Common Ground

[eruthros]

So after (re-)watching "Common Ground,"¹ graycastle and I decided to rename SGA.

We will henceforth be referring to it as "porn."

As in, "Well, the interesting thing about Porn season two is the way the arrival of the Daedalus limits the tension of every episode..." and "I've never really understood the authorial choices in Porn. I mean, I know what I read into the scene where they come out of the infirmary in Echoes, but what could the Porn directors have possibly thought?" And, in a couple weeks, "omg squee Porn 4x01 airs tonight!!!!!"

I mean. John. "Common Ground." JUST SAYING YOU GUYS.

1. This is part of our ongoing weekend project of Watch Neat Episodes Before Season Four. It probably says a lot about us that we, so far, chose "Underground," "The Storm/The Eye," "Hot Zone" (graycastle didn't remember this episode much, and I kept pushing all "no! no! Rodney makes awesome faces! there are other scientists! he loves his TEAM, man!"), "Inferno," two scenes from "Sateda," and "Common Ground."

We intend to also watch: "Tao of Rodney" and "Echoes" and maaaaybe "Phantoms." And maybe "The Game." And maybe also two scenes from "Sunday."

Note: there is only one season two episode in there. We tried really hard to be excited about something else. But "Grace Under Pressure" basically equals "Tao of Rodney" in terms of character development, "Epiphany" is way cooler in stories, and "Duet" makes me a little tooth-gritty about gender. SO.

Comments

[trobadora]

Note: there is only one season two episode in there.

What about Trinity? I know fandom regularly makes a butchery of the fallout, but all the more reason to go back to the real thing!

[eruthros]

Yes, there is Trinity, which I think we also considered. But it's hard to watch it now without occasionally going "oh my GOD did you see that discussion/story where...?"

[trobadora]

Heh. I guess we just approach that differently - I take canon as my antidote for fannish insanity. *g*

[eruthros]

No, certainly! I do that, too. But for "Trinity" I've already done that a lot. There's been a LOT of meta, a LOT of rewatching, a LOT of pondering fannish tropes. And now I'm to the point where it's ... I'm done! All that happens right now is that watching the episode turns into more fannish meta, more discussions of tropes and of what apology-fic means, and whatever. Maybe next year it'll be interesting again, and I'll be able to watch it as an episode, but right now, not so much.

[graycastle.livejournal.com]

oh, Porn, you are my favourite show! the way the camera pans up John's body where it's sprawled on the ground in pain? COME ON. the director might as well have come out from behind the viewfinder and licked him.

for me, the thing with Trinity is just that I've seen it too much - I've watched it a lot, I've seen it written about a lot (of course) and I'm kind of tired of it, now. Also...the Rodney-has-hubris! plot, for some mystical reason, bothers me more and more each time it's rehashed, on the show or in fic.

[eruthros]

Here is the thing, for me: if it were the only Rodney-has-hubris episode, that I wouldn't mind it as much. But it's like "Grace Under Pressure" and "McKay and Mrs Miller" and "Tao of Rodney" -- they're all fun episodes, but they all do the exact same thing. And it's the same thing with... Rodney's bad with people! He gets the funny case of syphilis! He has HUBRIS. So, for a while it was interesting. And for a longer while, it was interesting as meta, interesting as a commentary on what fans do with tropes, on apology-fic, on imagined rightness. But now, it's... look! TPTB want us to know that Rodney's got hubris! As I said to trobadora, it's not a bad episode in its own right, but it's so smack-dab in the middle of my biggest problem with the show (and I like the show!) that I can't disconnect it from all of that meta. Maybe next year it'll be interesting again.

And, yes, oh my god that scene with the pan-up? JESUS CHRIST, director! That is another moment when it's, like, "What were the Porn TPTB thinking? Other than that man-pain is hot?"

PS: not as hot as John all "no you musn't!" to Weir. And later making the face of "well, that's it then" before Wraith, Round Two. OH MY GOD.

[eruthros]

Oh, also? It's not quite as hot as John's complete and utter faith after the first wraith-drainage that his friends are coming and he only has to stall as long as he can to give them time. THAT, my friend, is some quality character-porn. With extra bonus pain, suffering, angst, and being-collapsed-on-the-ground.

[panisdead.livejournal.com]

Didn't. Remember. "Hot Zone."

Look, I have to take this as a serious personal insult, as the opening scene is the entire reason I am in the fandom. You pass that on!

[eruthros]

It is so much awesome. I love the opening scene so much.

[eruthros]

Also, I think that some of what's going on here is that she started being a fan in season two. I mean, I can't keep track of what happened in individual ninth doctor episodes, because I watched them after it aired in one great whoosh! of fannish love. So let us say that that's what happened here! She was all "oh, prime not prime is in this episode?"