Threads, Moebiuses and Swan Songs

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=120 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="01078642egerdp.jpg"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=428 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="00f64643.jpg"> <div> <B>Threads, Moebiuses and Swan Songs</B></div> <div>  <A NAME="threads_moebius_swan"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> I've really gotta say - I'm glad this season's over.  It had a few good episodes and wasn't too disgusting.  For the most part.  I hate what they did to Jack by the end of Moebius Pt. 2.  I hate even more what they had to say about the fans (Citizen Joe).</div> <bR> <div> And I really hate Sam - or Spammie, as I've come to call her.  She was such a good character during the first three seasons.  Now she's Spamantha Christ with Boobs.  That's a capital "B" because they star in the show as much as she does now.  Spammie and the Silicon Sisters - name of a new rock group maybe.  I used to respect the actress that plays her.  Having to fight all those men on the set to maintain the dignity and integrity of her character - yeah, she deserved respect for that.  But then something happened.  Seduction of the limelight, pressure from the studio - who knows?  What happened in the end was a sell-out.  An agreement to become the "<I>femme fata</I><I>le</I>" of the show wasn't one sided.  She agreed to plaster so much mascara on her eyes that she looked like there were a couple tarantulas doing the cha-cha in the middle of her face.  She agreed to wear the tight tank tops and the too-tight, low-rise BDU pants.  She agreed to be a Playboy Bunny wanna-be.  All for the sake of ratings?  What a damned shame.  She used to pride herself on being able to understand all that heady stuff that her character used to spout . . . guess when they increased the importance of her chest size, they lowered her IQ - and her integrity - and her dignity.</div> <bR> <div> As a swan song for RDA, the writers and that herd of "Executive Producers" they've got really did wrong by him.  He deserved so much better.  So, to me, he will always be the Jack O'Neill in the first season who bickered back and forth with Kawalski about who got to go to which planet; who asked his friend for his stereo should he not make it out of surgery to remove the Goa'uld in his brain.  He'll be the hero, and he'll be the friend.  He'll be the man who knows what it's like to suffer - and who's there to give comfort to someone in 'Need.'</div> <bR> <div> He will not be the man who trailed around behind a junior officer like a dog after a bitch in heat.  He won't be a man who forsook his friendships for the sake of a flirty look from his second in command.  He won't be inconsistent.  He won't be disloyal.  He won't be the character that got written halfway through season 4.  He will always be Colonel Jonathan "Jack" O'Neill, head of SG-1, friend to the friendless, champion of the weak, and general pain in the mikta.  I'll miss <I>him</I>.  I won't miss the mutant character they turned him into.  And I certainly won't miss the abundance of Cosmic Giddiness (tm).</div> <bR> <div> Despite the episode title of "Threads," there was no tieing up of loose ends, not even snipping off the errant strand here and there.  There was glossing over of the meat of what could have been a really good story - and going for the cheap shot - for the bathroom humor.  Typical considering the people who are writing stories for the show these days.  As always, Michael Shanks took the very little that was given to him and turned it into something amazing to watch.  RDA once said of the man that he came to the show 'ready to race.'  You can see that - the drive and the passion behind those eyes.  The need to make something excellent out of something that's barely mediocre.  Michael Shanks does that.  He's the reason I'll watch next season.  Not to see the new characters - but to watch Michael Shanks perform.  He's good enough to hold my attention all on his own - he has the talent and he knows his fans.  Wish the same could be said of the rest of the gang up there at Bridge.</div> <bR> <div> As to RC Cooper's comment on the season 7 DVDs that they were going to 'deal with' the whole Jack/Daniel thing . . . does he really think that by RDA leaving the show that the slash will just *<I>poof</I>* disappear?  Is he really that thick?  They're introducing Ben Browder into the show to play in close character with Michael Shanks.  Does RCC actually believe that no slash will be written?  No one could possibly be that stupid and still be able to draw breath.  If he thought the amount of slash was repugnant during the Jack/Daniel years, does he have any idea of the absolute <B>flood</B> o' slash that's going to happen between Daniel/Cameron (or whatever they finally end up naming BB's character)?  I guess his answer will be to not let them touch, or barring that - not touch each other's faces.  And if that doesn't make you roll your eyes hard enough to sprain them, I don't know what will.</div> <bR> <div> So, I guess to sum this up, I'm sad.  I'm sad that the show went the way it did for so many years - with incompetent children's cartoon writers at the helm who wouldn't know how to handle an adult situation should one jump up to bite them on the ass.  I'm sad that the actor I have loved for thirty years - from Dr. Jeff Webber to Brig. Gen. Jack O'Neill -  seemed to care so little about what happened around him and only lent his name to the show for ratings' sake . . . he stopped being a force for the show many years back.  I'm sad that with an entire universe to write stories about, we got more stories about Spammie's panties than anything else.  And I'm sad that these are the opinions I now hold about a show that compelled me to watch every week without fail eight years ago.</div> <bR> <div> If they're smart, the studio will fire all the writers and hire ones who know what to do in a science fiction universe - and season 9 will not be just one more season to get through, but will be something to show us the wonder and amazement we had for the first three seasons of this show.  Because really, the actors and fans deserve at least that much after investing so many years into this venture.  Here's hoping...</div> </td> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=120 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="01178643.jpg"> <bR> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=52 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="00f64643.jpg"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="161" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 45 ><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="39" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="29"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Plotexpo.com"><U><IMG SRC="0181d270.jpg" border=0 width="29" height="39" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="15"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="45" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="15" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="WHY BOTHER?!?!"><U><IMG SRC="017271d0.jpg" border=0 width="39" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id198.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hate is the New Black"><U><IMG SRC="016271d0.jpg" border=0 width="39" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>