sholio | SGA 4x14: Harmony

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episode reactions:sga

SGA 4x14: Harmony

I wasn't really that inspired to write up a reaction post this week, as has generally been the case lately, but I went and typed out a fairly long comment at

naye's post, so I figured I could rework it as an actual episode reaction post, albeit brief. (Hmm, I keep adding stuff to it. Maybe not so brief, then!)

Basically: Hee!

It was a cute and fun episode. Like some of last season's (e.g. Game) this one felt like it could have been really good if it had been a little deeper and more serious with maybe a little more anthropological research than a high school textbook on the Middle Ages that the writers read 20 years ago *g*, but as it was, all it achieved was fluff and fun. SO MANY PLOT HOLES HELP HELP HELP. Still ... who's gonna argue with a little bit of fluff and fun? It's not going to be an episode I'll rewatch much, but I managed to turn my brain off and have a lot of fun. :D

This really felt like the John and Rodney version of "Missing", only without the serious undertone of that one. Still, it made a nice counterpoint to it, though of the two I liked "Missing" better (despite the lack of John and Rodney in that one ... but the coolness of having a girl "Butch and Sundance" duo made up for it).

I really liked Harmony. She was bitchy, but smart and tough and competent and brave. I was actually pretty impressed with the writers for going ahead and bringing her crush on John out of subtext into actual text -- it's such a taboo subject that I was expecting them to dance around the issue, and pleased that they went ahead and dealt with it. (His look of horror when she asked him to be her king! Oh, John.)

So many cute scenes with Rodney and John! He called him John ... again ... multiple times! (It still feels really weird to me, after two years, to get used to hearing Rodney say "John." But in a good way!)

I figured from the get-go that Harmony would have some kind of epiphany about Rodney. I was hoping it would be a more, er, emotionally fraught situation, let's just say. (Yes, I wanted h/c. So sue me. *g*) But still, nice, and her about-face, switching the crush from John to Rodney, was not just hilarious, but SUCH a 13-year-old thing to do. And the painting, oh god! *dies*

I've gone around to a few LJs and seen Sheppard fans griping about the episode casting their hero in a bad light ... which seriously cracks me up, because Rodney's been the brunt of the jokes for years, and now the tables have been turned and it makes me giggle! I love them both, and I find the jokes at Rodney's expense equally funny, but it's about Sheppard's turn, darn it! The painting slayed me, and now Rodney's got ammo to counter the lemon and whale jokes. You just know Rodney won't let him live it down. :D

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Casts him in a bad light? Because a little girl made fun of him? Oh, fandom... *headdesk*

I must admit the idea NEVER occurred to me, when I was watching the episode, that anyone would be genuinely ticked off by that. It still baffles me. Of course, the thought didn't cross my mind that fandom would have the reaction that it did to the lemon in Pegasus Project or Rodney's arrow-in-the-ass in Sateda, either. Wraith and Genii are one thing, but the characters must be protected from the dread scourge of lemons and little girls. Heh.

The arrow in the ass is one of my all-time favorite SGA moments (or rather, Rodney's reactions to it, both on drugs and off).

I started laughing so hard at "That did NOT just happen!" that I had to pause playback for a few minutes to get control of myself. And then managed to maintain some vague semblance of control until he listed off his missing teammates ("... and a caveman!") and, woops, there I was off again.

The arrow in the ass rocked.

I totally don't know why anyone would be upset by that. This was such a perfect 'On the Road to...' episode with McKay and Sheppard as Hope and Crosby and Harmony as Dorothy Lamour. It was *fun* and it was funny, and I almost laughed until I cried at the ending, and I am just so happy and in love with my show. I guess when I'm this happy with an episode I like to see everyone else happy as well. I think I'll just toddle off and watch it again...

I'm one of those gripers. I cringed at the portrait and didn't find it funny at all. I had seen Harmony as a smart kid for her age and suddenly, 13 or not, she forgets how John saved her. And I'm so not a Rodney fan, but I would have cringed equally had the portrait roles been reversed. I've never laughed at Rodney being made the butt of jokes either and when it happens on eps, LJ is alive and screaming with Rodney fans griping about it. Just to be fair.

