Uninvited - Review
23/10/2008 05:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rachel500Uninvited is the 5th episode in Season Ten of Stargate SG1.
Review
Review
Battling creepy monsters or spending time with the boss? This is the question posed in Uninvited which juxtaposes the surreal horror of monsters against the real horror of forced team bonding sessions. It ends up as a decent, solid story but with a poor attention to detail and no deep character development.
The story is divided into two threads; one following the members of the team back at base, and one following General Landry and Mitchell at Jack O’Neill’s cabin with both threads coming together at the end. The latter deals with the situation everyone would prefer to avoid; getting stranded somewhere with their boss, while the former deals with the monsters.
The monsters thread is well-constructed and unfolds at a gentle pace. What it lacks in tension, it makes up for with intrigue as the team move from initial theories that the creatures are the latest Ori plot (a nod to the overall arc in what is otherwise a stand alone story) to the realisation that they are responsible because of the changes made to the Sodan cloaking device to accommodate human physiology. Sam, Vala and Teal’c carry this thread with the able assistance of SG3 leader, Colonel Reynolds and a guest specialist doctor (a nice performance from Keegan Connor Tracy).
Vala gets some real quality time with Teal’c and Sam. There is a nice chemistry between all three characters, and a realistic portrayal of what are still embryonic relationships between the experienced members of SG1 and the newest recruit. There is still a sense of Vala proving her worth to them. There are two good examples: firstly, Teal’c’s conversation with Vala in the woods where she complains how her experience is being disregarded and he makes the point that any plan is doomed to fail without support. It subtly makes the point that Vala is used to operating alone and needs to learn to be part of a team – not just SG1 but the wider SGC. Reynolds’ dry comment of ‘excuse me, amateurs coming through’ after Vala’s complaining to Teal’c nicely underlines this and is humorous to boot. The second example is Sam and Vala’s discussion in Landry’s office. Both Vala’s pointed remark about how she helped to heal the members of SG25 and her quick compliance in removing her feet from the desk suggests that Vala certainly seeks Sam’s approval.
Sam being in charge of the SGC is nice development for the character and she appears calm and considered in leadership with due respect given to her by the others including Reynolds. It’s a far cry from the brand new Lieutenant Colonel who doubted herself in Zero Hour. However, although Sam is an experienced member of the SGC, given her rank, it is a little unrealistic that she would be left in charge – doesn’t the SGC have any actual ‘Colonel’ Colonels anymore? Still, giving Sam this temporary SGC leadership gig deflects any negative reaction to the implied confirmation that Mitchell is the SG1 leader.
There is undoubtedly a debate in the fandom around the leadership of SG1 given the negative reaction from some at Sam’s removal as SG1 leader in a very weak back-story that failed to explain Sam’s choices and which was compounded by Mitchell’s inexperience. There was a lack of clarity throughout S9 with Sam and Mitchell both being shown in charge at different times. Uninvited provides an attempt at clarification through a discussion between Mitchell and Landry.
Unfortunately, although the discussion implies Mitchell has the title of SG1 leader, it also suggests that there is no clear chain of command in the team and that’s OK (which is unbelievable given the military reality of a clear chain of command being essential). It’s a shame because fully exploring Mitchell’s insecurity over leading SG1 would have been great character development and this feels like a missed opportunity. Equally, Landry’s leadership is also not truly explored. Instead, the character development for both is small and rooted in their opposing approaches to their situation of being stranded alone together. There is a lot of inherent humour which provide some nice moments; the two of them almost shooting each other, Mitchell’s reaction to the road being out, the birdcall exchange where both actors look about to burst into laughter. However, Mitchell and Landry have an established dynamic, and it might have been more interesting to have teamed the general with Teal’c, Sam or Daniel especially as Landry seems to have struggled to find a connection with SG1.
Strides are made with this aspect as Landry gets to fight with SG1 in the final battle with the monsters in the woods. This is an excellent continuation of the team-feel that is being exuded this season as is the poker game despite the absence of Daniel for the second episode running. The use of Jack’s cabin is also a nice ‘teamy’ touch and good use of canon. Unfortunately, Jack’s cabin seems to have inexplicably moved from Minnesota to Colorado thanks to an unnecessary lack of attention to detail which peppers the episode along with the odd thing which comes across as unbelievable (Barrett recovering from brainwashing in the space of a week being one example). It could be argued the same is true of the special effects used for the monsters; they’re not particularly believable but very in the spirit of old horror movies so perhaps this is forgiveable.
