SGA Episode Reviews: SPOILERS
Jan. 16th, 2008 08:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunabee34Dude, I had looooots to say. These are long. :)
Be All My Sins Remembered
In list form:
1. The Sam and Rodney interaction in this episode is awesome. I love the way she smacks down Ellis for being a jackass (and how much does it kill me that since Elizabeth had no authority in his eyes, her smackdowns didn’t count for nearly as much) to Rodney and I love that when Rodney is on the planet and he says, “We’re geniuses, Sam,” the smile she gives him is one of pure joy. That’s Amanda Tapping’s most beautiful smile.
2. I literally squealed when I saw Caldwell on the screen. I have truly missed him. I also appreciated his remark about the Cold War. It was particularly apt.
3. Todd continues to be a delight. I love his sense of humor.
4. The reactions to Teyla’s pregnancy were perfect, I thought, even though I did lament that Rodney wasn’t in the scene. It kills me that Sheppard clearly adores his team, would die for them a bajillion times over, and yet he seems to know them so little. He looks immediately at Ronon when he hears the news and he should know that Ronon and Teyla are not together. I also love that he’s angry because it’s perfectly in character; he feels tricked and he feels hurt that she didn’t trust him enough to tell him, but even more than that he feels responsible for the safety of her unborn child. I love that Ronon does know her well enough that he immediately identifies the father. How awesome was the end of that shot with them walking out of frame hand in hand? Super awesome.
5. The McShep friendship is great in this episode. After Ellis is such a dick, Sheppard comes by the labs to make sure Rodney knows he’s still invited on the mission. And he tells Ellis that they’re not trusting F.R.AN., they’re trusting Rodney. And it doesn’t get much better than Rodney calling Ellis a tool and then getting dinner with Sheppard.
6. F.R.AN. herself is really cool. I am so tired of the writers of this show setting up scenarios for the express purpose of making Rodney look like a fool and I was on the edge of my seat this entire episode waiting for him to fail but HE DIDN’T! Yay! I love everyone’s ambivalence about F.R.AN.—from Sam’s immediate assumption of her sentience (which I think is wholly valid and proven by the episode’s end) to Rodney’s eventual discomfort that he’s created her only to die. I feel like there’s something really interesting to be unpacked in her statement that knowing one’s purpose and being able to fulfill it are the ultimate goals of all life, but alas it shall not be I who does so.
7. The Wraith-Lantean-Traveller alliance rocks and not only because we get to see Larin again. I always love when dire situations make for strange bedfellows and this has got to be one of the most unlikely joint ventures Pegasus has ever seen.
8. The music this episode is gorgeous.
9. And finally ELIZABETH!!!!!!! Are you Elizabeth prime? Or the RepliWeir we saw in “This Mortal Coil,” or a third option altogether? Oh, Elizabeth, what do you want to begin? *squeal*
Spoils of War
I have many things to say about this episode, most of which concern the treatment of Teyla’s pregnancy, so I’ll begin there. I am, I think, deeply ambivalent about the way the show is portraying her pregnancy and the other characters’ reactions to it. In the scene where Teyla is exercising, I know that other people have read Ronon’s suggestion that she ought to be taking it easy as offensive, that he should know better and that pregnancy isn’t an illness and she can do whatever she wants while she’s pregnant and so on. I don’t think that’s what Ronon meant. Ronon comes from an industrialized society, and while as a result I don’t think women were having babies out in the woods with no anesthesia, he also was in a relationship with a doctor who surely would have set him straight if he’d started acting like he thinks pregnant women are weak idiots who need to be coddled. No, instead I think Ronon realizes that Teyla believes she has something to prove to Atlantis and to Sheppard specifically; she admits as much in the same conversation. And Ronon thinks that’s stupid. I think what he means (and this scene is so brief and maybe I’m reading too much into it) is that there’s no weakness in changing her habits, that she doesn’t have to ride the exercise bike at full throttle for two hours a day for anyone to still think she’s kickass. There’s no shame in allowing others to care for and about you.
Sheppard’s reaction is really interesting. I’ve said before in episode posts that the writers have been putting a very curious and very interesting distance between Teyla and Sheppard this season and it really comes to a head in this episode. Sheppard is clearly very hurt that she didn’t tell him sooner about her pregnancy, and not because he’s her CO, but because he’s her friend. He’s so hurt that they haven’t even spoken in days. Sheppard’s insistence that she can’t be on active duty anymore strikes me as a little hypocritical since the second they need her skills, he’s asking her to come on the mission anyway. That scene made me a little uncomfortable—the way he’s all, “I can’t put you and the baby in danger and stop bothering me about it ….. unless I say so,” irks me.
