SG-U – Visitation - (2x09) - (Discuss – Grade | SPOILERS)

[David cgc]

Am I the only one who thought the characters were especially "on" this week? I'm not sure if it was the writer, or the director, or just everybody had their wheaties this morning, but everyone felt a lot less forced and a lot more comfortable in their roles, with the scientists busting each others' chops on the bridge at the beginning about who did the best Caine impersonation on the ship and who used the "trojan" horse, Young's smartass response to Eli getting bitchy, Park and Greer having some interaction that appeared to be written by someone who'd actually seen a human romance before, and Wray joking about not finding Young too creepy, and being overqualified for HR work.

It was like all the SGU people turned into SG-1 or SGA people overnight. It got to the point I wondered if it might be some kind of intentional twist when Greer was trying to protect Scott from getting his heart broken when Chloe finally had to be dealt with, and it was going to end up being like that episode of TNG when Captain Picard suddenly started being friendly with the crew because he was an alien duplicate.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Am I the only one who thought the characters were especially "on" this week? I'm not sure if it was the writer, or the director, or just everybody had their wheaties this morning, but everyone felt a lot less forced and a lot more comfortable in their roles, with the scientists busting each others' chops on the bridge at the beginning about who did the best Caine impersonation on the ship and who used the "trojan" horse, Young's smartass response to Eli getting bitchy, Park and Greer having some interaction that appeared to be written by someone who'd actually seen a human romance before, and Wray joking about not finding Young too creepy, and being overqualified for HR work.

It was like all the SGU people turned into SG-1 or SGA people overnight. It got to the point I wondered if it might be some kind of intentional twist when Greer was trying to protect Scott from getting his heart broken when Chloe finally had to be dealt with, and it was going to end up being like that episode of TNG when Captain Picard suddenly started being friendly with the crew because he was an alien duplicate.

I agree that the characterization was good this week. It's just that it was overshadowed by Caine's merry band of zombies and the business with the light aliens.

 

[bullethead]

Am I the only one who thought the characters were especially "on" this week? I'm not sure if it was the writer, or the director, or just everybody had their wheaties this morning, but everyone felt a lot less forced and a lot more comfortable in their roles, with the scientists busting each others' chops on the bridge at the beginning about who did the best Caine impersonation on the ship and who used the "trojan" horse, Young's smartass response to Eli getting bitchy, Park and Greer having some interaction that appeared to be written by someone who'd actually seen a human romance before, and Wray joking about not finding Young too creepy, and being overqualified for HR work.

It was like all the SGU people turned into SG-1 or SGA people overnight. It got to the point I wondered if it might be some kind of intentional twist when Greer was trying to protect Scott from getting his heart broken when Chloe finally had to be dealt with, and it was going to end up being like that episode of TNG when Captain Picard suddenly started being friendly with the crew because he was an alien duplicate.

I liked the characterization, but it came too suddenly for it to seem like a logical progression from earlier episodes. I think that if they had dropped Cloverdale and put an episode between this one and Malice showing the crew working together and getting to trust each other, then the behavior in this episode would be believable.

 

[Brent]

The way I've thought about it now is that the aliens were giving the crew of the Destiny a chance to find out what happened to their other people. If they had not done anything it would be a mystery, I look at it as a way of closure, a way to show them what happened.

 

[MPH]

Does anyone think the shuttle will deterioate just like the people?

 

[Harvey]

I doubt it. From reading the comments (haven't seen the episode) it seems like a pretty clear excuse for the writers to re-set the situation on Destiny so that they have a working shuttle again.

 

[The Wormhole]

Besides, the shuttle wasn't actually destroyed on the Genesis planet, so no reason why it would be destroyed on Destiny.

In regards to the above comments about the characters being "right" this week, I agree to an extent. There were some good character moments sprinkled for Brody and Volker, Greer and Park, Young and Wray. Rush had an alright scene where he mocks Dr. Caine's belief that the alien gods are in fact gods. Scott remains bland, and aside from the scene where Greer chewed him out, there was nothing too great about him. And Chloe's seens are starting to get painful to watch, I was glazing over nearly every time she was on screen. Being eye candy is the only thing this character has going for her at the moment.

 

[Agent Richard07]

Camile: "Tell me what you see."
Peter: "I see Kobol."

 

[Meredith]

Wow, this is such a shitty excuse to get a new shuttle. Why the fuck would these aliens heal these people up, then have them die again? Did they hate Caine's religious bullshit?

Crap-sack Aliens, they can re-build a shuttle to perfection, but they cannot put two ends of a DNA strand together and fix someone who has died. Heck the Ancients did that with the Healing Device and the Sarcophagi.

Unless these aliens are mechanical in nature and re-animated the dead folks with nanobots that had a limited runtime....

 

[Meredith]

Does anyone think the shuttle will deterioate just like the people?

Yes at the most inopportune time too.

