Redial the Gate: Out of Mind (and a fic rec)

[fignewton]

Tonight redial_the_gate recaps the last ep of (in my opinion) the best season in Stargate, S2.

I am so absurdly charmed about the way the writers made their season-ending cliffhanger out of a clip show. :)

First, some very random thoughts on the episode:


Shirtless Daniel!
Shirtless Jack!
(Not quite) shirtless Sam!

Teal'c Teal'c Teal'c Teal'c.

George!

...the writers wished that they could erase Hathor from everyone's collective memories, so they - brought her back. Yeah.

You don't need to ship Sam and Jack to be amused that Jack really is - well, a guy.

::pauses for a moment of silence over the tragic loss of floppy-haired Daniel...::


An interesting fic rec for all of you here, even though it's related to Into the Fire rather than Out of Mind:

Just two days ago, I was talking to abyssinia4077 and pepper_field about Makepeace. We wondered when he joined Maybourne: how far back did it go? I suggested that the deaths of so many officers in the rescue mission during Into the Fire might have driven Makepeace to find some way, any way, to make their mission a safer one. Abyssis agreed that it was likely.

And then I did one of my semi-regular checks of FF.net (because yes, I have found decent fic there, and when I'm lucky enough, the author's page leads me to an LJ profile - I found one of my nicest Sam and Daniel recs that way), and what do I find? After The Fire Burns Out, by Dream Weaver 85, in which Makepeace thinks miserably about the funerals he's just attended in the wake of Into the Fire... just before he gets a visit from Harry Maybourne.

I know I'm pretty much in the minority of SG fandom in that I liked Makepeace, and consider him to be a lot more of a good guy and a better ally than Maybourne could ever hope to be. Yes, I think he was betraying the SGC - but he was doing the wrong thing for the right reason, rather than for personal gain. Do the ends justify the means? No, of course not. But I don't forget that Makepeace saved SG-1 in The Broca Divide, and came pelting into Hammond's office to alert him to SG-1's plight in Into the Fire and then volunteered to lead the teams to rescue them.  Even in Into the Fire, there's the seeds of his resentment with their sometime allies. Consider his comment to Sam about the Tok'ra: "Don't know. Don't expect to find out any time soon, either." We all know the Tok'ra operative did risk her life to save Jack, but from Makepeace's POV, the very limited help was the indirect cause of his people's deaths. His betrayal of the SGC's ideals was rooted in his need to save the lives that were lost when he went through the Gate - a far cry from Maybourne's accumulation of gadgets for his own self-interest.

He might not have been likeable - he was abrasive and arrogant and had little patience for Daniel-the-civilian. But I also don't forget that half-quirked smile when Jack yelled at him, "Great rescue!" It's because he has faults that I liked him, I suppose.

Check out the fic. I couldn't leave feedback, because the author has anonymous comments disabled and I'm not exactly registered there. But I do recommend it as an interesting look at a character that's a lot more ambiguous and interesting than fandom seems to realize.

Comments

[pepper-field.livejournal.com]

I watched Into The Fire the other day, and it struck me that Makepeace is the one doing the stuff that is going to have the audience's sympathy, going all-out to rescue SG-1, and by contrast, Paul Davis is the one saying they shouldn't go, that it's not worth risking more SGC personnel.

I thought it was a shame they didn't explore Makepeace's character much further in season 3 before they made him the baddie - it would've made what happened in Shades Of Grey that bit more unexpected.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting point. For most of Paul's dialogue, he seems to be apologetically giving the Hammond the Pentagon line, but at one point, he says, "they're only one team." George (oh George!) looks at him and says, "You've got a lot to learn about the way we do things around here."

But you know what's great about Davis? He does learn. Foothold, and by the time we get to the S3 season ending, he's as much a part of the SGC team as anyone else. Think of how he tries to reassure Daniel when the Asgard ship blows up. Think of how much he knows, to Hammond's surprise.

But it is truly fascinating to consider that in ItF, Makepeace comes across as much more humanitarian than fan-favorite Davis. Huh. No wonder the actor was so indignant when he read the SoG script!

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

Honestly, until "Shades of Grey" I saw no reason to dislike Makepeace and even in that episode, we don't know enough of the details to have him be truly bad (actually, given we did see some of those guys again, it's a shame we never saw Makepeace again)

I mean, he obviously had SG-1's backs with a lot of loyalty in these episodes...

I still think "Out of Mind" is one of the overall weaker episodes - and Daniel's "help I got attacked by a Romulan with a weed-whacker" haircut doesn't precisely help.

[pepper-field.livejournal.com]

I mean, he obviously had SG-1's backs with a lot of loyalty in these episodes...

Makepeace (I keep writing 'Maybourne' by accident) makes the whole thing with Jack turning to the Dark Side make a lot more sense to me. He's got a lot of Jack's attributes, and the fact that it led him to the NID's point of view makes it more plausible that they might expect Jack to turn, too. He's not doing it for the glory, but out of misplaced belief that what he's doing is right for Earth.

It's a shame they didn't bring him back for The Sentinal, really (although I think Colonel Greaves was fantastic).

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

I would have loved it if that had been Makepeace rather than Greaves in TS, especially because Makepeace's self-sacrifice wouldn't have been even remotely surprising or OOC.

I love the parallel between Makepeace and Jack that you make here. And that's it exactly: He's not doing it for the glory, but out of misplaced belief that what he's doing is right for Earth.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

See, that's the thing - even with SoG, I never saw Makepeace as "bad." Disloyal to the SGC, yes, but not evil.

