![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
SG1: Uninvited
This was surprisingly fun and nicely spooky.
We finally get to see inside Jack's cabin! Very nice and cozy. Lovely big couch in front of the fireplace. It's nice to see a place fleshed out that we'd only speculated about fannon. Nice lamps; are those art deco? And there's a Remington sculpture in front of the window, too. Jack has a flare and a definitive style in home decoration.
Damian Kindler wrote this and I think he did a pretty good job. Nice character based story with lots of interaction between the main characters, save Daniel. Daniel is off in England batting his baby blues at some lord or earl to gain access to a library? LOL! Yeah, there'll be a few stories about that I'm sure. Actually, this story didn't need Daniel in it, so it was a good choice to film without Michael Shanks. Of course, I'd have liked to see him in the poker game at the end.
It was good to see Reynolds again. I hate the way the PTB kill off everyone. Interesting that Reynolds and Carter are both able to spell Landry at being in charge of the SGC. Reynolds took part in the hunting party towards the end. He didn't seem necessary so I'm wondering why he was there. Did he fill in Daniel's slot in the script?
Okay, Carter continues to have issues with command. First off, she decides to send Vala with Teal'c and Reynolds simply because the alternative was for Vala to hang around her? That was blatant manipulation by Vala and Carter fell for it completely. It didn't make her command choice look sound, and from my pov, I thought Reynolds went stoic in response (as in maybe he didn't respect that decision either.) Later, we see Carter in the General's office and for the whole show, she refuses to sit the chair, even at one point, hovering awkwardly over her laptop. Why would Carter do this when it makes perfect sense to sit there to do the job that needs to be done? Respect for the man who usually sits there? I think it goes deeper than that but I'm not sure how. A fear of leading? A fear that people won't respect her if she sits in the chair? What could it be? Later, when she is updating Vala who is sitting in the Chair of Power, it looks like Carter is reporting to Vala. The visual sense of who has the power is all wrong.
Vala, on the other hand, wants to lead. Heck she takes the lead until she's reminded someone else is the leader. It's probably a behavior left over from being a host. Did they ever say how long she'd been a host? She gave orders and people obeyed. And they have written her to have good insight and to make more good choices than bad. Also, Vala repeated pointed out her contributions; she's obviously looking for recognition and appreciation of her contributions. Of course, from the SGC pov, who wants to feed an ego that big? But, they are becoming a bit dog in the mangerish but never recognizing her efforts. She'll probably just persist in that behavior until she gets what she needs from them. Is it so hard to give her an attaboy, especially since she's the new kid on the team?
And again, Tapping played her scenes with Black like Carter doesn't know how to deal with Vala, maybe doesn't like her. Certainly she finds her annoying and obviously wishes Vala wasn't there. I thought it a bit rude to say that Vala wouldn't care about those hapless villagers. I mean, Vala--the total capitalist she is--wanted to capture the creature and make a profit out of it (there's a lot of Aris Boch in her) so she probably *was* more interested in that than the fate of the villagers, but still it was a bit rude to say that to Vala's face if she's a teammate. It'd be like Daniel telling Jack he wasn't interested in the villagers as much as going off to shoot something. There might be an element of truth there, but you don't throw that in the face of a working partner unless you want friction.
That was a very interesting heart to heart Landry and Mitchell had. This Landry was much closer to how he was in the first few episodes. He kept telling Mitchell to relax, but then he'd zig in the conversation when Mitchell was expecting --and being set up for -- a zag. How can Mitchell ever relax with Landry kept finding something to snap at him about. He really kept him off balance for the whole visit. For example, the possible requisitioning of a helicopter to leave the cabin. Mitchell suggests it, Landry snaps that that would be improper, then states he already checked into it but it wasn't possible. Games and more games....
