#i think that Janet's and Michael's arcs are wrapping up as well

[sage-nebula]

I think my favorite thing about the final season of The Good Place so far is how, even though the characters think they’re the ones teaching and testing the four new humans, in reality, the original four humans are the ones facing their final tests with regards to their fatal flaws, to see if they can overcome them once and for all.

In order:

Eleanor’s fatal flaw was her selfishness. She prioritized her own happiness, ignored others, and lashed out at them when she felt that her own happiness / sense of self was threatened by them, either by them being better than her, or them leaving her. In this season, she has not only had to give up her relationship for Chidi for the sake of humanity, but she’s had to push him toward his ex-girlfriend and tell him that they’re soulmates, will presumably have to watch them be together, and will have to accept that. She backslid with torturing Chidi, but she realized her mistake by the end of the episode and has worked on correcting that. It’ll likely be something she’s working with / struggling with all season, because again, her selfishness was her fatal flaw, the biggest obstacle to her being a good person, and as such she has to pass a final test to prove, once and for all, that she has overcome it.

Jason’s fatal flaw was his impulsiveness. He always flew by the seat of his pants and did whatever would bring him the most desired emotional reward the quickest, whether this was by throwing a molotov cocktail into AcidCat’s boat or doing whippets in a safe. In this season, he has not only faced direct consequences related to jumping on his first emotional impulses (e.g. the fallout of rebooting Derek), but since Janet has broken up with him, he is in a situation where there isn’t a quick and easy way to get the emotional response that he wants. He wants to be with Janet, but refusing to accept the breakup would only make her angrier, which would make the situation worse. Realizing this and adhering to it---reining in those emotional impulses and not acting on them---is the final test that Jason is dealing with so far this season.

Tahani’s fatal flaw was her pride, which in her case manifested as an obsession with status. Tahani had a deep, powerful need to not only be at the top of the line for everything, but for everyone to know that she was at the top of the line for everything, and for everyone to admire her for being at the top of the line for everything. In this season, she has been faced with someone who is both fully aware that she was at the front of top of the line for everything, and who resented and, on some level, even hated her for it (which, by the by, is not too different from how she felt about Kamilah for the longest time; she’s now getting to see what it feels like to be on the other side of that velvet rope). Tahani’s challenge this season, as we’ve especially seen in the last episode, is going to be not only learning to not care about and be less obsessed with status, but also realizing once and for all that there are not only some things that can’t be solved with name-dropping and shows of status, but that at times such a thing actually makes situations worse, and that she needs to connect with people on a more personal level if she’s going ot help them.

Lastly, Chidi’s fatal flaw was his indecisiveness (and not his anxiety as so many think). No matter how trivial the situation, Chidi was never able to make a decisive choice while alive (or often in the afterlife), which not only made those around him miserable depending on the situation (e.g. wasting recess for the other kids, messing up a potential wedding for a good friend), but also made him miserable because he was never actually able to enjoy anything because he never committed to it. The interesting thing about Chidi, of course, is that he has had his memory erased, which means that he can’t be tested via the new humans like the others are. However, I believe this is because the show is setting Chidi up to have his final test at the end. Near the end of season one, Chidi was put into a position where he had at least three women who had expressed romantic interest in him: Eleanor, Tahani, and Vicky-pretending-to-be-Good-Eleanor. He never actually made a choice back then; instead, whenever the subject was brought up, he begged them not to make him choose, got a stomachache, and basically just demonstrated that the torture Michael had set up was working. While it’s not exactly the same situation, this season has also set up a love triangle for Chidi: There’s Eleanor, who is in love with him and who he was in love with before his memories were erased, and Simone, who he once had a relationship with (though neither of them remember it) and who he now believes is his soulmate. I think that the end of the season will have Chidi regain his memories, and thus have to make a choice between Eleanor and Simone, and that Chidi will pass his final test of overcoming his deepest flaw when he’s able to decisively choose one of them (whichever one that ends up being).

