Topic: Stargate SG1 Season 9

[6pairsofshoes]

Just thought I'd put this here as a placeholder.  I'll miss the regular snark of RD Anderson on the show, so not sure how it will be going forward.

[8ullfrog]

I can't wait until you hit the "Command decision". I think it's episode 3, but I'm not sure.

I'm to the last disc of S9, about to hit 10.

Whoops, nope, we're past the scene, it was season 8 episode 3.

Jackson: So how's the new job?
O'Neill: Oy. One crisis after another. This morning the mess got a shipment of Yukon Gold potatoes instead of the usual Russets.
Jackson: No.
O'Neill: Oh yes. The golds don't make for good mash. The consistency's all wrong.
Carter: I hear the new Russian Colonel came to see you, made a pitch to join SG-1.
O'Neill: Yeah.
Jackson: What did you say?
O'Neill: Told 'em to make french fries instead.

[6pairsofshoes]

I'm partial to Yukon gold potatoes.  Russets are much starchier, so probably better suited to fries.  I'd prefer the Yukon gold for mash any day of the week.  I vaguely remember the conversation.  I haven't had much time to watch more episodes lately, perhaps in the next few days.

[8ullfrog]

I love the interactions between Teal'c and Mitchell, and Mitchell whenever he's dealing with aliens, but I am NOT a fan of Season 9. It's bleak and not particularly fun. They burn a woman to death! (The series, not SG-1 themselves)

I like to just imagine a version of S9 where the hookah/interstellar space phone is broken, and instead the SGC has to deal with the fact that a Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Colonel from Auburn Kansas is now the Presumptive King of England for pulling the sword from the stone.

Kind of like a King Ralph situation, without the MASSIVE DEATH TOLL.

Like, in Tom Clancy they have to deal with the fact that a Marine (Jack Ryan) saves Chuck and Di from Irish terrorists, and firmly repeat that American Officers cannot hold knighthoods. (Chuck pretty much ignores this, and the movie changed it to some other English muckity that gets saved.)

Like, even the method by which Mitchell would become king of England would be highly classified, so I dunno, maybe his fight against the holographic Knight was broadcast over London?

This seems like one of those fanfic I should write, but feel like I lack the skill.

S9 is a bless'ed downer. I just watched the last disc tonight.

(I also like the addictive space corn!)

[6pairsofshoes]

Gee.  You make it sound so inviting.  I've been working so much that I can't really stay up.  I hate feeling like a zombie all day at work, so I try to go to bed early, which means no SG1 for the time being.

I could write more, but I'm kind of tired.  I get fed well at work and people are nice to me.  It's a temporary job, though, so I'll most likely get back to it in another month.

[8ullfrog]

I honestly do think you'll like Mitchell, he hits the line between "Professional soldier" and "Good sense of humor" better than O'Neill did.

In fact, several times, people treat him like an idiot, and he reveals competency that surprises them. It's like the opposite of O'Neill's "act like an idiot" act.

Plus you can tell Ben Browder is having the most fun ever.

And once again, there is a subplot with addictive space corn.

[6pairsofshoes]

Just watched 20 min of the first episode and it's just vile. 

Beau Bridges and some clone of a generic army hero type from a grade b movie supposed to take over SG1?  Gak.  I have to stop.  I'll try a little more later, but so far this really is sub par for this series.  Kiss of death plot development and casting.

[8ullfrog]

Hey, Beau Bridges is absolutely horrible, but they had to establish who Ben Browder was playing. They stuck O'Neill in the Class A uniform plenty of times.

Cam Mitchell also got screwed over. He thought he was JOINING SG-1, and they've all moved on by this point. Carter is at area 51 (Tapping was on maternity leave), Teal'c has gone off to Jaffa Politics, Daniel has a one-way ticket booked for Atlantis, and O'Neill had already ranked out of the team.

He saved all their asses over Antarctica, they all promised him whatever posting he wanted, and he chose SG-1.

(In reality, Tapping was pissed that she didn't get the team command) (But how the hell was she supposed to lead the team while pregnant?)

Beau Bridges on the other hand, has no bless'ed clue how he wants to play the character. Best I could tell, he was aiming for doddering golly in this episode, and they told him to cut it out.

I also enjoy how Mitchell wants to be friends with Teal'c, and Teal'c views him as an annoying puppy.

[6pairsofshoes]

I'm relieved to hear that you had a similar impression.  I'll most likely keep at it, but last night it was late and I'd just watched an episode of Homeland, which is more serious and compelling so this was a bit too much of a switch.

[8ullfrog]

Here's a better introduction to Ben Browder. Sadly, from a different, AUSTRALIAN series.

[6pairsofshoes]

I tried again and just couldn't stomach it.  The stupid factor was through the roof.  And the main female character looked as if the costume people hit one of those kinky leather sex shops when it was having a going out of business sale.  Daniel Jackson should shave.  I just kept thinking, "I could be cleaning my bathroom instead of watching this."  Not a good sign.

[8ullfrog]

Vala does that on purpose. When men are horny and stupid, she steals their stuff. They dial it back considerably, but I have to respect your decision.

I remember the first time I tried to watch through S9, I stalled on it, and only really ended up watching it on a nasty rained in night.

What did you think of the farscape clip I tracked down?

