Sci-Fi Friday 1-6-06
So, a few quick thoughts on tonight’s Sci-Fi Friday offerings. First off, I felt Stargate SG-1 finally started to return to center with this week’s episode. I’m still so not sold on the whole idea that the Ori storyline is part of a continuum with the Goa’uld/false gods storyline rather than a weary rehash of it, but at least with this two-parter the writers have begun to address it as a continuation of what has come before, with Teal’c’s fine speech about whether power, or the manner in which it is used, is a yardstick of godhood. The ending was just a little bit of cop-out.
Atlantis: Holy cow, McKay beat the crap out of somebody. That alone’s worth the price of admission. Now, I’m not so sure about the introduction of the element of the Wraith demanding worship from enslaved humans too. Unless there’s some connecting tissue between the Wraith and the Ori yet to be revealed, one could almost get the impression that the Stargate folks are running into the folly of the Trek franchise: running out of ideas. And again, another Trekkishly neat wrap-up, with hints of divisiveness within the Wraith – again, nothing we haven’t seen before – and another hint that Ford will be back yet again, though I’m not entirely sure I care anymore. Damn it, Atlantis could, and should, be better than this.
Finally, a word about opening titles. I was one of the many fans rallying for the return of a traditional full opening title sequence for SG-1 and Atlantis with last fall’s season. Even though I’ve been watching plenty of DVDs lately with their own full titles on them, I was really happy to hear the full opening titles for the Stargate series again. Watching them, on the other hand…eh. I dunno. Something about the new SG-1 open rubbed me the wrong way – I think it was the not-even-remotely-realistic CG stargate that did it. Atlantis was a bit better, with the still photos of the cast, though I’m not sure they could’ve possibly found a more unflattering shot of Paul McGillion.
Galactica: Admittedly, we have yet another quick defuse of the cliffhanger here, but this was much more like it. I was completely stunned with Roslin’s suggestion for dealing with the situation, but then again, she’s airlocked someone without even blinking. The overall storyline couldn’t be more timely – “our heroes” have tortured and killed prisoners of war, so what differentiates them from those other guys? What makes one degree of torture any more or less humane than another?
I did enjoy seeing, finally, a hint of a deeper relationship between Roslin and Adama. It says a lot about how well-drawn these characters are when they can have Tricia Helfer laying naked (and mostly uncovered) across a bed in one scene, but it’s this other scene that gets my attention. Of course, that intercutting scene at the end of the show also gets my attention. Holy crap. No quickie wrap-up this time. And that’s why Galactica’s the best show on Sci-Fi Fridays by an incalculably vast margin.… Read more
