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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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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...
no subject
*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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