While these tests obviously don’t exist in-universe for the original four at this point, I absolutely think that the way their arcs are unfolding in season four is an intentional writing decision meant to show that, despite all the reboots, these characters truly have grown over the past three seasons and are finally achieving what they set out to, intentionally or otherwise. Each of them has worked hard at overcoming their fatal flaws, they’ve gotten better and stronger with it each time, and we’re going to finally see them overcome those flaws once and for all at the culmination of this season.

And I, for one, can’t wait to see how that all unfolds.

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Good Place: Patty (4x12)

Leave it to The Good Place to always push things that one step further!

Cons:

I honestly don't know what to say! I loved every minute of this. I guess I wish we could have met with other known historical figures in the Good Place? Maybe we'll get one or two next week. I like the joke of most known figures being in the Bad Place, but just a couple of cameos would have hit the spot.

Pros:

Philosophically, this episode dropped a bombshell. But it dropped a bombshell in the way that this show often does, which is to say that once I realized where they were going with this, I also realized that I should have known all along. Basically the Good Place is great and fantastic and happy, but it's also eternity, and eventually people become happiness zombies, completely numb to the complexities and joys of existence. Eleanor and Michael come up with a solution, based on what Eleanor said about what makes life worth living - knowing that it will end. They set up another door, and it allows for a final exit from the Good Place, whenever you're ready. ("Whenever You're Ready," as it transpires, is the name of next week's finale, so that's gonna hurt!).

This is such an obvious and perfect way of wrapping things up. There's nothing malicious or broken about the Good Place - it is exactly what has been promised all along. And what's promised is a literal eternity. Not a spiritual "your energy lives on" kind of thing, but a literal eternity of just anything and everything you want being given to you instantly. When you say it out loud, it's obvious that this could never have been the endgame. So you end up having a lovely metaphor about death with dignity, in a way. With the idea that people can be trusted to understand their own lives and wants. They can be trusted to know when they are fulfilled and are ready for their journey to come to an end. What comes after that is beyond anyone's knowledge, if indeed there's anything at all.

On the comedy front, I loved Lisa Kudrow as Hypatia, now going by "Patty." She was so funny, and I loved how Chidi was so excited to meet her, and then had to contend with the fact that everything he'd looked forward to had started to erode long before he could ever get there. The milkshakes, forgetting the word "math"... all of it was just so charming and silly.

And the rest of the comedy was on point as well, like it always is. Tahani remarking that she felt like Dorothy in Oz, at least in part because she's so much taller than everyone around her, Jason getting bored with his dream activities way too quickly, the Good Place Janet passively creating and handing over things like rocket ships and giant pieces of candy... it was all very funny, and also created an atmosphere of foreboding, as it became more and more clear that things are not as good as they should be.

Michael's arc here is an interesting one too. After going through so much change and growth, he's left at the end with the worry that he doesn't fit in anywhere. He's a demon. He was created for the Bad Place. And now that he's here in the Good Place, will his good intentions earn him the right to stay? Turns out, that's not exactly what he should have been worrying about, as the Good Place architects immediately declare him the new leader, and leave in a rush to stick him with the problem. And so it turns out that Michael is honestly the perfect person for the job. He knows how to innovate. He has been working this problem for a long time now. With the help of his human friends, he finds a way to reinvigorate the Good Place and get things done!

I think that's where I'll stop. I'm getting very emotional about the fact that next week is the finale of this show!

9.5/10

[furederiko]

September 1st!!! And it's the first (of hopefully more) Random-News-Digest of the month...

Quick update before I start! Nope, my situation hasn't really improved since last time. Things are still going haywire and uncertain on my part. Which means I'm still not too sure if I will be able to post more frequently this month as well. But this is a NEW month, and I always want to start anything with a fresh and optimistic mind. So at the very least, I'm going to TRY to post more. Here's hoping... Also, expect this R-N-D to be more... 'Digest' than usual. After all, I actually decided to do this on a whimsy when I woke up this morning. You can expect things to be more shorter and compact this time around. So without further ado, let's start!!!