[6pairsofshoes]

Vala is annoying.  Her bustier makes me uncomfortable.  Hope she gets paid well to wear that irritating outfit.  Like Wonderbra from hell.   She's got teeth that should be on this month's cover of the ADA Journal.  What great dental hygiene!

Daniel Jackson is the same as ever.  He protests too much.  Someone shave him already.

Beau Bridges needs to be eaten by some hostile aliens.  And in episode 3, for some reason that is really unfathomable, Richard Dean Anderson shows up at the end, speaks a few lame lines to Jackson, then gets in a jet and uses taxpayer money to go on a pointless joy ride with the new guy on the block.  It's like they took the writers and sucked out all of their brains.

I'm putting up with this on the off chance that the guys wearing the bad contact lenses manage to invade and decimate Earth.  At this point, you realize that humanity doesn't deserve to make it.

[8ullfrog]

Well Jack WAS the former base commander, entirely possible Beau entered the wrong password enough times and they had to fly in Jack to reboot it.

I imagine it was probably cheaper to fly Jack from DC to Colorado Springs than it was to fly that bottom secnav to Guam and back to yell at the crew of the Roosevelt. The Stagate project itself costs about six billion dollars a year per an earlier episode, The Space Aircraft Carriers probably cost more.
... Wait, why did they fly Jack in if they have beaming technology? He's the head of Planetary security and has racked up more space miles than anyone.

Maybe he had to give a speech at the air force academy?

If I remember correctly, Bridges never gets good, it's all angst and yelling, and shitty folksism. Thankfully his scenes tend to be short.

[6pairsofshoes]

You get the impression that Richard Dean Anderson was bored and showed up at the studio so they figured, what the hell, put him on for a few minutes.  It'll fill some air time.  Anything to keep us from the lame-o Bridges character.  How did that guy ever get into acting, besides the usual nepotism?

I tend to fast forward through the more obvious scenes.  Really.  I blasted through 4 episodes last night.  It didn't take me 4 hours, either.

To sum up:
1)Teal'c is around, maybe because he's tired of the goofy infighting among the Jaffa.  It's like the right wing took over governance there.  It's like here.  If someone gave me a chance to spend a year away from Trump and his cronies, I'd jump at it, too.
2)Daniel Jackson is there for lack of something better to do. 
3)Hot chick linked by some kind of weird bracelet tech to DJ, ostensibly to interject some kind of sexual tension.  In theory DJ isn't having it because he knows she's untrustworthy, but of course you know they'll end up sleeping together.  Snore.
4)Guys with bad contact lenses step into the Gou'ald's "want to dominate/enslave the universe's shoes."  Of course, thanks to DJ, they now have sights set on Earth.  There is a problem that has to be dealt with.
5)Bridges is totally lame, but makes an effort to interject something resembling administrative decision making.  We all want to hit him in the face with a pie every time he opens his mouth.
6) Of course, the whole thing is going to go from bad to worse.  Maybe stay tuned.  Maybe try to get more sleep?  How did such an entertaining show get to be so lame?
7) Almost forgot WHITE MAN HERO.  That guy who is supposed to take over from the Richard Dean Anderson character.  He's sort of witty in a grade school kind of way.  And so far he keeps trying to set up a SG1 team.  He's sort of there because we need alpha male who looks attractive like a shaving cream ad to ostensibly run things.  I have yet to find him compelling in any way.  Why not David Hasselhoff?  Was he busy with other projects?  This other fellow
has the kind of gravitas one might expect in any episode of Baywatch.

[8ullfrog]

Ben Browder plays Cameron Mitchell.

RDA wanted to take some time off from acting. They all had to essentially live around the studio where the show was filmed. It's why you see a lot of recurring faces in Sci-fi TV.

The Ori are ascended beings who draw power through worship, so they set up shop as pretty much actual gods. They can't directly affect the mortal world without having their hands slapped, so they spread their religion through Priors, who are as annoying as the Jehovas witnesses, but will also kill your planet if you don't convert.

The episode where it's half on chulak, half on earth, I gotta admit I did that fast forward thing too. I just never liked the Jaffa. Teal'c and Bratac are cool, but the rest of them are intentionally rude assholes who talk about their military prowess, but always get their asses kicked.

If anything, their prior victories made the Tauri (it's what space people call earthlings) overconfident. They get their asses kicked repeatedly throughout season 9.

[6pairsofshoes]

I usually make an effort to remember the names of actors or characters, but it's hard to stoke up the necessary enthusiasm.

I am aware of the Ori (sounded like Auri) and their weird facial reliefs -- is that some kind of ritual scarification?  I'm sure the makeup people just love working on these guys.  The silly fire backdrop looks like they sent the good CGI artists home and left the interns to work on a quasi-hellish backdrop.  What's up with that anyway.  Do the ascended (ascended to where?  what difference does direction make in an infinite universe anyway) guys need to hang out in hell or something?  It seems like a group of weird extraterrestials whose exact characteristics are not well thought out by the props dept.

And yeah, those Jaffa seem pretty dull.  I guess I'd go hang with the Tauri, as long as I could maybe go fishing with Jack instead of hanging out in a mountain with Beau Bridges.

[8ullfrog]

The standard ascended are those do-nothing chumps in the diner. They have a policy of non-inteference.

