sholio: sun on winter trees (Sheppard moody)
Sholio ([personal profile] sholio) wrote2008-02-02 10:25 am

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
ext_1981: (SGA-Game-John-look)

[identity profile] friendshipper.livejournal.com 2008-02-02 10:14 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm always a little wary about whether or not I'm going to like the solo character eps. Travelers in particular fell flat for me. But this one didn't; and I agree with you, I think it was a much better episode for John than Travelers. We didn't really learn anything about him in Travelers, and I don't just mean specific details of his past, but also how he acts under pressure and in situations that throw him off balance. This episode left me feeling like I understand about John a little bit more than I did. Plus, lots of nice interaction with other characters (not just Ronon, but Bates and Bill Lee and his brother, too). Yep, I liked this one a lot! And I love your little scene with the team getting together and conspiring behind his back. Heeeee~! :D
leesa_perrie: two cheetahs facing camera and cuddling (McKay in Bush)

[personal profile] leesa_perrie 2008-02-02 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
I've written a short missing scene - it's not the scene I described here as that didn't seem to work for me. It hasn't been beta-read yet and I think I need to polish it up a bit tomorrow ... I'll let you know when I post it if you want!

It was nice to see Bates back again (some closure, so to speak, on what happened to him). I hope we see Bates again one day (hopefully with Teyla around, he-he!).

And Bill Lee is always fun to have around. Nice to see that he is a good scientist (very good, in fact, in this episode), despite sometimes coming across as a bit of a buffoon in other eps (especially when he was first introduced in SG1, if I remember correctly!).
ext_1981: (SGA-dorks)

[identity profile] friendshipper.livejournal.com 2008-02-03 01:10 am (UTC)(link)
I'll look forward to the story! :D

I really like Bill Lee -- and yeah, it is fun to see him get to be competent! One reason I didn't really miss Rodney in this episode all THAT much is because Bill really got to do his thing, and that was nice to see.
leesa_perrie: two cheetahs facing camera and cuddling (Stolen Coffee)

[personal profile] leesa_perrie 2008-02-03 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay, it's not been to the beta yet (I'll re-edit the post when it has been) but I've put my missing scene up on my lj. Direct link HERE

Hope you like it (fingers crossed)!