DC Films

The news in this category has been quite a shocker lately. Martin Scorsese wants to make a stand-alone "Joker" origin story without Jared Leto? And then there's that Leto and Margot Robbie's "Joker and Harley Quinn" movie, that is being fast-tracked to come following "Suicide Squad 2"? It's a new title that was first rumored to replace David Ayer's "Gotham City Sirens", though recent report suggests that all-female movie is STILL in development as well. To complicate matters, "Suicide Squad 2" already lost a potential director, and with Will Smith's busy schedule, it won't start production until late next year. Ouch!

Oh yeah, eventhough the movie won't arrive until April 5th, 2019, director David F. Sandberg teased that the most lighthearted DC Film movie "Shazam" will start production very soon. Yet we don't even know who's going to play Billy Batson, nor his grown-up version. While Matt Reeves is going back and forth his version of "The Batman", saying it's not part of the DCEU, and then it IS. Please make up your mind! Jon Spaihts was rumored to be re-writing "Justice League Dark", though said rumor has been cleared out by The Wrap. The irony in that, is because he was among the writer of "Doctor Strange" for Marvel Studios!!! First Joss Whedon took over Zack Snyder for "Justice League", and has officially been given a writer credit (his involvement is 33% of the movie!!!). And don't forget how Patty Jenkins used to be attached to the first Thor sequel. So Spaihts's name being thrown into the rumor zone didn't feel as 'strange'. What I'm trying to say is, I won't be surprised if more people related to Marvel Studios will end up doing DC movies for Warner Bros in the future.

Clearly, this proves that WB STILL doesn't have a plan nor idea of what they are going to do with their DC Films. A concerning truth, but is definitely far from being a surprise nowadays. I guess since the current DCEU doesn't really have a clear future (despite the success of "Wonder Woman"), WB is already thinking about creating another Universe to complement it. Perhaps, if this one works better, then they can simply erase the one that Snyder started. That's the point of "Flashpoint", right? We'll see. Yes, we'll see...

X-Men Universe

Can't believe it took this long for some people to realize that... as long as Simon Kinberg is still in charge (in ANY capacity), fans probably won't be getting the 'true' X-Men movie they have always wanted. People seems to forget that he was the writer of the disappointing "X-Men: The Last Stand", and supervised the dreaded "Fant4stic Four". Now his upcoming directorial debut, "X-Men: Dark Phoenix", which he also wrote... is already put into a giant question mark, thanks to Kinberg's recent comment.

I admit, I've grown to DESPISE the term 'grounded' in recent years, because it is (ab)used as an excuse to make shitty underwhelming products. But seriously, what good will a "Dark Phoenix" storyline get by making it... grounded? That arc is meant to be a galactic interstellar adventure, involving alien entities and otherworldly stuffs. "X3" was already its grounded version, and it did NOT work. So why bother going the same route? Is this movie 'doomed to fail' then? It's unclear. But I certainly won't be surprised if that turns out to be the case. Just remember how that grounded take on "X-Men: Apocalypse" performed...

Marvel Studios

Marvel is celebrating the late Jack Kirby's 100th birthday this week. Studio's president Kevin Feige revealed on Twitter that the upcoming "Thor: Ragnarok" is produced as a love-letter to Kirby's work. Not unlike last year's "Doctor Strange", that served as a clear tribute to Steve Ditko. Actress Evangeline Lilly also celebrated the occassion, by sharing the first official image of her character Hope van Dyne, wearing the updated Wasp suit from "Ant-Man and the Wasp".

About that last one... I totally DIG her hair-style, because Lilly always looks much better with a long hairdo instead of the one she had in the first "Ant-Man". The suit on the other hand? I'm a bit mixed. I don't know why. Perhaps because I was expecting more... yellow/gold in the color scheme? Then again, Peyton Reed and Marvel Studios might be going with Wasp's red-black scheme once again, because it's the one designed by Kirby. Especially with Janet van Dyne being in the movie (played by Michelle Pfeiffer), and the report that Michael Douglas' Hank Pym will be suiting up himself in the classic white-red costume.