The Ori and the ascended got into a fight, and they got kicked way out to another galaxy, while the diner assholes took up shop in the Milky Way Galaxy.

Interestingly enough, the Ori grew themselves a community of humans, so we really are cattle to overlord aliens.

They call their galaxy "The Ori Galaxy" Very creative. I don't think we ever see star charts, we're just told they're super far away.

The scarification is individual, and sort of a show of rank, much like the tattoos of the Jaffa.

There is a DOCI on the planet Celestis, he's kind of the evil pope of the Ori. Not sure on the fire thing. I vaguely think they like it for it's cleansing nature, which is some pretty unfriendly doctrine.

The door knockers are called Priors, and their level of cruelty is directly tied to resistance.

I know it's ancient history at this point, but SG-1 are banned from the in town steakhouse in Colorado Springs. They behaved poorly while under the influence of alien wrist bands.

I don't know if it would really be fun to hang out with Jack, he's kind of an bottom to anyone he doesn't have an established relationship with, he even dumped his clone off at a high school and never checked up on him. Teal'c did not enjoy being a house guest with him, but would obviously put his life on the line to save his friend. So that's interesting.

Meanwhile, if you're in the hospital with brain shrapnel, Mitchell will bring Pizza, Beer, and a playstation! And if it turns out it's terminal, he'll let you live out his space adventures.

I think it was established the the friend with brain shrapnel was up for Mitchell's first job with the SGC, as a space fighter pilot. He's... actually pretty good at that job. Got the MOH for it.

It is frustrating that there are some extremely rich moments in S9, but the Ori just flat out suck.

[6pairsofshoes]

I think my brain melted as I've been watching too much late night tv.

Chumps in diner.  I am getting confused.  Wasn't that on American Gods?  Which diner?  Was there also a diner with "ascended" on SG1?  There's Asgaard and Ancients.  And this "Chariots of the Gods" lite nonsense that mocks serious archaeology that the Jackson character practices.  Beyond that, I've got nothin'

Jack does seem like a guy not quite in touch with his feelings and lacking in empathy, but given a choice between him and Bridges, at least he'd leave you alone to fish in peace.

[8ullfrog]

The Ascended exist on a higher plane. This plane was represented as a Diner in Daniel's perception. When asked about it, he said the diner was where he realized his parents were really dead, despite witnessing their actual deaths.

The Asgard are the naked little gray dudes who show up from time to time. They like getting "dumb" solutions from the humans when energy weapons don't fit the bill. Thor once offered Carter some of their food, which she found repulsive. In thanks for this aid, they supe up Earth's spaceships a bit, making them faster, hit harder, and non-tactical use of transporters is available. (The actual asgard use them to just dematerialize enemies. It's bit horribly permanent, but it would be strange to expect human morals from alien beings.)

Anubis took the form of a fat golly in the diner, it was meant to be surprising, but the fat man had already been antagonistic. I thought it was a better take than the gelatinous mass that had portrayed anubis previously.

Not sure where you got the chariot of the gods thing, that's wider speculative fiction.

[6pairsofshoes]

If I remember correctly, Eric von Daniken asserted that aliens had built the pyramids.  It seems to be the basis underlying many of the various Egyptoid cultural artefacts attributed to the Gou'ald in SG1.  It seemed obvious to me that this book played a major role in the underlying structure of that part of the series' narrative. 

I don't know that I'd call it speculative fiction.  It's speculative.  There's a great number of undereducated people who believe it to be factual.  Daniken certainly believed it.  I got into an argument with a drunken boyfriend of my sister once  (I was taking several archaeology courses at the time).  He was offended because I asked why he felt it necessary to diminish human accomplishments by attributing a perfectly reasonable construction like the Giza pyramids to some unknown extraterrestial race.  Moving large blocks of masonry does not seem to have been beyond human capabilities, so why have little green men be responsible.  People may be stupid, but given the chance, they can do some pretty spectacular things.  He was annoyed that I didn't just say, "oh gee whiz, I didn't know that aliens had built the pyramids.  cool!"

Thanks for the reminder of the diner, as I'd forgotten all about it and Daniel Jackson's experience with Anubis there.  There is a diner in American Gods also, so they bleed together.  I remember the Asgaard well.  I also forgot the food bit.  This show doesn't stick with me that much.  It's like Chinese food.  Or eggs.  I eat eggs and I'm hungry an hour later.

[8ullfrog]

Asgard food looked like the shape pattern blocks kids play with.

I made note of it as it is one of the few things we actually know about the asgard, and that type of stuff fascinates me.

Plus Amanda Tapping did a great job portraying straight up disgust. I feel like her humor was often wasted on SG-1, when Carter needs to be a "YES SIR, NO SIR, IT ISN'T POSSIBLE"

Like the BTS stuff with her and Teryl Rothery (Talk about a name for scifi) was hilarious. Or when she acknowledges that Carter is a bless'ed Black Widow for guest stars.

At least Pete only got dumped.  She never has that petulance that say, Michael Shanks occasionally displays.

With the ancient aliens, aliens built the pyramids stuff, there is always that whiff of racism, that "primitives" couldn't have done it. It's a nasty undercurrent, and my dad would have DESPISED such programs, despite eating up knights templar conspiracies outright.