 

[Brent]

Maybe it isn't a question of if they can, cause perhaps they can, maybe its a question of them doing it deliberately.

 

[Hyperspace05]

9 Chevrons - I *really* liked this. I was finally able to see this after returning from a thanksgiving trip.

- I really dig this kind of 'big idea' SF that deals with faith/science/whatever. (I suppose it has to do with my own split believer/skeptic personality) This was right up my alley.

- I figured that the people left on the planet would appear again somehow. But I had no idea that they would be brought back in such a *dark* way. The realization of what had occurred (which became obvious after the 1st death) was very creepy. And IMO well executed. To be brought back only to die again is grim stuff. Or it could be seen as another chance, depending on how you look at it. But I'm glad they went down this route.

- The flashbacks to the planet were chilling... Pun intended. To slowly die of hunger/freezing on this once appealing planet, seeing your friends die one by one, and being the only one left... Again a very grim scenario, almost as if it was picked from my own nightmares.

- Great character moments. The writing and acting of all was just *on* this episode. (well except for Wray, but I can't stand that character) The Greer and Chloe scene was one of the best acting moments on the show so far. And Rush/Caine's discussion was also a great one.

- No hope for TJ's baby being alive then. But most of us expected that, I'm sure. I guess this episode settled what her vision was - a projection from the ship. (just like it got into Young's mind). It's the thing that makes the most sense based on what we have seen so far, IMO. I'm not sure I like what that implies, but I'm willing give the writers a chance to make it pay off properly down the line.

- From scanning this thread it seems like many of them consider this a 'reset' episode, just because they got a new shuttle. But I disagree... What that shuttle (and the reanimated people) implies is what is the important part of this episode. I'm sure it (and the shuttle's new state) will continue to pay off in the future.

To conclude - These last 3 episodes of SGU have truly been brilliant, IMO. I was getting worried at the start of season 2, but I am now more excited about SGU than I have ever been. I love SF that explores these kind of large questions with ancient powers (almost) beyond understanding, and I am very excited to see them go down this path.

 

[Yoda]

I gave it a 4.

I really didn't care to see the idiots from the idiot planet again. I will admit it was kind of fun to see them all die though.

Also, did I miss something. Chloe is... almost gone... but... she kind of looks the same as always... did I miss where they showed anything more interesting about her condition than oh she has a better immune system, and oh, she can do math now whereas before she was kind of an idiot?!? Anyway her plot line is incredibly boring, and scenes with her and loverboy really suck the life out of this show. Horrible lines uttered by bad actors who have zero chemistry. God it feels like Attack of the Clones all over again.

Anyway, this episode completely lost me when Wray pops up and says "Oh, let me try hypnosis!" Seriously? Bullshit fucking hypnosis? I can't wait until they solve the next mystery by using maybe... magnet therapy. Yep. Why not? Let's put magnets on everybody's heads and then they'll remember everything. Simple magnet therapy!

 

[The Wormhole]

Also, did I miss something. Chloe is... almost gone... but... she kind of looks the same as always... did I miss where they showed anything more interesting about her condition than oh she has a better immune system, and oh, she can do math now whereas before she was kind of an idiot?!? Anyway her plot line is incredibly boring, and scenes with her and loverboy really suck the life out of this show. Horrible lines uttered by bad actors who have zero chemistry. God it feels like Attack of the Clones all over again.

You didn't miss anything. Chloe's condition up until now was just a better immune system, a resistance to bullets and math skills. The fact that everyone is now talking about this being the end and that preparations must be made is just pulled out of the blue for this episode, possibly for the purposes of builidng up for the mid-season finale.

Anyway, this episode completely lost me when Wray pops up and says "Oh, let me try hypnosis!" Seriously? Bullshit fucking hypnosis? I can't wait until they solve the next mystery by using maybe... magnet therapy. Yep. Why not? Let's put magnets on everybody's heads and then they'll remember everything. Simple magnet therapy!

Did it bother you when hypnosis was used in SG-1's Fire and Water?

 

[Yoda]

Did it bother you when hypnosis was used in SG-1's Fire and Water?

Umm, maybe, I had to google it, I wouldn't have seen it for at least a decade, and even after reading some of the synopsis I have no memory of the episode. Maybe I need hypnosis myself

 

[PsychoPere]

Considering all of the insane things any given SG team may experience or encounter, I wasn't in the least surprised that at least some IOA representatives are trained in hypnosis.

 

[Pauln6]

One of the best episodes so far for me. This was the first time I've seen the wider crew starting to bond properly. Park's exchange with Greer, Greer turning what could have been a macho argument with Scott into something quite meaningful, Greer's interaction with Chloe, Camille's scene with Young about the hypnosis etc.

The paranoia was unfounded (or was it?) ; good deeds can lead to unintentional consequences; Young isn't always wrong (i.e. not wanting them to settle a dangerous planet); is Chloe becoming nothing more than a shadow? There were so many themes washing around under the surface. I gave it a 9.