SGA New Year's Marathon--Top Five

[sgamadison.livejournal.com]

Over the past few days, I've discovered just how many of my f-list and twitter list have holiday movie or television watching traditions for Christmas.

In my family, we used to take in a movie on Christmas Day, though we've gotten away from that now.  So many of my friends hold LOTR marathons, which makes perfect, lovely sense to me.  In years past, I made it a point of watching some form of A Christmas Carol--the Muppet version being my favorite. For some of my friends, it's the first Harry Potter, or the first POTC.

I want to start my own tradition this New Year's day of a SGA marathon.  With that in mind, I'm asking for everyone's top five episodes they would watch.  Ideally, I'd like to pick one ep from each year, but what to choose, what to chose?

My list would *probably* run something like this (if I went by one per season):

1. The Defiant One
2. Duet..,or Grace Under Pressure. Or Runner.
3. Common Ground.  But then there is also Phantoms, and Echoes, and the understated The Ark in season three...
4. Doppleganger
5. Vegas

So let's see your lists--your top five overall, or your top pick for each season. I'm not fussy.  Remind me again why should watch my list or something *not* on my list.

*happy sigh*

Comments

[melagan.livejournal.com]

Rising has to go on that list somewhere. Trinity, Inferno, Miller's Crossing, Tao of Rodney...and those are just off the top of my head.


There's no way five is enough.

[artemis-prime.livejournal.com]

Mm, this is interesting. I find that my favs are Rodney centred so I'll go with: the Shrine, Tao of Rodney, Grace Under Pressure and Duet.

Other favs include: 38 Minutes (good storytelling,acting and tension)
: Letters From Pegasus (McKay is hilarious, but we see a glimpse of doubt from Teyla that I would have liked to see carried on in the series - she fears she has asked too much of John/Earthlings to wait for Orin and his family)
: Vegas (that AU was awesome and should have been explored more)
: The Return I (I enjoyed how it was Elizabeth having the most difficulty transitioning back to Earth)
: Sunday (because I really, really like seeing characters outside of their jobs)

I'm sure that there are others, but I figure that ought to last a while :)

[sgamadison.livejournal.com]

I know, I know, but I felt like I had to set limits--otherwise I'd just end up watching the entire series (not that there's any problem with that) or would lean very heavily in some years (three was an AWESOME year) and skate through some of the others *cough* five *cough*.

Now, why Inferno? Just out of curiosity's sake. I really enjoyed the Ark and feel like it gets overlooked a lot--thought it a great team story with excellent dynamic tension and storytelling. The Inferno to me is the 'one about the volcano'. So what makes it stand out in your mind?

[sgamadison.livejournal.com]

Oh, the Shrine! How could I have left that off the list? Well, because I was trying to stick to my arbitrary one per season thing...

I think Vegas should have been the spinoff series, not SGU. They could have done a lot with that and taken the characters in directions that we would have been able to accept because it was all AU. In fact, I think creating an AR timeline for the Star Trek franchise was BRILLIANT thinking and I jumped up and down in the theater and punched my BF in the arm while whispering loudly, "It's AU! It's AU! All holds are off!"

I'm trying to think of others I enjoyed (off the top of my head, without going back and looking) Midway. That was a *very* cool ep and I liked the tension between Teal'c and Ronon. Sateda--another great one. Oh dear. It might have been easier to make a list of the ones I *don't* want to watch again. :-)

[tavabean.livejournal.com]

I've been bad and haven't watched an ep in over a year.:O
Perhaps a series rewatch is in order for 2012?
But if I were to go back and watch 5 I think I'd pick Rising just to recall where it all began. Then Common Ground, Doppelganger, The Shrine (Pier scene), and Vegas.

Oh, but I really want to watch Harmony again, but not sure which of the above I'd cut.