I mean, SOME of the stuff he dug was legit, but a lot of it reads like poo to me, romanticism? GAH, we're talking about a shitty season of stargate here and you got me thinking for real. No Fair!

[6pairsofshoes]

The Egyptians had a complex theocracy and writing system.  There was nothing primitive about them.  I wish I had more time to devote to the ancient Near East, as Egypt and the neighboring cultures were pretty advanced, both in terms of writing systems, religion, juridical codes, politics, agriculture, related infrastructures, architecture and the other arts.

I quite liked Amanda Tapping's character and think the show is basically impoverished w/o her.  A snarky con artist in a leather bustier is hardly a replacement.  That other actress has her charms but she doesn't have a great deal to work with in terms of material.  So I don't think it's her fault.  The show (in Season 9) has the earmarks of laziness and producers who would rather sit back and cash checks than do the necessary work to insure a reasonable transition with major cast changes.

[8ullfrog]

Tapping wanted Carter to get command of SG-1.

But her being at area 51 was a matter of practicality. Maternity leave. They crack jokes about it later. But she is an active part of S9.

Claudia Black is utterly charming. Vala Mal Doran somewhat less so. Ironically, she got to play the military hard case on another series, Farscape.

That's why it's funny when she says she's sure she never met Mitchell. The two actors previously played lovers on Farscape. It was a bumpy relationship.

They do scale back the bustiers, but for some reason, Vala often has pigtails. It's weird.

[6pairsofshoes]

So Carter is back and they figure out a way to have the increasingly cooperative Vala go out in an ambiguous blaze of glory while defeating the initial attempts of bad contact Ori guys to build mega stargate.  You have to hand it to those guys.  They stand and read while people are setting up nuclear bombs a few feet away.  That's devotion, or they picked up a book and can't put it down.

The next episode has a very funny office fight with people aligned with Baal, Mr. Dry Look, you know the guy who looks like he escaped from a Telemundo Telenovela.  Mr. Baal likes Richmond Virginia.  Is it the southern charm, the grits? Who can say?  Right now people are firing from one cubicle to the next.   It's a metaphor for corporate culture.  I'm sure Sigmund Freud is clicking his heels over this one.  Why does Baal have to adopt a pretentious over the top British accent?    "The consequences will be quite dire."  Bwah ha ha ha !!

Multi Baal isn't a keen fan of US TV either.  "over 600 channels and nothing to watch."  Who hasn't felt that way!

[8ullfrog]

You forgot Baal? you found him charming yet greasy previously.

As to the accent, he's from South Africa, that's his accent. He did live in England though.

Claudia Black (Vala) is Australian.

I don't like, Know this stuff outright, I just google it. I previously thought Cliff Simon was from New Zealand.

[6pairsofshoes]

I did not forget Baal.  I referred to him as Dry Look Baal before because that's what he looks like, a 70's dry look ad model.  He also looks like a telenovela actor.  I don't care where he's from.  I didn't bother to google most of them because I just don't have the motivation.  He is charming and sort of unctuous, but witty.  He's kind of like a refined version of Khan from the Star Trek movie.  I did like the episode where he reappeared, particularly the shootout in the office environment.  That was rich.

It's about all I can do to slog through this sad ghost of a season.  I whipped through Asimov's Foundation and found it interesting, although a bit repetitive.  I wasn't inclined to read the sequels.  I'm sort of at loose ends these days.  Taking one class and doing some taxes.  Otherwise, I cook and weed the garden.  I'm starting The Master of the Day of Judgment by Leo Perutz (in translation), but late at night, it's a bit of an effort and tv is easier.  I was quite enjoying SG1 up to this season.  It's kind of slow and forced, really.  That's kind of sad.

[8ullfrog]

I mostly read shitty fanfic.

SG-1 only got the ten seasons, but they did get two standalone straight to DVD movies. There is one particularly funny episode in season 10, and I don't know if you've seen the episode in s9 with multiple SG-1's yet, but I think that was the highlight of S9.

Your observations are laser focused though. He was both a model AND starred on a soap opera in SA.

[6pairsofshoes]

Mitchell gets kidnapped and gets trained to kick ass in anticipation of ritual where he has to fight the relative of a guy he hurt.  The SG1 took the guy home and healed him.      The Ori reps are still causing trouble.  The gullible Jaffa are sort of into it.  Finally Mitchell gets them to reconsider.

In the meantime, Anubis has been creating a mini me out of the Hitler youth.  Of course, in true duffus fashion, they bring back the dangerous guy to Colorado, and once he's revived, he shows us how evil and dangerous he will become.  The resulting blonde guy smiles but he has no sense of humor.  He gets more and more powerful and the goofs at SG1 back in the Mt. manage to screw things up royally.  He escapes so he can complete getting really powerful and, once again, "ascend" in the infinite universe where there is no real up or down.  Some how they shoot him and manage to put him in his place.   That's due to the fact that Carter is brilliant.  She gets the gate to send him back to SG1.

The Orai, or whatever, decide to continue with their campaign to enslave the entire universe.  What a bunch of humorless dicks.  Why would anybody follow them.  They have such bad skin and those contacts?  It kind of reminds me of what happens to Mafia wives after a few years.  Too much makeup, rich food and booze.  And look what happens, they end up looking like the little proselytizing robed goofs ("Priors," like crimes you committed earlier and that remain on your rap sheet)  that get sent out like Mormons to shake down entire planets for protection money.

