Stargate SG1 (the entire series)

TV Show

1997 - 2007


note: this is long review that covers the entire series

Having recently been forced into convalescence I found myself with a lot of time on my hands. My dear brother lent me his 10 season DVD set of Stargate SG1 to help break the boredom. Indeed, it took several months to get through the whole series, but for a Sci-Fi buff it was like manna from heaven.

As it happens I had already watched the entire 5-year run of Stargate Atlantis, therefore much of the lore as well as the back story was thoroughly ingrained in me before I even loaded up the first disk. Of course any Sci-Fi buff worth his salt had already watched the movie that sparked the franchise. The 1994 movie Stargate starring Kurt Russell and James Spader spurred a strong and loyal fan base that made the success of the TV series more or less a lock.

The Setup:
The Stargate was an ancient (alien) device found buried in the Giza plateau of Egypt in 1928. In 1996 the United States Air force has come into possession of the gate and recruits radical Egyptologist Dr. Daniel Jackson to translate the runes found alongside it and activate the gate.The Stargate, when activated, creates a stable wormhole that allows for instantaneous travel to a planet light years away that is also possessing a Stargate.


Dr. Jackson, who has up to this point been ridiculed for his theory that an alien race had visited and oversaw the building of the great pyramids as landing platforms for their massive starships, was the one to decode the Stargate "address" that led them to the first off-world adventure (as seen in the movie) known as Abydos.

The TV series literally picks up where the movie left off. Daniel Jackson, now played by Michael Shanks, had been left behind when Col. Jack O'Neill (played by Richard Dean Anderson) takes the team back to Earth as the movie ends. On the return trip a year or so later they find Jackson alive and with the news that in his possession is a map of many Stargates that exist throughout the galaxy. When Jackson's wife is abducted by the alien Go'ould known as Apophos he returns to Earth and joins the newly formed SG1 with the goal of finding his wife again.

The SG1 team with O'Neill at the head and Jackson as a civilian consultant also includes Major Samantha Carter (played by Amanda Tapping) who was the scientist instrumental in developing the dialing device for the Stargate. Soon the team enlists an alien, a Jaffa, called Teal'c (played perfectly by Christopher Judge) who longs for freedom for his people who are now enslaved by the Go'ould. Together they begin a ten year odyssey taking place in real-time (not some far off future) that baths the series in a fun conspiratorial light.

Suspension of Disbelief:
While first few episodes set up the series by closing out the movie, season one quickly falls off the rails. Having watched a spectacular Stargate Atlantis series that had the benefit of the growing pains SG1 endured I was taken aback by how awful some of the first episodes were. More than once I felt they were nothing more than bad rip-offs of mediocre Star Trek: The Next Generation scripts. I was impatient to discover how SG1 had come across knowledge and technology that was commonplace in Stargate Atlantis. As they randomly dialed the gate addresses from the map Jackson had discovered they found themselves in (in my eyes) tedious backward worlds with medieval cultures that tended to bore the snot out of me.

An important part of the back story is that the Go'ould, a nasty, megalomaniacal race masquerading as gods, had uprooted many cultures from all over a well populated Earth and resettled them on planets rich with mineral resources in order to supply their Jaffa armies and starships using the slave labor. These cultures were not allowed to develop beyond their ancient technological roots. However, some planets including Earth were abandoned or forgotten by the Go'ould because of constant in-fighting amongst themselves.

By the end of season two the series had found its legs and was fun and captivating if you were willing to accept a few glaring inconsistencies and pure foolishness. One thing to note in all the various Stargate series is that the bad guys are terrible shots, none of them can hit the broad side of a barn with any weapon. These are suppose to be fantastic advanced alien weapons and yet they appear to be as inaccurate as a blunderbuss. Second, everyone in the entire galaxy speaks mid-western English. True, many of the cultures are transplanted Earth cultures, but they were transplanted long before English became a ubiquitous language.OK this is TV, yes, an American TV show, it's just easier than subtitles - I get it. What I don't get is how the aliens don't understand prisoner/hostage 101. You always separate your hostages, yet every time SG1 is captured they are always placed in a holding cell all together where they can plot their escape. And escape they do, every time. Aliens are just stupid sometimes.

