Stargate (SG-1) 5x19 -- Menace

[butterfly]

Oh, Daniel. No wonder he wanted to ascend. You can just feel his utter hopelessness.

And fuck, it didn't have to go down that way. Carter was wrong. That bug wasn't acting on its own, it was indecisive because Reese was. They were too reactionary. Again, I understand why Daniel decided to throw in with Oma's philosophy.

Which also ended up failing him.

Daniel is now this big huge ache in my heart. So many levels of ouch.

Comments

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm on Jack's side in this one. It's impossible to know what was happening in Reese's head, and the stakes were huge. Maybe Daniel could've convinced Reese to shut down, but he ran out of time. (And note that Daniel's first impulse was also to lie to her and try to shut her down without her consent.)

It's the alternate version of Scorched Earth, in a way.

Hey kids, here's mah Daniel Issues again!

[nostalgia-lj.livejournal.com]

Daniel's plan to Be Nice was the lovely hippy thing to do, but meantime WEE METAL SPIDERS EATING THE SGC! And we've got the previous example that it was too dangerous to have some *crappy* ones in a submarine, so... Yeah, there was No Time, alas.


(Scorched Earth I sometimes wonder if Jack was thinking "this one's impossible. oh, fuckit, let's just be partisan and get *something* done")

St Daniel the Glowy

[nostalgia-lj.livejournal.com]

Oh, Daniel. No wonder he wanted to ascend. You can just feel his utter hopelessness.

I saw Meridian for the first time the other week. Oddly Buffyesque (in the sense of being All About The Inner Turmoil) and for me... I think the phrase is "his ascension is pastede on yay". Hugely because of My Daniel Issues, I'm sure. I never bought him as the innocent fanon and occasionally canon paints him as. He carries a frickin' sub-machine gun on a daily basis, yo. There's only so far you can take "innocence" (which I hate as a concept anyway) in that scenario. Plus I never liked Oma Desala, given that she talks in New Age riddles and... gah! Still, at least it let them actually kill him off properly *and* get him back, so there was no lame "oh, he's... on a really long holiday" thing. Or "omfg! it was all a dream!"

That bug wasn't acting on its own, it was indecisive because Reese was. They were too reactionary. Again, I understand why Daniel decided to throw in with Oma's philosophy.

That's one thing about Abyss - how long would Jack have lasted with that non-intervention glowy sainthood thing? They probably don't even get The Simpsons on higher planes anyway. And... what *is* Oma's philosophy? Be Glowy And Speak In Circles? Kinda weird, in a way, since the show has this whole interventionist, do-what-you-can, live-with-it thing goin' on.

Shit, I've just found thematic coherence in Stargate. *headdesk*

Which also ended up failing him. Daniel is now this big huge ache in my heart. So many levels of ouch.

Something I always wonder but can never be arsed to check is... has he had more canon pain inflicted on him than the others? I mean, between them they've got like an entire dead family, etc. No wonder they spend to much time hugging each other.

[elz.livejournal.com]

And fuck, it didn't have to go down that way. Carter was wrong. That bug wasn't acting on its own, it was indecisive because Reese was. They were too reactionary. Again, I understand why Daniel decided to throw in with Oma's philosophy.

For me, it's an effective conflict because they're all justified in the choices they make - Daniel's right about Reese, but the threat is just too great for the other characters to ignore. Fate of the world at stake there - not much margin for error. What twists the knife is the fact that Daniel's already in the middle of a personal crisis, but that shouldn't really affect how Jack and Sam react to a threat, even if the "right" response on their part makes us want to whack them on the head and yell, "don't let this happen!"

Poor Daniel. He just has really, really, really bad luck.

(By the way, have you been listening to the commentaries yet? Are they any good?)

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I've no problem with Jack's actions. He did the only thing he could do based on the information that he had. I just really hate it when characters that I like get hurt based off of information that's faulty.

And now I want to see Scorthed Earth. That's season... four? I think that I saw the title on the box.

