rant

madrab

i hate character episodes!!!!!


i hate bratack!!!!!


i hate atlantis!!!!!


i hate colm meaney playing crappy characters!!!!


i hate jolean blalock talking!!!!!



arghhhhhhhhhhhh

why cant i stop watching these programs


somebody show some good scifi or kidnap the stargate writers kids and force them to write good episodes with good enemies

User45701

Thats a terrible rant SG is the most popular Sci-fi show at the moment
Colem meaney is funny i like having both him and t`pol in SG
Charactor episodes can be very good
many ppl hated TNG when it first aired said it was not as good as TOS but now TNG is many peoples faverate ST series (mine is DS9)

madrab

ohhh dont get me started on ds9 but anyway

it just seams that sg isnt trying anything new its always:

main stroy arch consists of:
one episode at the start, maybe one in the middle and one at the end

the rest seems to be just filler
random civilisation who never knew what the stargate was
random bratach (i dont care if thats not how you spell it as i hate him and wich he was dead) episode
random jafaa (spelling as before)episode who eventuall find out that the gouald are not gods

etc..

like in the last season there was the episode when they found out about the darth vader super soldiers, then they didnt appear for ages
or when they left the x303 in deep space and just left it there for ages without mentioning it again

is it that hard for a bit of consistensity???

and as for sg being the most popular scifi show on at the moment, is it that hard when there isnt any other scifi shows on (not including the battlestar galactica wich i really like)

im sorry but i really like scifi so i feel conpulsed to watch any that is on but sometimes i just feel cheated (usually at 9 & 10 on a tuesday night)

User45701

Then i fell sorry four you many people would say you are missing out on something brillent

madrab

im not missing out , as im still watching it but i just think they are taking a dead dog for a walk

mr_angry

In my opinion, sci-fi series rely on a sense of climax to make them good. If every episode featured super-amazing enemies, it would get boring very quickly, unless the writers were incredibly inventive. Part of the appeal is the character development.

For example, in Star Trek TNG, without some of the filler episodes, we would never know people like Reg Barclay. We would never see Picard's fussyness challenged. We would never see Data's investigation of humanity. Instead, he would just be a robot at a console who carried out the captain's orders.

Back on topic, if I have a criticism about Stargate Atlantis, its that they don't seem to use filler episodes to do enough character development. We know bits and pieces about Rodney McKay (probably why he's the outstanding character at the moment), but very little about people like Ford. IMHO, they need to develop these characters far more, and combine the episodes with mysteries that have to be solved, etc. So far, they seem heavily reliant on throwing obvious information at you. The episode where they discovered the 10,000 year-old Wraith was an example - you know Shepard just had to kill him, and that he would, but it was just a matter of time. Whereas I much preferred the episode with the viral outbreak as it gave them a puzzle to solve at the same time. The only thing I was disappointed with about that episode was that they didn't really develop anyones character, and I felt it would be an ideal time to concentrate more on the Czech scientist, or even keep alive the crazy bloke who tried to escape to the mess hall.

In summary, character episodes are a necessity, and if done right, are equally as good as any war-to-end-all-war episodes.

ixoy

I'm a big fan of characters. It's always been one of SG1's appeals to me. Even if the storyline wasn't always top notch, or if it was recycled, the humour and character interaction bouyed it up. Certain episodes then, focusing on character, work well because I enjoy spending time with them and, as much as you can with a fictional character, getting to know them.

Now some basic themese, as you point out Madrab, do get recycled and we've seen our share of false god storyline, etc. But those descriptions are too broad to do the individual episodes. It's like decrying Trek because they keep having episodes where they go down to a planet. We need these weekly filler episodes because consistently pushing the arc along is a difficult thing to do. Sure some shows manage it (e.g. Babylon 5) but, as a rule, network execs. don't like it because it discourages large viewings. It's one of the reasons C.S.I., without any real plot arcs, is so popular whereas "The Wire", where every single episode interconnects on multiple levels, never gets the attention.

I do think it's unfair to attack SG1 for consistency. Maybe in the quality of the writing but, in terms of continuity, it's pretty strong. Just because they don't mention something every week doesn't mean it's forgotten. After all the primary goal of the SGC is often stated as to acquire technologies to defend earth from the Goa'uld threat and they have an eye to that every week that they step through the gate. When the threats/characters do reappear it's normally without violating any prior canon. The show's bible is reasonably solid.

madrab

good points but i just dont know.....



i think im just seriously missing babylon5 :-)