As the series progresses the writers cleverly weave in Earth-based enemies for SG1 and Stargate Command. We are treated to vast conspiracies from rouge government agencies to business interests hoping to exploit alien technology for commercial gain. This helps to ground the series with fun, conspiratorial sub-plots. Here the cynical  insubordination of Col. Jack O'Neill shines. Richard Dean Anderson plays Col. O'Neill marvelously as an insolent, wise cracking underling to his superiors inside and outside the military chain of command. Yet, he is a fearless leader who never leaves a man behind - no matter the personal danger. He is a man who neither understands nor wants to understand the spectacular technology involved, but never shies away from the missions that rely on the pure magic of alien technology.

The writers also include much of he UFO sub-culture with references to Area 51 and in particular an advanced race called the Asgaards who look exactly like the small gray aliens with almond shaped eyes we've seen over and over in alien abduction lore. The Asgaards, far from being evil have secretly protected Earth for a millennium as humanity developed into a technological culture.

The underlying thread that supports the whole tale is that of the race they call the "Ancients". The Ancients are the gate builders and were by far the most powerful race in the known universe. They did, however, grow weary of constantly being challenged and eventually dismantled their culture and spread themselves throughout the universe (including Earth) or ascended into a higher plain of existence. Their departure some ten thousand years ago (roughly the same time of the first recorded history on Earth) left a vacuum of power in the Milky Way galaxy to be filled by the Go'ould.

Most of the first eight seasons the serial thread is a constant struggle to defeat the Go'ould. The Go'ould are actually parasites that resemble an eel. They bore into a host's body and attach to the brain where they exert complete control. They have chosen human beings as ideal hosts and through advanced regenerative technology keep their hosts alive for thousands of years. The Go'ould have enslaved an entire race of humanoids known as the Jaffa by implanting immature Go'ould symbiotes into them. The Jaffa revere the Go'ould  as gods for without the symbiotes they would die. As a race their immune system has been destroyed and the symbiotes cure illness and repair their injuries.

The god Messages:
The Jaffa seem to made up of many humanoid races, but the black image is the most often portrayed. The writers obviously draw a parallel to the struggle of American black slavery. This along with a corrupt American government where Stargate Command is the only real moral entity makes us look at the messages throughout the series as if a mirror is shining back on us. Could the Go'ould be a reflection of a meglomaniacal American manifest destiny to rule the world and beyond? There are many subtle and not so subtle references to the historical cruelty of mankind. This not to say the writers necessarily go overboard, humanity's goodness also shines through.

Throughout most of the series - the first eight seasons - the writers avoid modern religions as targets of scorn. The religions - or gods, if you will are of historical Egyptian, Nordic or medieval folk-lore. This is cleverly traded throughout the series with Daniel Jackson uncovering the parallels and clues to help SG1 in the battle against the Go'ould. In the spectacular season eight finale the Go'ould are finally defeated in a epic three-way struggle with a machine-based race known as the Replicators and, of course, Earth's Stargate Command. Season eights finds Col. Jack O'Neill departing the series as a regular and a new leader for SG1 (and a new enemy) are needed for the series to continue. Welcome Cam Mitchell (played by Ben Browder) the fearless, hotshot pilot whose bravado is as big as the great outdoors.

This is point the writers decide to exploit the ultimate human boogieman... Christianity.

No one can watch season nine and ten and not see that the writers had decided to make the evils of evangelical Christianity their final statement. The Ori are a race of ascended beings who deceive their human followers into worshiping them with the promise of enlightenment and ascension. The Priors (priests) spread the "Word" through a book called Origin that reads exactly like the Bible and, of course, through so-called miracles. There is even god-child birth of sorts where the mother (a known floozy/slut) is mysteriously impregnated, bearing a savior for Ori believers. People who do not bow to the Ori's demands for worship are summarily put to death as evil-doers.