The writers of "Spider-Man: Homecoming" are set to be back for the sequel! Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers are also involved in "Ant-Man and the Wasp", so there's a possibility they might end up becoming the next Markus-McFeely of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Assuming all the stars are aligned, they will reunite with director Jon Watts (who was already in talks to return) to work on the first Marvel Studios after "Avengers 4" ends the current Phase 3. Here's hoping this team will keep deliver something better, without losing that irresistible youthful and innocent charm that the first movie exuded.

Marvel TV

When this post goes up, Marvel's "The Inhumans" should be arriving in IMAX theatres everywhere. Not sure if it will be available in my country, but it's surely a definite for the US region, because ABC will begin broadcasting the series on Friday, September 29th, 2017.

According to recent report, the response to its premiere was... much positive. In fact, it's a far cry to the supposed 'disaster' that occured at the Television Critics Association Panel. Is this surprising? Well... not quite. I mean, one man's trash can end up becoming another's treasure, right? So I predict that the overall review, when it officially hits, will be mixed at best. Remember, this is still Jeph Loeb's and Scott Buck's work. Each or both have ruined a show (or two, if we count that much-anticipated crossover that came out last month... or more if we put into account their past forays) before, so there's no assurance that they won't strike again. But I'm honestly glad to hear some people actually enjoying it. Hey, there's one for everyone, right?

As for me, as I said before, I personally won't be seeing this on the theatres. Based on the lackluster trailers and underwhelming clips released so far, I'll have to give it a hard pass. Beside, considering my current financial issue, wasting money for uncertain things can be considered 'suicide' anyway. I'll probably going to hold back on watching the series as well, until the reviews for all episodes are out. Thanks to my doozy experience with the recent Netflix 'crossover mini-series', I'm going to be extra cautious with Marvel TV now. Because really, spending 8 hours for a boring and/or disappointing show felt like a tremendous waste of time. Doing so isn't going to do me any good.

QUICK UPDATE: Embargo for the full reviews hasn't been lifted when I wrote and upped this essay into queue. Those reviews have been made available NOW on various sites, and well... turns out it's as BAD as many initially said. Since I'm too lazy to modify the entire category (although it's only 3 short paragraphs LOL), this note will do just fine as a follow up. My original writing sounded more 'positive' anyways. LOL.

Meanwhile, things are looking A LOT better for Marvel's "Runaways". It seems response for the first episodes was more than great. It is currently being praised as very faithful to the source material, despite its various 'tweaks' (for example, one character was a mutant in the comic, but the copyrights prevent that to exist in live action adaptation). Not that it should be a surprise anyway. When the writer of the comic is directly in charge as consultant, we know that at least things are going to be close to the comics. Might this be the Marvel show to wait for this year? Probably, but I digress. I'm still going to be approaching this one with extra caution. If recent Marvel TV shows are any indications, then we can't really expect it to be... evenly balanced. Some of them had okay to good run in the first half, only to falter into a massive dud in the later half. Yes, even "LEGION", and the 4th season of Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.". They started out strong, but ended rather... disappointingly. Considering the same people behind them are also supervising this, said similar treatment can also apply to "Runaways"...

Netflix

It's already September, and I haven't finished Marvel's "The Defenders" yet. How come? The mini-series surprisingly BORED the hell out of me! A full review for it was meant to go up as my first post of September (yes, this R-N-D is its last minute replacement). That's the initial plan anyway, because I still haven't seen the last two episodes. Seriously though, when you've already lost any single urge to do it, there's nothing else you can do right?

