It’s official. I WILL be doing a signing in support of my comic book series, Dark Matter, at the upcoming San Diego Comic Con. NOT in the parking lot or out of my hotel room but INSIDE the actual convention center!
WHEN? Saturday, July 14th. 4:00 p.m.
WHERE? Dark Horse Comics booth number #2615.
WHY SHOULD YOU COME BY? Because I’ll be signing copies of Dark Matter #1 AND giving away some Stargate-related goodies as well. Also, Akemi will be on hand to answer any Tokyo or Osaka-related questions and rough up anyone who gets out of line.
Let’s talk Stargate – specifically, Stargate: Atlantis’s second season episode…
THE LONG GOODBYE (216)
While the premise was great, this episode suffered from a very tight turnaround on the script. It was only days from outline approval to first draft followed by a rewrite under similar time constraints. The result = an episode that, while engaging, does give rise to a number of questions. Questions like…Wh
Why does everyone automatically believe that it is Weir they are speaking to and not the alien entity that has entered her body?
Why does Sheppard, the city’s highest ranking military officer, recklessly allow himself to be possessed by an alien entity?
In retrospect, I think these issues could have been addressed by having both Weir and Sheppard struck at the same time while both pods are being studied. Both go down and are transported to the infirmary but it is Weir who comes to first. By the time she, Phebus/Weir, realizes the situation she’s in, Thalen/Sheppard is awake and on the run.
If Phebus is so eager to “win the war” by killing her old rival, why doesn’t she do it while he’s still in the pod and vulnerable? It can’t be because of any consequences she may face at the hands of the Atlantis crew because she knows she has only a few hours to live, readily admitting as much earlier. It can be “the thrill of the hunt” because, at episode’s end, she orders Teyla to drag her bound enemy into camera range so she (Phebus) can watch Teyla kill him.
This too could have been addressed by rolling with the aforementioned scenario. If she never has the opportunity to kill him off the top, this isn’t an issue.
Why the hell is McKay unloading a weapon in John’s direction? He’s smart enough to realize that he could kill Sheppard.
This one’s simple. DON’T have McKay fire on Sheppard.
Phebus threatens to turn on (what is a deadly version of) the Halon fire suppression system and kill everyone on Atlantis. Why would the city be outfitted with a highly toxic fire suppression system? Are they cheaper than sprinklers?
Rather than go with Halon, which suggests they were an “after-market addition” on the part of the Atlantis crew, why not have the city’s last ditch fail safe protocol be an immediate lockdown and sealing of the affected areas followed by either a venting of oxygen or piping in of CO2? Both would do the trick.
There is one interesting suggestion late in the episode when Teyla has Thalen/Sheppard lined up for the kill shot. As Thalen faces certain death, he informs her: ” If you kill me, you’re killing him. He cares for you more than you know.” Thalen, of course, has access to Sheppard’s memories and thoughts, so the question here is “Is Thalen saying this because John believes Teyla loves him? Or is he saying this because John loves Teyla?”. Intriguing.
The best part of this episode was getting to see Weir/Torri kick ass.
Thoughts?
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