SG1: Scorched Earth
Sep. 21st, 2008 06:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
superbadgirlAh. Another one that has good points, but also some big bad points.
I can never talk about this episode without gritting my teeth to fight railing against Jack. And Sam. Seriously, is it me or for awhile were they swapped out for pod people? I'm gonna try not to be too teeth-gnashy.
I don't get where the Enkarens were before the humans of Earth stepped up and gave them tons of resources. I might have missed this - if they've been separated from their homeworld for years and years and life on other plants is essentially toxic, how have they survived long enough for the SGC to be their saviours?
Okay, also? The yellow eyes creeped me out long before YED.
I love Daniel touching things on the ship, getting chastised and then touching things again. LOL.
Enter manufactured tension. It's not that I don't believe Jack and Daniel have their differences - they do and always have. But something about this episode shows it in a way I can't ever seem to reconcile. Maybe it's Jack completely not listening to anyone, pushed to the brink by...what? I dunno, I can agree time was of the essence, but he didn't even try to come up with another means to solve the problem before he ordered Carter to build the bomb. That doesn't seem like Jack to me. Follow this up with his extreme reactions to Daniel doing his job, and you've got me pretty displeased with Jack.
And Sam. Sam, Sam, Sam. I get it. Chain of command and everything, but even when it was clear she wasn't behind Jack's plan at all, they made her protestations so weak no one could take them seriously. Frankly, when she handed over the detonator, it looked an awful lot like she was just glad the real dirty work wouldn't fall to her. That's not a particularly happy portrayal, either.
Teal'c wins with some of the best lines, though. "I do not disagree with his intentions." He shows a lot of how much respect he has for Daniel, and how much insight he has into him. Sad that he was given, as per usual, few things to say or do, but at this point when Teal'c speaks it is meaningful. It would have been nice for him to have had more active support for Daniel, because I do think he supported him.
Daniel, now. His frustration is palpable, and I do like that this episode showcases how tenacious he can be. He's willing to look for that other option even after Jack has effectively decided there's nothing to be done but blow things up. He sees right away it's not just about the Enkarens, that the stored Gadmeer civilization has as much right to live. (And, y'know, they were there first.) Not that Daniel's the picture of perfection here. At times he's downright bratty. At other times, he's pouty.
I think that's where Jack stumbles, though - his inability to consider the Gadmeer are people worth saving because he can't see them or doesn't know them, but I think the execution is still off. The delivery is bitter, unhappy and antagonistic, when prior to this year I always felt an underlying affection between Jack and Daniel. Always.
It's like some newbie writers came along and saw these two characters had different methods and interpreted this to mean insta-antagonism without any context. Oh, wait...
I do like Jack's frantic, "Tell me, tell me you're not on that ship!"
Lotan's pretty cool for a robot, but that might be that for some reason I always enjoy Brian Markinson in his roles. I find him very watchable and relatable, even when he's playing Data-lite.
Eh. Some good, some bad. Like I said.
I can never talk about this episode without gritting my teeth to fight railing against Jack. And Sam. Seriously, is it me or for awhile were they swapped out for pod people? I'm gonna try not to be too teeth-gnashy.
I don't get where the Enkarens were before the humans of Earth stepped up and gave them tons of resources. I might have missed this - if they've been separated from their homeworld for years and years and life on other plants is essentially toxic, how have they survived long enough for the SGC to be their saviours?
Okay, also? The yellow eyes creeped me out long before YED.
I love Daniel touching things on the ship, getting chastised and then touching things again. LOL.
Enter manufactured tension. It's not that I don't believe Jack and Daniel have their differences - they do and always have. But something about this episode shows it in a way I can't ever seem to reconcile. Maybe it's Jack completely not listening to anyone, pushed to the brink by...what? I dunno, I can agree time was of the essence, but he didn't even try to come up with another means to solve the problem before he ordered Carter to build the bomb. That doesn't seem like Jack to me. Follow this up with his extreme reactions to Daniel doing his job, and you've got me pretty displeased with Jack.
And Sam. Sam, Sam, Sam. I get it. Chain of command and everything, but even when it was clear she wasn't behind Jack's plan at all, they made her protestations so weak no one could take them seriously. Frankly, when she handed over the detonator, it looked an awful lot like she was just glad the real dirty work wouldn't fall to her. That's not a particularly happy portrayal, either.
Teal'c wins with some of the best lines, though. "I do not disagree with his intentions." He shows a lot of how much respect he has for Daniel, and how much insight he has into him. Sad that he was given, as per usual, few things to say or do, but at this point when Teal'c speaks it is meaningful. It would have been nice for him to have had more active support for Daniel, because I do think he supported him.
Daniel, now. His frustration is palpable, and I do like that this episode showcases how tenacious he can be. He's willing to look for that other option even after Jack has effectively decided there's nothing to be done but blow things up. He sees right away it's not just about the Enkarens, that the stored Gadmeer civilization has as much right to live. (And, y'know, they were there first.) Not that Daniel's the picture of perfection here. At times he's downright bratty. At other times, he's pouty.
I think that's where Jack stumbles, though - his inability to consider the Gadmeer are people worth saving because he can't see them or doesn't know them, but I think the execution is still off. The delivery is bitter, unhappy and antagonistic, when prior to this year I always felt an underlying affection between Jack and Daniel. Always.
It's like some newbie writers came along and saw these two characters had different methods and interpreted this to mean insta-antagonism without any context. Oh, wait...
I do like Jack's frantic, "Tell me, tell me you're not on that ship!"
Lotan's pretty cool for a robot, but that might be that for some reason I always enjoy Brian Markinson in his roles. I find him very watchable and relatable, even when he's playing Data-lite.
Eh. Some good, some bad. Like I said.
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no subject
Date: 2008-09-22 06:54 am (UTC)The writers who watched only a few select episodes before writing for the show? *g*
Lotan's pretty cool for a robot, but that might be that for some reason I always enjoy Brian Markinson in his roles. I find him very watchable and relatable, even when he's playing Data-lite.
Jerry from Phantom Traveller. I wish he'd show up on SPN again.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-22 06:16 pm (UTC)That still boggles my mind. Idiots.