sholio | 3x15: The Game (brief)

Okay, I need to go to bed because I have to work in a few hours and I am going to DIE if I don't sleep, but first ...

OMG! I could not stop laughing all through that episode...

I just about DIED when I saw spoilers for it on David Hewlett's blog a few months ago. Of the handful of episodes whose plots I knew ahead of time this year (and aside from the McKay's sister episode, which was THE must-see) this was the one I wanted to see the most.

The reason should be perfectly obvious ...

Sheppard and McKay, competitive! Snarking! SQUEEEE.....

This episode was pretty much everything I was expecting ... except for the fun with Lorne and Zelenka, which totally came out of left field. There weren't really any surprises -- most of the plot twists could be seen coming a mile away (although I didn't anticipate the fake war -- that *was* a surprise, if a kind of hard-to-swallow one). Still! It wasn't the most fantastic episode from a plot perspective, but it delivered everything I was hoping for and more. It was light and fun and filled with one-liners and adorable expressions from the boys (all of them) ... just generally a giant barrel of squee.

And I think it's pretty much canon now that Sheppard and McKay spend all their waking hours together. Playing chess too! The writers have been reading fanfic again, I swear! And wannabe-dictator-Zelenka! I *love* this show!

Gotta sleep now.

Squeeeee!

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This is the thing that has bugged me about Elizabeth since the first season of the show. Espcally since "38 Minutes" when she trashes Kavenah(sp?) - and he was totally right.

OH THANK GOD IT'S NOT JUST ME!

The Kavanagh scene bugged me *so* bad! And then I was totally floored to find all the fans treating it like a clear-cut case of "Kavanagh had it coming"! I mean, WHAT?! He was pointing out a legitimate problem with their plan! Elizabeth was totally letting her personal feelings blind her to the safety of the city, Kavanagh called her on it, she gave him a *completely* unprofessional reaming in front of his staff ... oh yeah, I was pretty cheesed off at Elizabeth for that one, and at the fans for taking her side.

What frustrates me about it is that we're *told* repeatedly that she's a great leader, but we don't see it. She's a decent person, but a mediocre leader, and I think I'd like her a lot better if the show would stop trying to make her out to be this Mary Sue-ish Superdiplomat whose plans work out even when logically, they *shouldn't*. If only the show would acknowledge that Elizabeth's as pathetic and dorky in her own way as the guys ... but instead, it keeps trying to make her out like an uber-diplomat while not portraying her as one!

OH THANK GOD IT'S NOT JUST ME!

Nope, not just you :O) And ditto on everything you said.

Elizabeth's as pathetic and dorky in her own way as the guys ... but instead, it keeps trying to make her out like an uber-diplomat while not portraying her as one!

I had hoped that in Misbigotten, Woodsly would do that but they kind of failed in my expectations for that bit. He did TRY to call her on a bunch of things but then he ruined it by letting everything slide in the end. Oh well.

Yeah, she really isn't. I think the writers wrote themselves off the screen when they came up with the uber-diplomat idea. If you say she's one, you then really should show her being one, and if you don't have those skills, it's not so easy to write.
But they make it worse when they have her doing things she clearly shouldn't be doing.

I see Elizabeth as the mother figure. She's there to direct and guide them, and discipline them sometimes. Daniel has had more tangible successes than Weir! The only one I can think of for Elizabeth, is with the Genii in Siege II.

If only the show would acknowledge that Elizabeth's as pathetic and dorky in her own way as the guys

Yup! It's why we love them so much. If she were allowed to be human and infallible she'd be much more likeable. And yet when we have seen her being pathetic (Conversion) she's annoyed me even more - but I think that was because she failed on a human level in that ep.

The Elizabeth moments that stand out for me, where I genuinely *liked* Elizabeth without having to deliberately overlook the things that irritate me about her, are the ones where she's being ... human. Getting caught playing solitaire by Caldwell. Going deaf at the end of "Echoes". Telling Rodney they love him and holding his hand in "Tao". Having lunch with Ronon and trying to explain chess to him in ... er, whichever episode that was. The incredible awkwardness of her hugging Sheppard after he comes back in Siege. Her eyerolls and indulgent humor when Sheppard & McKay are being dorkier than usual.

I wish they'd give us more of *that* Elizabeth. I wish we'd see her having silly hobbies or making jokes, dropping things or laughing with her friends, having irrational fears and phobias, trying to do something even though she isn't good at it and screwing up and having it *acknowledged* that she *did* screw up. They do it so well with the guys! Why can't they do it with her?

Damn straight! And that wonderfully awkward conversation with Ronon in the gym...

Note that they did similar stuff with Sam. At first she had no personality. Then she got one. But then she was superwoman, so they made her cry a bit. And she did make mistakes, but they always seemed to ignore the fact - unlike they do with Rodney. I actually do like Sam now, but they took a very long time to make her seem human.

I really feel like they're wasting Torri, too, because seeing her in interviews, she just seems like such a fun person -- a big goofball and fangirl. I sometimes feel that in Elizabeth's best scenes, it's little glimpses of Torri peeking through. *sigh*

I do think this show has trouble letting its women appear fallible and human. It's not that they *can't*, because sometimes they do. Take Vala! She's a great character! Why can't they have more like her? And they're doing MUCH better with Teyla this season. All they need to do is let the characters relax and act like people, and it's *so* much better.

Admittedly, it's not just women. Ford was portrayed very stiffly, too. And I didn't start liking Ronon, as a character, until this season -- which is, not coincidentally, when he's been loosening up and acting more like a part of the group.

It's definitely not a coincidence that their most popular characters (guess who...) are also the ones that are given the most leeway for acting human.

Er ... when I said "this show", I mean the writers of *both* Stargates, as you could probably guess from me mentioning Vala. ;) I just wasn't very clear.

Hey! I just scrolled through all these comments and, damn, but you and with_apostrophe are in my BRAIN! So scary! LOL! Just wanted to say that I agree with everything you've said, including about Vala, whom I adore! Anyway...just wanted to say that.

*laughs* I read your LJ post on the episode last night, and my reaction was pretty much just a long string of "uh huh" and "yup" and "yeah, good point".

This season has been such JOY. I really can't think of a better time for me to have gotten fannish about SGA, because I watched the 1st and 2nd seasons this spring in rapid succession, and then I *thought* that I knew what to expect (and not to expect) from the series as far as what it would deliver to a fan like me.

And then Season 3 happened, and OH MY GOD. It's all the more wonderful because I didn't expect very much of the emotional and character-interaction stuff. I'm just in a total warm glow of love for the show, the characters and the writers.

Hee hee -- I just thought it was so funny to read your review and, especially, the comments after writing mine. I nearly died laughing at the fact that we picked up on the same thing. I've wandered over to some other reviews since then, and...I think we're the only ones who picked on Weir!

3x15: The Game (brief)

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