The Daniel of today still seems to do it for many Daniel fans. Part of his growing and changing means he's shed a lot of what "made" him Daniel in my mind. I wish I could pin down more precisely what it is that's missing so that I no longer see him as "Daniel."
Maybe it it was his superhuman ability to look past insults and injuries to what was right (a trait I could never achieve but admire greatly)? Maybe it was his earnest devotion to finding Another Way? Maybe it was his serious nature rather than his little boy, juvenile antics? I don't know, precisely, but the way he's changed just doesn't strike me as being organic growth from who he was. My priorities today might be different than they were 10 or 20 years ago, but at heart I'm still stubborn and unwavering in acting on them. I suppose that's the difference -- it feels as if Daniel has changed not only in the details but in the fundamentals?
On the other hand, the Daniel of Yore dressed in that silly lotar clown suit, baggy fatigues, and plaid. The Daniel of today wears muscle shirts, shows up naked periodically, and goes undercover in leather. I'm not complaining. Not one whit. I do so enjoy watching him. :)
As for the Vala insult, it felt phenomenally out of character to me. I tend to be a writer-basher so I wrote it off to, "Hey, we need the main characters to ignore Vala and finally piss her off so much that she'll take off on her own and save the day while gracefully exiting for most of the rest of the season." Voila! We have Daniel insulting Vala. But I suppose there are only so many years of the new characters I can watch and write it off as poor writing before I have to accept that this is who those characters are now. I didn't like the Vala insult. Not because I thought she didn't have it coming or because I thought Daniel hadn't been provoked and beyond extra-patient but because the Daniel of Yore didn't lower himself to his opponents' level. It's what made "Absolute Power" so effective. It wouldn't have had the same punch if Jack had been given the dream.
In any case, I still watch and I still celebrate when they make an episode I like or when some of what I loved about the original team accidentally ends up on screen. I don't want to wallow in negativity because then what's the point of being a fan? I don't hate the current, sexy Daniel but I don't love him like I do the bookish explorer who could lose himself in the lust for knowledge whom I first met.
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Maybe it it was his superhuman ability to look past insults and injuries to what was right (a trait I could never achieve but admire greatly)? Maybe it was his earnest devotion to finding Another Way? Maybe it was his serious nature rather than his little boy, juvenile antics? I don't know, precisely, but the way he's changed just doesn't strike me as being organic growth from who he was. My priorities today might be different than they were 10 or 20 years ago, but at heart I'm still stubborn and unwavering in acting on them. I suppose that's the difference -- it feels as if Daniel has changed not only in the details but in the fundamentals?
On the other hand, the Daniel of Yore dressed in that silly lotar clown suit, baggy fatigues, and plaid. The Daniel of today wears muscle shirts, shows up naked periodically, and goes undercover in leather. I'm not complaining. Not one whit. I do so enjoy watching him. :)
As for the Vala insult, it felt phenomenally out of character to me. I tend to be a writer-basher so I wrote it off to, "Hey, we need the main characters to ignore Vala and finally piss her off so much that she'll take off on her own and save the day while gracefully exiting for most of the rest of the season." Voila! We have Daniel insulting Vala. But I suppose there are only so many years of the new characters I can watch and write it off as poor writing before I have to accept that this is who those characters are now. I didn't like the Vala insult. Not because I thought she didn't have it coming or because I thought Daniel hadn't been provoked and beyond extra-patient but because the Daniel of Yore didn't lower himself to his opponents' level. It's what made "Absolute Power" so effective. It wouldn't have had the same punch if Jack had been given the dream.
In any case, I still watch and I still celebrate when they make an episode I like or when some of what I loved about the original team accidentally ends up on screen. I don't want to wallow in negativity because then what's the point of being a fan? I don't hate the current, sexy Daniel but I don't love him like I do the bookish explorer who could lose himself in the lust for knowledge whom I first met.