Next, there's an Orai based plague infecting various earthlings.  Carter and DJ have to figure out how to stop it along with the physician daughter of General Bridges who inexplicably wears cleavage revealing clothing at work.  Sexist much?

[6pairsofshoes]

I admire your fortitude, putting up with SG-1 without SG-1: but can I just say that I find it a sin and a shame that SG-1 got nearly as many seasons as Firefly got episodes?

One of the problems with immortality is not having enough tv to keep one entertained.  There, of course, are always books.  But you have to give your eyes a break sometimes.  I guess, as a mere mortal, I have to be content with the current offerings.  I'll look into Firefly.  There's plenty of really good shows that only got a single season or even less. 

Keen Eddie
Bonzai
Greg the Bunny
Extreme Elimination Challenge

For some reason, all on Fox.  Go figure.

[8ullfrog]

I loved and do love firefly. One of the discs in my copy won't read anymore

[6pairsofshoes]

Best quote of the season:
"You built a stargate in my basement using spare parts from my toaster."
The Fourth Horseman in 2 parts.  Finally, the Priors get some mojo against them and the plague, much like COVID19 gets eradicated.  Would that we could find such a quick and easy solution.

Collateral Damage.  Memory device can implant memories.  The potential for utility is clear but the team gets a crash course in ways it can be abused.  We get to see Mitchell's memories in the case of a memory of a murder he was accused of committing but that were implanted.  He's cleared of the crime but the morally bankrupt society that we were contemplating trading with is exposed for what it is.  Ta da.  Gak.  There's 8 more of these until Season 10.  God only knows if it will get better then.  This is like eating something you don't much like in order to achieve dessert access.

[8ullfrog]

poo, I blanked, Collateral damage is a hell of an episode. I mean over at Star TREK,  TNG, DS9, and VOY all played with similar concepts.

On TNG, Riker was accused as both a cad and a murderer, and the holodeck was the device of choice for the hearing.

On DS9, O'Brien was falsely convicted of a crime. Been a few years, can't remember what, but then had TWENTY bless'ed YEARS of prison implanted in his noggin. In addition to that, the false memories had him befriend and then KILL a fellow inmate. Memories O'Brien will have to live with for the rest of his life.

On Voyager it was again, about the same setup as on TNG, to the point I'm not sure why they bothered. This time, Tom Paris is the victim of the "YOU ARE THE CAD AND MURDERER, ALIEN" treatment. His was a bit worse than Riker, he had to relive the murder over and over, on loop.

One interesting twist in the Voyager episode was that the alien who implanted the murder loop also included war plans, essentially using Paris as a fleshy USB stick.

I did dig the flashback, where Mitchell has to relive the bombing mission gone wrong, because I remember writing a paper on a similar incident in High School (In that case, the pilot was hopped up on amphetamines, was told not to deploy, and killed a camp of Canadian soldiers)

As to the amoral aliens, apparently Stargate Command made a devil's deal with them. That Tech is INSANELY VALUABLE, but yeah, those guys are fuckheads.

Honestly, I'm not sure why they can't use the VR chair they already have. As long as they don't turn it into an S&M doom session like Teal'c did, it seems more valuable.

Have a trained pilot take a fighter up. Next, use the VR chair to have them do the stuff you can't do in regular training. Dog fights, shoot up the aliens, that kind of poo. In that manner, the pilot would gain real experience, rather than just recalling someone else's memories.

Meh, that's fanwank. It's like how the SGC can't have a sarcophagus because that would undercut every friendly death written into the series. I know they tried to say the sarcophagus causes temporary megalomania, but those people are going to need heavy counselling anyway. THEY DIED. AND CAME BACK.

And we're spending time with the bless'ed ORI, when the implications of the Collateral Damage tech is FAR more interesting.

[6pairsofshoes]

I'm on the episode with multiple SG1 teams.  It's great to see Carter discussing potential explanations for how this happened with herself.

[8ullfrog]

the worst part is what they cut.

Bad Carter and Bad Mitchell were supposed to make out. Like, they did it, and they got yelled at.  Maybe Tapping was scratching an itch...

[6pairsofshoes]

I went to sleep half way through the episode so haven't gotten to the bad actors yet.  Funny.  I watched Homeland, then half of SG1 and was tired.  I had vivid interesting dreams, including town hall meetings, a bookstore and a candy shop.  I invented a nice main street with shops on it.  Good job, subconscious mind.

[6pairsofshoes]

Bad SG1 meets Good SG1.  Good SG1 knows bad SG1 because they are basically the same.  Good wins.  Yay.  It was entertaining.  Kind of reminded me a bit of Orphan Black with the feminism removed.

Stronghold.  Greasy Baal, Mr. Dry Look, trying to brainwash Jaffa to help him in his fight against the Ori.  How brainwashing a potential ally to join you in a fight against a mutual enemy makes little sense, but I guess it made for an  hour's worth of intrigue.  They capture Teal'c.  They think they are messing with his mind and brainwashing him, but not our Teal'c.  Mitchell gets all personal and close with dying friend, a guy who was a detective on Homicide.  He plays the memory device for him so he can relive Mitchell's experiences over Antartica.  The friend has an inoperable aneurism.  Now, here's a question.  If they can bring the special memory device to the hospital, can't they get their favorite little grey men, the Asgaard, to fix the friend's aneurism.  The selective access to alien tech on this show is mystifying.