While Uninvited dips its toe into the horror genre, it certainly cannot be deemed as a horrific episode in any way. A little more attention to detail and a little more bravery with character development might have elevated this to something special but while this may be an opportunity missed, it remains a solid and enjoyable outing.
The story is divided into two threads; one following the members of the team back at base, and one following General Landry and Mitchell at Jack O’Neill’s cabin with both threads coming together at the end. The latter deals with the situation everyone would prefer to avoid; getting stranded somewhere with their boss, while the former deals with the monsters.
The monsters thread is well-constructed and unfolds at a gentle pace. What it lacks in tension, it makes up for with intrigue as the team move from initial theories that the creatures are the latest Ori plot (a nod to the overall arc in what is otherwise a stand alone story) to the realisation that they are responsible because of the changes made to the Sodan cloaking device to accommodate human physiology. Sam, Vala and Teal’c carry this thread with the able assistance of SG3 leader, Colonel Reynolds and a guest specialist doctor (a nice performance from Keegan Connor Tracy).
Vala gets some real quality time with Teal’c and Sam. There is a nice chemistry between all three characters, and a realistic portrayal of what are still embryonic relationships between the experienced members of SG1 and the newest recruit. There is still a sense of Vala proving her worth to them. There are two good examples: firstly, Teal’c’s conversation with Vala in the woods where she complains how her experience is being disregarded and he makes the point that any plan is doomed to fail without support. It subtly makes the point that Vala is used to operating alone and needs to learn to be part of a team – not just SG1 but the wider SGC. Reynolds’ dry comment of ‘excuse me, amateurs coming through’ after Vala’s complaining to Teal’c nicely underlines this and is humorous to boot. The second example is Sam and Vala’s discussion in Landry’s office. Both Vala’s pointed remark about how she helped to heal the members of SG25 and her quick compliance in removing her feet from the desk suggests that Vala certainly seeks Sam’s approval.
Sam being in charge of the SGC is nice development for the character and she appears calm and considered in leadership with due respect given to her by the others including Reynolds. It’s a far cry from the brand new Lieutenant Colonel who doubted herself in Zero Hour. However, although Sam is an experienced member of the SGC, given her rank, it is a little unrealistic that she would be left in charge – doesn’t the SGC have any actual ‘Colonel’ Colonels anymore? Still, giving Sam this temporary SGC leadership gig deflects any negative reaction to the implied confirmation that Mitchell is the SG1 leader.
There is undoubtedly a debate in the fandom around the leadership of SG1 given the negative reaction from some at Sam’s removal as SG1 leader in a very weak back-story that failed to explain Sam’s choices and which was compounded by Mitchell’s inexperience. There was a lack of clarity throughout S9 with Sam and Mitchell both being shown in charge at different times. Uninvited provides an attempt at clarification through a discussion between Mitchell and Landry.
Unfortunately, although the discussion implies Mitchell has the title of SG1 leader, it also suggests that there is no clear chain of command in the team and that’s OK (which is unbelievable given the military reality of a clear chain of command being essential). It’s a shame because fully exploring Mitchell’s insecurity over leading SG1 would have been great character development and this feels like a missed opportunity. Equally, Landry’s leadership is also not truly explored. Instead, the character development for both is small and rooted in their opposing approaches to their situation of being stranded alone together. There is a lot of inherent humour which provide some nice moments; the two of them almost shooting each other, Mitchell’s reaction to the road being out, the birdcall exchange where both actors look about to burst into laughter. However, Mitchell and Landry have an established dynamic, and it might have been more interesting to have teamed the general with Teal’c, Sam or Daniel especially as Landry seems to have struggled to find a connection with SG1.
Strides are made with this aspect as Landry gets to fight with SG1 in the final battle with the monsters in the woods. This is an excellent continuation of the team-feel that is being exuded this season as is the poker game despite the absence of Daniel for the second episode running. The use of Jack’s cabin is also a nice ‘teamy’ touch and good use of canon. Unfortunately, Jack’s cabin seems to have inexplicably moved from Minnesota to Colorado thanks to an unnecessary lack of attention to detail which peppers the episode along with the odd thing which comes across as unbelievable (Barrett recovering from brainwashing in the space of a week being one example). It could be argued the same is true of the special effects used for the monsters; they’re not particularly believable but very in the spirit of old horror movies so perhaps this is forgiveable.
While Uninvited dips its toe into the horror genre, it certainly cannot be deemed as a horrific episode in any way. A little more attention to detail and a little more bravery with character development might have elevated this to something special but while this may be an opportunity missed, it remains a solid and enjoyable outing.
