I think Gero is part of the problem - he's always been the one of the major writers to write the most character-focused episodes (Wright and Cooper both do too, but they don't write as many eps period.) And Gero this season seems to be bored with writing the team as a team - most of his eps, the teammates were separated, interacting with other characters (and in "Brain Storm" weren't even there except for Rodney.) So the only episodes with significant dramatic character focus (as opposed to plot focus) did not have any team focus (excepting "The Shrine").
This works fine if you're watching for the characters; we're still getting Rodney, we're still getting John, we still got a fair bit of Ronon - not very much Teyla, but some. But while I love the characters, I love their relationships more - I fan on relationships, more than characters. I love Rodney, but I love Rodney best when he's with his team; same for all the others. To me, SGA wasn't about Rodney McKay, or Sheppard, or Ronon, or Teyla; it was about Rodney & John, or Teyla & Ronon, or Ronon & Rodney, etc. There were other relationships I liked, too, but those were my favorites. And that's not what a lot of this season's been about (to be honest, I don't think the show was ever really about the team to the writers), so that's what's giving me the gear-shift feeling.
ETA: Hmm, you were right to begin with - we were watching different shows, that overlapped; I think you were most often watching the Rodney Show, and the John Show, and the Keller Show, etc, while as I was tuning in for the Rodney & Team Show; my favorite Rodney eps are the ones he was interacting with his team (and Jeannie, because I have a major sibling button). Rodney without his team is a less interesting character to me; the character development that I saw in him I found most appealing when it was brought about by his team, or was affecting his relationships with his team.
But what I saw of that was mostly projected illusion on my part, me seeing what I wanted to see, what interested me. I don't think most of the writers ever were writing the Team show, or else were writing it only on occasions the plot called for it. So they didn't feel they were changing anything by not writing it.
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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2008-12-30 06:17 pm (UTC)This works fine if you're watching for the characters; we're still getting Rodney, we're still getting John, we still got a fair bit of Ronon - not very much Teyla, but some. But while I love the characters, I love their relationships more - I fan on relationships, more than characters. I love Rodney, but I love Rodney best when he's with his team; same for all the others. To me, SGA wasn't about Rodney McKay, or Sheppard, or Ronon, or Teyla; it was about Rodney & John, or Teyla & Ronon, or Ronon & Rodney, etc. There were other relationships I liked, too, but those were my favorites. And that's not what a lot of this season's been about (to be honest, I don't think the show was ever really about the team to the writers), so that's what's giving me the gear-shift feeling.
ETA: Hmm, you were right to begin with - we were watching different shows, that overlapped; I think you were most often watching the Rodney Show, and the John Show, and the Keller Show, etc, while as I was tuning in for the Rodney & Team Show; my favorite Rodney eps are the ones he was interacting with his team (and Jeannie, because I have a major sibling button). Rodney without his team is a less interesting character to me; the character development that I saw in him I found most appealing when it was brought about by his team, or was affecting his relationships with his team.
But what I saw of that was mostly projected illusion on my part, me seeing what I wanted to see, what interested me. I don't think most of the writers ever were writing the Team show, or else were writing it only on occasions the plot called for it. So they didn't feel they were changing anything by not writing it.