There is really no point in getting bent out of shape about such a blatant and ultimately comical attempt to make Christianity the ultimate evil except to point out that there is an actual religion practiced today that does have a mandate to kill or subjugate non-believers, but this religion is apparently off limits for ridicule. Islam in practice is exactly what Stargate SG1 portrays in the Ori. This really lowered my esteem for this fun TV series.

In Conclusion:
The final two seasons, when one accepts the writer's biases, are enjoyable to watch, but without Richard Dean Anderson are much less fun to be sure. Accepting he Ori as the enemy is easy enough, they are nasty in every way. Clearly the series had lost some steam by this time. It's hard to say if seasons nine and ten were even necessary, I wouldn't have missed them.

Stargate Atlantis was spawned from the original series near the end and was in many ways a better show. The acting was easily as good as the original. The enemy in the Pegasus galaxy called the Wraith were superior to the Go'ould making an excellent foil for the crew of Atlantis for five action packed seasons. I would say I enjoyed Stargate Atlantis more than I did the original. I would definitely recommend both Stargate series for those who love Sci-Fi. They are superior to Star Trek (any generation) and even the first three episodes of the Star Wars saga.


4 of 5 stars


CW

Person Of Interest

TV Show

2011


Person of Interest is a new show this fall on CBS. It's a smart, well acted pseudo cop drama that has potential to be a very good show. It stars Jim Caviezel as John Reese, an ex-CIA special operations agent who left the clandestine life after his girlfriend was killed in a "professional incident". Reese was disillusioned with the government's handling of it. The other central character played by Michael Emerson is Finch, a computer genius that had developed a system for the government that was used to detect information leading to acts of terrorism before they happen.

The machine, which is reminiscent of the super computer system in the movie Eagle Eye with Shia LaBeouf, uses the phone and Internet networks as well as security cameras (public or private) to gather information it then separates into two categories: relevant and irrelevant. Finch, however, discovered that the irrelevant information which the government discarded often led to other acts of violent crime. So before leaving he developed a backdoor that would feed him the the Social Security Number of a "Person of Interest" who presumably is at grave risk. Finch, unable to act on his own, finds and recruits John Reese to investigate and mitigate the situations. Both these men are officially off the grid, in fact, both are known to be dead.

The premise is not at all that far fetched in this day and age as we have all heard of the black helicopter people and a system referred to as Echelon that does precisely what Finches machine can do although presumably far less elegantly. There is some suspension of disbelief when watching the show in that Finch's own investigative network would have zoom, pan, and close-ups in every possible nook and cranny of the big city, but hey, it's TV.

As the show progresses we are fed some of the back story on Reese designed to fill in the blanks of this mystery man. So, then, in that vein we have the serial part of the show that involves the only female character - Detective Carter - a city detective who is hunting for a man she does not know. Detective Carter played by Taraji P. Henson adds a dimension to the show that I find a bit distracting. Having missed the first episode I apparently missed the significance of this plot line. She and her team catches glimpses of Reese - or more accurately deals with his aftermath. I assume the significance of this storyline will be fleshed out as the show progresses.

This brings out the main flaw I see with the show Detective Carter not withstanding, the lack of a leading female character. The plot obviously doesn't allow for an insider, but the dynamic a female lead brings to any TV drama adds a certain delicious tension - which makes you want to tune in next week. This shortcoming may have been dealt with in the episode "The Fix" where we were introduced to Zoey Morgan. Zoey is a fixer, a person with ice water in her veins and skills. She makes problems go away for the rich and powerful for a tidy sum of cash. A Fixer is not an assassin, but rather someone who can extract information or negotiate an under the radar deal to clean up an embarrassing or costly situation.

