SGA, DW, and other stuff

[tenaya]

First off, I feel like a bad fan. I finally watched Dr. Horrible and while I liked it and enjoyed the music and the acting, I don't actually know what all the fuss is about. It was amusing but I doubt I'll watch it again. Can someone clue me in on why it's so special? It's probably just me.... Doctor Who-- Turn Left . Again, I'm left kinda meh. Every season seems to have a ep where the Doctor isn't in it much and this one must be it. It was interesting to see where things would have gone if the Doctor hadn't been around to fix things, but I've seen this device so many times before, and to better effect. With It's a Wonderful LIfe the bottom line is a happy one; with Turn Left Donna sacrifices herself to save the Universe. I don't really like where they're going with Donna. She been a pistol and fairly shrill and while I don't care much for that, she's been different and I've enjoyed the different dynamic between her and the Doctor. And it was creepy to have Rose hanging around, manipulating Donna with the endgame of getting her to kill herself (because it did seem like she knew that would happen.) Sometimes I think writers want to do something but chicken out by adding weight to the argument. For instance, Rose loves the Doctor. She loves him enough to go across dimensions. When she finds he has died, is her love so relentless that she would sacrifice another companion to get him back? Is there a malignant jealousy in her that would motivate her? But if you throw in a darkness that will destroy the Universe, then both her and Donna's actions are just noble. And now I'm guessing Donna's last name is one of those name foreshadowing things. Great. Not. Next, SGA's The Seed Mullie wrote this, didn't he? They really should just let him work in the office and keep him away from the word processor. His scripts tend to be by formula and filled with predictability and clichés. None of the characters shone and in fact were distilled down to caricatures. Ronon was brave but dim and got captured. Teyla was hijacked by a fussy infant. And we got Heroic!Sheppard. Keller continues to be laughable in her role as CMO. Hello? You are in another galaxy. If you wake up excreting slime, get a sample and get a scan! Yeah, the writers need to keep telling us how great she is because all they do is show us how incompetent she is. And was it me or did they cut to a reaction shot of McKay every time she was in danger or did something clever? Ship much? Yech. And now this is canon how the wraith ships are grown? Are they sentient then like Moya because Keller was being taken over by another personality. While this is a curious idea, it was poorly thought out. It was very nice to have Carson back. He just has a lot of warmth and exudes competency and he really fills a niche on this show. I'm gonna say Woolsey will be positive change to the show. I don't like him--much--but he will be a source of conflict and conflict is good for a story. The new table is fine by me; I like that Sheppard and McKay will be sittng across from each other, where they can communicate by micro expressions and gang up on Woolsey. *g* In fact, I really liked that one scene; Teyla and Sheppard were getting nowhere about the newly human Athosians being relocated, but abrasive McKay went to the extreme decision--just keep them locked up forever. He actually got Woolsey to move more in the right direction by being extreme. As for Carter, I think they could have brought her back with a transfer instead of inferring she was being pulled for not doing a good job. And as always, the writers have to have a character tell the viewers that Carter is great. I really have a button about that. On the meta level, now that we've seen the Carter arc in Atlantis, I find she didn't bring anything to the production. Thank god they didn't have McKay slobbering after her, and thank god they didn't have her showing him up on the technical stuff. Looking back, I'm trying to remember scenes with her in them. I remember Trio, I remember her pulling that photo of Jack out of her luggage, and I remember her getting fed up with Zelenka in an elevator. That's a pretty blah showing. I think because Tapping had a second year on her contract, they had to play her since they were gonna have to pay her either way. I don't think the stories support that the writers needed her for any story lines. So, we get a medical emergency and people worry and then finally they kill a huge growth immediately with one small shot. None of the characters showed how brilliant they were. Sheppard crashes a jumper into city in a painfully brute force solution. All that talent and this was the fix? If he was a fanfic writer, I would have skipped to the end by about three pages in. I think I've heard Mullie was only gonna write one ep this year. Is that right or just me being hopeful? I really hope the stories get better. The only show that continues to delight is The Colbert Report. And most of my tv viewing of late has been science programs. I'm sure the influx of knowledge about climate change set off my little rant last week. I was feeling a bit panicky about the future. But did you know that the hole in the ozone layer is shrinking? We can fix things if we figure them out quick enough (and aren't greedy enough to ignore the problem.) But I do continue to think really bad times are in the future--and that's aside from any future episodes of SGA written by Mullie.

Comments

[margec01.livejournal.com]

Malozzi and Mullie are a writing team and both their names were on the credits for this episode. I kept thinking that there was too much standing around and doing a lot of talking throughout.

I liked it better than you did, BUT mainly for a lot of the small things that were done. Sheppard ending up in the infirmary two episodes in a row--fine by me! (g) Woolsey bringing a huge conference table on the Daedalus--so funny, but mostly because I know the backstory that the cast and crew simply HATED the old table with the pointy things sticking out groin high. We now have staff meetings in canon, not just fanon--but I was surprised Rodney didn't have a cup of coffee in front of him. I loved having Carson back, but the hair? I always hated his old hairstyle, but this Ken-doll look is even worse!

