The Crystal Skull - Episode 92

[amyk]

Okay, well, here I sit, watching THE CRYSTAL SKULL. I don't think it is any secret that I really dislike this episode, but perhaps I will have my mind changed with tonight's viewing.

Reused footage from HOLIDAY IN THE HILLS....and not going to be the last time in the series for there to be reused footage from that episode....

Okay, I did chuckle when one of the tribal people says, "English.....oh, you speak English!" and starts speaking English very well.

I wonder if the tribal language is any real language or if the writers just made something up for the episode.

Barak is a popular country on THE A-TEAM. Apparently somewhere in the Middle East....

Is one of the first two monks we see the same actor who portrayed the deaf man in THE A-TEAM IS COMING?

Why is Frankie carrying around asbestos in his knapsack??

I think one reason I dislike this episode so much is because I feel like it's almost a throwback to the severe stereotyping that they did of native islanders on GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, headhunters and all.

I also don't like how easily Murdock, Frankie, and Face are all knocked out so easily. It reminds me of how easily BA and Murdock were knocked out in SEMI-FRIENDLY PERSUASION.

I know the skull is just a Macguffin, but couldn't the props department have come up with something that at least looks a bit more impressive to be this valuable, sacred object?

Gotta go prepare supper....TO BE CONTINUED....

I got tied up doing other things so I'm not going to be able to finish this episode tonight....have to drag it over to another time, which probably won't be until at least Tuesday, possibly later. I'm up to the part where the team has gone to the monastery. I do believe some of the chanting is "Another one by the Nussman" and presumably that refers to Bill Nuss, who I think wrote this episode....

TO BE CONTINUED....

[HoudiniDerek]

One of my least favorite as well.

I don't mind the idea of the script, but you can tell they had so many episodes to film and everyone, including the writers, were checking out. This shows a lot of potential ideas in the laziest way.

[amyk]

I'm trying to finish up this episode now. I agree with you, HD, that this episode did have potential but was terribly mishandled. This issue of forced labor / slavery is such a serious one and I wish it had been handled better. I feel like both times slavery was handled on THE A-TEAM (here and in THE ISLAND), the bad guys mistreating the slaves were too cartoonish or stereotypical.

Oh, I just realized that maybe the "monks" wanted Lisa for sexual purposes, since apparently they had her there with them in the "monastery" rather than working in the mine.

I hate the part when Frankie says "throw down" to the natives, as if they can't figure out for themselves that they will throw down there weapons.

Probably the parts of this episode I enjoy the most are whenever Hannibal is saying snarky things, like "we're all invited to the White House for dinner." (He said that in the part I watched previously, but I didn't comment on it then.

Why is the crystal skull everybody's sacred object? It apparently is a sacred object for the Toga tribe, but isn't it also supposedly the oldest religious artifact of Barak, somewhere in the Middle East??? Makes absolutely no sense to me how it can be such a sacred object in two places apparently very far apart from each other....then again, a lot of this episode doesn't make much sense to me...

I do like how Hannibal brings up the diamonds being in the monastery as though he had not really intended to bring that up and how BA even tells him not to tell them about the diamonds. That was a nice tactic.

"Who wrote this? Who wrote this? Who wrote this?" At least those associated with the show have enough self-awareness to include that kind of humor.

So, my ranking on the Sidney scale after this round's viewing....well, I admit that I'm only giving it a 1.

[Eclipse139]

I rewatched this one at the weekend - I'll admit I may have deliberately delayed watching it again as part of my complete rewatch because, well, unfortunately it's not a great episode.

There are some nice moments (Hannibal telling Stockwell in no uncertain terms that he's not coming back until he's rescued his team ), but overall they could have done so much better, especially with the slavery theme that they hinted at.

I think the idea of the tribes of 'natives' was actually dealt with quite reasonably without the team treating them in aparticularly patronising way, which was good to see considering the general attitudes at the time. Having said that, it's a pity they cast actors of various ethnicities for those roles - it was a sign of the times, I guess. It was a bit silly they could speak English and that they all seemed to worship the cheap looking crystal skull, but those were necessary for plot reasons and not unexpected in episodic TV when they have limited time for character development etc.

I have to agree with the chant of "Who wrote this?" It's quite fun that the production team seemed to realise how bad it was, I suppose, but it's a real shame they were prepared to churn out poor quality episodes by this stage.

