well, SG1 episode 2 becomes what we are used to, with extra fantasy involvement. the blend of military scifi and fantasy storyline makes for an interesting episode.
again we come to the conclusion that the storylines, acting and filming style provide us with an episode better than most Scifi channels B movies. Whereas the first episode this season appeared a bit too light on the ground, we now see at least a 3 part story and the reason for the story pace becomes more obvious. the ending of this part leaves us craving for the 3rd part to the story (if it is going to be just the 3 parts!!)
the major features of this storyline are the lack of corny storylines, although the earth characters allow some irony and sarcasm in their interactions. each time we are faced with new information and actions of alternate civilisations the storyline does not suffer like many, many programs and films we could mention.
predictability of character actions maybe comes from such a long term existence n our screens, although i prefer to think it's because the level of show writing is now so complex and realistic for the scifi world that we dread the possible end of the show. could the depth of the show turn off new converts to the scifi world? maybe starting to watch the show from the 9th series might be a bit of a problem, but i dare new viewers to find any major faults with the show
SGA reminds me of a major storyline from one of David Feintuchs : Hope series where the onboard AI goes mad after a mistake due to poor programming by humans. in this case the core o the AI can be pulled and replaced by a core copy made at last space dock after the AI's memory has been thoroughly checked and fully functional.
here we have a computer virus where the crews answer is to power off and then power back up. unfortunately that one will get past people who don't know anything about computing, but the rest of us (and surely scifi fans are more likely to have computer knowledge) the differences between ROM and RAM and other modern non-volatile memory options. a major technical mistake in my opinion, that should have been changed to have staff physically pulling ROM out of the computers onboard and replacing them with isolated stored fresh copies.
but aside from this, we see the stiffness of the Daedalus' commander soften through interaction with the team, his hard earned acceptance of civilians working in a military restricted environment. character development for this particular character is needed. However, the time allocated to showing the viewer this is short and not the main theme of the episode, i am thinking this is less complex episode and rather these parts were preparing us for greater involvement by this character. he either dies heroically making some big statement or he's going to be a controlling character in the ever expanding sphere of characters as some dissappears.
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BSG characters again didn't act quite like they should do, providing us with annoying groans of half toe curling experiences. the few characters with a decent script and an actor with abilities to back it up shine through though. and guess what? two of the best are english
is the ships 2IC really got that many character flaws that he canot make the right decisions? so far his actions have resulted in a good ending, even if he is tortured mentally during the experience. but thats what good anti-heros are for. i think most people prefer to see less than perfect characters, people with real problems that can act when the time requires it. there has to be shades of grey in life and our entertainment. we can't expect war heroes to fit in with high society socially after coming back from bload soaked battlefields, bu we do expect intelligent scientists in this day and age not to cry like a baby and hide in the corner (although we exempt characters with cylon AI interfering directly with their brains!) inside our skins we are but the sum of our life experiences, we are all different. but with so much "living" available to us it's hard to find anyone who hasn't abseiled off a cliff or building, canoed down a fast flowing river, walked/run across the wilderness with no real backup, had to face the "fight or flight" emotions that make us truly human. we want more from our programming as we have experienced in our own lives and gradually we are seeing bits and pieces finally making it.
BSG has made 2 good season 2 starting episodes and the ball is still rolling under it's own momentum...........................................