Fall in the Air
Sep. 11th, 2006 12:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
itsallovernowI don't have anything profound to say about today, as an anniversary, as a representation, as a part of our collective conciousness. Everyone has a personal reaction both to the events and to the fallout, and really, what we do with those reaction is going to more and more apparent as time goes on. Personally, I'm not ready to look at it as a narrative - a movie, a documentary, a book. I'm not ready for the experience to be streamlined, and that's about all I have to say.
Danced at a wedding last night, which went well. Apparently there were industry people there, but I tried very hard not to notice, largely because I'm feeling far from thrilled with my body these days and the idea of having people I watch on television seeing me looking like I do right now does NOT fill me with glee. It's that reflective gaze thing. I'm not all that thrilled with random strangers seeing me looking like I do, but I don't have to look at them either, so that makes it okay.
Going away on Wednesday for my mixed blessing vacation. Yeah Mexico. I still don't know whether or not to take the laptop. I wonder if I really will write while I'm there, or if it will just be a pain in the ass that I have to lug around and keep track of.
I did watch some TV. Yeah TV. Including the first SGA in ages that I didn't sleep through - although that was in part due to watching it at the extremely SGA friendly house of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
iamsab and wearemany et al (who, despite organizing the viewing party, did not actually watch SGA. Which made me grin madly:) Watching it amongs devotees is so, so the way to go, and I enjoyed it thoroughly and have nothing profound to say.
About SG-1, though, ... Let me say right off the bat that I recognize that in many ways, this ep was a mess. Plotting, pacing, and so on. And you know what? I do not care!! So, so do not care. Because really, I signed on to SG-1 for the chance to see Claudia Black on my screen again, not to mention Ben Browder, and along the way have really fell for the characters in these past two seasons. But at the heart of it, I'm here for the nostalgia and the pretty and the characters. I do not care about the plot. I do not pay attention to the plot. It's not suspension of disbelief, it's a way to stay invested, because these are not writers who do great plot.
So "Momento Mori" and we'll ignore completely that really, that title makes no sense in the context of this ep because whoever comes up with the titles clearly uses my own method which is if it sounds good, use it. Hidden memories, genetic memories, choice about who you are and what you want to be, and how deeply rooted survival is in all of this. Season 10, in many ways, is breaking down what's at the heart of all of these characters, and for Vala, it's survival. She's with SG-1 because this is a new method of survival, and part of this ep was exploring what, exactly, that means. What she has to keep and what she has to give up and what she'll get in turn.
(And if she gets Cam, naked, cuffed, in bed with junk food. I'd say that's an excellent return on her investment. If she gets Daniel: socially awkward, mildly condescending, and relentlessly invested in her - whether or not he knows it yet - that's something entirely different. Also worthy, also worthwhile. But more than either of those possibilities, what she's really signing on to get is the team. This bond, this family, this group of people with flaws and failures and nobility and purpose. She's signing on to break out of her type of independence that refuses to regard other people and their needs and boundaries and live an existence that is dependent upon other people's skills and needs and boundaries. And that's a hell of a thing to ask. And it deserves a lot more than a fancy dinner.)
Hee - that... Just to get out of the way, for those of you who've never been to Colorado Springs, Canada does not in any way shape or form look like Colorado. (Okay, that's not true, the corresponding parts of Canada - Calgary, et al, look just like Colorado. Where they film SG-1, not so much. So it always, always makes me giggle to think of them running amok in Colorado Springs.)
The team has embraced Vala as one of their own, and I love that. Not quite as much as the entire, ridiculous motorcylce chase, gun shot wound, get in the car, "Shut up", cuffing Cam to the bed and leaving him naked and fondling his dog tags, stealing his money and buying him twinkies and having the team find him and comment on his propensity for losing his pants thing. Nothing will ever come close to that. Nothing.
But, the thing is, this ep works because at the heart of it, it's about what family does to and for each other. Daniel can't call his taking her out to dinner a date because he can't take that step. Vala can because she already has. She's embraced what he tells her - to stop running, to stay, to not lose herself in yet another world that she'll have to exploit, to learn how to function with new rules while not losing herself. Daniel's still got so much to work through - his place on the team, in the universe, his relationships and what they mean. It makes me invested in him, finally.
And Cam. Oh man, so invested. I don't know why, but I am. Because he's taken charge. He is leading, and he's doing it through the strength of his team, by embracing their strengths and looking at them as the equals they are. And one of those equals is Vala and I love that.
I loved that while Landry handed her the badges, it was Teal'c and Cam who placed them, who bracketed her with their unconditional support, who came to her with the welcome, with the offer of a celebration, flipping her initial entry into the team when it was her demand. Not it's their request, their approval.
