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SG1- "Family Ties"
I, er ... wish I could say I liked this episode, because I've really loved most of the last few. ("Talion" I didn't really like or dislike; it just sort of WAS.) But -- there were just too many things about this episode that irritated me. It had some redeeming features, but not enough to overcome the flaws.
I'm willing to forgive a LOT in Stargate plots. I am willing to swallow a few impossible things per episode as long as I get a fun payoff (and usually there is). The trouble is that this one just pushed me over the edge with a few too many impossible things and not enough to make it worthwhile.
First, the good -- and there *was* some good. I loved the bonding scenes, particularly with Sam & Vala, and Vala & Daniel. And Teal'c's advice to Vala's father -- "Be less annoying" -- absolutely cracked me UP. I adore Teal'c and I love seeing him in his "relaxed and trying to fit in with the humans" mode. And I love Vala lots and lots. I'm also quite fond of the between-mission moments, on both this show and SGA. So, I really *should* have liked this episode.
BUT. The plot holes. Oh, the plot holes. *covers head and whimpers*
The big one is that there is JUST NO WAY Vala's father could have picked up that much about Earth culture in only three weeks. And I *know* it's just a TV show and that it was mostly being played for laughs, but still -- he's an alien, who's never been to Earth before, and he's almost instantly grasped very complicated things like the Internet, bingo, phone scams, buying tickets ... it was just too obvious that they *were* playing it totally for laughs and not even thinking about the actual situation at all. Along similar lines, there is also NO WAY the military is going to turn an alien, who's KNOWN to be unreliable and a con artist, loose on Earth! Sure, they had the ankle tracker on him, but he was apparently living in Colorado Springs with access to the Internet and phones, and nothing whatsoever to stop him from telling anyone and everyone about the Stargate program. It's just ... no. It's so impossible that I can't even buy it enough to enjoy the episode as a comedy.
And then there's Vala's whole reaction to her father. I love Vala, but I feel as if they threw out a big part of her character in order to have her respond to her father the way that the plot dictated. It just doesn't make *sense* to me that Vala, thief and con artist and unrepentant free spirit, would be so thoroughly on her moral high horse with her father for behaving exactly as she used to. Given that I haven't seen most of the early episodes with Vala and I'm mainly picking this up from what little I know about her background, but still. Not only is it hypocritical, but it doesn't really seem in character. I know that they briefly addressed the issue through Daniel, but it *still* didn't work for me and detracted a lot from the scenes with her and her father.
The scam turnabout at the end was kinda cool, but ... they gave him a fully-functional ship, knowing that he was just going to fly away in it? And he didn't even LOOK at the cargo before offering it to a buyer? WTF?
And didn't Vala say in an earlier episode that she had been sold to a trader as a child -- or something along those lines? How does THAT fit with THIS?
Aargh!
I'm willing to forgive a LOT in Stargate plots. I am willing to swallow a few impossible things per episode as long as I get a fun payoff (and usually there is). The trouble is that this one just pushed me over the edge with a few too many impossible things and not enough to make it worthwhile.
First, the good -- and there *was* some good. I loved the bonding scenes, particularly with Sam & Vala, and Vala & Daniel. And Teal'c's advice to Vala's father -- "Be less annoying" -- absolutely cracked me UP. I adore Teal'c and I love seeing him in his "relaxed and trying to fit in with the humans" mode. And I love Vala lots and lots. I'm also quite fond of the between-mission moments, on both this show and SGA. So, I really *should* have liked this episode.
BUT. The plot holes. Oh, the plot holes. *covers head and whimpers*
The big one is that there is JUST NO WAY Vala's father could have picked up that much about Earth culture in only three weeks. And I *know* it's just a TV show and that it was mostly being played for laughs, but still -- he's an alien, who's never been to Earth before, and he's almost instantly grasped very complicated things like the Internet, bingo, phone scams, buying tickets ... it was just too obvious that they *were* playing it totally for laughs and not even thinking about the actual situation at all. Along similar lines, there is also NO WAY the military is going to turn an alien, who's KNOWN to be unreliable and a con artist, loose on Earth! Sure, they had the ankle tracker on him, but he was apparently living in Colorado Springs with access to the Internet and phones, and nothing whatsoever to stop him from telling anyone and everyone about the Stargate program. It's just ... no. It's so impossible that I can't even buy it enough to enjoy the episode as a comedy.
And then there's Vala's whole reaction to her father. I love Vala, but I feel as if they threw out a big part of her character in order to have her respond to her father the way that the plot dictated. It just doesn't make *sense* to me that Vala, thief and con artist and unrepentant free spirit, would be so thoroughly on her moral high horse with her father for behaving exactly as she used to. Given that I haven't seen most of the early episodes with Vala and I'm mainly picking this up from what little I know about her background, but still. Not only is it hypocritical, but it doesn't really seem in character. I know that they briefly addressed the issue through Daniel, but it *still* didn't work for me and detracted a lot from the scenes with her and her father.
The scam turnabout at the end was kinda cool, but ... they gave him a fully-functional ship, knowing that he was just going to fly away in it? And he didn't even LOOK at the cargo before offering it to a buyer? WTF?
And didn't Vala say in an earlier episode that she had been sold to a trader as a child -- or something along those lines? How does THAT fit with THIS?
Aargh!