[8ullfrog]

The Asgard are rarely available, I could elaborate if I were more sober.

Essentially, they live way the golly off in the Ida Galaxy, and they don't take phone calls. Which means they show up when THEY need help, but the SGC does not have them on speed dial.

It's mostly "While you're in the neighborhood" type stuff. And the episode elaborated that they DID try all the space magic medical stuff the SGC is not disclosing to the public, and it... just didn't do it.

Which I feel, is a more honest take than curing him at the end. Once again, the brick wall of production keeps them from dropping him in the sarcophagus, so...

They were far more mean to Janet Frasier. They literally exploded her head to prevent a sarcophagus revival. Because honestly, considering the amount of times she saved SG-1's asses, they literally WOULD have died trying to recover one to save her.

[6pairsofshoes]

Yeah.  I figured Dr. Frasier had left the show because she had better things to do in real life.  I always liked her character and the new doctor just seems kind of lame.  Not incompetent, just lame and 2d as a character.

The Asgaard did show up to help prevent the spread of the plague on Earth.  It was not clear how available they were.  I think they liked O'Neill, but, there you have it.

[8ullfrog]

Lexa Doig, Married to Michael Shanks. They don't give her much to do.

She actually has the magic ancient gene, same as O'Neill. Kind of makes her a key to ancient tech.

I think she saves Bratac once?

[6pairsofshoes]

It seems there's a good deal of nepotism in the casting of that show.  I vaguely remember her saving Bretac.  Stuff like that doesn't stick with me.  She works hard or at least her character does, and her level of performance as an actor is about on a par with that of Michael Shanks, whom I've never taken very seriously.  Sorry about that.

The show is sort of camp at this point and I expect there's plenty of in jokes that the cast finds entertaining.  I am a bit weary of it, as I'd expect the writers to be after so many seasons.  How to keep it fresh?  I can't answer that, and apparently they struggle with it, too.

[8ullfrog]

She's inoffensive at least. I think a lot of my initial dislike of the character was how Beau Bridges constantly tries to force a relationship with her.

Like where Fraiser was sharp and witty, Lam just comes off as bland and slightly miffed.

Did you get through the episode of many SG-1's?  I liked the team where they all rolled their sleeves and had sunglasses. The EXTREME SG-1.

Also how every guest Mitchell just dug the whole thing.

[6pairsofshoes]

I just watched Ethon? ep. 15.  Rand vs Caledonia (Scotland?).

Boneheads who have dedicated themselves to eradicating one another on a split planet now have half stupid enough to enslave selves to Ori, and Ori have given them a big satellite weapon to kick the ass of the other half of the planet.  Old DJ substitute who has returned to the planet goes to earth for help.   The SG1 steps on the red carpet with Agamemnon and decides to commit the deadly sin of hubris and the gods kick their asses by blowing up Prometheus the ship, (not the bad Alien prequel/sequel). Carter makes it down to the planet and figures out a way to disarm communications between Rand control and the satellite so that Mitchell can hot dog his way up there and blow up satellite.  DJ manages some diplomacy but effects are short lived and things get even more bent when they go home.  Ta da.  Nice ending where we all want to go to a different universe where we can just cook some spaghetti w/o worrying about Gou'ald or some other rapacious predatory race eating it and turning us into slaves.

[8ullfrog]

Yeah, they just got their asses handed to them, and the people they were supposedly helping all got dead.
It's an interestingly bleak turn. There's no miracles pulled out of asses at the last minute. The SGC flat out failed in this episode. I think that's somewhat interesting, and I liked the sets.

It's funny you call the guy a DJ substitute, since Daniel almost replaced HIM. Dude was off at war, and his wife Florence nightingale syndromed Danny boy. Dude came back to his house in the middle of the war to find some bless'ed pretty guy wearing his clothes and establishing a relationship with his wife.

The fact Daniel came back from that mission alive, let alone that this guy ended up with a positive view of Earth... is pretty astounding.

The actor himself is a double dipper. Both characters lost their home planets to invasion. We don't see him again, so it's a fairly good bet that Jared Kane is a gonner.

One of the appeals of SG-1, to me at least, is the implication that these things are going on in the "real" world. They're not some far off future, the events happen in real time.

They're even hindered by their shitty dell laptops.

So we could very well be making spaghetti while a USAF and Goauld fleet bash it out over Antarctica.

I do find it weird how important they made the President in the prior season, and now, bupkiss. For all we know, Landry doesn't even have him on speed dial like Hammond did. ...Alright, it was a red line, but same metaphor.

[6pairsofshoes]

The scourge:  flesh eating waterbugs eat the entire episode.  Gak.