Thanks to that, the internet had already spoiled me about what's going to happen to Simone Missick's Misty Knight. I don't even need to READ the whole article to figure out what will become of her... right hand. Yes, the headline already gave it away, and my minor knowledge of the character in the comics was more than enough to lead me to said conclusion. And then the image spreading on social media solidified it. Mind you, I still don't know how or what caused her to lose that body part. My quick and easy guess? Likely by Bakuto, considering up to episode 6, Misty had only spoken with one particular supporting character from the other series: Jessica Henwick's Colleen Wing. And it's also about her... KATANA, as if it's not obvious enough. Expect Misty to be armed with a prosthetic arm in the 3rd Season Marvel's "Luke Cage".

Yep, if you're like me, hoping for a "Heroes for Hire" show that includes the Daughters of Dragon... then we might as well swallow that wishful thinking. Why? It probably won't happen until the 2nd Season of Marvel's "Iron Fist" is out. Going by math alone, that means we have to wait another 26 episodes, and at least another two years. New season for "Luke Cage" will likely arrive in 2018, while the one for "Iron Fist" might probably land in 2019. Yeah, two years indeed. This is why you can't really expect much when it comes to Marvel TV... *sigh*

"Stranger Things" released a set of character posters for its 2nd Season. They cover the returning cast, as well as the new additions. What's interesting about these posters, is the strong nod to Steven Spielberg! And being a series set in the 80s, that folded-magazine style is also pretty neat. I hope this 2nd season will be as great as the 1st, and unlike most other Netflix shows.

One more thing! It's a rather old news, but worth bringing up. Netflix is currently collaborating with TOEI Animation, to remake the popular shounen-series "Saint Seiya". Titled "Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya", the new series will be created in full CG style. If you're curious on how that might look, think of it like several parts of TOEI's "Precure Dream Star!" movie that was done completely in CG, or their recent "Sekaisuru KADO" series. The latter in particular, already has a character design that's looking VERY Saint Seiya-ish (could it be intended as the warm-up to this one, then? probably). First season will be 12 episodes of 30 minutes, and will cover the "Galaxy War" to the "Silver Saint" Arcs. Yoshiharu Ashino is directing the new series, Eugene Son is the story editor and head writer, Terumi Nishii will be handling the character design, while Takashi Okazaki is doing the armors.

This news is intriguing, because it can end up heading towards into two different territory: actually good, or downright Bad. The latest "Sailor Moon" reboot that immediately divide old and new fans, is a great example of said situation. "Saint Seiya" is among the beloved titles to those growing up in the late 80s, so you can imagine their negative reactions if this remake doesn't suit their taste. The series doesn't have a fixed release date for now, but I believe we can expect it to arrive on Spring 2018. My only hope is that it retains Shingo Araki's anime style compared to Masami Kurumada's manga ones, because it has been pretty much the 'signature' of the series for the fans.

Disney XD Series

I saw the one-hour premiere of the "DuckTales" reboot not long after it aired, and great goodness... I'm LOVING it. I used to have a minor issue with the voices of the nephews before, but that concern quickly faded away when the story started rolling. It's just so engaging and fun to watch! My only complaint, is that it takes too long for the next episodes to start airing. But we're now in September, so September 23rd is just around 20 days away. Shall we start counting down for more Scrooge McDuck's adventure, then? I wonder if Disney XD will debut the first episode of "Big Hero 6 the Series" in advance too? Hmmm....

Pocket Monsters

"Pokemon GO" has been greeted by Legendary Birds Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos, and Lugia last month. Starting yesterday, August 31st, 2017, Niantic has continued the streak with the Legendary Dogs Entei, Raikou, and Suicine. Unlike the Birds, these ones are going to show up as region-based for a particular duration. Entei will be in the Europe and Africa region, Raikou in the America, and Suicine in Asia-Pacific. They will then switch places on September 30th, 2017.

This is great news, right? NOT exactly. While I DID feel overjoyed when the Legendaries were first announced, what came next was nothing more than disappointments. The fact that Niantic is focusing too much on Raid Battles to debut these special Pokemon, had caused inconveniences to some (if not MANY) of its players. Sad to say, yours truly is included in this cluster.