[amyk]

And I wonder if Bill Nuss (who I think wrote it) thought that chanting was funny, or do you think that perhaps he thought this was a great episode and maybe was hurt by that? As I think more about this tonight, I hope that he was the one who actually suggested they do that. Otherwise, it seems like it may have been too overboard and hurtful. I don't think it ever bothered me before, i.e. it bothers me if it hurt Bill Nuss instead of him being amused by it.

[Eclipse139]

Mar 11, 2021 0:02:33 GMT -5 amyk said:

And I wonder if Bill Nuss (who I think wrote it) thought that chanting was funny, or do you think that perhaps he thought this was a great episode and maybe was hurt by that? As I think more about this tonight, I hope that he was the one who actually suggested they do that. Otherwise, it seems like it may have been too overboard and hurtful. I don't think it ever bothered me before, i.e. it bothers me if it hurt Bill Nuss instead of him being amused by it.

Good point.  I kind of assumed it was written into the original script as a self-aware joke, but if it wasn't then it seems a bit rude!

[Katia]

This is another one I like to consider as coming out of an alternate universe.  It's just... dorky.  It's unbelievable even for TAT.  It's fun-dorky, I suppose, but still.  As I said in my notes, "Is this another one that was written by somebody's elementary-school kids?"

Feb 24, 2019 21:10:31 GMT -5 amyk said:

Okay, well, here I sit, watching THE CRYSTAL SKULL. I don't think it is any secret that I really dislike this episode, but perhaps I will have my mind changed with tonight's viewing.

Reused footage from HOLIDAY IN THE HILLS....and not going to be the last time in the series for there to be reused footage from that episode....

Okay, I did chuckle when one of the tribal people says, "English.....oh, you speak English!" and starts speaking English very well.

LOL. I noted that, too. "So many of them speak English... very well... with no accent..."

Feb 24, 2019 21:10:31 GMT -5 amyk said:

Why is Frankie carrying around asbestos in his knapsack??

Why do they do anything... yet again more implausibility, lol.  I always say one of the reasons it's great for fanfic is because "if they're stranded in a jungle in Costa Rica but they somehow have a creme brulee torch, by heavens that's okay" lol.

Feb 24, 2019 21:10:31 GMT -5 amyk said:

I think one reason I dislike this episode so much is because I feel like it's almost a throwback to the severe stereotyping that they did of native islanders on GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, headhunters and all.

Yeah, it's a bit uncomfortable.  I mean, it's the 80s, so... but definitely weird.

Feb 24, 2019 21:10:31 GMT -5 amyk said:

I know the skull is just a Macguffin, but couldn't the props department have come up with something that at least looks a bit more impressive to be this valuable, sacred object?

Yesssss.  SO hokey.  I might've given it a pass except for the dorky red eyes.

Feb 26, 2019 16:54:17 GMT -5 amyk said:

Why is the crystal skull everybody's sacred object? It apparently is a sacred object for the Toga tribe, but isn't it also supposedly the oldest religious artifact of Barak, somewhere in the Middle East??? Makes absolutely no sense to me how it can be such a sacred object in two places apparently very far apart from each other....then again, a lot of this episode doesn't make much sense to me...

That, and, the team taking this peoples' sacred object away from them... I mean, I guess they were caught between a rock and a hard place, but still.

Was it actually a religious artifact of this other place, or just a tchotchke the president had, like an objet d'art, that he wanted back?  I can't remember.

Mar 11, 2021 15:36:41 GMT -5 Eclipse139 said:

Mar 11, 2021 0:02:33 GMT -5 amyk said:

And I wonder if Bill Nuss (who I think wrote it) thought that chanting was funny, or do you think that perhaps he thought this was a great episode and maybe was hurt by that? As I think more about this tonight, I hope that he was the one who actually suggested they do that. Otherwise, it seems like it may have been too overboard and hurtful. I don't think it ever bothered me before, i.e. it bothers me if it hurt Bill Nuss instead of him being amused by it.

Good point.  I kind of assumed it was written into the original script as a self-aware joke, but if it wasn't then it seems a bit rude!

Then again, if it did come across as offensive to the actors, it may've been a statement...

(Then again-- were they really chanting "who wrote this," or did it just sound like it?)

[amyk]

I think they really were chanting "Who wrote this?" It just sounds too much like they are. At first, the chant there sounded more "blurred" I think, but then (if I remember correctly) it seemed like it got more distinct.