You can tell I have a thing for Sheppard and Sheppard and McKay together. :P

[sgamadison.livejournal.com]

I will have to admit, I'm a Sheppard girl, but David Hewlett is such a great actor that he is joy to watch.

Now see, Harmony wouldn't have risen to the top of my list, so what makes it a top five for you?

[popkin16]

Per season:

1. The Defiant One
2. Grace Under Pressure
3. Echoes (I love this ridiculous, shippy episode)
4. Doppelganger
5. The Shrine

I'm submitting this before I start to second guess myself >____>

[tavabean.livejournal.com]

It felt like one of those Hope and Crosby Road shows, just silly fun with my two favorite characters. :)

[ladysorka]

My all time favorite is McKay and Mrs. Miller.

If I was going to go with one per season, it would probably be

1. The Storm/The Eye counts as one, right? Heh. If not, Letters from Pegasus, Defiant One, or 38 Minutes
2. Conversion, Grace Under Pressure, or Inferno. I can't pick,.
3. McKay and Mrs Miller! Also Echoes, Return Part 2, Sateda, and Common Ground.
4. Adrift, closely followed by The Last Man. Weirdest answer, I know. Otherwise Doppelganger, Outcast, Miller's Crossing, and I'm probably the only person ever who has a very strange fondness for Trio
5. Daedalus Variations. No, seriously, Daedalus Variations.

[oran.livejournal.com]

Oooo making me think now and this is hard, or maybe not so hard. So far this holiday I have watched the following, plus a few others.

1. Echoes
2. Rising
3. The Shrine
4. Tao
5. Inferno

Hmmm all a bit McShep-ish especially Shrine with the brightness turned up a little so that I can see just how much John has his hands all over Rodney during the trip to the Shrine itself. I just ignore the Jennifer bits! :)

[hoktauri]

Oh, what a lovely tradition to start! :-D

This was a really tough call. I'd like to pick five eps from each season! But I have narrowed it down to one each.

1. The Brotherhood, for all the Mensa snark, and the serious BAMFery of Teyla and Lt. Ford.
2. Conversion, b/c it was some of Flan's finest acting, and finally ended all that pesky UST b/t John and Teyla. Also, BAMF Weir standing up to Caldwell!
3. Sateda, b/c hey, episode full of RONON. Enough said.
4. Miller's Crossing, b/c John talked a man into killing himself! For Rodney's sake! And Jeannie's!
5. The Queen, b/c of Todd, The Primary, and Teyla as a Wraith Queen--so many buttons hit with this one episode.

[that-which.livejournal.com]

1. The Defiant One (guilty pleasure: Home)
2. Grace Under Pressure (guilty pleasures: Epiphany and The Long Goodbye, and seriously, I'm looking at the episode list and was Elizabeth pretty much the poster girl for really bad decision making that season or what?)
3. Common Ground (guilty pleasures: Tao of Rodney, Echoes and McKay and Mrs. Miller)
4. Ok, I have no shame, The Last Man (guilty pleasures Tabula Rasa and Doppelganger)
5. The Daedalus Variations (guilty pleasures Flowers for Rodney The Shrine and First Contact/The Lost Tribe)

[omg-wtf-yeah.livejournal.com]

What a cool idea. This is really, really hard because Grace Under Pressure is awesome. I know some people over here have no love for it but I'm crazy about comedic episodes like Irresistible and Harmony. Of course, there's Tao of Rodney...

My Top Five
1. The Shrine
2. Hide & Seek
3. Defiant One
4. Lost Boys
5. Vegas

And Why
The Shrine is part of my least favorite season but it's very strong emotionally speaking, and it has some of the best interaction of my favorite characters (John and Rodney, Teyla and Ronon against Woolsey).

Hide and Seek is just funny and episodic and I really wish we'd had more Atlantis-bound episodes.

The Defiant One is one of my favorites ever. It has that awesome road movie feel with some fantastic Shep and McKay moments. And...yeah, I love watching John faceplant into the jumper shield.