Re: St Daniel the Glowy

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Hugely because of My Daniel Issues, I'm sure. I never bought him as the innocent fanon and occasionally canon paints him as.

I don't see the 'innocent' thing so far myself, either. I do see him trapped in the conflicts of romantic yet practical and ethical yet ruthless. I would certainly be willing to entertain thoughts on him as an ethical center for the SG-1, but that's probably because he makes the same ethical decisions that I feel that I would, and more often than the rest of SG-1.

And... what *is* Oma's philosophy? Be Glowy And Speak In Circles? Kinda weird, in a way, since the show has this whole interventionist, do-what-you-can, live-with-it thing goin' on.

I find Oma amusing and frustrating. I think that there's a lot of interesting possibility in thinking about her. In Absolute Power, Daniel says, "One day I'll decide if she's worth listening to." Little more than a year later, she's helping him ascend. And, of course, Daniel was eventually dissatisfied with Oma's philosophy, because he wasn't content to only help the physical plane by helping people off it.

Something I always wonder but can never be arsed to check is... has he had more canon pain inflicted on him than the others? I mean, between them they've got like an entire dead family, etc. No wonder they spend to much time hugging each other.

Dude, I only just started in the fandom, yo. They all get a lot of pain. This is all I know.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Poor Daniel. He just has really, really, really bad luck.

He really does.

And yeah, I get what Jack did. No issues with Jack's choices. I'm vaguely annoyed that a) Sam immediately jumped to the "they're going independent" theory and then b) treated it like fact. But this is Sam. She usually right, so she was acting on her best guess.

I just hate that it hurt Daniel because when Daniel is hurt, his eyes get all... hurt. And it hurts.

*pets Daniel*

Re: Hey kids, here's mah Daniel Issues again!

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Well, there was some calculation in there. I do think that Daniel believed that she could be the key to defeating the replicators.

Anyway, I do think that Jack did the only thing that he could -- he had what he thought was firm and solid data that there was a definite threat and he acted to neutralize that threat. I have no problems with what Jack did. It was the only thing that he could do, considering his circumstances.

It's Sam that bugs me.

I really want to like her. But she seems to be my Willow for Stargate. I just can't get on the love-train.

[nostalgia-lj.livejournal.com]

Gah! Scorched Earth! *wails* Teh AngSt!

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Ooo. I love angst.

[nostalgia-lj.livejournal.com]

Mmm... angst...

[starlightdancr.livejournal.com]

This seems to be the best idea ever! I just keep on typing in random words into the username search and I find people! And awesomely enough, half your interests match mine.

Add me :)

Re: Hey kids, here's mah Daniel Issues again!

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

(Scorched Earth I sometimes wonder if Jack was thinking "this one's impossible. oh, fuckit, let's just be partisan and get *something* done")

Hee. "Dammit, for once we have a problem that can absolutely be solved through the application of high explosives, and hey look, we've got some high explosives to apply!"

Poor Jack.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

*waves*

It's very nice to meet you.

[starlightdancr.livejournal.com]

lol nice to meet you, too!

[starlightdancr.livejournal.com]

haha, that's funny, I just realized I have a butterfly icon, too!

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

Season four, yeah. It's a good one for Jack-and-Daniel-at-loggerheads.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

They really were. Wow. Daniel almost got blown up and everything. There he goes, risking his life for an alien culture.

That does get to be a habit with him, doesn't it?

Re: Hey kids, here's mah Daniel Issues again!

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Poor Jack, yes.

Plus, General Hammond, who absolutely did not authorize that kind of action, maybe would have been a touch annoyed if he'd found out that Jack had blown up their primary archeologist/linguist/snake-bait.

Re: St Daniel the Glowy

[moojja.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm just reading some of your own posts. Oma's philsophy is based on Buddhism, where the basic idea is to get off the cycle of pain though enlightenment. That does mean giving up everything, including your physical self in this case.