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Aurora Novarum episode rating: good |
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Season Ten started neither with
a bang not a whimper, but a cry
of child birth that could
perhaps be a metaphor for
setting up the new story arcs
and relatively new mythology and
cast for Stargate: SG-1. The
episode itself was solid, filled
with excellent performances and
fantastic sets and costuming.
However, the constant exposition
of the immediate and distant
back-story of this long running
show became plodding at times,
and parts of the episode
dragged.
The performances by the cast
were top notch. Let's face it,
depression at getting trounced
by technologically superior
intergalactic aliens in a space
battle is not an every day
occurrence from which actors can
draw. The despair the characters
felt in defeat and loss was
palpable, as were their glimmers
of hope and fear for colleagues
not yet safe. Even through the
drier, tedious dialogue, the
characters seemed real. This was
true not only of the SG-1 team
and General Landry, but also of
the caustic Col. Emerson and
reliable Lt./Capt./Maj. Marks.
The only exception was perhaps
the final scene in the infirmary
where Carter recapped the first
eight years of the series in a
paragraph, and Mitchell
proclaimed he would "fight until
his dying breath". To be fair,
it's doubtful anyone could have
pulled off those lines, but this
"hopeful" ending seemed a bit
forced and heavy-handed.
The other guest
stars/performances were also
well done. Netan (Eric
Steinberg) brought the wild
dangerousness of the Lucian
Alliance out better than
previous appearances by the
syndicate. His frustration at
loss and his selfishness and
sadistic torture of poor Teal'c,
coupled with his bluff to try
and capture the "Odyssey" and
destroying his crippled ship
gave an effective sense of this
new, more minor menace for the
SGC. For the first time, they
seemed like the viable enemy
first described in Season Nine's
"The Ties That Bind".
If Colonel Chekov (Garry Chalk)
was definitely not one of the
six beamed out survivors of the
Korolev, his one flashback scene
was a sad footnote end to a
wonderful character. Sometimes
adversarial but always
entertaining, Chekov had been a
welcome addition to Stargate's
recurring characters since his
first appearance in Season
Five's "The Tomb". If this truly
was his last appearance on the
show, it would be remiss not to
acknowledge his passing and
thanks to Garry Chalk for years
of charming performances, most
notably in "Crusade" against
Bridges's Landry.
Tim Guinee as Tomin brought
added complexity in his role
since his introduction in the
generally unimpressive
"Crusade". This time his
personality and ethical dilemma
between loyalty to his wife and
to his faith made him a real and
sympathetic figure in this very
black and white battle.
As an optimistic but large
skeptic of the pregnancy
storyline, so far Adria/Orici
has maintained her balance on
the beam where so many
"baby/storylines" in sci-fi and
television generally have
toppled. The children cast in
the role underplayed their venom
and perverse nature in an
effective manner. Each time they
showed the maturity beyond their
years necessary for the role,
augmented by Vala's suspicious
reaction to her daughter. This
personal dynamic with the enemy
has been lacking since the
fanatical and detached Priors
quoting Book of Origin excerpts
by rote have become our only
interactions with the Ori.
As someone dreading Vala's
return as a regular cast member,
so far her reintegration has
gone well. Vala maintains her
intelligence and irreverent
manner. Her banter meeting the
equally suspicious and concerned
Daniel and their gallows humor
brought a welcome relief from
the depressing tone of the
episode to that point. Both
Shanks and Black toned down
their characters' antagonism in
a way that kept it integrated
with the rest of the show, but
still remained true to previous
encounters. The few surprising
laugh out loud moments of the
episode happened here: when Vala
described her prediction if
Adria got her mom's good looks,
Ori would become more attractive
to the males of this galaxy, the
"real" origin of Adria's name
and later, Daniel's pratfall (if
cliche) dive into hiding. Their
repartee made a surprisingly
entertaining exposition scene.
Unfortunately that was one of
the only exciting scenes that
occurred when exposition was
involved. Many times, the
history, Ori/ascended background
was explained in overwhelming
detail, not to mention the
constant "status reports" on the
nature of repairs of the
hyperdrive and beaming
technology. Although all this
may have been considered
necessary, it also kept the
storyline more plodding than
focused at times. Just when they
were starting to get forward
momentum on a plot, the scene
would switch to another, where
playing "catch-up" would happen
again.
The momentum of the story was
further hampered by the cuts to
flashbacks. It was clear that
the story telling device was to
maintain suspense for what had
befallen our heroes since the
cliffhanger finale. However, the
constant flashbacks to the heat
of battle after the result was
already known resulted in
retelling of old news again and
again. It was a clever idea, but
in practical execution,
unfortunately fell flat.
On the other hand, the current
peril was almost always dramatic
and interesting. One of the best
sequences of the episode was
Carter's retrieval onto the
ship. The special effects as
well as the great performances
of Tapping and Browder in Carter
and Mitchell's radio dialogue
and facial expressions
maintained the suspense. So too
was the danger of Daniel and
Vala in their climactic
confrontation with Tomin, Adria
and the Prior. The only
awkwardness was Bra'tac's (Tony
Amendola) decision to ram the
ha'tak when not even their most
powerful bomb inside the Ori
shields had any effect. Since
Season One, Bra'tac has never
shied from battle nor flinched
at dying for his cause, but a
kamikaze attack that would
likely be (and in fact was)
ineffectual against the warship
was bizarre, and created
unnecessary drama.
A final note to the costumes and
set designs. The circular nature
of the Ori themes repeated again
and again, from the ankhs on
uniforms to the keyhole doorways
with Ancient writing, to the
round windows, were a constant
reminder of the similar origins
of the Ori to their Stargate
creating brethren, the Ancients/Alterans.
The costumes of Vala, the
Lucians, Tomin, and Daniel's
robes were excellent choices,
beautiful but not distracting.
Whether intentional or not,
Adria's outfit immediately
reminded me of Little Red Riding
Hood, only this time "Red Riding
Hood" IS the big bad wolf.
In short, "Flesh and Blood" was
a good set-up episode to themes
and story arcs of Season Ten.
Now that the stage has been set,
here's hoping future episodes
will bring forth an excellent
execution. |
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