Here's the deal. In order to capture ONE Legendary, it first needs to be defeated in a Raid Battle. Unlike normal Raids, it's a group effort that requires around 15-20 players to be on the spot at the same time, working together to take one down. So what happens when you're a player... living in an area, that does NOT have the privilege of having at least the minimum number of players? You can only bite your nails while grunting and sighing with disappointments, because there's really NOTHING you can do. I've lost count how many 'futile attempts' I've done, singlehandedly (seriously, because there's NOBODY around) trying to defeat one. I've now arrived to the point where I simply couldn't care less about any of them anymore. Which is sad, because I was sort of hoping "Pokemon GO" would be there to help me go through my current situation. I mean, when that role has been surprisingly taken over by a repetitive, kid-oriented game called "Magikarp, Jump!"... That's saying much, right?

Of course, this shouldn't be an issue if "Pokemon GO" is still enjoyable as a single-player experience. Players who can't capture a Legendary, could still focus on doing anything else. Problem is, there's NOTHING much to do beside that. Niantic is too focused on the multiplayer 'Team Gameplay' aspect of this game, that it neglects those who play individually (whether by choice, or who are simply forced by circumstances... like yours truly). The new 'Gym System' was nice, but lately I've noticed a concerning trend: the turnaround has gradually becoming very slow. Many Gyms in my area, have Pokemon with ZERO motivations. Worse, they are stranded there for days (I can personally attest to this, because mine are among them!). That means many players no longer visit the Gyms. To put it simply, this game is just not... FUN anymore for everyone. Only for the 'privileged'.

Niantic can actually fix this, by start releasing Generation III as soon as possible. Adding a horde of new Pokemon, even if not all of them (honestly, releasing 10 new species per month would be a fun options), will give these 'unfortunate players' a renewed 'purpose' to go out and play the game. Otherwise, it's really a dry boring-ish land. IMHO, Niantic could and should've tried another method with the Legendary Dogs by... I don't know... letting them in the wild, like what happened in the core "Pokemon Gold, Silver & Crystal" games. Then again, it's probably too much to ask for. I mean, Niantic doesn't even allow something as simple as having these Legendaries added as silhouettes to the Pokedex after encountering them. And that's the only thing I've been hoping for... *sigh*. For now, unless Niantic shakes things up big time, my days with the App is numbered. And I'm going to be just another entry to the long list of players who have already walked out due to disappointments...

One more thing for "Pokemon". A quick detour to the TV side! Kanto Gym Leaders and Satoshi's former travel companions Kasumi and Takeshi (or Misty and Brock in the US version)... are coming to Alola this month!!! Many fans are obviously pleased to hear this! After they have been unceremoniously snubbed in the 20th Anniversary movie "Eiga Pocket Monster, Kimi ni Kimeta!", they are set to show up in the series instead. Takeshi in particular, is the character I've been waiting for. After all, his VA Yuuji Ueda is still a crucial part in the series as the voice of Sonansu/Wobbuffet, so he could actually show up a lot more! This pair will be making their Alolan guest appearances on the September 14th and 21st episodes. Which got me thinking: How awesome will it be if Satoshi's other travel friends show up at the same time too, right?

Street Fighter

"Street Fighter V" has welcomed its 5th DLC character for Season 2. As speculated and rumored before, it's indeed Menat, the Eyes of the Future. She is also confirmed to be the apprentice of Rose, by the way. This makes her the first completely NEW character to the franchise, because Kolin, Ed, and Abigail have all showed up before in other games. Judging from her quick and... arguably pointless appearance in Ed's Story Mode, Menat has a fantastic Egyptian-themed design. The mummy queen alternate costume however? Yeeesh. You can check out her reveal trailer online, or you can just get her right away because she's already available since early this week.

Menat's arrival after Abigail, pretty much confirms the identity of the 6th and final DLC character: Guy's teacher, Zeku. His name was already leaked before by Event Hubs' Flowtron, and his report has been proven to be on point until now. So I guess all we need to wait is CAPCOM's official announcement, right? Seeing the release pattern (Ed on May 30th, Abigail on July 25th, Menat on August 29th), we can probably expect this last Season 2 character to arrive later this month, if not late October. So tell me, are you excited about Zeku?