Annoying cast of characters there for a tour get caught in the middle of an experiment gone wrong when a chunk of meatloaf transforms herbivorous bugs into carnivores.  They consume several bit players and then move in for the kill.  SG1 manages to get home but the bugs remain a problem.  Thanks, Ori!  This is the kind of thing that might give one nightmares.  The parallels with COVID19 are not lost on me.  The virus consumes people, damaging their organs and on occasion, killing them.  Rapacious nasty virus.  Oh well.  Back to more TV viewing.  At least this show is better than The Good Fight, which is getting really annoyingly girly.  They had their production interrupted by the pandemic so it will be a couple of weeks before we get more of that tv. 

[8ullfrog]

eh, the iratus bugs from Season 1 were nastier. I mean yeah, golly that planet in particular, but the planet with the iratus bugs was at a way higher tech level than most of the planets the SGC visited. It's a loot planet the SGC can't loot because of wasps the size of labradors. Plus if you get stung by the wasp you go full ALIEN as an incubation chamber for more nasty giant iratus bugs. That was actually really dark for early stargate.

These bugs might as well be the bless'ed scarab beetles from the mummy movie.  I liked the interactions between Teal'c and Mitchell in this one, and Mitchell once again kicking that assumption that he's a dumb good ol' boy out the window. Jack used feigned ignorance to conceal a sharp intelligence, Mitchell feels no need for a dumbo mask. Even when Teal'c and Mitchell are obviously scared, they do their best to "fly casual"

I do find the IOA an interesting concept. At this point, America has no monopoly on the gate. poo, they're leasing the gate they have from the russians.

Actually, that point in particular is dumb as golly, didn't carter jack a ship that had a cargo bay full of stargates? Why not return the Russian gate and tell them to shove it up their ass? They won't start another stargate program, they're already skittish from prior failures.

Instead, Washington haggles away space carriers to Russia to "lease" the gate. OY.

It does make sense to bring in an international funding source, considering the nations who are aware of the SGC, but they always made the IOA stupid baddies. This outing the Chinese representative is okay, but I remember one Chinese representative flat out trying to figure out how to sabotage the SGC so China could scoop up the rewards.

I heard the good fight did an episode where one of the characters crosses into a world where the presidential vote of last cycle was calculated correctly. Then of course, the synopsis claims "Not everything is better in this world"

No poo, there is no candyland better world, it's just the burning crapsack we already have, but it's fun to pretend!

I'm not sure where I picked it up, but apparently it costs 1 million to dial up the gate. That makes this trip EXTREMELY wasteful. I mean, I understand why they had to do it, but it's a trip to reality this show didn't have to take.

Aw poo, I read the gateworld article on the Chinese delegate, she is a duplicitous madam. I thought they'd avoid the "Yellow traitor" trope. I really did think stargate was better than that.

[6pairsofshoes]

Arthur's Mantle.  Dimension shifts and zombie fighter guy result in a half hour's suspense.  Not bad for an hour show.  Need to eat regular meals.  Food is important.  Teal'c just rolls with it.

[8ullfrog]

That was the guy Mitchell fought before.

I found the zombification suitably horrifying. Not sure why the SGC didn't try to backtrack that technology. The Mantle Tech! Not zombies. Never try to weaponize zombies, it just ends up bless'ed everyone over!

 They wouldn't have to issue weapons to the gate team while phased... unless there are zombies.

Actually, why the golly did the zombie see Mitchell? I agree, that was one of the less painful episodes of 9.

One thing I don't get is why the golly they keep Bill Lee around? Even if he's the best in X field, he's the problem in most of the episodes he shows up in.

Even Felger proved useful occasionally. Granted, B'all totally stole his stargate software firewall idea. If that hadn't failed, the SGC would have been bent.

I like to imagine they congratulated Felger on his innovative strategies, and transferred him far away from any mission critical systems. Who knows, throw enough money at the politician and he might save the day again!

And at least Felger was threatned with termination for incompetence! I wonder if Lee is like Costanza. Got fired years ago and just - shows up.

Teal'c: And you are certain you will not be injured?
Mitchell: Absolutely. Hey, take your best shot if you don't— (Teal'c takes a swing at him)
Teal'c: Good luck, Colonel Mitchell.
Mitchell: Hey, did you even think twice about that?
Teal'c: I did not.
Mitchell: Huh.

[6pairsofshoes]

Ha!  Crusade, Vala shows up in DJ's body mightily pregnant with the spawn of the Ori.  Voila, immaculate conception 2.0.  She doesn't seem particularly miffed about it.  What's up with that?  The villagers are idiot dullards who prostrate selves before Ori.

The Ori are planning big invasions, requiring drafts of the locals.  Everyone's an idiot.  Vala attempts to intervene.  Will she be successful?  Stay tuned.

[8ullfrog]

I love how everyone assumes Mitchell is going to say... something else. Instead, King Arthur!

Also love how Teal'c flat out drops "Darth Vader". No hesitation.  You may vaguely recall that the Jaffa love the poo out of star wars, and O'Neill being slightly concerned with them NOT regarding it as fiction.

[6pairsofshoes]

Yeah.  I'm thinking Virgin Mary.  I don't know about Darth Vader.  There's always Athena, product of parthenogenesis.  Zeus had a headache, got Hephaestus to help him out and Athena popped out of his head, fully grown, presumably armored.  That had to hurt.

And I don't know that I'd want to bear the Ori's kid.  Kind of like whacko Rosemary's Baby.  Ick and more ick.

