SGA ep review: Infection
Dec. 7th, 2008 12:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icarusInfected, Infectious, or Ineffectual, whatever the ep is called: skip this one and Brainstorm (unless you're a Bill Nye fan, in which case be sure to watch Brainstorm).
The SGA cast in Infection look... demoralized. It's obviously filmed after they got the news of the cancellation.
- Joe Flanigan bleeds hurt through every line, pouting whenever he's standing still.
- Hewlett throws away his lines with an "Are we done yet?" attitude.
- Momoa just saunters through his role, bored and watching the clock.
- Jewel can't control the tight smile of bitter irony.
- Rachel is a pro, as iswhatshisname Picardo (ah, thank you, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
amothea) who plays Woolsey.
Season five is good in many respects, except for how they've handled relationships (Woolsey, Sheppard, and especially McKay). A few years down the line we'll look back and decide, oh, the season's not so bad.
Woolsey's a surprisingly interesting addition. The interaction between Woolsey and Sheppard has been a mix of gratitude and mutual admiration. Sheppard seems to empathize with Woolsey's fish-out-of-water feeling, while Woolsey accepts only facts and therefore doesn't have the bias Sheppard expects from his commanders. He doesn't want Sheppard to kow-tow, he just wants results. Sheppard can deliver results. (I suspect Sheppard's paperwork is a little more up to date.)
The tough female marines in that horror show episode were a nice touch. And there have been great action/adventure sci-fi stories, such as Daedalus Variations. The-episode-where-Rodney-loses-his-marbles was truly powerful.
Initially I thought McKay and Keller were cute together. I was prepared to like them with a cheery "not my ship but they're never going to show Sheppard leaving Rodney's quarters in a towel, so what the hey." But they have the McKeller on fast-forward. I suspect they meant to spool the ship out slowly and then got canceled, so tried to hurry it up. The results are not good. An emotional arc can't be rushed.
The real problem is the way SGA was canceled. My reading is that Brad Wright wanted to be the showrunner, as he was on SG-1. It's a matter of his career. He pushed for his new series and, when it came down to a fight between the new series and Atlantis, he used every bit of clout he had from his 12+ years with MGM. He's now dangling the option of SGA movies to force the cast and crew to put up or shut up. It's a masterful political move. I am most displeased with him.
Fortunately for us all, there is the magical slashiness that is Merlin.
The SGA cast in Infection look... demoralized. It's obviously filmed after they got the news of the cancellation.
- Joe Flanigan bleeds hurt through every line, pouting whenever he's standing still.
- Hewlett throws away his lines with an "Are we done yet?" attitude.
- Momoa just saunters through his role, bored and watching the clock.
- Jewel can't control the tight smile of bitter irony.
- Rachel is a pro, as is
amothea) who plays Woolsey.Season five is good in many respects, except for how they've handled relationships (Woolsey, Sheppard, and especially McKay). A few years down the line we'll look back and decide, oh, the season's not so bad.
Woolsey's a surprisingly interesting addition. The interaction between Woolsey and Sheppard has been a mix of gratitude and mutual admiration. Sheppard seems to empathize with Woolsey's fish-out-of-water feeling, while Woolsey accepts only facts and therefore doesn't have the bias Sheppard expects from his commanders. He doesn't want Sheppard to kow-tow, he just wants results. Sheppard can deliver results. (I suspect Sheppard's paperwork is a little more up to date.)
The tough female marines in that horror show episode were a nice touch. And there have been great action/adventure sci-fi stories, such as Daedalus Variations. The-episode-where-Rodney-loses-his-marbles was truly powerful.
Initially I thought McKay and Keller were cute together. I was prepared to like them with a cheery "not my ship but they're never going to show Sheppard leaving Rodney's quarters in a towel, so what the hey." But they have the McKeller on fast-forward. I suspect they meant to spool the ship out slowly and then got canceled, so tried to hurry it up. The results are not good. An emotional arc can't be rushed.
The real problem is the way SGA was canceled. My reading is that Brad Wright wanted to be the showrunner, as he was on SG-1. It's a matter of his career. He pushed for his new series and, when it came down to a fight between the new series and Atlantis, he used every bit of clout he had from his 12+ years with MGM. He's now dangling the option of SGA movies to force the cast and crew to put up or shut up. It's a masterful political move. I am most displeased with him.
Fortunately for us all, there is the magical slashiness that is Merlin.