Teyla’s characterization is extremely well done, I think. She’s trying to figure out her position now that she’s pregnant. She feels like she has something to prove to Sheppard and to the rest of the Lanteans. She also feels like she’s not part of the team anymore. As a formerly pregnant woman, I know how disconcerting it is when your body betrays you. Eventually, no matter how kickass you are, your body simply is unable to perform at the same level as it did before you were pregnant. For a person who seems to define herself to a large extent by what she can accomplish physically, those changes would be very difficult for Teyla to accept. Hell, they were hard for me to accept and I’m a lardass. LOL I think her realization at the end of the episode that things have changed and that her child is first now is very poignant. I remember when I was pregnant that it was a very long time before I felt like anything significant was happening. You can’t feel the baby kick for ages and I didn’t start showing until I was sixth months pregnant. In many ways, I felt very disconnected from the pregnancy for a long time. It didn’t feel like there was a living person inside me. I think when Teyla actually touches her child’s mind, experiences the child as an actual person, it changes her and her priorities shift in a way that they simply couldn’t before.
That being said, did we really have to do the whole magical pregnancy crap? Blergh.
And now for the rest:
1. How awesome is Todd? I love that while he definitely has some kind of wacky sense of honor—he rescues the team when he can and expects the same in return—he also takes advantage as much as possible. I love that he uses the cover of the attack against the Replicators to take what he wants. (And, oooooh, Wraith satchel LOL) The origin of Todd’s name amuses me and makes me wonder what Rodney’s been calling him in his head. Todd is sort of the Maybourne of SGA. And just like Harry, I can’t wait for him to turn up again.
2. Little moments FTW: Ronon jerking Rodney out of the locker room, Lorne congratulating Teyla on her pregnancy, Ronon trying to volunteer for feeding so they won’t take Sheppard or Rodney, Rodney running from bees as a child.
3. Finally, the insight we get into the Wraith in this episode is really interesting. I had always assumed that the “drone” Wraith were wearing masks, but clearly the “masks” are organic and actually a part of their bodies in some way. I think it’s really interesting that, like the insects from which they descend, the Queens produce different classes of offspring. I also like that we finally discover why the Ancients lost the war—the Wraith were able to mass produce themselves and win based entirely on numbers.
Be All My Sins Remembered
In list form:
1. The Sam and Rodney interaction in this episode is awesome. I love the way she smacks down Ellis for being a jackass (and how much does it kill me that since Elizabeth had no authority in his eyes, her smackdowns didn’t count for nearly as much) to Rodney and I love that when Rodney is on the planet and he says, “We’re geniuses, Sam,” the smile she gives him is one of pure joy. That’s Amanda Tapping’s most beautiful smile.
2. I literally squealed when I saw Caldwell on the screen. I have truly missed him. I also appreciated his remark about the Cold War. It was particularly apt.
3. Todd continues to be a delight. I love his sense of humor.
4. The reactions to Teyla’s pregnancy were perfect, I thought, even though I did lament that Rodney wasn’t in the scene. It kills me that Sheppard clearly adores his team, would die for them a bajillion times over, and yet he seems to know them so little. He looks immediately at Ronon when he hears the news and he should know that Ronon and Teyla are not together. I also love that he’s angry because it’s perfectly in character; he feels tricked and he feels hurt that she didn’t trust him enough to tell him, but even more than that he feels responsible for the safety of her unborn child. I love that Ronon does know her well enough that he immediately identifies the father. How awesome was the end of that shot with them walking out of frame hand in hand? Super awesome.
5. The McShep friendship is great in this episode. After Ellis is such a dick, Sheppard comes by the labs to make sure Rodney knows he’s still invited on the mission. And he tells Ellis that they’re not trusting F.R.AN., they’re trusting Rodney. And it doesn’t get much better than Rodney calling Ellis a tool and then getting dinner with Sheppard.
6. F.R.AN. herself is really cool. I am so tired of the writers of this show setting up scenarios for the express purpose of making Rodney look like a fool and I was on the edge of my seat this entire episode waiting for him to fail but HE DIDN’T! Yay! I love everyone’s ambivalence about F.R.AN.—from Sam’s immediate assumption of her sentience (which I think is wholly valid and proven by the episode’s end) to Rodney’s eventual discomfort that he’s created her only to die. I feel like there’s something really interesting to be unpacked in her statement that knowing one’s purpose and being able to fulfill it are the ultimate goals of all life, but alas it shall not be I who does so.
7. The Wraith-Lantean-Traveller alliance rocks and not only because we get to see Larin again. I always love when dire situations make for strange bedfellows and this has got to be one of the most unlikely joint ventures Pegasus has ever seen.