They DID try to show McKay's reaction almost every time Keller said something, but funnily enough, to me his expressions when SHEPPARD was in danger seemed a lot more real. LOL Don't know if it's my McShep glasses or not. Also, most all of my lj friends are joking that tentacle-porn can be almost canon now, since we've had it on the show.

I LOVED the fact that Sheppard apparently isn't telling what happened in the alternate timeline, especially about Keller and McKay getting together. "That wasn't the strangest thing about the other timeline." AND that Rodney says, "With Sheppard here, that makes all the difference." Yeah, yeah, I KNOW I saw that with my McShep glasses, but it was very nice.

Lots of them were acting dumb (usual in M&M shows), but they tried to handwave it away by saying Jennifer's and the others' judgement was impaired because of their infection. Yet, funnily enough, those judgement-impaired people came up with the solution. Duh.

I thought Woolsey was great here. Stick up his ass at the beginning. Mr. By the Book. But when push came to shove, he needed to think outside the box and he was ABLE to. The last scene with him and Sheppard was so good, I'll bet it was written by Brad Wright or somebody who's name doesn't start with M.

On Dr. Who: I liked the IDEA of seeing what would have happened if Donna had turned right, but the execution got boring since it was too long. Like you, I figured this was the episode where the actor could get a bit of a rest. Last week it was mostly the Doc, this week mostly Donna. They probably filmed at the same time with two units. Mostly just a setup for the season finale, which I hear from the Brits is very good. At least Sci-Fi is extending the time for the lengthened show, instead of cutting it up, which is apparently what they originally intended.

[astrumporta.livejournal.com]

Mallozzi and Mullie don't write together anymore, even though their names are always together. This one was Mullie all the way. Lots of dialog to patch up plot holes, but not a lot of depth character-wise IMO. It felt like all the elements were repeated, untested cures, etc.

Also they died Paul McGillion's hair and ruined it. It should be back to normal for his next appearance...

[margec01.livejournal.com]

Mallozzi and Mullie don't write together anymore,

I did not know that. Huh. Guess I don't read Malozzi's blog enough. (g)

Also they died Paul McGillion's hair and ruined it.

Is THAT what was wrong!? Why on Earth did they feel they had to dye it? So much for the great makeup and hair people on the crew. I'm glad to hear this should only be for one episode. I guess they could say that Carson's hair is a reflection of his poor insides, where Woolsey kept saying he was very ill. Well, I hope it will be better the next time we see him.

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

I did wonder what the hell had happened to his hair. This makes sense as I can't see the actor wanting to change it to this. Not a good look for him.

Yeah, Mullie is all talking and bad plotting, and no sense of the characters except in the broadest strokes.

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

No, you're right. The stuff between McKay and Shep was fine but I put that down to the director and the actors. It felt very organic and sound. The reaction shots about Keller stuck out like a sore thumb. They were really pushing it. It would have been better to have McKay part of a two shot so that we notice him having a reaction instead of them cramming it down our throats. Not that I want him shipped with Keller. :(

Keller has yet to *show* competency since she's been on the show, imho.

Yeah, I liked the fact Shep didn't spill the Keller thing to McKay. And there was something else there...or maybe in last weeks? Yeah, last week when Sheppard lit up when he heard McKay was alive. Yes! *g*

Woolsey isn't stupid so he should eventually make good decisions. But then again, Mallozzi thinks stupid characters are funny and great. Hopefully they won't ruin Woolsey. Maybe they won't since in JM's blog he states Picardo is a personal friend.

As for Who, I'm trying to avoid most spoilers, but I got the impression everyone adored next weeks but that the season ender had some people spitting nails. Should be interesting.

[margec01.livejournal.com]

last week when Sheppard lit up when he heard McKay was alive. Yes!

That was a great scene, wasn't it? Some are joking that the slash is right there on the screen; we don't even have to make it up. LOL

On the other hand, I believe it could be totally read as friendship, too. (Heck, I'm sure that's how the actors were playing it.) If I thought my best friend had died, I think I'd be pretty happy if I found out she hadn't!

But it's really nice even to see that friendship shown on the screen. Sort of like a Spacemonkey hug a decade or so ago.

Dr. Horrible

[astrumporta.livejournal.com]

Thank God I'm not the only one who doesn't get Dr. Horrible. I mean, yeah, it was amusing, and Nathan is HAWT, but I really didn't fall out of my chair laughing or anything. Except for "The Hammer is my penis" line, lol. Maybe it's just the actors are doing things we don't expect them to do? I don't know...

Re: Dr. Horrible

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

Nathan was hawt...but then when he made it plain he was gonna nail the girl just because Horrible wanted her, I just went all cold about the project. I was liking it until then, but then stuck it out to see how it ended.

Yeah, it's true to life I suppose but it soured the dish for me.

And I am so glad there's someone else out there is isn't captivated by it. :)

[cleothemuse.livejournal.com]

I had high hopes for Horrible, what with the contrast of the not-so-evil "villain" and the not-at-all-nice "hero". I wanted their roles to be reversed by the end, wherein everyone sees that Hammer's a jerk and Horrible's just... well, a horribly misunderstood, somewhat-misguided humanitarian.

Yeah. SOOOOO felt cheated.