[jesterlady]

So the next post I'd like to make is exclusively SG1 and is just a post of all the things I like and dislike about the show in no particular order, just as things come to my mind. Like: -The eyebrow of Teal'c -Disgruntled, reluctant terrorist Daniel Jackson dealing with petulant, childish hostages who refuse to follow the proper etiquette of hostage situations -Teal'c many assortment of hats -How girly Vala is with her pigtails and sparkly barrettes and everything about her -Everything about episode 200.  The genres, the meta, the fanservice, the poking fun at themselves, at us, the nod to Farscape though I would have dearly loved for it to be longer, invisible Jack, Cam keeping track of his trips through the gate, Jack/Sam wedding, Furlings, what party were they going to?  I must know. -Walter and Siler.  Seriously, I really wish there had been an episode where they just saved the world and it was focused on them while everyone else panicked in the background and nobody knew in the end but us.  I just love how they made them such indispensable characters -Cam and Vala stealing treasure (Goa'uld bombs) together -Jack being 100% done, especially with the Tok'ra -Indeed -Hammond, Landry, and Weir all being in charge of the SGC and being sympathetic and good people rather than being frustrating and annoying and always in our people's way. -All mythology being presented in the Goa'uld system lords.  Except Norse, intellectually owned by the Asgard.  Our little Roswell friends, always there in a pinch and conveniently unavailable when not. -So many alternate realities/dimensions/timelines and ways for us to see others of our people -Robot SG1 -Joe Spencer and his fanboy reaction to SG1.  I mean his reaction to Daniel's death and comeback was mine.  It was so real and it was a flipping clipshow! -Janet adopting Cassie, how sweet and such a great way to keep continuity -Them saving Skaara, someone frikking better have gotten saved! -Bra'tac's ultimate awesomeness and ability to survive anything -Jonas, what a good person to be there while Daniel was gone, how kind and sweet and engaging -Sam being a host to Jolinar, it brought a lot of interesting things, but never overpowered who Sam was or her arc -Teal'c learning to drive in 1969 and their 60s clothes -The will they/won't they relationship of Jack and Sam was done well and didn't drive me crazy.  It was very obvious how they cared for each other and were totally end game and yet it was never said on screen, which is kind of funny.  But the very obvious pan up of her photo of Jack she brought to Atlantis is very obvious. -How many times Daniel dies. He and Rory (DW) need to have a die-off. -The way Cam leads the team by acknowledging they're all pretty much equals in their own respects and letting them work together and how they respect him to let him make the calls if there has to be one but most of the time they all know what to do so well there doesn't have to be one. -The fact we never saw the first President, lolworthy. -Urgo, I thought he was funny -Daniel's relationship with Choka.  Totally did not expect to like that episode and I loved their interaction the whole time.  Love how they kept bringing him back. -Wormhole Xtreme and how crazy it was and how they brought it back for 200 -Firefighter Teal'c -How Daniel was with his friends, watching over them, when he was Ascended. -King Maybourne.  Ha, he was a good character to hate, really. -Asgard naming ships after SG1 -How Jonas has a brand new hairstyle every time he's on the show -Daniel's floppy hair.  I've grown accustomed to and even like his other hair, but I will always have a huge soft spot for his floppy hair -Kid Jack O'Neill, that kid was amazing! -Jack letting go of his team after leading them for so long.  It was bittersweet, but I love his letter to Hammond. -Artifacts and technology from seasons before being brought back and used/referenced -Cam knowing everything about SG1 before he got there, being such a cute fanboy -Arthurian bits.  I love Arthurian legend so I was excited they delved into that, though I wish they had gone further. -Supergate -Prometheus -Daniel's bandanas -Sam's long hair -Macaroons -The fact the movies really wrapped up the Ori plotline -Ba'al clones -How Unending took the time to make it be about the characters -The training exercise episode with the kids and especially Daniel's killing everyone at the beginning -Teal'c doing the simulation in his mind and never giving up and Daniel coming in to help him -The intro of Cam as a character and his story in flashbacks.  