Every time I read one of Gero's interviews I get pissed. And then I get pissed at the showrunners for basically letting a writer publish his fantasies.
The truly ironic thing is, they are completely clueless as to what they've done. I will never say that the writing on SGA has been stellar. It's always been of a lesser quality than SG-1 on average. But the thing with SGA was the fantastic chemistry between Joe and David, and in a slightly lesser degree the others, and then the rare moments when the writers got it RIGHT. Where they nailed it. Seasons 1-3 were good, season 4 had some phenominal moments but also had some truly bad moments, and then season 5 comes in and has even bigger highs and lower lows but there was a real drop in quality in season 5. I think they knew this was the final season and so it became 'what did we REALLY want to do that we haven't done' at the expense of decent, well-written scripts.
Add in the ridiculous Keller situation.
God. The thing is, I'm with you. I don't hate Keller. I don't mind writing her (well okay, I admit, right now I am struggling with some bitterness because of what has happened with Sheppard getting kicked to the side in favor of their Keller-love but I'll get over it). But they took a promising character and just destroyed it. If they asked someone 'how can we get a character to be disliked in ten easy steps' it would be EXACTLY how they've handled Keller.
She's written inconsistently. If anything, her capabilities have been shown to only degenerate as the two seasons have gone by. She was shown far more capable in Adrift than Brain Storm. I'm stunned that in Infection we got yet another repeat of self-doubt.
As a background character, she has gotten far more air time this season than the show lead. In fact, I was really happy that Joe seemed to have been actually treated as the lead in season 4 but the they regressed and in season 5 he's been treated like a background character. I don't think in any of the previous seasons, he was so totally shoved to the side. Teyla and Ronon have never gotten as much but again, in season 5, where the hell are they half the time. Infection was such a great episode because it actually had them there for a change. It's pitiful that an episode automatically gets a great review because it utilizes the characters. The McKeller bit wasn't so much that it took away from the rest -- that is the balance that needed to be in the rest of the show.
But then back to the writing. Seriously. Yes, the medical issues are there. They've been very sloppy this season. And not just with medical. There are too many episodes that are just flat out meaningless. They did nothing for the show. This show is just kind of flopping around this season and leaving you wondering 'what's the point'. There was no arc, no progression...it's just been there.
Ugh. I'm going to wind up going over the post limit. I'm just...bleh. I feel completely let down as a fan by TPTB. I realize it's 'their' show but I also feel like they allowed their love for two characters to unfairly affect the show and let the rest suffer. I feel irritated for Joe, Rachel and Jason. I don't hardly blame TH for not returning. I loved this show entirely too much but as it ends I find myself relieved and bitter. TPTB have left an impression with me as being very unprofessional and I appreciate the two writers on staff that actually seemed to give a damn, Carl Binder and Allen Mcullough.
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Date: 2008-12-11 03:38 pm (UTC)The truly ironic thing is, they are completely clueless as to what they've done. I will never say that the writing on SGA has been stellar. It's always been of a lesser quality than SG-1 on average. But the thing with SGA was the fantastic chemistry between Joe and David, and in a slightly lesser degree the others, and then the rare moments when the writers got it RIGHT. Where they nailed it. Seasons 1-3 were good, season 4 had some phenominal moments but also had some truly bad moments, and then season 5 comes in and has even bigger highs and lower lows but there was a real drop in quality in season 5. I think they knew this was the final season and so it became 'what did we REALLY want to do that we haven't done' at the expense of decent, well-written scripts.
Add in the ridiculous Keller situation.
God. The thing is, I'm with you. I don't hate Keller. I don't mind writing her (well okay, I admit, right now I am struggling with some bitterness because of what has happened with Sheppard getting kicked to the side in favor of their Keller-love but I'll get over it). But they took a promising character and just destroyed it. If they asked someone 'how can we get a character to be disliked in ten easy steps' it would be EXACTLY how they've handled Keller.
She's written inconsistently. If anything, her capabilities have been shown to only degenerate as the two seasons have gone by. She was shown far more capable in Adrift than Brain Storm. I'm stunned that in Infection we got yet another repeat of self-doubt.
As a background character, she has gotten far more air time this season than the show lead. In fact, I was really happy that Joe seemed to have been actually treated as the lead in season 4 but the they regressed and in season 5 he's been treated like a background character. I don't think in any of the previous seasons, he was so totally shoved to the side. Teyla and Ronon have never gotten as much but again, in season 5, where the hell are they half the time. Infection was such a great episode because it actually had them there for a change. It's pitiful that an episode automatically gets a great review because it utilizes the characters. The McKeller bit wasn't so much that it took away from the rest -- that is the balance that needed to be in the rest of the show.
But then back to the writing. Seriously. Yes, the medical issues are there. They've been very sloppy this season. And not just with medical. There are too many episodes that are just flat out meaningless. They did nothing for the show. This show is just kind of flopping around this season and leaving you wondering 'what's the point'. There was no arc, no progression...it's just been there.
Ugh. I'm going to wind up going over the post limit. I'm just...bleh. I feel completely let down as a fan by TPTB. I realize it's 'their' show but I also feel like they allowed their love for two characters to unfairly affect the show and let the rest suffer. I feel irritated for Joe, Rachel and Jason. I don't hardly blame TH for not returning. I loved this show entirely too much but as it ends I find myself relieved and bitter. TPTB have left an impression with me as being very unprofessional and I appreciate the two writers on staff that actually seemed to give a damn, Carl Binder and Allen Mcullough.