Lost Boys - Teyla and Ronon are basically smoking hot in it. They have so much chemistry, it's ridiculous. I also love John and Aiden's interaction.

Vegas is just awesome, sultry, emotionally heavy. It has some pretty goofy parts (wraith gambler, ho) but it feels to me like it has amazing heart and soul.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the Storm/the Eye OR Before I Sleep. I love those.

[omg-wtf-yeah.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed how it was Elizabeth having the most difficulty transitioning back to Earth

Oh yeah. That was awesome for Elizabeth. One of my favorite things about Elizabeth is her love of Atlantis. She was, by far, my favorite leader.

[omg-wtf-yeah.livejournal.com]

God, those are great. I really love Shep and McKay together, too. I think they bring out the best of each other. How about the Game? That one's fantastic.

[omg-wtf-yeah.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, I weirdly love Daedalus Variations, too. It's just such a cool episode but it seems like it's not terribly popular. :)

[omg-wtf-yeah.livejournal.com]

I really need to rewatch the Brotherhood. I barely paid attention when I first saw it. Oh, and Sateda! Wow, that one was fantastic.

[patk.livejournal.com]

>>The Inferno to me is the 'one about the volcano'. So what makes it stand out in your mind?<<

I don't know what it makes stand out in Melagan's mind but I know why I remember it so vividly:

John's *slump-eyeroll-to-the-ceiling* in the background when Norina talks about "working under you" to Rodney. *ggg*

That was a genius piece of acting from Joe F.

And, oh, the last scene when everybody waits for a response to see if John and Rodney made it via the Orion and John answers they have a pretty big passenger list.

I can't help but I always get teary-eyed at this moment.

[patk.livejournal.com]

>>It might have been easier to make a list of the ones I *don't* want to watch again. :-)<<

AFAIK this list consists of two eps, right? Whispers and Brainstorm. ;-)

[patk.livejournal.com]

>>(I enjoyed how it was Elizabeth having the most difficulty transitioning back to Earth)<<

In this case I might have a rec for you:

"We Used To Be Friends (The ComeOnNowSugar, BringItOnBringItOnYeah Remix)" by justabi

http://archiveofourown.org/works/4619

[patk.livejournal.com]

>>so what makes it a top five for you?<<

What Tavabean said.

Plus: The conversation between Harmony and Rodney about her being in love with John? Priceless!

You know what I would like to see? A story that takes place some years down the road, revolving around a grown-up Harmony's thoughts at watching the painting of the three of them and remembering - from her now more mature POV - the happenings that took place then.

[patk.livejournal.com]

>>How about the Game? That one's fantastic.<<

Baden with his "studs-arranged-in-a-heart-shape"-adorned breast armor? Just great.

Nola and Baden? I'm sure they're married meanwhile, have a bunch of kids and are still as competitive as ever. In a way they're practically the hetero mirror-images of slash-John and Rodney. ;-)

[melagan.livejournal.com]

♥ ♥ ♥ Daedalus Variations ♥ ♥ ♥

[patk.livejournal.com]

I like Daedalus Variations very much and think it's a underappreciated ep. Though the sight of the dead team gives me shivers every time. I can't help but wonder what they went through before they died. But the episode has so much starting points for AU-stories, so much possibilities in it, and I really like the fact that it was basically Johns (vague) idea of putting the ship in reverse gear that actually saved them at the end. Rodney happily admitting that - of course - he had dismissed John's idea at first. You know, the way it is delivered, you can't even be mad at him - it's just so *Rodney*. *g*

[melagan.livejournal.com]

I love,love,love Inferno. RODNEY RIPS HIS LAPTOP OFF HIS BACK!!!

All the team gets a part, including Carson and Elizabeth.

Teyla and Ronon have some lovely moments together. On top of all this -

John is cockblocking Rodney so hard throughout that his eyeroll made the record books (at least it should have)

I heart this episode so HARD