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A thought on Grace Under Pressure...
... and Sheppard's reactions therein.
Naturally, being me, one of my foci when watching (and re-watching) the episode is Sheppard's concern for Rodney, which I do think is there despite the lack of overt, outward signs. However, there's one subtle characterization point that took me quite awhile to pick up on ... until last night, in fact. It's simply this -- Sheppard is entirely serious throughout the whole episode. The only point where he gets a little of his normal flippancy back was when they took the puddlejumper underwater and he was trying to get Radek to be excited along with him -- and really, who can blame him; this is Sheppard after all ... if he didn't get at least a little bit excited about doing something new and different with the puddlejumper, you'd have to check him for pod marks. But then he snaps right back to "mister serious" again. Throughout the episode, he doesn't joke, he doesn't make light of the situation as he normally does (he even congratulations Radek for narrowing down the search area, and Sheppard doesn't really *ever* praise people, that I can think of) and at the end, when they find Rodney, there's no teasing *at all*. Even when he's trying to get Rodney to open the door, with the clock ticking and entire weight of the ocean about to come crashing down on their heads, he does it gently ... well, gently by Sheppardian standards, and especially compared to the tactics he normally takes when trying to motivate Rodney (as in Inferno or 38 Minutes).
And maybe I'm wrong and the writers didn't do it on purpose, but it's just so ... consistent, and so different from how he normally acts. He even passes up a couple of perfectly obvious places to tease McKay at the end (like about the Carter thing). And if it is intentional, then that's really impressive, because it's so understated and yet you look back at the episode and it's just there, all the way through, revealing how he feels more clearly than words ever could.
Naturally, being me, one of my foci when watching (and re-watching) the episode is Sheppard's concern for Rodney, which I do think is there despite the lack of overt, outward signs. However, there's one subtle characterization point that took me quite awhile to pick up on ... until last night, in fact. It's simply this -- Sheppard is entirely serious throughout the whole episode. The only point where he gets a little of his normal flippancy back was when they took the puddlejumper underwater and he was trying to get Radek to be excited along with him -- and really, who can blame him; this is Sheppard after all ... if he didn't get at least a little bit excited about doing something new and different with the puddlejumper, you'd have to check him for pod marks. But then he snaps right back to "mister serious" again. Throughout the episode, he doesn't joke, he doesn't make light of the situation as he normally does (he even congratulations Radek for narrowing down the search area, and Sheppard doesn't really *ever* praise people, that I can think of) and at the end, when they find Rodney, there's no teasing *at all*. Even when he's trying to get Rodney to open the door, with the clock ticking and entire weight of the ocean about to come crashing down on their heads, he does it gently ... well, gently by Sheppardian standards, and especially compared to the tactics he normally takes when trying to motivate Rodney (as in Inferno or 38 Minutes).
And maybe I'm wrong and the writers didn't do it on purpose, but it's just so ... consistent, and so different from how he normally acts. He even passes up a couple of perfectly obvious places to tease McKay at the end (like about the Carter thing). And if it is intentional, then that's really impressive, because it's so understated and yet you look back at the episode and it's just there, all the way through, revealing how he feels more clearly than words ever could.