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Aurora Novarum episode rating:
excellent |
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One reviewer's thoughts on 10.03
"The Pegasus Project".
This episode is far and away the
best one of Season Ten, and it's
difficult to think of a Season
Nine one to top it. The much
anticipated "crossover" episode
was a great integration of many
of the casts of both shows, with
good character moments by all.
Several laugh-out-loud moments
peppered the first half of the
show, and second half, through,
music, pacing, dialogue,
direction, and of course the
always excellent performances by
the cast, all gelled to create
suspense, drama, and danger for
both plotlines of the episode.
By the way, I'm starting a
petition to rename this episode
"Daniel's Disneyland." This
episode delivered in Dr.
Jackson's long time quest to
search for Atlantis. The first
few scenes were a great tribute
were wonderful character
moments, for all the main cast,
while including the somewhat
clunky but necessary exposition
of why they were in this
crossover episode.
Daniel's wonder at finally
seeing the city he'd been aching
to visit for so long was
wonderfully played by Shanks, as
was his despair and loneliness
at the end. His methodical
search of the database was very
in character, as was his
increasing frustration and
suspicion of the Others and
their motives. Daniel's been
bitten more than once by the
Ancients, so he was very right
to be overly skeptical. Weir's
interaction as the Atlantis
culture expert, expedition
leader, and previous
acquaintance with Daniel made
her presence seem natural and
not a forced crossover.
Vala was a bit of a distraction
in some of her lines. But then
again, Vala is still feeling her
way into being a part of things
at the SGC, and trying to tone
down her exuberance, so perhaps
this awkwardness is a conscious
decision for her overall
character arc of trying to
integrate herself with the team
she's adopted.
Her alienness was well played
with no concept of Christmastime
(oh, when she only finds out),
or the honestly unintentional
size reference to McKay's dog
analogy (with Daniel, Mitchell,
and Weir neatly side-stepping
the issue). Her concern for
Daniel was genuine at the end,
as was her cutting to the chase,
in both the interrogation and
confrontation with Morgan Le
Fay. It was a bit surprising she
didn't ask about Adria, but in
this context, learning more
about Daniel and the ascendeds
was the better focus, and much
more interesting.
As a fan long interested in
Daniel's ascended character arc,
I found this episode satisfying
and extremely enjoyable, with
several mysteries still
untapped.
The Odyssey storyline was well
played out as well. Colonel
Emerson is quickly becoming one
of my favorite new recurring
characters with his acerbic wit.
Carter and McKay are always well
played together, and Mitchell
overall made a nice counterpoint
to their oneupsmanship. Loved
the nod to "Grace Under
Pressure". The more annoying
character traits seemed to come
out the most in McKay this
episode; he appeared more like
the "48 Hours" McKay than
Atlantis regular, but perhaps
this the fact he wasn't in his
comfort zone. This crew is less
tolerant of his foibles (Zelenka
may be the same way, but only
the Czech fans would know that
for certain), and McKay always
tries to overimpress his rival
and crush, Carter.
Carter was fantastic, in her
interactions with Daniel, Cam,
and Vala. Her grimacing at the
reveal she needed McKay's help,
and disgust at being a part of
McKay's fantasies were well
played. Tapping and Hewlitt
spark a wonderful chemistry when
onscreen together. As the
respective technobabblers of
their shows, it's a great battle
of wits to see them out-geek
each other with coming up with
the impossible.
Mitchell was unusually impatient
with McKay, but that's easily
attributable to solidarity with
his teammate, Sam. Mitchell's
lemon threatening (which he got
from Sheppard, at least), was a
bit over the top, but his
looming over McKay to interrupt
the requisite "sexy" comment was
quite the southern gentleman.
Poor Teal'c didn't get to come
and play with the others, but
his dialogue in his appearance
kept his character present in a
real, (though slower voiced)
sense. Besides, he was the only
first hand witness to the first
real smackdown of the Ori
since...well, since their
introduction.
On a completely shallow note
(unusual for me, no really), the
Black BDUs are the most
complementary outfit for SG-1,
they always look more serious,
ready for action, and of course
very cool, when wearing this
particular version of the
uniform rotation.
Yes, great effects, excellent
plot, sharp dialogue,
interweaving of character
development and plot, a balance
of the humor and the drama, a
natural integration of two very
strong shows and casts, and
fantastic performances all made
this a thoroughly enjoyable hour
of television.
Six out of five stars...oh, I
can't do that? Okay, five out of
five. |
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