Text 661, 130 rader
Skriven 2005-02-19 23:29:00 av Kevin Karmann (1:278/230)
Ärende: Friday's Sci-Fi
=======================



I know I'm a looong ways behind in my reveiws -- work, a bad cold, and other
TV shows have made for a tough February -- but I still have all the
ENTERPRISE episodes on tape and plan to get to them in detail as soon as
time permits.  However.... after seeing last night's episodes of ENTERPRISE,
STARGATE SG-1, STARGATE: ATLANTIS, and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, I couldn't help
but put out a few comments about the feast of SFTV that came all in one
evening.  I think those four episodes made it easily one of the best single
days I've ever seen from SFTV -- and I've seen a lot of them.

But, as some people may not have seen some or all of these episodes, I'll
give you some spoiler space.

SPOILER WARNING for "Affliction" (ENTERPRISE), "Citizen Joe" (STARGATE
SG-1), "Before I Sleep" (STARGATE: ATLANTIS), and "Six Degrees of
Separation" (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA)

And

if

you

haven't

seen

these

episodes

you

really,

really

should!


When I first heard about the idea behind "Affliction" -- to come up with an
explaination for the more human looking Klingons of the original series, I
wasn't so sure that could be pulled off with any amount of satifaction.
And, while things certainly haven't resolved themselves yet, I think they've
done an excellent job of it so far.  Combining some nice character moments
for Phlox, Trip, and Reed with continuity ranging from early revelations
about Reed's family history to Section 31 from DS9.  Hoshi even gets to
utilize the martial arts skills mentioned In "Observer Effect," though to
little effect.  I'm not quite sure what to make of the seeming telepathic
link between T'Pol, Trip, and... Hoshi yet, but perhaps that, too, is going
somewhere.  The only real flaw I can see in the episode, even though it is
really nothing new to the series, lies in Phlox's medical staff or lack
thereof.  In the past, Phlox has made a few mentions in passing of staff,
but we never see anyone else acting as a doctor, nurse, or even technician
on the ship.  Granted, this Enterprise doesn't have the compliment of Kirk's
ship, much less Picard's huge galaxy class 1701-D, but you would think that
there would be someone else on staff just in case something happened to
Phlox.  Instead, we get T'Pol examining medical readings.  At the very
least, as the ship was in Earth orbit during Phlox's abduction, you would
think Archer could'tve gotten a substitute physician, especially with the
clear and present danger of battle to get the Denobulan back.  That said, I
do think "Affliction" continues a trend of very strong episodes -- perhaps,
in fact, one of the strongest of the season.

On to STARGATE SG-1's "Citizen Joe."  This episode made good use of humor as
it showed the impact of visions of Stargate Command on an ordinary Indiana
barber, Joe Spencer.  Although some of the inspiration for this show no
doubt came from the desire to use some clips, I think for once they helped
move the story along and made an excellent context for Joe and the people to
whom  he told the stories of Col. Jack O'Neill.   I can even forgive the
fact that O'Neill has been experiencing flashes of Joe's life for seven
years, as Richard Dean Anderson does such a good job of shrugging it off
("Bowling on Thursdays?   You've got game...").  The discussion of THE
SIMPSONS, of course, adds some nice humor to the mix, too, considering Dan
Castellaneta (Homer Simpson hmself) plays Joe.  I'm not sure what to make of
the ending when Jack goes to talk to Joe's wife, which would seem to be
right thing to do, but probably would violate a lot of secrecy agreements if
he told the truth.  All in all, it was a nice romp that even allowed the
show's creators to poke fun at themselves ("It's just complex...").

Meanwhile, ATLANTIS' "Before I Sleep" has to be one the Stargate franchise's
most original and compelling ideas in a while.  True, we've all seen time
travel stories told in a similar light like this in other series, but I
can't recall an occaison when it has been integrated so thoroughly into the
series -- and Stargate in general -- lore.
Whether they planned to explain the failsafes put into place in the city
from the beginning or simply stumbled upon the idea of using this episode to
put it all together, the older Dr. Weir managed to be integrated thoroughly
into the premeire storyline.  It also gives some background for the SG1
episode of a few weeks ago, "It's Good to be King" in which the team finds a
timepod in the Milky Way.  Obviously, some thought went into putting this
whole thing together amongst the various writers of the series.  The five
gate addresses Dr. Weir brought from the past should provide some
interesting fuel for future storylines, as well.  It think the interaction
between the two Weirs worked nicely.  This episode is easly the best of the
series' run so far.

And then we have BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.  With an up close and personal look
at Baltar, how could they miss?  The characterization, even more than usual,
takes center stage as Gaius becomes the target of Six's manipulation when
she shows up in human Cylon form (or perhaps a real person?) to call his
actions into suspect.  Good use is made of the destruction of the Olympic
Carrier from the first episode of the season to create the feeling of
paranoia.  Here, as in "Citizen Joe," we have a nice healthy dose of humor,
especially in Baltar's confrontation in the restroom, culminating with the
memorable line, "No more Mr. Nice Gaius!"  The other plotlines continue to
evolve, as well.   Some nice humorous moments came from Starbucks recovery
as both Apollo and Tye make trips to the infirmery to try to motivate her.
It's nice to see that they have begun to try to understand the Cylon ship,
although I'm kind of dubious about how -- if it is alive- -- how it could
just sit there as if dead with people poking around all around inside it and
still come to life as it did when Starbuck took the controls.  Likewise, the
glimpses of the president trying to cope with her cancer and the goings on
back on Caprica nicely kept things moving.

I don't really think I'm exaggerating when I say these four episodes, in
very different ways, made for a very entertaining evening.  If you missed
any of them, well, I suggest finding them in reruns... you won't regret it.

Kevin




---
 * RIMEGate(tm)V10.2á˙* RelayNet(tm) NNTP Gateway * MoonDog BBS
 * RgateImp.MoonDog.BBS at 2/19/05 11:29:21 PM
 * Origin: MoonDog BBS, Brooklyn,NY, 718 692-2498, 1:278/230 (1:278/230)