sholio: sun on winter trees (Teyla Ronon happy)
Sholio ([personal profile] sholio) wrote2007-11-03 02:47 am

Quickie post on Tabula Rasa before bed

Must sleep! But first -- that episode was squee! Teyla and Ronon saved the day! And not in their usual "roles" either -- Ronon in particular, who basically saved the day with brains and with heart, two things that he's not in short supply of, but doesn't get to display much either...

We've been getting so much nice team-bonding lately that it actually made a nice change to have an episode that wasn't about the team as a unit, but rather, the characters as individuals. We got to see the characters interacting in lots of combinations -- Sheppard and Ronon, Ronon and Teyla, Teyla and Rodney, Rodney and Sam, Keller and Ronon, Sheppard and Lorne, Zelenka and Rodney and Sam, Rodney and Keller, Rodney and Katie ... it was just a really fantastic episode for the whole cast, even though Rodney got a bit more screen time than the others.

Of course, being me, I'm never going to complain about an episode that has the whole cast (well, most of them) sick and disoriented, plus Lorne hopped up on stimulants. :D And Rodney is a good boyfriend! That made me happy, because it just shows how far he's come as a person; and even though I'm not overly enthusiastic about romance on the show in general, I've thought that Katie was adorable, and she and Rodney were very cute together, since her first appearance in Duet. I honestly thought they'd killed her at the end, though, and I was all braced for poor Rodney to be devastated, but she lived ... and I really wonder where they're going from here, because they're actually serious now as a couple -- he fell asleep at her bedside! and she named a cactus after him! I really do wonder how this is all going to develop, and if it's going to affect the team dynamic at all...

The scenes with Ronon and John, in the jumper and on the mainland, were just fantastic -- Ronon steering around disoriented Sheppard and getting him to fly; the matter-of-fact use of the stunner to keep Sheppard out of trouble (okay, seriously, HOW many times has he shot Sheppard with that gun now?); and using their friendship to get through to amnesiac, ultra-paranoid John .... all together now, awwwwwwwww.

Little bitty squee moments, in no particular order:

Rodney's "Five bucks says you'll start losing your memory first!" to John. Oh, boys.

Zelenka in paranoid-commando mode! He must actually be pretty good at it, since he managed to elude a whole platoon of paranoid, ultra-alert soldiers.

Rodney pestering Keller ... with his tingling knees. Poor Keller. She has no idea what she's getting herself into with these people.

Ronon realizing that he and Teyla are immune to the disease! Seriously, Ronon having medical knowledge is canon now! Another bit of my personal fanon for him clicks into place!

John waking up with the world's worst case of bed-head, all sleepy and disoriented. Oh! And his little freakout when he realized that McKay wasn't with the others. (I also find it cute that he'd expected they'd all be together, and be there when he woke up. All together now, again: Awwwwww! But of course, they knew John would be okay at that point, and plus he had other people to stay with him, while Katie was badly ill, so I don't blame Rodney for being elsewhere.)

Teyla petting Rodney's arm when she's trying to encourage him. Have I "awwww'd" enough for this episode yet?

This isn't a squee moment, really, but I liked the scenes with John and Carter working together as leaders, and especially that moment where he tells her about arming Lorne's men, and she expresses her concerns before acknowledging the necessity of it. I thought that was a really interesting contrast with the way that "Hot Zone" (and similar episodes) played out between John and Elizabeth -- a very stark demonstration of what a different perspective Carter has on the whole matter of Atlantis defense than Elizabeth did. I'm not saying Carter's right and Elizabeth was wrong, or vice versa, but Carter's certainly MUCH more willing to entertain the military solutions that Elizabeth would have resisted. This is another area where I really wonder how things will play out over the remainder of the season.

Other random stuff: When the scene first flashed back from the present to the past, my first thought was "Oh, dammit, not AGAIN!" -- because they've done that before, and I'm NOT fond of the dramatic technique of jumping into the middle of the action and then cutting immediately to a flashback. (If you're going to plunge into the middle of the action right off the bat -- which, actually, I like -- for pete's sake stay there!) But ultimately, I really enjoyed the way they interwove the past and present in this episode, dangling the little mysteries of where each character had gone (I was really curious about Sheppard in particular, since he just seemed to have vanished!) and linking up the various plotlines. And Rodney, all confused and scared but doing his best anyway ...! I just liked how pretty much every character got nice scenes and had their moment in the sun.

I'm not gonna say too much about the disease, because, well ... I've been wanting them to address the whole issue of Pegasus vs. Milky Way microbes ever since the beginning, and while I'm glad they finally did, sort of, I'm not too happy with the way they did it, which made it out to be an isolated incident that required [x] [y] and [z] special condition to happen ... thereby neatly sidestepping all the bajillion real-world problems of isolated populations coming into contact and swapping germs ... But on the other hand, this is one of those things (like the thing with everyone speaking the same language) where you really CAN'T explain it away without having to basically rewrite the last four seasons -- so I'll just be happy that I got an epidemic episode and not worry too much about the HOW of it all.