8. The music this episode is gorgeous.
9. And finally ELIZABETH!!!!!!! Are you Elizabeth prime? Or the RepliWeir we saw in “This Mortal Coil,” or a third option altogether? Oh, Elizabeth, what do you want to begin? *squeal*
Spoils of War
I have many things to say about this episode, most of which concern the treatment of Teyla’s pregnancy, so I’ll begin there. I am, I think, deeply ambivalent about the way the show is portraying her pregnancy and the other characters’ reactions to it. In the scene where Teyla is exercising, I know that other people have read Ronon’s suggestion that she ought to be taking it easy as offensive, that he should know better and that pregnancy isn’t an illness and she can do whatever she wants while she’s pregnant and so on. I don’t think that’s what Ronon meant. Ronon comes from an industrialized society, and while as a result I don’t think women were having babies out in the woods with no anesthesia, he also was in a relationship with a doctor who surely would have set him straight if he’d started acting like he thinks pregnant women are weak idiots who need to be coddled. No, instead I think Ronon realizes that Teyla believes she has something to prove to Atlantis and to Sheppard specifically; she admits as much in the same conversation. And Ronon thinks that’s stupid. I think what he means (and this scene is so brief and maybe I’m reading too much into it) is that there’s no weakness in changing her habits, that she doesn’t have to ride the exercise bike at full throttle for two hours a day for anyone to still think she’s kickass. There’s no shame in allowing others to care for and about you.
Sheppard’s reaction is really interesting. I’ve said before in episode posts that the writers have been putting a very curious and very interesting distance between Teyla and Sheppard this season and it really comes to a head in this episode. Sheppard is clearly very hurt that she didn’t tell him sooner about her pregnancy, and not because he’s her CO, but because he’s her friend. He’s so hurt that they haven’t even spoken in days. Sheppard’s insistence that she can’t be on active duty anymore strikes me as a little hypocritical since the second they need her skills, he’s asking her to come on the mission anyway. That scene made me a little uncomfortable—the way he’s all, “I can’t put you and the baby in danger and stop bothering me about it ….. unless I say so,” irks me.
Teyla’s characterization is extremely well done, I think. She’s trying to figure out her position now that she’s pregnant. She feels like she has something to prove to Sheppard and to the rest of the Lanteans. She also feels like she’s not part of the team anymore. As a formerly pregnant woman, I know how disconcerting it is when your body betrays you. Eventually, no matter how kickass you are, your body simply is unable to perform at the same level as it did before you were pregnant. For a person who seems to define herself to a large extent by what she can accomplish physically, those changes would be very difficult for Teyla to accept. Hell, they were hard for me to accept and I’m a lardass. LOL I think her realization at the end of the episode that things have changed and that her child is first now is very poignant. I remember when I was pregnant that it was a very long time before I felt like anything significant was happening. You can’t feel the baby kick for ages and I didn’t start showing until I was sixth months pregnant. In many ways, I felt very disconnected from the pregnancy for a long time. It didn’t feel like there was a living person inside me. I think when Teyla actually touches her child’s mind, experiences the child as an actual person, it changes her and her priorities shift in a way that they simply couldn’t before.
That being said, did we really have to do the whole magical pregnancy crap? Blergh.
And now for the rest:
1. How awesome is Todd? I love that while he definitely has some kind of wacky sense of honor—he rescues the team when he can and expects the same in return—he also takes advantage as much as possible. I love that he uses the cover of the attack against the Replicators to take what he wants. (And, oooooh, Wraith satchel LOL) The origin of Todd’s name amuses me and makes me wonder what Rodney’s been calling him in his head. Todd is sort of the Maybourne of SGA. And just like Harry, I can’t wait for him to turn up again.
2. Little moments FTW: Ronon jerking Rodney out of the locker room, Lorne congratulating Teyla on her pregnancy, Ronon trying to volunteer for feeding so they won’t take Sheppard or Rodney, Rodney running from bees as a child.
3. Finally, the insight we get into the Wraith in this episode is really interesting. I had always assumed that the “drone” Wraith were wearing masks, but clearly the “masks” are organic and actually a part of their bodies in some way. I think it’s really interesting that, like the insects from which they descend, the Queens produce different classes of offspring. I also like that we finally discover why the Ancients lost the war—the Wraith were able to mass produce themselves and win based entirely on numbers.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-17 05:38 am (UTC)2) That remark about the Cold War almost made me wonder if the writers are angling towards forming a closer relationship with Todd and/or other sympathetic Wraith in the future.
3) Speaking of Todd. I find myself really rather liking him, too. He's funny, and he seems to have his own code of honor. It's nice to add that extra dimension to Wraith-ness; simplistic villains are less fun.
4) I wanted to smack John in that scene, but I think it was an in-character reaction. But Ronon? Rocked immensely.
5) Yeah, my slasher heart made happy noises.
9) I suspect that it was Elizabeth Prime. I mean, we only have RepliKeller's word that Weir ever got killed at all. I sense a set up.
As for "Spoils of War", I was too intensely annoyed by the treatment of Teyla's pregnancy to really enjoy the episode. The only good things that stand out for me were Todd, the nice Lorne moment, and Ronon saying "Why do you have to keep up?". Because, unlike many, I read that scene as Ronon trying to reassure Teyla that she didn't have to knock herself out to prove that she was just as strong while pregnant; of course she's going to be a little slower and less physically ferocious when she's farther along, and he doesn't think less of her for it. That's actually a nice thing to say.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-17 11:54 pm (UTC)