Paul C
Member
Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Bolton, UK
Posts: 95 |
Here's my review after the UK airing.
Prometheus (***)
Jack: "Hey, I thought you were going for the new body!?"
Normally SG-1 two parters are big episodes, epic episodes that end with a great cliff-hanger. 'Prometheus' succeeds only with the cliff-hanger. It isn't often that you watch an episode of SG-1 where you just have to switch off your brain, unfortunately 'Prometheus' has too many moments where the plot is advanced through rather dubious methods. We will start by the first major one, where did Prometheus come from! The show has in the past been so good at setting up future events and moving plots on naturally that a honking great big spaceship coming out of nowhere sticks out like a sore thumb! Don't say they mentioned it in Redemption, mentioning X-303 in a passing conversation isn't setting something like this up. I do think the ship is a good idea and will probably lead too some good stories in the future and we have finally started to get some major pay offs for alien tech we have got, yet the way it was introduced just smacks of the writers sitting round a table thinking 'We need a big ship, oh, two parter next week.' They should IMO have had the Goa'uld ship from 'Nightwalkers' virtually complete when they found it and then used that instead, that would have been far more convincing. Onto the second problem, the lax security. This is meant to be a massively secret project, loads of money must have been pumped into it yet 4/5 people can walk aboard with WEAPONS and take it over! 2 guards, that was all I ever saw, 2 guards!!! The inside of the facility and the ship should have been heavily guarded with many more back up protocols for securing the ship in the possibility of an attempt to steal it. Third and last, the threats to blow up the ship. Like it was ever going to happen, Simmons would never kill himself that cheaply, nor would a Goa'uld. this has obviously been planned for a long, long time, I'm sure they could have waited a while longer for the hanger doors to open, I mean how is anyone going to stop a ship that size. (At this point they didn't know Carter was free remember). This was just an attempt at tension that will always fall flat.
Onto the positive. I was really started to like Simmons as a baddie, especially when he got Goa'ulded, I really hope he isn't dead, remember dieing is a grey area for those guys The acting from all involved is as normal good and the episode is a team episode with something for all of them to do, it is episodes like this where you can see Jonas's character being more useful than Daniel's as things like this wouldn't be Daniel at all. The Prometheus itself seems like some kind of cross between Battlestar Galactica and a B5 Earth Cruiser, I like it. The SFX are obviously great (when are they not) and the episode is big budget no doubt about it. If you have read some of my other reviews you will know I like the hyperspace effect and you get to see it in use here, shallow I know but it gives the episode an extra half mark! As mentioned before this season the music has taken on a more cinematic quality, and it continues here. Good use of the Replicator theme over the TBC and Exec Producer credits at the end.
Why then have I given the episode 3 stars after the criticism? I am a sucker for action episodes, and this is certainly one. The direction, acting and SFX are very good and it is also setting up future plot threads and I don't think they are just for the second part. However I do think that one episode would have been enough to introduce the X-303 to us, I'm sure they could have fit it in during the first 3/4 episodes of the season and then a few more mentions. The cliff-hanger ending is certainly very strong and I am really looking forward to 'Unnatural Selection'. As a normal episode it would be decent enough, just as a two parter it lacks something. Finishing thought, I wonder if Donovan and the NID woman will mysteriously disappear or be killed of very quickly in part two?
Read the full review & synopsis, plus rate the episode at my site.
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