There's nothing in his attitude throughout all SoG to suggest he's not likeable or bad at all - not until he leans down to "tie his boot" and swipes the doohickey. Really, it did come out of left field.

We needed more guys like Makepeace and Edwards - abrasive soldiers who were good at their jobs. They can't all be as marvelous as Reynolds!

And no, that haircut wasn't a help to anybody. But Teal'c and Hammond? They carried the ep for me.

[sg-wonderland.livejournal.com]

ELG has done a wonderful fic dealing with Makepeace and the results of 'Shades of Gray'. Unfortunately, the link (www.bunnyfic.com) isn't working so I can't link it. The fic is called 'Ripples' and it's very long but well worth the read.

Anyway, I read the rec and it's another wonderful story. The timing is absolutely believable, as is Makepeace's grief.

I never disliked Makepeace like I did Harry. I know lots of folks warmd to Maybourne later, but he did absolutely nothing for me. I hated that they made Makepeace into a bad guy so quickly. So many different things could have been done with his character that would have made the revelation a real stunner.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

I too didn't like Maybourne--and I'm no more impressed with him in later episodes than in the early ones. Why on Earth did the writers of "It's Good to Be King" think it would be funny to have him abuse his power and take multiple fawning wives?

I like Makepeace as both a good guy and a bad guy, and his decision to cross the line makes sense to me--yes, I'd liked to have seen more of him coming to the decision (or any of him coming to it), but he's annoying and abrasive on either side! He seems enough like Jack, without the good influence of Jack's teammates, that I think we get an interesting contrast.

Yes, it could have been a more interesting contrast if we'd gotten more of Makepeace before, or, as Pepper says, in "The Sentinel." But I've read some fics where Makepeace is the true hero, in deep cover or just in the wrong place at the wrong time in "Shades of Grey," and that doesn't work for me at all.

The Bunnyfic link seems to be working right now: ELG's "Ripples" is here. I like that one too!

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Oh, no argument with me re Maybourne. Trust me.

I agree - Makepeace was a much more fascinating character, because he was complex and his motivations were real. I love your suggestion, like Pepper's, that Makepeace is the way Jack could've gone - with your extra idea that it's the people around him that make the difference. ELG, in fact, makes the same point towards the end of the fic: that it's his friendship with Daniel that keeps him from being like Makepeace. So, yeah.

(It's one of my top fave fics, as I say upthread. Link to rec and everything!)

I don't buy Makepeace as deep cover, either, but I find it plausible enough that it doesn't annoy me the way it would if, say, someone tried to make the same suggestion about Maybourne. :)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes. Ripples is on my top five list. I recced it here.

And I'm with you on Maybourne. I say there's no character hate on this LJ, but for Harry it comes close. :) Makepeace? His sudden betrayal was such a waste!

[redbyrd-sgfic.livejournal.com]

See, I'm right there with you on Makepeace as an interesting and more-than-2-dimensional character.

Speaking of Makepeace fic, you've probably read them, but there are two Makepeace fics by Jb on her website (http://www.omnifera.com/tablet/jb.htm). (Which I haven't read in a while, but there are a few fics out there that at least try to explore the character.)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, both on FIAD.

I love the way her Makepeace assumes that Daniel couldn't possibly have shot the Horus guard, because the shots were too neatly spaced.

Jb's fics are always sharp and good, but her language threshold is way beyond mine. :)

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Yes! Good stories there by Jb!

[tringasolitaria.livejournal.com]

Wow - I've actually caught up with you all? *blinks* :)

I just watched Out of Mind Saturday night. The first thing I thought was - wow, I forgot this was basically just a clip show. :S Honestly, neither part is one of my favorite season finale/premieres, but it's got its good moments. The Hammond/Janet/Teal'c scenes were probably the best part. From what I remember, Into the Fire is better - still not my favorite, but worth watching just for the Hammond/Teal'c scene in the glider. :)

And I don't know if you watch Supernatural (I did for a while), but it took me a minute to realize that the Tok'ra woman plays Ellen Harvelle in that show. I looked at her and thought - wait, I know that actress from somewhere not here. :)

I loved Makepeace, so you're not alone. I've always been a little aggravated about him turning out bad in Shades of Grey, although I'll concede that it probably had more impact than another unknown character. Thanks for the fic recs though. :) I think I've read Ripples, if it's the one I'm thinking of, but it's worth rereading.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

It's interesting to see that there are a lot more Makepeace fans out there than I thought! Maybe they're just drowned out by the sheer volume of more vocal Maybourne fans... :)

Yeah, just a clip show, and the team spends most of the time as passive victims. But, as you say - George! Janet! Teal'c! And yes, let's not forget "Yeeee-HAW!" And Teal'c's eyebrow reaction!

Congrats on catching up! We've got a hiatus of a few weeks before starting again on June 20th.

No, don't watch SPN. But Stargate actor bingo is always very popular!

And yes, Ripples is very much worth rereading.

Makepeace

[ello76.livejournal.com]

Given how 'helpful' some of our allies were, the only surprise is that more people did not follow that path.

I became much fonder of Makepeace after reading "A Modicum of Dignity" at http://www.geocities.com/tiffanypark/Dignity.htm, in which Makepeace learns that when you are recruited with the slogan 'the end justifies the means,' you end up working with colleagues who feel that an end they like can justify almost any means.

P.S. Spader looked good with floppy hair. Shanks looked better with it short. So only limited nostalgia for the floppy-haired version.

Re: Makepeace

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Wow. That is one creepily plausible fic. Thanks for the rec!

As for floppy-haired vs. short-haired MS - I invite you to look at my default icon and consider which one I like best. :) To each their own! As long as it's Daniel... ;)