Okay, aargh, I really have GOT to go to sleep now! But this episode cries out for missing scenes, it really does...

[identity profile] spike21.livejournal.com 2007-11-03 11:55 am (UTC)(link)
*nods*
I also loved the ep for many of these reasons. I thought it was gripping and I was seriously worried for people at several points, especially Katie and Zelenka! But it also made me worry for the expedition as a whole -- it's all so fragile! There are so many places where fanfic could go quite dark with this ep.

Also I heart Rodney/Katie and their sweet and awkward lurve... *g*

[identity profile] annieb1955.livejournal.com 2007-11-03 12:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Is it awful of me to say I wish they'd kill the Rodney/Katie storyline. I don't like the character at all, never have and I actually had hoped Rodney at her bedside would have been because she died. I know that's sounds mean but she's not a character I've ever been able to get to like.

[identity profile] kodiak-bear.livejournal.com 2007-11-03 01:00 pm (UTC)(link)
You know, other than DG, I've been kind of lukewarm but I did enjoy this episode and for all the reasons you mentioned -- except katie brown. Her storyline is just meh for me. But then I'm a jealous brat and would've preferred not to lose screen time at the end to that scene and rather have Rodney with the others. *iz shameless* Though I've got to say, I'm glad they at least gave him a girl who *is* matched to him. They make a cute couple. I'd just rather they keep it 'off screen'.

[identity profile] mitchy.livejournal.com 2007-11-03 01:02 pm (UTC)(link)
*reads first line to see if you liked it* Yay! *scrolls down with eyes closed to post comment* Good. I'll be able to watch it later, good to know it's better than last week. :D

[identity profile] trystings.livejournal.com 2007-11-03 01:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh total squee episode. Rodney scribbling clues on his arms with a black marker and leaving himself messages. Awww! And Lorne with his picture. "Lt. Col Sheppard. He is your commanding officer. TRUST HIM!" AWWWWW! And John so amnesic he doesn't recognize the controls of his own puddle jumper. His baby! Ronon had to show him where to sit! AWWWWWWWWWW! Ronon and Teyla were awesome. I loved it that they got to save the day. It's too bad that most of the time they're limited to intimidating people or hanging back and waiting for instructions. Yay. Great episode.

[identity profile] with-apostrophe.livejournal.com 2007-11-03 02:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Very cool episode, and the first time I've not found Katie annoying, though I wish Rodney would just KISS her or something.

There were aspects to this that were very much like a film called "Memento" (a very, very good film - never seen anything like it) so I was desperately hoping that after Ronon compliments John on his idea about the Polaroid that it would be a "yeah, I saw it in this movie" moment. Very good movie - I highly recommend it - and no I've not spoilt the movie for anyone!

I was so happy that Teyla and Ronon were the heroes, and that we got to see Teyla working in sync with Rodney and showing that her covering in "Aurora" wasn't just a fluke, the woman has brains and education - whether on Athos, or that she's been learning since. Ronon - hmm not so much - I thought his realisation about the immunity was common sense, nothing else - sorry. And is it me or does Rachel just get more and more beautiful as time goes on?

Ronon was so chatty! Have we seen him talk so much at one time before? Very cool. I loved his "this never gets old" as he shot John and tied him up (hmm where have we seen that before?) though I think what he was wearing was still alive.

I liked that Carter was not one of the soldier group, and that they made it very clear that while Carter is in charge of the whole expedition, she is not the military commander. Lorne was fantastic - his second pseudo-psycho performance in three episodes, and Dr Z - I love him so much - hitting Marines over the heads with poles!

I'm beginning to like Keller - it takes time for me to warm up to new characters - particularly women, so I'm finally getting there.

And a whole load of canon vs fanon material! Heh.

[identity profile] blade-girl.livejournal.com 2007-11-03 02:03 pm (UTC)(link)
I agree. It's like they put no thought at all into writing the character, gave her next to no personality, then hired the blandest actress with no chemistry with Hewlett at all that they could find.

And I know a lot of people think it's cute that they are so awkward with each other and everything, but I find it kind of weird. They've been seeing each other - even if it's been off-and-on - a really, really long time now! They shouldn't be awkward and shy with one another, they should be familiar and at ease. It's like the writers think, "Well, we've only written them together on camera about three times, so let's forget that *years* have passed with them dating or even just living on the same base, and write this episode like it's only the fourth time they've seen each other!" It's just a little stupid!

[identity profile] helen-c.livejournal.com 2007-11-03 02:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Haven't watched S4 yet (though I'm glad to see that so far, aside from last week's ep, it seems to be good).

