SG-1: Icon

[moonshayde]

I was going to write some tonight, but instead I just jotted down some ideas and notes. While I did that, I turned on Scifi and rewatched Icon. Now, I've seen this episode a handful of times before, but not since early 2005 at the latest. I own the DVD, but never watch it. So, it's been awhile.

Sometimes distance can be refreshing.



I've always had mixed feelings about this episode. On the one hand, I thought it was a great Daniel episode. I saw Daniel, not MS. We got angsty Daniel. And we got SG-1 pushing to find him. All of these things should make for a good episode.

Yet, it never quite gelled for me. I found that it was slow and the flashbacks just didn't jive well. I tend to be the most critical of Daniel as well, as I usually am with my fave characters. So I won't automatically like an episode just because it is about Daniel.

What are my thoughts now? I like it. I've always liked it, but before I found it very disjointed and slow. Not so tonight. It didn't move slowly for me and I rather liked the depressing feel to the entire episode. I also liked the music. Maybe it's just the timing. Maybe it's because I miss Jack and old SG-1. Maybe it's because it still speaks to the old storylines and not the Ori. Maybe it is nostalgia from knowing what happens later in Ethon. Whatever the case may be, I didn't find it as slow this time. I found the politics more interesting and my love for Kane just continues to grow.

I never have given the actress who plays Leda enough credit. She did an incredible performance in this episode. I loved all the scenes with her and Kane and Daniel.

And I really enjoyed the scenes with the rest of SG-1. I liked Teal'c and his reactions to Soren. I loved that Sam and Jack didn't want to give up. I felt this episode tonight and it made me miss SG-1 all over again.

I still think the episode could have been better. The pacing could use some help, even if it didn't bug me tonight. There should have been a better way to use the flashbacks. In Meridian, the flashbacks were done great. This episode, not so much. It's confusing how they switched back and forth. Not even the little subtitles of "Three Months Ago" helped much. Really, that is my biggest nitpick of the episode.

I would have liked to see Daniel interact more with his teammates. Unfortunately, that was par the course for Season 8: separate everyone. But all in all, upon viewing it again after at least a year and 1/2, the episode has grown on me. All the characters were in character to me. It was one of the good spots of Season 8.

It's left a hole in my stomach and left me reflecting on the team of Season 8. And that's a good thing.

Comments

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

That's funny. I felt the transitions in Icon worked awesomely and hated the ones in Meridian...at least pre-Oma's arrival.

I never saw Icon on tv. It was the one ep I missed, and therefore the first one I watched on dvd. I knew it had mixed reviews, but I really liked it.

I think it's extra haunting now with the whole idea of the Ori...in fact I think it was a test run of playing with that kind of religious fundamentalism (even though Stargate has played with false gods since its inception).

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

My love of Meridian started to wane once Oma arrived. Heh. I thought it was better peiced together before it got kinda of a mushy episode.

I think maybe Icon had more impact now (for me) because of the Ori and because of Ethon. I don't know. I've always liked the episode but when I watched it last night, I finally felt like I got it the way I was supposed to.

[maychorian.livejournal.com]

I always thought it was a pretty interesting episode, because we saw SG-1's contact with another world acting as a political catalyst, which we never saw before. I love fanfic that plays with these ideas, of what can happen when a civilization at one level interacts with a civilization at another level. (Which is why I kind of like the whole Kelowna thing, even though every last person on the planet is a . . . well, except for Jonas, whom I like, and he started out wimpy too.)

Anyway, I got sidetracked. But this whole thing is something we've certainly messed up on Earth, with Western culture poisoning pretty much every other culture it comes in contact with. And yes, there can be a lot of benefits to this interaction, too. But the consequences can be terrible.

And so I like this episode. It explores the consequences of . . . exploration. Too much SG-1 in later seasons, maybe especially in Season 8, was all caught up in the battle-y stuff, which is not as interesting to me as cultures and people and the weirdness of a galaxy without limits.

I wasn't particularly taken with the characterization in the episode, but maybe with more viewings it would grow on me, too. Only saw it the once. Definitely loved Daniel and his concern for what they had done and his determination to everything he could to make it right. Hearkened back to the idealistic Daniel of early seasons, whom I love with a pure love and always want to huggle in grinning delight because he's just so lovely.

Anyway. Probably enough rambling from me.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I would definitely rewatch it sometime and concentrate on the characterization. It's really good in light of some other episodes. I think it was one of the bright spots for S8.

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

I've always liked Icon because of the Danielness of it, but as an episode, I've always had mixed feelings. One time I watch it and I love it; another time I watch it and I'm not sure. *g* Mostly, though, I love it. I liked the actress who played Leda and really liked that character. I loved Kane, too. I thought Daniel/MS had wonderful chemistry with both. It didn't come off as a love triangle to me, but more of Daniel bonding with both of them in a unique way.

I also loved how when Kane had questions about Leda's relationship with Daniel, he went to her, not to Daniel. His relationship with Daniel remained the same. That made me love Kane all the more.

I found the flashbacks confusing at first, but as I've seen the episode a zillion times, I can't remember what I ever thought was confusing. *g* I loved the Jack and Daniel "squirrelly" scene a lot. I loved that Sam was leading missions trying to find Daniel. I loved that Daniel never gave up on contacting Earth.

I think that if Daniel hadn't ever been able to get back to Earth, he'd have been adopted by Leda and Kane--not in a threesome, but just as "family" in a way. They all had that vibe. Even when Kane came back later, I felt that between them.

P.S. I loved the mushy aspect of Meridian. hehe I have such a love/hate relationship with that episode. *g*