Stargate: SG-1 9.19: "Crusade"
Written by Robert C. Cooper
Directed by Robert C. Cooper
In which Vala communicates to SG-1 through her link to Daniel, and tells them about her time among the followers of the Ori and their amassing fleet, as well as another major secret…
Even without getting into the other strengths of the episode, I think it’s important to recognize the symmetry of the season, especially evident in “Crusade”. It just gives the season a more unified feeling than the previous run of stand-alone installments. The return to the Ori-dominated villages, Vala being chained as an unbeliever, the Ancient communication device…all of it ties lingering plot threads into a nice little package.
I’m not one to enjoy “baby plots”. Few shows can survive them, because as much as they supply quick and easy drama, they are also very confining. Sometimes there’s little choice, if an actress gets pregnant at an inconvenient time, but sometimes the producers try to take advantage of the situation and get burned. “X-Files” is the perfect example: usually, the more central the mother is as a character, the worse the effect.
In just about every genre series, the baby ends up being some kind of savior or threat, usually foretold by some prophecy. How that situation is handled (and sometimes, how quickly the baby is removed from the forefront) usually decides whether or not the series will survive. Again, “X-Files” is an example of a series that had no clue what to do with a messianic child; “BSG”, on the other hand, avoids many of the problems by making the baby one of many subplots.
So far, it’s unclear how the decision to give Vala some kind of Ori miracle child will affect the series. It depends, as mentioned, whether or not Vala remains pregnant, keeps the child, and returns as a central character. I simply don’t trust the writing staff to avoid the usual problems. Thankfully, it’s more likely that Vala’s child would be stolen by the Ori and then become something to find or retrieve.
Whatever the case, I really liked how the writers managed to tell the story, even if it meant most of the time was spent with just Vala on the Ori world and the team was stuck in the SGC. It was an unusual mode of storytelling for this series, and I felt that it worked rather well. Vala’s complex relationships with Tomin and Denya worked very well, and her side of the plot gave an interesting look at the enemy. Vala’s lies will probably come back to haunt her sooner rather than later.
I also liked the fact that the IOA continues to be a source of annoyance. The situation was resolved a bit too easily this time around, but just the fact that it came up at all was satisfying. It kept the wide scope of the story on the forefront. As a final aside, though: did anyone else find it odd that Darth Vader and King Arthur came up as two people apparently born without deed being done, yet the most obvious human example didn’t come up at all?
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 8/10
Directed by Robert C. Cooper
In which Vala communicates to SG-1 through her link to Daniel, and tells them about her time among the followers of the Ori and their amassing fleet, as well as another major secret…
Even without getting into the other strengths of the episode, I think it’s important to recognize the symmetry of the season, especially evident in “Crusade”. It just gives the season a more unified feeling than the previous run of stand-alone installments. The return to the Ori-dominated villages, Vala being chained as an unbeliever, the Ancient communication device…all of it ties lingering plot threads into a nice little package.
I’m not one to enjoy “baby plots”. Few shows can survive them, because as much as they supply quick and easy drama, they are also very confining. Sometimes there’s little choice, if an actress gets pregnant at an inconvenient time, but sometimes the producers try to take advantage of the situation and get burned. “X-Files” is the perfect example: usually, the more central the mother is as a character, the worse the effect.
In just about every genre series, the baby ends up being some kind of savior or threat, usually foretold by some prophecy. How that situation is handled (and sometimes, how quickly the baby is removed from the forefront) usually decides whether or not the series will survive. Again, “X-Files” is an example of a series that had no clue what to do with a messianic child; “BSG”, on the other hand, avoids many of the problems by making the baby one of many subplots.
So far, it’s unclear how the decision to give Vala some kind of Ori miracle child will affect the series. It depends, as mentioned, whether or not Vala remains pregnant, keeps the child, and returns as a central character. I simply don’t trust the writing staff to avoid the usual problems. Thankfully, it’s more likely that Vala’s child would be stolen by the Ori and then become something to find or retrieve.
Whatever the case, I really liked how the writers managed to tell the story, even if it meant most of the time was spent with just Vala on the Ori world and the team was stuck in the SGC. It was an unusual mode of storytelling for this series, and I felt that it worked rather well. Vala’s complex relationships with Tomin and Denya worked very well, and her side of the plot gave an interesting look at the enemy. Vala’s lies will probably come back to haunt her sooner rather than later.
I also liked the fact that the IOA continues to be a source of annoyance. The situation was resolved a bit too easily this time around, but just the fact that it came up at all was satisfying. It kept the wide scope of the story on the forefront. As a final aside, though: did anyone else find it odd that Darth Vader and King Arthur came up as two people apparently born without deed being done, yet the most obvious human example didn’t come up at all?
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 8/10
posted by John Keegan | 16:34
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