Need

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S2 (Need)

A spoiled princess falling in love... another old sci-fi cliche, I'm afraid, and it doesn't get much better than that this time. The lush greenery of forests is soothing, as ever, but apart from that there's little to recommend this episode. Michael Shanks gets to show his acting chops, as both a fully healed, but slightly uppity user of the Sarcophagus, and the alternative, becoming a crazed and violent victim in the grip of cold turkey.

Actually the discoveries of the Sarcophagus' flaws was one of the interesting moments - Carter theorises that the technology's degenerate effect on the mind could be the reason for the Goa'uld's behaviour, and also puts a spanner in the works of anyone thinking they could get their hands on one to prevent any risk in the series. They might well be able to bring people back from the dead and heal all wounds, but at the cost of good judgement. A little tidying of ideas never goes amiss. Another item of interest was Carter's new-found ability to sense the presence of Goa'ulds (leading to one of the best lines: Carter says she gets a funny feeling around Teal'c, and Jack rejoins that they all feel that way sometimes!), which is a good side-effect of her posession by the Tokra. They get a mention, as does Sharray, and I like the threads running through the series, only I wish they had better stories in general upon which to hang the characters as they deserve better, and often don't get it.

A couple of things that always happen, which don't exactly annoy me, but I can't help noticing whenever they occur: in any situation, on whatever planet, in whatever series, when people are mining they never look as if they're doing anything! Half-heartedly whacking rocks in the hope that it will lead to anything is so common because to get it to look real the actor's would actually have to mine for real, and put all their effort into it. Take after take. Which isn't feasible, so you get these kind of scenes. Doesn't matter what TV series it is, it always seems to be the case. Another thing is when people sit down to eat a huge meal, take a few bites and leave because the dialogue is said! Almost always happens. And just a little nitpick for this particular series - how come the Sarcophagus only needs one hit to destroy it, as in previous episodes we've seen them use it for cover under fire. And didn't it threaten to self-destruct in one episode and take out the whole area?

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