(As an aside, this ep also pushed even more Cam/Vala stuff for me, with a healthy dose of wondering how they'd navigate Daniel/Vala at the same time. How much would either one want to know and how much would they have to? But it also makes me want to write plotty gen for all of them, if I could just figure out enough plot to accomodate them:)
Danced at a wedding last night, which went well. Apparently there were industry people there, but I tried very hard not to notice, largely because I'm feeling far from thrilled with my body these days and the idea of having people I watch on television seeing me looking like I do right now does NOT fill me with glee. It's that reflective gaze thing. I'm not all that thrilled with random strangers seeing me looking like I do, but I don't have to look at them either, so that makes it okay.
Going away on Wednesday for my mixed blessing vacation. Yeah Mexico. I still don't know whether or not to take the laptop. I wonder if I really will write while I'm there, or if it will just be a pain in the ass that I have to lug around and keep track of.
I did watch some TV. Yeah TV. Including the first SGA in ages that I didn't sleep through - although that was in part due to watching it at the extremely SGA friendly house of
iamsab and wearemany et al (who, despite organizing the viewing party, did not actually watch SGA. Which made me grin madly:) Watching it amongs devotees is so, so the way to go, and I enjoyed it thoroughly and have nothing profound to say.About SG-1, though, ... Let me say right off the bat that I recognize that in many ways, this ep was a mess. Plotting, pacing, and so on. And you know what? I do not care!! So, so do not care. Because really, I signed on to SG-1 for the chance to see Claudia Black on my screen again, not to mention Ben Browder, and along the way have really fell for the characters in these past two seasons. But at the heart of it, I'm here for the nostalgia and the pretty and the characters. I do not care about the plot. I do not pay attention to the plot. It's not suspension of disbelief, it's a way to stay invested, because these are not writers who do great plot.
So "Momento Mori" and we'll ignore completely that really, that title makes no sense in the context of this ep because whoever comes up with the titles clearly uses my own method which is if it sounds good, use it. Hidden memories, genetic memories, choice about who you are and what you want to be, and how deeply rooted survival is in all of this. Season 10, in many ways, is breaking down what's at the heart of all of these characters, and for Vala, it's survival. She's with SG-1 because this is a new method of survival, and part of this ep was exploring what, exactly, that means. What she has to keep and what she has to give up and what she'll get in turn.
(And if she gets Cam, naked, cuffed, in bed with junk food. I'd say that's an excellent return on her investment. If she gets Daniel: socially awkward, mildly condescending, and relentlessly invested in her - whether or not he knows it yet - that's something entirely different. Also worthy, also worthwhile. But more than either of those possibilities, what she's really signing on to get is the team. This bond, this family, this group of people with flaws and failures and nobility and purpose. She's signing on to break out of her type of independence that refuses to regard other people and their needs and boundaries and live an existence that is dependent upon other people's skills and needs and boundaries. And that's a hell of a thing to ask. And it deserves a lot more than a fancy dinner.)
Hee - that... Just to get out of the way, for those of you who've never been to Colorado Springs, Canada does not in any way shape or form look like Colorado. (Okay, that's not true, the corresponding parts of Canada - Calgary, et al, look just like Colorado. Where they film SG-1, not so much. So it always, always makes me giggle to think of them running amok in Colorado Springs.)
The team has embraced Vala as one of their own, and I love that. Not quite as much as the entire, ridiculous motorcylce chase, gun shot wound, get in the car, "Shut up", cuffing Cam to the bed and leaving him naked and fondling his dog tags, stealing his money and buying him twinkies and having the team find him and comment on his propensity for losing his pants thing. Nothing will ever come close to that. Nothing.
But, the thing is, this ep works because at the heart of it, it's about what family does to and for each other. Daniel can't call his taking her out to dinner a date because he can't take that step. Vala can because she already has. She's embraced what he tells her - to stop running, to stay, to not lose herself in yet another world that she'll have to exploit, to learn how to function with new rules while not losing herself. Daniel's still got so much to work through - his place on the team, in the universe, his relationships and what they mean. It makes me invested in him, finally.
And Cam. Oh man, so invested. I don't know why, but I am. Because he's taken charge. He is leading, and he's doing it through the strength of his team, by embracing their strengths and looking at them as the equals they are. And one of those equals is Vala and I love that.
I loved that while Landry handed her the badges, it was Teal'c and Cam who placed them, who bracketed her with their unconditional support, who came to her with the welcome, with the offer of a celebration, flipping her initial entry into the team when it was her demand. Not it's their request, their approval.
(As an aside, this ep also pushed even more Cam/Vala stuff for me, with a healthy dose of wondering how they'd navigate Daniel/Vala at the same time. How much would either one want to know and how much would they have to? But it also makes me want to write plotty gen for all of them, if I could just figure out enough plot to accomodate them:)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 08:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 08:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 08:59 pm (UTC)And yes. CAM. I found myself suddenly liking him a great deal. Kudos to Ben Broweder; I've never much liked any of the SG-1 guys, except for the glimpses of Jonas, maybe, but now, him?
