Thought of the Day for TPTB

Four Weeks by Sara

*I have been watching Stargate SG-1 for just four weeks.*

Yes, I know, that's not very long when the show has been running for five years. "Where have you been all this time?" I'm asked. There is no satisfying answer. I ignored, I postponed, I tried not to listen when fannish acquaintances told me about this show I'd really like if I just gave it a try. I was stubborn.

I still don't know exactly what made me take another look. But when I did, I finally realized what a fascinating, inventive, and unique series this really is. My reservations, whatever they might have been, melted away, and I embraced it enthusiastically. The joy of discovery was mine again, and I couldn't have been happier.

Four weeks amounts to seven episodes. I ordered Showtime specifically for this reason, and have been absorbing Season 4 syndicated and Season 5 as they appear. At this point, I'm still very much a newbie -- but I'm rapidly gaining enough information to be able to contribute to the conversation.

*I have been watching the SG-1 team work together for just four weeks.*

They tell me I'm not seeing the team at its best during the last two seasons, and that may be true. I'll be able to make comparisons when I see earlier episodes. Yet, even at perhaps its weakest point, this series still had enough power to draw me in. It made me want to share SG-1's adventures, follow them wherever they went. And the one who immediately became my favorite was Daniel.

Each of the others -- Jack, Sam, and Teal'c -- have their own strengths, and they are all an important part of the team. The series would be diminished by the loss of any of them. But Daniel is special for a variety of reasons, the most important being that he deciphered and opened the Stargate. Because of that, the journey is his to take, the adventures are his to have, and, all too often, the pain is his as well.

Still, I wouldn't want "The Daniel Jackson Show," even if I could get it. Characters like Daniel need context in order to be appreciated, and the other members of the team provide that context in abundance.  I was particularly struck, as so many have been, by the polar-opposite-yet-closer-than-brothers relationship shared by Daniel and Jack. Together, they made the movie a success -- and from my perspective, they made the series a success as well.

*I have been looking at what this fandom has to offer for just four weeks.*

Much of what I've learned about the show so far has been through the Internet. Primers, FAQs, episode guides and descriptions, pictures, video clips -- all have helped me understand the terms I'm hearing and the previous characters being referred to. They have eased the transition, kept me from pulling my hair out in frustration over arriving in the middle of things, rather than the beginning. I'm grateful they are there.

Most impressive, though, is the fan fiction. There, I see the real strengths of the team, through fans who bring the characters to life and allow us all to share in their further adventures. It gives me an outlet, a place to go when I don't yet have anything new to watch. Eventually, I'm sure I'll add to the collection, because I love to write. For now, though, I'll just read and appreciate.

*I have been watching Daniel Jackson approach his fate for just four weeks.*

It's a fact that you can barely turn around in this fandom without hearing about "Meridian." So, I quickly learned that Michael Shanks had already left the show, and that Daniel would die when this episode aired. At that point, I might have turned around and left myself -- but I was already hooked. So, instead, I tried not to think about it, pushing reality aside for more pleasant discoveries until suddenly last Friday it was staring me in the face, and I couldn't pretend anymore.

Now I've seen it, and my reaction is one of stunned disbelief, and tears. This was no "hollywood death," the kind you see on soap operas all the time. This was real, and brutal, and I bought it. I bought it because I've been there... sat by a loved one's bedside, knowing he wasn't going to get better, realizing it was only a matter of time before he left us. There's a feeling of inevitability in Daniel's death that permeates the episode; it's something his "ascension," clever plot device though it is, can't erase.

More than that, though, is the sick feeling that this entire exercise was completely unnecessary. Daniel's "story arc" could easily have continued for another five years. How can TPTB say there are no more stories to tell, after the emotional episode they've just given us? Why don't the writers seem to want to write for him anymore, when his character is the touchstone most fans reach for? And how can we be asked to accept a replacement for what is obviously an irreplaceable man?

Sci-Fi seems to think they're going to draw in viewers like me with their new team: Jack, Sam, Teal'c, and... Jonas. Sorry, but I have better things to do with my time. Better things, like catching up on previous seasons, reading and writing fanfic, and doing what I can to persuade TPTB to find a way to bring Daniel back and put him where he belongs, at the heart of the SG1 team. I have no interest in watching a watered-down version of this show simply because it's available. Without Daniel, it will have no soul.

*I have been watching Stargate SG-1 for just four weeks -- and I am already mourning what I have lost.*

By Sara
 

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