1.17: Solitudes

[HeyLynny]

I just watched this ep on scifi re-runs and LOVED it. I've seen it before years ago, but since its been so long it just feels like a new ep (thats how I feel watching all of the reruns on scifi). Anyway, I really did like this ep because of the separation of the team members and how it seemed to start a spark between Sam and Jack (maybe there was one there already but it really showed here...especailly when she called him "Jack" instead of "Colonel".) It was great seeing, again, how they foudn the second stargate and the reasons why 2 were pu on earth int he first place. Daniel did a great job figuring out what happened and how to find them. I'm now taping all of the reruns so I'll be watching this one again.

 

[Jobeth]

I have to agree with Highlander II on this one. It was simply unbelievable that Sam wouldn't think to try another gate address.

It was, overall, a boring ep. There was no reason to waste an entire ep just to work in the second stargate.

I think the major problem with 'Solitudes' is that the plot is more of a conceit, reather than an idea, as shown in this example from The Turkey City Lexicon:

The Jar of Tang

"For you see, we are all living in a jar of Tang!" or "For you see, I am a dog!" A story contrived so that the author can spring a silly surprise about its setting. Mainstay of the old Twilight Zone TV show. An entire pointless story contrived so the author can cry "Fooled you!" For instance, the story takes place in a desert of coarse orange sand surrounded by an impenetrable vitrine barrier; surprise! our heroes are microbes in a jar of Tang powdered orange drink.

This is a classic case of the difference between a conceit and an idea. "What if we all lived in a jar of Tang?" is an example of the former; "What if the revolutionaries from the sixties had been allowed to set up their own society?" is an example of the latter. Good SF requires ideas, not conceits. (Attr. Stephen P. Brown)

http://www.sfwa.org/writing/turkeycity.html

For you see, they were really on earth all along! And the only way to get it to work is to have Sam act like an idiot.

Idiot Plot
A plot which functions only because all the characters involved are idiots. They behave in a way that suits the author's convenience, rather than through any rational motivation of their own. (Attr. James Blish)