I was already disposed to like him, but that was well done. -The episode where Daniel is hosting all those people from the pods in his brain.  Oh my gosh, Michael's acting kills me in that episode.  Janet is also splendid! -Sam's relationship with her dad -Jack and Teal'c time loop and how Jack must now be a master of pottery. :) -Vala's impulsive hugging of Sam when she comes back from the other dimension -Vala's throwing a Bday party for Daniel cause she was bored -Daniel and Jack bickering, anytime and always -Cam losing his pants a lot -They're all so good with kids -Hammond's grandchildren.  And his yeehaw! -Sam and Janet taking over the base in Hathor! -Their decision to make Janet a big part of the show -Major Davis, he was cool! -Teal'c and Vala arm wrestling No like: -Everything that happened to Sha're -How Daniel didn't have any memories after coming back from being Ascended. In fact the Ascended rules seemed to change due to what they needed to have happen.  Plus, we never really got to showcase him with his powers or anything like that.  I was so looking forward to him ripping into Anubis and then nothing...  Oma got to do it! -Abydos being destroyed.  I mean that's like destroying the hallmark of our show, our birthplace.  Plus, we just got Skaara back! -Obvious: Janet dying and how abrupt it was and how we never really found out how Cassie handled it -The Trust.  I mean, first it was like the NID was bad, then the Trust were the NID bad guys and then I thought they brought the Trust down with Sam's clever disguise, and then all of a sudden they're everywhere and into everything and apparently we'll never get rid of them cause they're convenient whenever you want to blame something on somebody on earth. -Each Colonel who comes in trying to know what's best and our guys having to show them a better way -Clipshows in general, sometimes they're really cool like with Citizen Joe, but most of the time it's just a way for me not to see my people, except doing things I've already seen them do. -How at first it was really necessary for them to learn the languages people spoke and that's partly why Daniel was so important, but then it was like everyone just spoke English all the time.  Something about the Stargates helping translate things?  But if so, really retconned and kind of a cop out.  Though, I get it, really hard to make the show sometimes otherwise.  Also, that's why everyone everywhere is human.  That's a clever way to do it, in a way. -The way the Jaffa nation just could not catch a break.  I mean, even once they were free they were fractioned and blown up and infiltrated and fighting.  Just let them have some peace to sort things out already. -The way marriage doesn't appear to be worth anything.   I've already talked about how I felt about Daniel getting all the alien chicks when he was married, but they did it to Teal'c as well.  I know there's some weird thing with Drey'auc and I guess they kind of got divorced or whatever, but from where I was looking, it seemed like he was very invested in her and Rya'c the last time we saw her.  Then Sho'nac happened.  I hated that storyline and I could have been much more sympathetic to it and appreciated her more if it had happened after Drey'auc had died.  Though having her die at all like that was just another way of them getting out of actually having relationships and honoring the vows of marriage. -The Russians getting the gate.  I mean, I kind of get it politically and all that, but it doesn't make sense to me that something that was American suddenly became Russian and we have to rent it back.  I mean, if I lose my dog, Russia can't just keep my dog, they have to give it back to me.  Morally anyway.  It just kind of bugs me. -Teal'c beard.  So glad that went away. -Martouf's death, really could have been avoided, I feel.  Plus, even though I'm all about Jack/Sam, I think they missed a real opportunity for Sam to have some kind of relationship and explored both hers and Jolinar's feelings. -Pete just being given full knowledge of the SGC for no good reason.  Everyone else gets a cover story. -The Ori weren't terrible, but I didn't find them as compelling and was annoyed at them and missed the investment I had in the fight against the Goa'uld. -Prometheus being blown up -All the politics! There's more, we know there is, but I'll leave off for now.  If I think of anything super important, I'll add it later.