sholio | SGA 4x15: Outcast

Still not feeling like doing long reviews, so itty bitty comments instead!

BATES!!!!! I was totally unspoilered for that ... and thrilled to death to see him, and find out what he's been doing over the last couple of years.

I liked the episode a lot. Sheppard's early life ... REVEALED! *g* I was a little bit spoilered for this, to the extent that I knew he had an older brother and that his dad was (probably) dead -- but I really loved those bits, and I ended up liking his brother a lot more than I was expecting to at first. The plot was pretty good this time -- Terminator, not exactly a new idea, but I didn't expect the twist with the female scientist and I loved how they solved the problem, in the end, using actual science! Score! (I'm really fond of clever uses of the technology they have. The whole thing with the knife-beacon and beaming an enemy into re-entry -- that was smart!)

I did really love that we got a little scene at the beginning with Rodney making a stab at being comforting and wanting to go along for moral support; I think I would've been very disappointed if the episode hadn't had anything along those lines. Having said that, I do like the way that they've been mixing up the characters this season into different combinations -- last week, we had a ton of Rodney/John interaction, so it was nice to get Ronon/John this week, for balance.

And I do love, love, love how we're getting a deeper understanding this year of who John is. Last season basically did that for Rodney, and this season is doing it for John. One thing I find really interesting, after this episode, is how much of his isolation pre-Atlantis is apparently self-imposed. What I mean is, it's not that he didn't have people who liked him and cared about him -- it's that he pushed them away. It wasn't just John, of course; it takes two to have a fight -- but I really liked that aspect of this episode, that we saw it was at least as much him walking away from them, as them walking away from him. It makes him much more human, and less of a woobie victim than he's often written in fic that deals with his past.

Yep, liked the episode very much. Want tags now. :D

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Totally agree with you on that whole last bit. I'm so happy his dad was not military, but instead a (loaded!) utilities mogul and his wife is not an ice-woman she's always portrayed as in the fic. He's even got a brother.

Aww, the whole episode he looked so hurt all the time that it was impossible to forget the personal tragedy he was experiencing but he had to do his job anyway.

Yeah, JoeF did a really good job with that whole "Sheppard repressing his emotions" thing he does. :D It was lovely to watch!

I liked how even though he basically told Rodney to go away with his "I'm fine", pushing him away as he seems to do to everyone, even now, he was still a lot more emotional in that scene than in the rest of the episode as far as reacting to his father's death. He mostly just had these wounded eyes and that's it for the rest, but at the begining his "Thanks" to Rodney was snippy and short. But Rodney seems to understand this inability to deal with other people.

The other scene where John's emotions were (more) obvious was in the car with Nancy, when she told him to be careful. I loved that last scene so much by the way.

Hey, can I ask you a question..Do you have your drabbles betaed or do you just post them as is?

I liked how even though he basically told Rodney to go away with his "I'm fine", pushing him away as he seems to do to everyone, even now, he was still a lot more emotional in that scene than in the rest of the episode as far as reacting to his father's death.

Oh, I didn't even notice that! Must go rewatch that scene. What a burden. :D

Hey, can I ask you a question..Do you have your drabbles betaed or do you just post them as is?

Um ... I don't really do drabbles, usually, in the strict sense of the term (stories of precisely 100 words). I appreciate it as an art form, but it's not one that I can do. I am simply too verbose. :D

But on my shorter stuff (that is, non-chaptered stories), there's not really a yes or no answer. Sometimes I get them beta'd, sometimes not; I haven't really had a lot of beta-ing lately because the people who used to beta for me are busy with other things these days, so I'll usually seek out a beta if there's something I'm especially insecure about (such as writing in a new fandom for the first time, or something medical I want a second opinion on) and otherwise, I'll let it sit for a day or two, do an intensive round of editing and then post.

I don't know if I'm reading more into it then there was, of course, but there was something between the time when John said, "Rodney. I'm fine." and when Rodney left, some kind of silent communication and it didn't look like "omg i share your pain" to me, more like "i get what you're trying to do, but do you really think you can fix this? so what are words going to do? just go." And when Rodney first came in and said he was sorry about John's loss, John seemed frustrated. Whether because people have been doing this to him for a while already or just because, well, he's entitled to anger at that point.

One of the fun aspects of their relationship to me seems to be their ability to just accept each other's occasional inaptitude when it comes to relationships. That's not to say that I wouldn't like to see Rodney push past that carefuly constructed barier. *g*

Normally I wouldn't notice but I've been paying more attention to John's reactions in this season since it seems to be exploring his character.

Um ... I don't really do drabbles, usually, in the strict sense of the term (stories of precisely 100 words)

Ah, oops. I don't know if I've corrupted the definition or if the drabbles used to be longer when I've first heard the term, but I tend to think of them as very short stories, something below 3000-4000 words, no real plot. Tag fics usually fall into this category for me. I guess I may need to change my definition to "very short stories".

Thanks for the answer. I'm simply impressed by the quality of stuff I see out there that has been un-betaed.

I agree about John and Rodney "getting" each other when it comes to their mutual difficulties with emotional intimacy. It's one of the things that makes the friendship really work, I think. They're both just bad at it, but they understand that.

I don't know if I've corrupted the definition or if the drabbles used to be longer when I've first heard the term, but I tend to think of them as very short stories, something below 3000-4000 words, no real plot.

Ah. The definition I'm familiar with (from old-school SF fandom) is that a drabble is a story that's 100 words long, no more, no less. I'd call what you're talking about flash fiction or vignettes or just short stories.

I'm pretty sure that the term drabble has been expanded a bit, because it's just such an amusing term and people like it. But when I hear it, my mind immediately goes to the specific definition, and when I see a story labeled as a drabble I assume it's 100 words long.

I'm simply impressed by the quality of stuff I see out there that has been un-betaed.

Well, getting it beta'd certainly helps. I think every story benefits from getting another set of eyes on it, and there are some stories I've written that were complete messes, plot-wise, before I had another person look at them. That's where beta-ing is most helpful for me, because I really don't need much help with grammar or spelling; part of my day job includes copy editing/proofing, so I'm pretty good at that. It's being able to step back from the story and figure out what's working and what's not ... that's the area where a beta comes in handy for me. And if I'm happy with the plot as it is, I don't really feel the need to have someone else look over it.

SGA 4x15: Outcast

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