SGA Review: "No Man's Land" and "Misbegotten"

idlerat mentioned an assessment of SGA canon so far.

Er... I confess to being so squee-ish over "No Man's Land" thought was not possible. But I can assess it now that I've seen "Misbegotten."

( I loved 'No Man's Land.' )

( 'The Misbegotten': good if you don't look too closely. )

I continue to love Sheppard's aura of command incompetence. He just radiates "in over his head" and "shouldn't be above the rank of Major." I watch Flanigan and I believe everything his commanders have ever said about Sheppard, and I get the sense that Sheppard doesn't think he can do this job either but he's not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He's a nice break from the hero mold and amuses the hell out of me.

Overall, I expect the same uneven writing and careless logic the show has displayed from its first episode, and I'm still along for the ride.

( The plotline that bugged me: Elizabeth. And I like Elizabeth. )

But I'm enjoying the show just as much as ever, for the same reasons, none of which have ever included brilliant writing. And I'm panting, just chomping at the bit for some of the coming episodes, "McKay and Mrs. Miller" in particular. I want more background on these characters.

Warnings: A policy.

I'm been enjoying the warnings debate that's swept at least three fandoms (SG-1, SGA, Harry Potter, can we name any others?). Many fascinating posts and ideas on the subject. Do see agentotter and cofax7's points. destina had some great comments in Otter's journal that are apparently now in fully-fleshed form in her LJ, and isiscolo has several interesting posts on the subject as well.

I have nothing to say that others haven't said better. But!

I do have a decision. A policy, even.

I shall use warnings for the following:

- non-con/rape
- character death
- BDSM
- underage sex/chan
- incest
- violence
- spoilers (of recent canon)

Why these warnings? Because these are things that would bother me if I didn't know what I was in for from the start (well, except for the BDSM; in that case it would be like finding a prize in my cereal box). Also, they're standard for most fandoms. They represent the extremes.

What I won't warn for are the shades of grey in between. Dubious consent? A character has a near-death experience? Milder kinks like cross-dressing? Sex between (legal) 17-year-olds? Kissing cousins? Prostitution? At a certain point it gets ridiculous and I have to trust the readers' judgment and not try to set an artificial framework on a story, either an external one I've imported, or my own.

I've always inwardly laughed at MPAA ratings. They don't reflect what I feel is offensive. I once saw a pre-teen kiddie-flick that got a PG rating, yet it had this barf scene that, wow, I really regretted (my little brother's friends thought it was hilarious). Meanwhile these beautiful foreign art films with full frontal nudity were rated as if they were hardcore porn. Just because they showed a man's cock (apparently being hard or half-hard made a difference, go figure, while the woman could be totally naked and still only garner an R).

When I was a teenager I was allowed to watch sex scenes and nudity, but violence (such as the PG-13 Rambo) was forbidden. And, interestingly, two films were off-limits: The Postman Always Rings Twice because of the infidelity, and American Gigalo because of the prostitution. Even more interestingly, Cruising was only borderline (mom was concerned about the portrayal of a gay man as murderer, but not about the casual gay sex). The "MPAA rating" is this house was very specific and quite different from our friends' who goggled at our French films yet, unlike us, were allowed to watch "The Dukes Of Hazzard" every week. One of the things mom and I agree on (and the list is so very, very short) is our view of sex.

Readers values are their own, and I'm not going to play guessing games at what might or might not offend. To go beyond the standard warning I'd have to base that on what offends me, in which case you'll be warned for the barf scene but I'll totally neglect to mention the spanking.

Instead, I'm just going to have to trust you to know and will be able to spot what offends you. Use your Back button wisely. And remember: you may need to scrub the image of Percy (or Rodney) in a corset out of your brain, but at least you're not out $10.95 for the paperback.



ETA: Ack! Where did sdraevn go?

ETA2: Removed TMI detail -- habit. *deletes*

ETA3: School. Stop. Very swamped. Stop. Will respond to comments at later date. Stop.