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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.
no subject
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.
no subject
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.