It did seem that Mitchell wanted a clearer chain of command. That, plus the earlier statement that he doesn't control the team hints he is bothered. I think he wants to be the clear leader of SG1 but doesn't feel he is experienced enough to back it up. Landry did seem to say he wanted Mitchell to manage the team he put together. I did like that Mitchell said he thought he could handle anything after nearly dying (was this why Cambo surfaced last season?) but he now knows he needs SG1. That was very good to hear from him.
Vala hears a growling that Teal'c is unaware of. On one hand, it's good to show she brings a lot to the table of being on the team. She's aware of danger, anticipates problems and she never seems to be without a plan. *g* But are the writers making her too good at too many things, like they did with Sam early on? Personally, I don't think she's crossed that line yet.
The medical doctor seems pretty young, but then again the actress was competent so I can't complain (especially since it meant we didn't have to watch Carter to the necropsy.) And I am such a sucker for Teal'c pulling off a quick shot that saves someone from hurt. He's so competent and *cool*! Speaking of Teal'c, I had a real "huh?" moment when Carter made that remark about him using "ironic" in a sentence. I've always thought Teal'c quite eloquent, he's just exceptionally succinct.
Other "huh" moments were when Carter said the monsters were showing up on planets they'd visited. Since the Tok'ra are not chatty with us anymore, how would we know if the monsters were on planets we didn't visit? Another "huh?" was the monsters. The SFX could have been better. The movement of the beast was similar to the lizard in Morpheus and while it was kinda cute in the lizard, I laughed out loud when the monsters flipped over on the sides and died in this episode. They looked a little like they were rough clay molds, but as I thought about it, rapid changes might make the skin be lumpy and bare. Bridge does either really cool creatures or humorous ones. I did like Vala's line about "sudden onset of monsterism."
Landry says Mitchell has sleep apnea, that translates out to load snoring. That's not very good when their off world and hoping to be stealthy. Odd choice. I guess it was there for humor but I wish they hadn't said it.
And I loved the card game at the end. I thought the show down between Carter and Teal'c was really fun and well played. It was a good ending and I really enjoyed the show, even without Daniel.
We finally get to see inside Jack's cabin! Very nice and cozy. Lovely big couch in front of the fireplace. It's nice to see a place fleshed out that we'd only speculated about fannon. Nice lamps; are those art deco? And there's a Remington sculpture in front of the window, too. Jack has a flare and a definitive style in home decoration.
Damian Kindler wrote this and I think he did a pretty good job. Nice character based story with lots of interaction between the main characters, save Daniel. Daniel is off in England batting his baby blues at some lord or earl to gain access to a library? LOL! Yeah, there'll be a few stories about that I'm sure. Actually, this story didn't need Daniel in it, so it was a good choice to film without Michael Shanks. Of course, I'd have liked to see him in the poker game at the end.
It was good to see Reynolds again. I hate the way the PTB kill off everyone. Interesting that Reynolds and Carter are both able to spell Landry at being in charge of the SGC. Reynolds took part in the hunting party towards the end. He didn't seem necessary so I'm wondering why he was there. Did he fill in Daniel's slot in the script?
Okay, Carter continues to have issues with command. First off, she decides to send Vala with Teal'c and Reynolds simply because the alternative was for Vala to hang around her? That was blatant manipulation by Vala and Carter fell for it completely. It didn't make her command choice look sound, and from my pov, I thought Reynolds went stoic in response (as in maybe he didn't respect that decision either.) Later, we see Carter in the General's office and for the whole show, she refuses to sit the chair, even at one point, hovering awkwardly over her laptop. Why would Carter do this when it makes perfect sense to sit there to do the job that needs to be done? Respect for the man who usually sits there? I think it goes deeper than that but I'm not sure how. A fear of leading? A fear that people won't respect her if she sits in the chair? What could it be? Later, when she is updating Vala who is sitting in the Chair of Power, it looks like Carter is reporting to Vala. The visual sense of who has the power is all wrong.
