Thought of the Day for TPTB
Abyss Review by Neemeister
My first viewing of Abyss was rather... disappointing, to say the least, frustrating and aggravating, to approach accuracy. You see, a little over halfway through the episode a thunderstorm knocked out our electricity. To make matters worse, the electricity didn't come back on until over 2 hours after the second showing of Abyss.
Now, there's a reason I mention this. As I sat on the couch, my mouth agape, staring at a blank screen in a darkened room, only the flashes of lightning providing fleeting light, I felt something I haven't felt watching Stargate since the beginning of season 6: Anticipation. Frustrated, yes, but anticipation just the same. I *had* to see what happened next. I was desperate for more. Each minute that ticked by in the darkness was torment. I felt like a little kid on a family trip to Disney World, pestering my father every few minutes with 'What time is it?'. Hoping each time he answered it wasn't yet too late for the power to return in time for the second airing of Abyss.
Interestingly enough, my father, while to a much lesser degree, was frustrated as well. He *had* to see what happened next. As did my mother who hasn't given the show more than casual attention for a while now. She adores Jack and his humor, but she also loved the mythology and archaeology in the show. As its inclusion in the episodes waned, then disappeared, so did my mother's active interest.
Anyway, back to the point: In just over 30 minutes, I cared about this episode. It made me care. It made me want to see it through to it's very last second. Or more accurately, Daniel and Jack made me care.
I've now seen the whole episode -- the internet is a wonderful thing -- so what follows is based on seeing through to that very last second...
And it was wonderful. 'Wow' doesn't begin to express what Abyss was. The very opening scene was gripping, capturing my interest and attention until the end credits rolled. The life was back. Even before Daniel appears, Jack's scenes had energy and wit. Jack was back, and he sizzled.
Even the villain, Baal, had a unique presence that's been lacking in Season 6 and some of Season 5. He was real. He was evil but he was real, not a comic-book or cartoon bad-guy. He was expressive and complex, a villain not to be underestimated. There was no 'I am evil, hear me bellow' over-the-top posturing.
This was an insidious evil, one that knew how to manipulate to get what it wanted. That knew the value of appearing reasonable, even momentarily benevolent, to achieve its goals. That knew the value of calmly undermining whatever trust his victim places in supposed allies, in this case the Tokra.
And this Goa'uld also knew the value of a good tailor. His outfit was very stylish -- classy and understated yet imperious. Much like the performance of the actor playing Baal. He and his tailor both understand the power of subtlety. Like Lord Yu, this is a villain I would like to see much more of.
The web-device used to restrain Jack was certainly unique...okay, *cool*! I couldn't quite figure out how it was supposed to work, but I really didn't care because everything that was happening was so engaging I was more than willing to just believe. It's sci-fi, so anything's possible.
If scenes prior to Daniel's appearance had energy, spark, the scenes *with* him supernovaed. The Jack and Daniel banter which I have loved so much was in full force, like it had never been gone. The saying 'You never know what you really have until it's gone' is only partly true. I knew what I had and then what was missing when the Jack and Daniel friendship went cold during Seasons 4 and 5, and what's missing with Daniel gone from the show during this season. But even that knowing is only a fragment of the truth.
Like a jolt of electricity to my faded memories, Abyss reminded me of what Jack and Daniel's friendship truly had been. Of what we have been missing for so long. It reminded me of how truly unique and special Daniel was. Of the deep strength and complexity of Jack's character. Of Daniel's character. It reminded me how much character matters. How much caring about the characters we're watching week to week matters to the story being told.
Michael Shanks and Richard Dean Anderson were magic together. It was as if Daniel and Michael had never been gone. From Daniel's opening quip, there was an obvious ease and belonging that has been missing from most of the characters in recent episodes. Daniel knows Jack, knows him so deeply and so well, that in the midst of a dire situation he can give Jack a smartass greeting, as if Daniel had only been away on vacation and not ascended because he had been dying the most horrible of deaths.
Yet, while the greeting is teasing, the emotion behind it is not, and that's plainly expressed by Michael Shanks' acting. Daniel cares. He is hurting because Jack is hurting and he's limited in preventing it. But Daniel's mere presence, even when Jack assumes him a hallucination, energizes Jack. Jack is happy to see his best friend again. Jack is alive again, awakened from the slumber of previous episodes. Richard Dean Anderson is awake and 'alive' again and he shines in Abyss.
Jack and Daniel together are a wonder to watch: From Jack tossing his shoe through Daniel to determine if Daniel's 'real', to the classic childlike "Is.", "Is not." banter, to the speaking without words -- just knowing, by a look, what is meant, to the open trust they have in each other and their expression of it. This is the core dynamic, the chemistry, that made Stargate special.