Zoey becomes a Person of Interest and the focus of Finch's and Reese's attention. In a sense the fixer needs a fixer and she doesn't even know it. The episode is full of nifty plot twists and eventually Reese's intentions become known to Zoey and so they work together to "fix" the situation. We are left in the end with the notion that this not the last we'll see of Zoey. I hope not. They make a nice team and the show needs exactly the dynamic that developed between them.

This show is shaping up to be a top notch drama worth tuning in to every week. Check it out.


4 of 5 stars


CW

Best Buy

Product
2011

Note: minor tirade ahead...

Normally I'd be reviewing an actual product, however in the age of big box stores the specialty stores - like record shops, appliance stores, computer and electronic stores  - are disappearing on a daily basis. Since these behemoths like Best Buy, Walmart and Target force our consumer hand I thought I'd chime in on Best Buy itself.

There's a lot to like about Best Buy as we all know. One stop shopping for any number of gadgets is convenient. Notice I didn't say convenient and simple. Over the last year alone I've had numerous experiences at Best Buy where I became livid.

As you well know we've all been pitched the extended warranties or services by every kind of retailer, but Best Buy has taken it to the next level. That's not necessarily what my gripe is about. Said service should have taken the burden of uncertainty out of the picture not add to it.

I bought a new dishwasher and having no truck, van or station wagon I was going to need it delivered. No problem Best Buy can handle that. The choice was to take a day off work and wait for the delivery man or pay $50 to get the "you pick the time" service - or I could wait through 2 weekends because they were booked on the weekends.

A few days later I get a call from the delivery service saying they would be by on Tues at 2PM. But I'll be at work, I said. I told them I thought I'd bought the right to have them come 6PM when it was convenient for me. We can't do that, they said. Hackles up!

The long and short of it - they don't offer that service anymore, but by golly their system took the money and no one batted an eye. Eventually 2 weekends later I got the dishwasher and my account was credited. All was well, but Best Buy had one strike.

Next I bought a new laptop and was of course given the Geek Squad service pitch. No thanks, I said, I can do it myself. So at home I spent hours setting it up, getting the pictures, music, files, programs and games loaded. Finally done I rebooted as required by some of the programs I loaded. The thing came up with a Best Buy app (trying to sell more $#@#% services), but the app would not close and nothing would make it go away and nothing else would run either - the Best Buy app held the computer hostage. Hackles up!!

A call to store had the response of bring it back, we'll give you a new one. Umm, no, I just spent hours setting this one up. Then they said you'll just have to call Geek Squad. Can't you just get one of them on the phone, I asked, they work in the little shop right behind you. Sorry, you have to call the 1-800 number. Reluctantly I did.

1-800-GEEKSQUAD got me a menu and then the most God-awful hold music I've ever heard. Call Center 101 says your hold music should be soothing because the customer MIGHT be irate. By the time the geek answered I was spitting nickels. After lengthy discussion where I suggested I boot into safe-mode and run msconfig and pull it out of the Start-Up tab (if he would just give me the name of the executable). Better yet I said how about I just uninstall the program altogether. He said no - I would void the in-store (short term) bring it back warranty. He said I'd have to bring it back to the store.

In the end the geek squad tech at the store booted the laptop into safe-mode and uninstalled the offending app. It was over in ten minutes, but my rage wasn't.

Recently I went with my father-inlaw to get him a new computer. We picked out a model and were just about close the deal when the pitch for Geek Squad services came up. My father-inlaw said, what would I need that for I've got a geek right here (pointing to me). I said the manufacturer does give it a one year on defective parts, right? The salesmen began to hem and haw - sometimes yes, sometimes no. Hackles up!!!

It's up to the manufacturer whether they'll send a new part, a Geek Squad contract guarantees it. Wait a minute under what circumstances would the manufacturer refuse to replace a hard drive or a power supply or a DVD player or a flipping motherboard if it was bad. He said they won't cover wear and tear. WEAR and TEAR on a computer! This young salesman lost the sale.