Vala, on the other hand, wants to lead. Heck she takes the lead until she's reminded someone else is the leader. It's probably a behavior left over from being a host. Did they ever say how long she'd been a host? She gave orders and people obeyed. And they have written her to have good insight and to make more good choices than bad. Also, Vala repeated pointed out her contributions; she's obviously looking for recognition and appreciation of her contributions. Of course, from the SGC pov, who wants to feed an ego that big? But, they are becoming a bit dog in the mangerish but never recognizing her efforts. She'll probably just persist in that behavior until she gets what she needs from them. Is it so hard to give her an attaboy, especially since she's the new kid on the team?
And again, Tapping played her scenes with Black like Carter doesn't know how to deal with Vala, maybe doesn't like her. Certainly she finds her annoying and obviously wishes Vala wasn't there. I thought it a bit rude to say that Vala wouldn't care about those hapless villagers. I mean, Vala--the total capitalist she is--wanted to capture the creature and make a profit out of it (there's a lot of Aris Boch in her) so she probably *was* more interested in that than the fate of the villagers, but still it was a bit rude to say that to Vala's face if she's a teammate. It'd be like Daniel telling Jack he wasn't interested in the villagers as much as going off to shoot something. There might be an element of truth there, but you don't throw that in the face of a working partner unless you want friction.
That was a very interesting heart to heart Landry and Mitchell had. This Landry was much closer to how he was in the first few episodes. He kept telling Mitchell to relax, but then he'd zig in the conversation when Mitchell was expecting --and being set up for -- a zag. How can Mitchell ever relax with Landry kept finding something to snap at him about. He really kept him off balance for the whole visit. For example, the possible requisitioning of a helicopter to leave the cabin. Mitchell suggests it, Landry snaps that that would be improper, then states he already checked into it but it wasn't possible. Games and more games....
It did seem that Mitchell wanted a clearer chain of command. That, plus the earlier statement that he doesn't control the team hints he is bothered. I think he wants to be the clear leader of SG1 but doesn't feel he is experienced enough to back it up. Landry did seem to say he wanted Mitchell to manage the team he put together. I did like that Mitchell said he thought he could handle anything after nearly dying (was this why Cambo surfaced last season?) but he now knows he needs SG1. That was very good to hear from him.
Vala hears a growling that Teal'c is unaware of. On one hand, it's good to show she brings a lot to the table of being on the team. She's aware of danger, anticipates problems and she never seems to be without a plan. *g* But are the writers making her too good at too many things, like they did with Sam early on? Personally, I don't think she's crossed that line yet.
The medical doctor seems pretty young, but then again the actress was competent so I can't complain (especially since it meant we didn't have to watch Carter to the necropsy.) And I am such a sucker for Teal'c pulling off a quick shot that saves someone from hurt. He's so competent and *cool*! Speaking of Teal'c, I had a real "huh?" moment when Carter made that remark about him using "ironic" in a sentence. I've always thought Teal'c quite eloquent, he's just exceptionally succinct.
Other "huh" moments were when Carter said the monsters were showing up on planets they'd visited. Since the Tok'ra are not chatty with us anymore, how would we know if the monsters were on planets we didn't visit? Another "huh?" was the monsters. The SFX could have been better. The movement of the beast was similar to the lizard in Morpheus and while it was kinda cute in the lizard, I laughed out loud when the monsters flipped over on the sides and died in this episode. They looked a little like they were rough clay molds, but as I thought about it, rapid changes might make the skin be lumpy and bare. Bridge does either really cool creatures or humorous ones. I did like Vala's line about "sudden onset of monsterism."
Landry says Mitchell has sleep apnea, that translates out to load snoring. That's not very good when their off world and hoping to be stealthy. Odd choice. I guess it was there for humor but I wish they hadn't said it.
And I loved the card game at the end. I thought the show down between Carter and Teal'c was really fun and well played. It was a good ending and I really enjoyed the show, even without Daniel.