[8ullfrog]

Yeah, keep in mind those fucko's already burned her to death, as a party trick, and now they've put an evil baby in her.

So, I don't blame you for not watching the prequels, they don't really explain the Anakin Skywalker AKA Darth Vader thing either, but I will.

In a stupid shitty book, a muppet sith lord with no nose but super long head, A Muun... alright no one gives a poo what a muun is.

Anyway, THAT GUY was named Darth Plageus. And he was in the pursuit of immortality, like all self respecting dark lords.

So he came up with this "create a body with the force" scheme.

And Darth Sideus (Emperor from original star wars) blew up his space station.

But darth plageus had already made the force baby - Anakin Skywalker. And stuck it in a slave, on a desert planet.

Anakin was a joker in his own right, there was nothing that MADE him be a dark lord, and he went for the high score in killing little kids.

So Obi-wan chopped his arms and legs off and let him slowly fall towards a lava pit. Should have shoved him in, didn't have the heart.

Darth Sideous cackled, swooped in, and stuck him in the black suit. Which he made shitty. On purpose. To piss Anakin off.

This ultimately led to Anakin throwing him down a giant pit in the throne room. I dunno if they intended that to be an elevator, or express transit to the escape shuttle, either way, the Emperor had a pretty shitty day.

[dweez]

And his new clothes look fabulous.

[6pairsofshoes]

Somehow, after those cute little teddybear things (ewoks?) who were running around in the last Star Wars movie I viewed (was it the third one?) sent me running for ipecac or insulin (your choice), I never had the desire to sit through another one.  We don't go to the theatre much, but it was the heavy corporate saccharin aspect that made me want to avoid future SW movies.  Maybe it was that, and the life sized cardboard cutouts in Target and the discounted movie merchandising there that sort of made me run the other way.

I'm not such a snob that I won't buy Angry Birds ziploc sandwich bags when they're on closeout special, but I don't really feel the need to pursue that stuff via cinema-going.

Thanks for the synopsis of the Star Wars prequels.  Poor Darth Vader.  Who was Luke Skywalker's mother, again, and how did she hook up with DVader?  I forget that, too.  Brain like a sieve lately.

And as for Vala, she seems to have dealt with the situation relatively well, saddled with an idiot religious nut for a husband and impregnated with the vile Ori child.  I'd be on a rocket ship to an off world clinic in her place.  I'm not clear as to why she ended up there in the first place?  Curiosity?  Desire to bilk a bunch of rubes for money?  I forget.  The episode sort of leaves one hanging at the end so I'll have to wait until later today.

[8ullfrog]

I wonder if Marcia and George Lucas actually divorced over the ewoks.

Luke's mother was a Queen turned Space Senator. I thought it was crap designed to make Leia a "real princess" rather than an adopted one.

Their romance was excruciating to watch. He liked her because she's not like sand. Sand is course, rough, and irritating.

I vaguely recall Vala was sent to the Ori galaxy in a sacrifice play, but it must not have been all that memorable.

From Wobsite:

She flew a Tel'tak into a gap in the unfinished Supergate and thereby interfered with the Supergate's formation. The formation of the singularity thus destroyed the Supergate, but Vala was then presumed dead. Although she had attempted to ring back off of the Tel'tak before it was destroyed, she did not make it back onto the Prometheus.

After analyzing what happened, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter came to the conclusion that Vala did in fact make it to the rings, but that her matter stream may have been sucked into the Alteran Home Galaxy

[6pairsofshoes]

I remember Vala flying that ship into the round formation to interrupt the Ori's efforts to build the supergate.  And I guess she was presumed dead, but then she's somehow on that planet with the religious nuts.  You'd have thought she'd avoid the place after they burned her alive.  I'll watch another episode now.

Yeah.  The whole backstory of Luke and Leia is missing in my memory, mostly because I don't think I ever knew it.  I just remember the reveal that Luke was Leia's brother.  He was interested in her as was Han Solo, but then that was resolved when they found out they were siblings.  Then I remember Luke finding out that Darth Vader was his father, but after that, I've got nothing.

[6pairsofshoes]

Vala gives birth to horror show with amber contact lenses and an overdose of human growth hormone that makes her mature at an extraordinary rate.  The supergate gets put into place and the ugly ships that some bad CGI artist came up with for the Ori come through and kick everyone's ass.  The main characters continue to survive despite loss of expensive hardware and life of supporting cast.

End of season 9

[8ullfrog]

Everybody bless'ed died except teal'c and mitchell, and they can't exactly pick Carter up in the fighter.

So like, if they wanted to go dark with it, Carter dies while they watch.

I mean, that's not the direction they went with it, but the SGC lost this season hard.

I haven't watched any of 10 yet. poo.

[6pairsofshoes]

Nah.  They can't kill Carter.  She's too central to the forward momentum of this shitshow.

[8ullfrog]

But they did dangle the possibility.

Funny enough, the reason Vala became part of SG-1 at the start of season 9, and why Mitchell got command of the team, was because of Tapping being on maternity leave.

When they asked Claudia black back, after pretty clearly killing her off (Stargates are uni-directional, remember?)  She declined because SHE was pregnant.

So they wrote around it.

[6pairsofshoes]

That's pretty funny. I didn't know.  Presumably she had a normal child, one that was not an Ori plant.