements, but that's sort of par for the course...)
I admit that I do primarily watch the show for the John/Rodney, and the episodes that don't feature them (like "Real World" and "Michael") tend not to be among my favorites. But I do appreciate that other people have other favorite characters, and in fact I did really like seeing Teyla get to do stuff. (Though the John and Rodney parts were still my favorite bits in the episode ... well, that and the Rodney/Zelenka.)