Thursday, February 14, 2008

Forsaken [or how I learned to stop worrying and love SG-1]

Friends. I have a confession.

I became a Stargate SG-1 fan in Season 6. "Bloody hell!" I know, I know. You're in shock. "Sacriledge!" you say, but at least I became a fan. I saw the original film in theatres and liked it okay, but I liked what the creators of this series were doing much more. The film never sold me enough to check out the series way back at the beginning. Not to mention I didn't have Showtime.

I thought it would be fun to look back at the moment I was turned on to SG-1. Bless y'all out there if you've been a fan since the get go. I'm impressed. There aren't many shows I've watched since the moment they arrived on the scene. For example, I bought Lost Season 1 on DVD Box Set and became an official addict. As you learned just recently, the same applies to Jericho.

It was a typical night of the day's current events. As a habit I constantly check the news to see how far things have gone down the shitter. It's generally depressing to see the state of the world but somehow I always concern myself with it. During commercial I stumbled upon Sci Fi Channel and what would be Stargate SG-1 Forsaken. I'd have to say, in fact, Forsaken may have turned me into an even bigger science fiction fan than I already was. I know it's strange. Certainly there are no space battles and the only ship that's in the episode is the one crashed and disabled on the planet's surface [but I've always loved spaceshipwrecks]. It would seem unlikely, Forsaken, would be enough to draw me in, but it did. In fact, after watching the series straight through from start to finish I would consider Forsaken a solid entry in the Stargate SG-1 pantheon, but certainly not in my Top 10. I think it made me appreciate serialized science fiction more than I had up to that point.

Anyway, there were three key things for me that nailed it!

The story by none other than Damian Kindler and direction by Andy Mikita [he of the Heroes two parter]. It offered a nice twist on the good guys versus bad guys plot. SG-1 gates to a planet where three human-looking aliens are fending off two creepy looking aliens from their ship. Of course, nothing is as it seems. The two creepy-looking dudes are actually the good guys trying to get their ship back from the three escaped prisoners. Simple, but interesting enough to watch the drama unfold.

Amanda Tapping [Samantha Carter] [I was in love].



Richard Dean Anderson [Jack O'Neill] [yup! I was in love again].



Oh and of course the action of this wee, little firefight got me intrigued enough to check out everything I had missed so far.



The show was a great example of classic science fiction. It sure as heck grabbed me. I even became a fan sans Daniel Jackson. Season 6 afterall was the season Michael Shanks had departed, so it was never him who did it for me [although I became a fan of his work in the final three seasons especially; Jackson had evolved and I liked the slightly edgy, jaded character he became]. So without a single soul mentioning the program to me I somehow stumbled upon it on Sci-Fi Channel and the rest is history.

So, what was your first SG-1 moment?

Forsaken: B

2 comments:

morjana said...

My first SG1 moment was watching the pilot, "Children of the Gods."

I was fan of the movie (LOVE Kurt Russell), and a fan of Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver), so I wanted to check out the new series.

Was very interested in the series, but FELL IN LOVE with the series as a whole with the first season episode, "Cold Lazarus."

Sniff!

So many wonderful, excellent, marvelous episodes over the ten years the series ran.

Waiting patiently for the two made-for-DVD movies (Ark of Truth March 11 and Continuum in July '08).

And I'm watching Stargate Atlantis

My absolute FAVORITE SG1 episode:

Solitudes.

Morjana

SFF said...

Hey Morjana. I always enjoy your input on the list. So clearly you have a lot of affection for some of those earlier, character-driven episodes. Cold Lazarus is sniff! heavy episode indeed. I love that one too. Solitudes...yeah, that was pretty emotional as well and one of the most tender between Carter and O'Neill if I remember. I'm working on an O'Neill & Carter entry I think you'll enjoy and I'll put it up soon. Thanks for your input. It's interesting to see where people picked up on this show given it was on for 10 years. Looking forward to the Ori Ark myself!