My Harmony live blogging episode notes are now up. (http://kimberlyfdr.livejournal.com/307296.html) I rewound ALOT during this episode, but then again I adore Martin's writing usually :)

I was upset at the lemon. That's probably a result of having relations who do have deadly food allergies, and the "fun" that results when a server doesn't take seriously someone who explicitly says, "I need to be sure there's no X in my food"--"Oh, no, I'm sure that's not in your food!" A few trips to the ER takes all the fun out of the joke, and I can't get into it even if people are telling me the character's imagining his allergies (probably because that's what some people think about my mother-in-law--hey, check with her doctor). Yes, I'm on my soapbox--too many people never take food allergies seriously. No, I don't want to reopen the argument about whether Rodney has real food allergies; I just want to point out that some people do, and those who do or are close to those who do may not find this funny at all. [/soapbox] (I will make this distinction: John showing the lemon to Cam was a little funny to me, because I don't think he really expected Cam would really threaten Rodney with it, any more than we've seen John actually brandishing lemons at Rodney.)

The arrow? "A pretty girl...and a caveman"--now that was funny! John in the painting? Hilarious! Hey, nobody got hurt, and Sheppard only got a litle annoyed. I'm sometimes one of those who gets annoyed with Rodney being the butt of jokes, but hey, sometimes it's just funny. The crushes are a little creepy, but funny still wins out for me. I kept waiting for John to remind Rodney, "Hey, you called dibs on her!" but was glad he didn't.

I'm there with you, it was a sweet fluffy little episode with a hilarious ending shot. The picture is funny...hence my icon.

At 13 I remember going steady and then a week later not liking the boy at all. Come on, she's 13. The episode seemed like a little oasis in the darker happenings of the year. It's like someone cracking a joke at a wake. A nice tension reliever.

ROTFL!!! This episode was great - and Harmony was such a brat and yet not so bratty at the same time!! I love the way she switched her crush - and the portrait! Oh boy, I don't think I've laughed so much for ages!! And it was the portrayal of Rodney in the picture that really made me laugh (though I did laugh for poor John too!). Rambo Rodney - snerk!!!

And as you said, it's about time Sheppard got the brunt of the joke for once! It probably won't happen again anytime soon (if at all)!

Also, Rodney calling him John again - still a little weird for me too, but I like it. Let's hope we get more of that.

Though I'm wondering why they moved it forward (I'm pretty certain it was originally meant to be later in the season). Rodney calling 'dibs' on an alien princess so soon after Quarantine makes it look like he wasn't bothered by the break up with Katie, which doesn't match with someone who was going to propose... oh well, only a minor gripe. Perhaps we'll understand the reasoning later on.

Still, it made me laugh and although I don't think it'll be an all time fav, I can see me watching this again just for the fun element in it!

I watched with no expectations and surprisingly enjoyed it. The overall dialogue was fun, Harmony (more-mature-than- other-women-he's dated) was well played by Jodelle and definitely better than some of SGA's duds featuring settings (aka The Tower, Epiphany, Irresponsible, etc.)

I also agree that the ep had loads of potential if it had a wee bit more depth, some H/C hero action ... and yeah, less plot holes. But hey, that's what fan fic is for, right?

I was so hoping Rodney would get shot when he tripped over/protected Harmony. Alas, it was not to be. But the funny ending was worth it. I think people are mad at the portrait because John saved Harmony and she just forgot all of that. But I think they're missing the point. Harmony is about to be a queen and he took her amlet. For good or bad, the way he tricked it from her, yeah she's pissed off so yeah she got her revenge. She's 13 and she's now a queen and I really wouldn't expect much different. And really, the portrayal was just so backward, it was great!

But Rodney! I love it when she says he's modest. :)

I found the episode funny, but then I wasn't expecting anything from it after hearing the plot ;) I didn't see Shep in a bad light at all. He did what was necessary to ensure all their survival, and well, Harmony's a fickle, self-center pre-teen, so her behavior was pretty much par on course.

And that painting. There has GOT to be a jpg of that floating around on Atlantis. No way would Rodney let the opportunity pass to take a picture of it :)

This was such a perfect 'On the Road to...' episode with McKay and Sheppard as Hope and Crosby and Harmony as Dorothy Lamour.

Hee! It was, wasn't it? I'm glad they do lighter episodes interspersed with the darker ones (which there have been a lot of, this season).

I ought to try live-blogging the episodes one of these times. I always forget half the things I wanted to say by the time I get to the end!

I certainly don't mean to downplay the seriousness of real food allergies. I realize that a lot of times, what seems to be a fan reaction to the show is actually a person reacting to real issues in their own life that are reflected in the show (which may explain some of my negative reaction to pregnant Teyla being coddled by the guys, too). But it definitely seems like anytime Rodney is the brunt of a joke on SGA, no matter its content, there are Rodney fans jumping out to cry foul on behalf of poor woobie Rodneykins. It cracks me up. Like a guy as thick-skinned as he is would be sobbing in a corner over a practical joke (which I've actually SEEN IN FIC *shudders*). Same thing with John and the painting. I just find it very amusing the way that people react to some of these things.