But on the other hand, this is one of those things (like the thing with everyone speaking the same language) where you really CAN'T explain it away without having to basically rewrite the last four seasons
I think I saw the Gate being used as a universal translator in one of the SG1 novelizations... Maybe it also rematerializes the people without the germs they had been carrying?(though probably not, since that would kill them). Heh.

That's the beauty of Sci-Fi. You can put your brain on hold, and say, "The Ancients took care of it."

But I agree that it would be nice to see this adressed at some point. For all we know, they all have a fish in their ear...
aelfgyfu_mead: Aelfgyfu as a South Park-style cartoon (Default)

[personal profile] aelfgyfu_mead 2007-11-03 02:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Great minds think alike again! I'm kind of glad I posted my review before I read your bit, because I might have gone, "Shoot, mine isn't worth posting now!"

I too thought Katie was dead! (See my review for more details, if you want them.) I see a couple of commenters here don't like them, but I do. For me, Katie stays just this side of saccharine--and their interactions really work for me.
aelfgyfu_mead: Aelfgyfu as a South Park-style cartoon (Default)

[personal profile] aelfgyfu_mead 2007-11-03 02:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I think they could have been a little more consistent with the tricks from Memento--why is Lorne the only one with a Polaroid, and why doesn't he have one of Teyla or Ronon?--but on the whole I liked it.

though I think what he was wearing was still alive
:)

[identity profile] with-apostrophe.livejournal.com 2007-11-03 04:37 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm glad I'm no the only one who's seen that film - it deserves more attention.

I'm just thinking out loud here... Rodney's message to himself and the photo from Teyla's personnel file was an electronic equivalent of Polaroids I suppose and he did write on his arms. Regarding Ronon - were running out of time (John got the idea fairly late on) and Ronon couldn't have come back to Atlantis without John to fly the jumper so they only needed the one photo - and as John is wearing similar clothes to Lorne rather than a half dead wildebeast it would make more sense...perhaps?

aelfgyfu_mead: Aelfgyfu as a South Park-style cartoon (Default)

[personal profile] aelfgyfu_mead 2007-11-03 04:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, I can see the logic in photographing Sheppard because he and Lorne are dressed alike; clearly the military/civilian distinction was one everyone could hold onto no matter how little else they remembered (at least until they simply lapsed into a coma). I do wish Sheppard had had one of Ronon, though it was very nice to get a scene of Ronon having to use his skills of persuasion; he's got them, but mostly he doesn't bother, because he can beat the carp out of darned near anyone, so why waste time talking?

"half dead wildebeast"--snerk!

[identity profile] tipper-green.livejournal.com 2007-11-03 05:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, we're totally on the same page! So glad you wrote this, because now I don't have to! LOL! My only other personal fanon note, besides Ronon having medical knowledge, was Teyla being the one to distribute it to the city using the program Rodney set up. One took the medical side, and the other the technical side, and...personally fanon happiness mode! LOL!

[identity profile] mitchy.livejournal.com 2007-11-03 05:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Watched it! Great ep :) So many good bits but mostly my squee was for Ronan - about time they showed him being able to do more than just shoot his way out of a problem. Loved, loved, LOVED the idea of Lorne having Sheppard's picture in his vest - that also showed that they're capable of thinking ahead and working out solutions, like good military officers should.

Yep, this was a good one. Good to see how our guys and gals react when they don't know who they are - some things still shine through it seems.

[identity profile] tipper-green.livejournal.com 2007-11-03 06:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes. On Katie and Rodney. Absolutely yes.

NT's big moment of squee was Sheppard's "Where's McKay?" at the end. People have died, and he asks worriedly, "Where's McKay?" It's the first thing he thought of. His sudden realization that McKay isn't there to bother him as well, and guessing that to mean that Katie is likely dead (or, perhaps even more scarily for John though it wasn't the more obvious answer, that McKay might be dead), was just so telling about who Sheppard cares about the most. I think, ultimately, his family is made up of three people--and the fear in his voice...God, how can you not love the stories this year?

[identity profile] with-apostrophe.livejournal.com 2007-11-03 06:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Actually the "soldiers" were only Lorne's team - there were Marines in the Mess Hall. It was everyone who didn't have stims vs Lorne's team, who did have stims - pretty amusing!

I see your point about Sheppard having one of Ronon, though Ronon does seem to have had a belief that Sheppard wouldn't forget him. Maybe Sheppard forgot that it would be a good idea t have one of Ronon and Ronon didn't think it was necessary? Plus, as you say, it was WONDERFUL to hear Ronon being persuasive and talking so much.

Ronon really needs to learn to tie people up so they can't escape. Sheppard's 2 for 2 on escaping from Ronon after being stunned and tied up! But seriously - what was he wearing?

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