Yeah.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 09:38 pm (UTC)And I loooove Vala, unconditionally:)
no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 09:48 pm (UTC)Just, the guys. Not my cuppa. But then, Cam!
no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 10:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 10:00 pm (UTC)Totally in agreement re: SG1. I'm only in it for BB and CB, and they've managed to keep my interest in Cam and Vala and even the team a bit, which is nice.
The whole chase/handcuff/pantsless thing made the episode for me, but I very much enjoyed Vala being welcomed home to the team.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 10:06 pm (UTC)My own willingness to give the show a complete free pass on EVERYTHING as long as it delivers the pretty and the funny and the teaminess is something that amuses me a lot. I'm glad I'm not the only one. Not only was Sam capping on Cam for losing his pants hilarious, I am also unreasonably amused by the fact that Cam just settled back with the remote and the twinkies in the first place. Although I do wonder if that meant he thought he'd found her and it was just a matter of talking her home, because he didn't quite get, as Daniel did, that she was so capable of running. Hm.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 10:23 pm (UTC)(And wow, all of that came out of nowhere for me:)
no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 11:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 11:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 10:57 pm (UTC)I have nothing beneficial to say other than I'm just here for the twinkies.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 11:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 11:16 pm (UTC)I should stop looking at Cam handcuffed to that bed now.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 10:26 pm (UTC)Word.
I love this ep so much and probably for all the wrong reasons. And I happily supplied myself with a seriously jealous Cameron in my head because he looked sort of annoyed with Daniel at some points and I have this whole theory where he really, really wants Vala and it's so all written over his face when she touches the dogtags and then he gives her this look and that's love, baby. Also, I need to write shorter sentences.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 10:35 pm (UTC)I don't have to see Vala/Cameron as a OTP epic love. I'll pretty much take them any way I can get them (esp if it's pantless and cuffed to bed).
no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 10:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-12 01:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 11:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 11:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 11:55 pm (UTC)"(And if she gets Cam, naked, cuffed, in bed with junk food. I'd say that's an excellent return on her investment. If she gets Daniel: socially awkward, mildly condescending, and relentlessly invested in her - whether or not he knows it yet - that's something entirely different. Also worthy, also worthwhile. But more than either of those possibilities, what she's really signing on to get is the team. This bond, this family, this group of people with flaws and failures and nobility and purpose. She's signing on to break out of her type of independence that refuses to regard other people and their needs and boundaries and live an existence that is dependent upon other people's skills and needs and boundaries. And that's a hell of a thing to ask. And it deserves a lot more than a fancy dinner.)"
I Love that paragraph and that description. What I don't love is that I'm not FEELING the love in the show itself. It's like it just gets to something then, BANG! We get the stupid diner...and then there's another possibility and BANG! We get the stupid Gou'ald (badly acted) talking on a phone and looking self important.
The theme you've posited sounds very Farscape. That's a good thing. It could be a good thing on SG1 but I just get the vibe that it ever goes that deep. Not for the lack of trying on any actor's part; Claudia, as usual on this show, tries to give Vala some heart and soul but I feel like the rug is pulled out from under her everytime they go for the stupid gag.
My two favorite scenes are the Daniel/Vala dinner and the Daniel/Vala reunion. I like the Cam/Vala because it's funny, Ben and Claudia play it to perfection and I think I could watch an entirely new show with these two.
And, on a separate note, am I the only one who thought of George Costanza when Cam gets stripped to his skivvies, handcuffed to a bed and has his money stolen? I wonder if the writers are Seinfeld fans.
My two cents, intruding on your LJ ;) Forgive me.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 11:58 pm (UTC)For me, the key is to accept it for what it is. It's candy, and it's often dealing only with surface things, and there are rarely far reaching consequences and not a gigantic amount of character development. But there is so damn much potential, and such an abundance of pretty that I'm willing to ignore the rest:)
no subject
Date: 2006-09-12 12:08 am (UTC)Well, I understand the acceptance and without a doubt, I had absolutely no emotional connection or any interest in the show prior to season 9. But I think it's that damned potential that kills me. I actually like Vala as a character. Now whether that's colored by my admiration for Ms. Black...well, possibly.
At any rate, Vala's different. With Sam and Cam and the rest..they're already developed human beings, honorable people who've done mostly honorable things. Vala has so many flaws and so much to make up for, so much room for growth, that the gloss over just slays me.
It's strange to me that this episode got me so riled up because typically I watch the show for the B/C eye candy (yes, I find them both extremely pleasant to look at). "Counterstrike" struck a chord with me, and I thought they did well with Vala and Adria in that episode.
but this one maybe just left me wanting more. I felt that in giving Vala the patch, the door was being closed on her development. "Here's your patch, let's just move back to the story."
If this is the way all the characters have been treated over the years, I can see why the show would never have appealed to me long term. Or even short term without the Browder/Black factor.
Anyway...I like the way you wrote it better ;)
huh
Date: 2006-10-01 11:29 pm (UTC)Re: huh
Date: 2006-10-02 12:25 am (UTC)