We ended up at a different Best Buy and found a salesman who either blew smoke up our asses or determined right away that I knew what I was talking about. He said all the right things and he made the sale. (This was of course after Dell Computers was called and we verified they stood behind their one year warranty without question).

Christmas season is approaching and Best Buy will do great business again. If I walk through their doors it will be because Target or Walmart will not have what I'm looking for.


2 of 5 stars


CW

Matt Nathanson (Live)

Music
2011

Matt Nathanson popped onto the music scene a few years ago with a delightful little ditty called "Come On Get Higher" and has been a favorite on a local radio station in these parts called Cities 97. Matt is, however, far more than a one hit wonder. He's a fine songwriter and a tremendous performer. He is out on tour now supporting his new album called "Modern Love". He's been touring with Maroon 5 and Train this summer as well as headlining his own shows in smaller venues.

We had the chance to see him at the MN State Fair as a warm up act for Maroon 5. He certainly did himself no harm in front of a full house a the State Fair Grandstand. The audience assembled for Maroon 5 was generous and appreciative, but he played only 7 songs. It was a little disappointing to have his set cut so short.

As luck would have it we found that he was headlining a Oct 14th show at Madison Wisconsin's Capitol Theater so we bought tickets a booked a hotel. What a great show!

The concert featured the new album heavily, which was to be expected. Yet, I thought the best, most energetic performances were the handful he did from his breakout album Some Mad Hope. The songs "Wedding Dress" "The Beat of Our Noisy Hearts" "Come On Get Higher" and "All We Are" were pitch perfect.

Matt is also very funny. His show is sprinkled with smart and sometimes racy humor. He could easily do stand up comedy. He had the audience (lots of young women) eating out of his hands. He is known for his comedic skills when he does acoustic sets in very small venues.

My only real disappointment was that he did not play my favorite Matt Nathanson song "Car Crash". Oh well, maybe next time. Oh yes, there will be a next time!

4 of 5 stars

CW

The Ides of March

Movie
2011

First let me note that this movie featured fine performances by top tier talent. George Clooney played the Governor and Democratic Presidential candidate with just the right calmness and grace of someone in the game at that level. Phillip Seymor Hoffman was once again simply outstanding as was Paul Giamatti playing rival campaign managers. These two in particular, have they ever given a bad performance? What can you say about Ryan Gosling, he was just great.

Here comes the however, however, the script, the story, was run of the mill political intrigue, absolutely nothing new. It only solidified what all of us already know - politics is soulless and cut throat.

The story was completely predictable - in fact my wife whispered in my ear every plot twist as if it was a freight train barreling across the Great Plains. Even the moralizing speeches that Governor Morris (Clooney) sprinkled throughout might as well have been the same speeches given by Michael Douglas in "The American President" back in '95. "You know how we fight terrorism?" he asks. "We stop buying their product, their product is oil. Stop buying oil!" Umm, OK, what you gonna put in those big SUV's and that campaign bus you're driving all over the country Governor? This was just one of the nauseating boiler plate liberal quips - and there were a lot more.

The young intern played by Evan Rachel Wood was a bit of a cliche. She's a fine young actor, but the role, the role the whole movie pivots on, was weak. A 20 year old daughter of a political family caught up in the idealism of a hope and change campaign and all she could think to do with herself was spread her legs.

I'm not saying The Ides of March wasn't a good movie or that it wasn't well done, it was, both... I'm saying it was nothing new, we learn absolutely nothing. In the end you have to wonder how everyone involved with such things doesn't end up truly despising themselves.