This has heart and warmth. There is more to both Jack and Daniel than smartass comments and sarcasm. There's feeling, emotion, and depth. I was stunned by how powerful some of the most subtle moments were. Richard Dean Anderson is masterful in showing Jack's slow slide into despair then to suicidal. I am still moved by how small and lost Jack seems when he is returned to his cell and Daniel isn't there. It's in his voice as he calls out to Daniel. Or when Jack tells Daniel there is another option than ascension, the look in Daniel's eyes as what Jack is really asking of him sinks in and his soft "No, I won't do it." is more powerful than any melodramatic tirade.
And then there's Jack's "Jonas is at least as smart as you." which caused me to roll my eyes during my first viewing, but during the second I caught Jack's smug expression as he said it. He's goading Daniel, as usual, maybe even a little hurt that Daniel won't do what Jack would do if things were reversed. And that's what's made their friendship so interesting to watch from the beginning: Jack's way isn't Daniel's way, although usually their goals are the same. It's just the path taken to get there isn't.
While Daniel completely believes in Jack and his capability and worthiness to ascend too, Jack doesn't, and Daniel is running out of time to save Jack and his soul. So, true to Daniel's character, he does find another way. The scene of Teal'c quiet in the glow of candlelight during Kel'no'reem is another subtle but powerful moment. It reminded me of a similar scene in The Crystal Skull, which reinforces the implication Daniel had been there.
I also enjoyed many of the 'Back at the base' scenes. For instance, Teal'c grinning, as only he can, while correcting the Tokra about his 'threat'; Hammond, while retaining his cool, telling off the Tokra by saying what I've been wanting someone to say to them for quite some time; Sam's declaration that the Tauri 'Don't leave their people behind.'.
However, Abyss isn't perfect. While there were many good moments during the base scenes, they were too stark a contrast to the ones between Jack and Daniel, and even Jack and Baal. There was an intensity in the off-world scenes that wasn't quite there in the SGC ones.
It was nice to once again see the 'team' working towards saving one of their own, but they seemed too casual, concerned but not desperately so like they have been in many past episodes when one, or more, of them was missing.
I also thought the reasoning behind Daniel not being able to actively help Jack was a little weak. Abyss was the *perfect* opportunity to bring Daniel back, permanently. Jack was right, the Daniel he knew would have done something. Yet, on the other hand, Daniel did do something. And at no point did Daniel not seem like Daniel. Maybe Abyss is an even better set-up towards Daniel's growing frustration at having all that power and not being able to use it to protect who and what he cares about.
Another thing that bothered me was Jack confirming he had agreed to be 'snaked'. I still can't believe he would, although apparently neither can he. I think his experience as a temporary Tokra has banished any doubts that his distrust of the Tokra is well founded.
And then there's Jonas. It was in this episode I was finally able to determine what it is that makes him seem so 'off'. He's an outsider. He literally doesn't belong. Now, I know supposedly that's what the writers have been going for, an otherworldliness, a lack of acceptance by the team. That's *not* quite what I mean. He doesn't belong, but acts like he does which only makes him not belong even more. He seems out of sync with everyone and everything around him. It's like he's an actor role-playing a close relationship with people who are a family and don't even know who he is. His supposed concern doesn't seem true or real. It carries the same disinterested interest I've seen since the season premier.
To make matters worse, there's Daniel. Daniel, and Michael Shanks, can express deep emotion through a mere word, or a look. Compounding it is Richard Dean Anderson and Jack, who can do the same and does in Abyss. So when the scenes change to the base, Jonas looks all the more flat and emotionless. It seems like he has lines just to be in a scene, yet offers nothing to it. His voice carries nothing, no range of feeling, no emotion, just bland and flat. For all his hand-waving and notebook scribbling and facial contortions, there still is nothing. As Jack said, "While a candle burns in my house, no one is home."
Nothing about Jonas seems real or believable. It's all surface, no depth. No one's home. And the candle's faint warmth is consumed by the heat and brilliance of the sun. One hour of Daniel back with his best friend outshines all of Season 6 to date. Supposedly too jaded, Daniel in this one hour has shown more of a sense of wonder than Jonas, the character who was intended to revitalize the excitement and childlike wonder of the stargate and exploration and everything. As Daniel tells Jack what ascension is like, the wonder and fascination is glittering in his eyes. It is in his voice, in his words. And it's contagious. I felt the wonder and fascination as well.
Episodes don't need to have a perfect plot to be amazing and inspiring, they just need characters that matter -- to each other and to us. Abyss proves this. The exploration may have been missing but the wonder was there. The heart was there. And sometimes that is what is most important.
Abyss was easilty the best episode of the season. It one of the best episodes I've seen for some time. I thank you, Brad Wright for writing a wonderful episode that proves what Stargate was isn't dead. He still knows how to make us care. This is what was at the core of Stargate. This was classic Stargate. This is what I've missed. I would like to see more of this. Much more.
By Neemeister
23rd July 2002
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