SGA 4x15: Outcast

[sholio]

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

Comments

[obsessed1o1.livejournal.com]

I loved how we found out about shep's past. He was special ops by the look of it as fanon has theorized and i liked learning how his father had apparently planned his life out for him so he took a different path and decided to join the Air Force. Also, the wealth of John's family totally fits when you think about it. John totally is from money!! ha!

I liked his moments with his brother,(although i was sure he was called graham to start??? when the intial spoilers came out!) and him going to the coffin and Ronon leaving him be.

Perhaps i should do this in order;
- the start with r and r being together and sam telling him and his face!!
-rodney trying to comfort him........
-the gate scene
-everything at the house........"I told you i had an ex wife right?" and him deliberatly not remembering her other halfs name and Ronon's little knowing smile
-the running around hawtnes with the gun and those little earpiece thingies that go on the neck...hubba hubba.......
-the suit??? even on the apollo????weird!
-him and nancy and theur awkward/caring relationship. He seems comfortable with her. I like.
-the whump......not enough but good what we had.
-the science fixing ideas! the VR world was genius
-ronon and John...when he takes the shotgun and r asks him if he's okay...

and im sure there is more but i cant think right now. I think if there hadn't been the start scenes with sam/rodeny/and the gate and tonon i might have thought this ep felt flat...but it was nicely tied up at the end when John went to visit his big brother. I thought that was sweet

[roga.livejournal.com]

although i was sure he was called graham to start??? when the intial spoilers came out!

I hadn't seen the spoilers, but the actor who played John's brother used to play a character called Graham Miller on Buffy, which explains it.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Nice list of scenes. :D Yeah, I think we needed the scenes at the beginning for balance; it wouldn't have been the same if the episode had just kicked off on Earth. TPTB been much better this season at giving us those little character moments woven in and around the main action, and I really appreciate them for it. And I liked the scene at the end with his brother, too. Like I noted in another comment, I think it's a nice indication of how much John has changed since he's been in Atlantis. I don't think season 1 John would have gone to see Dave like that, but by this point he's learned a lot of hard lessons about losing people and not taking for granted the ones you have left.