Hee! Rodney is going to hold that over his head forever.

And, yeah, it was SUCH a 13-year-old thing to do! She's totally going to switch her allegiance from one guy to the other at the drop of a hat. (And now she's in charge of a country. Yikes! I hope her sister acts as regent or something. She's actually a pretty self-possessed 13-year-old, but not enough to be running a nation!)

and when it happens on eps, LJ is alive and screaming with Rodney fans griping about it.

Oh sure! I have a longstanding tradition of mocking them too. :D Gently mocking, that is. I definitely think some people (and I'm not saying this is what you're doing, but I've certainly seen it) over-identify with the character to the point where a joke at the character's expense is taken very personally by the fan. I thought that Harmony framing Rodney for the theft of the Powerbar and threatening to have him beaten (with John's encouragement) was funny, too. Both characters got skewered in this episode, but they're both thick-skinned guys and I don't expect to see either of them sobbing in a corner over it. (Rodney snapping a picture and pinning it on the Atlantis bulletin board ... now ... THAT I could see! :D )

Yeah--my hot buttons in the SF world have a lot to do with my hot buttons in real life. I also realize I'm not unbiased about Rodney. He's not just my boy--sometimes he's me. No, I'm neither that brilliant nor that arrogant--but needing to eat all the time really strikes a chord in me, and I complain frequently too! :-)

Rodney sobbing in a corner over anything short of death (at which we've never seen him cry either) really boggles my mind! He's more sensitive than he sometimes gets credit for, but he has a pretty darned thick skin, and just the idea of "poor woobie Rodneykins" makes me giggle. He usually gives at least as bad as he gets!

I've seen almost none of the negative reaction to the painting; I don't get that either. I can see where the joke might have misfired and not be funny to some, but not even John seems deeply upset!

Yeah, it's the one-two punch of poor John and completely over-the-top Rambo Rodney that sent me off into giggle-fits. Rodney's going to be insufferable for DAYS.

I hadn't even thought about the juxtaposition of this episode with his breakup with Katie. On the other hand, his breakup with Katie was fairly pleasant on both sides, and I don't see why he couldn't jump back into the dating scene pretty quickly. Well, to the extent that Rodney's ever really in the dating scene, that is! Maybe being with Katie gave him more self-confidence, even. He now knows that he can occasionally get the girl, for a little while at least! (And hey, he's got to compete with John. :D )

Yeah, I think it would've been a fantastic episode with a little more depth and internal consistency, as opposed to merely a fun, fluffy one. On the other hand, after all the heaviness and darkness this season, it was kind of fun just to goof around for a while (and get to hear Rodney call Sheppard "John" again! I can never get tired of that).

Yeah, she's thirteen, and I think she's behaving just as a 13-year-old would. John didn't want to marry her and he took her jewelry, so she's taking her revenge as only a 13-year-old with a castle full of people at her beck and call can do! At least she didn't have him thrown into the dungeon! :D

I was hoping for Rodney to get shot when he threw himself over Harmony! I'm so very sad! LOL. But I wasn't unhappy with the eventual resolution of things. (Although I was thinking how funny it is that I used to nitpick your stories so hard on the alien cultures when I was beta'ing them, and the show itself is so very much worse! They *really* need to find some sort of anthropological advisor, just for one episode would do!)

Very fun episode. It was nice to get an antidote to the dark mood this season.

Yeah, Harmony is just acting as a jilted 13-year-old would -- a 13-year-old with a castle full of people doing her bidding! *shudder*

And I have no doubt that picture will be making the rounds of the Atlantis server. :D Honestly, John is so laid-back that he probably isn't too bothered by it. I can just see Teyla's eye-rolls at Rodney's antics ...

Rodney's going to be insufferable for DAYS.

Days? Don't you mean months ... or years for that matter?!! Snerk!! (After all, John brought up Doranda again not that long ago, so of course Rodney needs to have some ammunition with which to defend himself from John's teasing!)

(And hey, he's got to compete with John. :D )

Very true (all of it not just the bit I've quoted, btw)! Also, someone else pointed out somewhere that we don't know how long has passed between the eps (though Teyla's pregnancy next time we see her will no doubt be a clue!). But yes, he certainly likes to be competitive with John over all sorts of things ... including this! I can sooo see that!

The Pegasus Project lemon I can see, but people didn't like the arrow?! I second the hysteria at the "That did NOT just happen!" (as usual, Rodney has what would be my exact reaction to a given circumstance. I <3s him much for it ^^)

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SGA 4x14: Harmony

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