3 of 5 stars

CW

Chaos Theory

Movie
2008

Retro-Review

I was striking out in the new release section at Blockbuster (you remember Blockbuster, right) so I wandered into the main section looking for something, anything to bring home. I happened across a lonely DVD with Ryan Reynolds picture on it called Chaos Theory. I like Reynolds so I grabbed it thinking it might not suck and then completely forgot about it. I ended up taking it back to Blockbuster unwatched. Sometime later - same scenario - found me looking at the same DVD and thought, what the heck, I may even watch it this time. I did. What started as a movie pick out of sheer boredom turned out to be one of my favorite movies of all time - and no one has heard of it.

Chaos Theory peers into the life of an obsessively organized time efficiency expert whose life is thrown into pure chaos by a single act of misguided love by his wife. He is forced to examine the deeper meaning of love and forgiveness.

The movie begins with a wedding scene where Frank (Reynolds) catches his future son-in-law sneaking out the back and makes him stop long enough to hear his story about what it means to love.

The story takes us back to the day Frank and Susan get together and then fast forwards to a point in time when Frank is a successful time efficiency expert whose life and clock is ruled by his ever present index cards. His wife mistakenly moves the clock behind 10 minutes to give him a little breathing room and break his rigidity, but of course this sets off a series of cascading events as he misses the ferry boat that was take him into the city for his lecture on time management.

From this point Frank's life gets turned upside down as he learns things that would bring into question everything he thought he knew about his beautifully organized life. What sounds like a tragedy is downright hilarious. Reynolds does a great job transforming a character whose rigid devotion to the clock becomes a unpredictable rebel.

The role of Susan played by Emily Mortimer is convincingly angry/sad and contrite as the story evolves. Frank's best friend Buddy Endrow (Stuart Townsend) is motivated by his life long yearning for Susan as he moves in to try to pick up the pieces of Frank's abandoned life.

In the end the story is touching and lovely - and hilarious. I loved this movie.

The soundtrack is also really good, floating passively under well placed scenes of emotion and revelation. Several of the songs played by a group called the Damnwells fill-in the transformational scenes beautifully. The songs "Graceless" and "Tonight and Forever" will stick with you long after the final credits.

I'm not sure how or why this movie was missed. Ryan Reynolds had already been a well known movie star and should have given this fun and touching movie some credibility. Well, now you know - check it out!


5 of 5 stars


CW

New Girl

TV Show (comedy)
2011

New Girl is a new series that started in September 2011. I've caught two episodes and so far I'm luke warm... I have always been a fan of Zooey Deschanel as a movie star. I thought she was just perfect in her role in the "500 Days of Summer" a few years ago, as she was in the stylized remake of the Wizard of Oz called the "Tin Man". It's fitting that she had a role in a movie called "Flakes" in 2007 since that's exactly what her character is in the New Girl.

There is weird and off putting that's weird, and then there's weird and off putting that's also sweet. The New Girl is the former. Deschanel plays goofy but adorable Jess, a 20 something woman just off a bad break up who finds herself rooming with 3 single guys. She's awkward, vulnerable and completely honest. She's the type that says whatever comes to her mind no matter the situation, no matter the appropriateness. Jess is balanced by her drop-dead gorgeous friend Cece who is wise in the way of the world and men. She seems bound to protect Jess from herself and her roommates.

The show is billed as a comedy about the sexual politics of men and women, but then which show isn't, really? Let's hope it's clever and not just cheap and ultimately meaningless.

Like many new shows, particularly comedies, it may take a while for the show to find it's groove. They can either go for goofy/weird or goofy/sweet - Deschanel can do either. Nick, Schmidt an Winston, the supporting characters will take some time to grow as well. The supporting cast can make a so-so comedy into a smash - consider Joey on "Friends" the only reason to watch that show, or Frank Burns from the original cast of "Mash" and, of course, Niles Crane from "Frasier".

I'll probably give this show a few more looks and we'll see if it finds it's legs. I personally like situation comedies and cop dramas and so forth and would like to see more of them and less reality shows. I just can't get into talent shows, big losers or housewives of anywhere. Here's hoping New Girl works out well.

2 of 5 stars

CW