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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
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
no subject
Well, apparently, from looking at other people's comments, that's just a conclusion that *I* jumped to, based on ... nothing, apparently. The thought hadn't even occurred to me that he wasn't the older brother. It could go either way, really.
I was also very, very amused by how most people at the funeral must have gotten the impression that John had brought his boyfriend. XD I mean, seriously - "civilian contractor"? Suuuuure.
AHAHAHAHAHA! Would you believe I hadn't even thought of that?
But the thought did occur to me that, if you wanted to make a case for canon John being gay, it would actually fit perfectly with the details of his life as revealed in this episode. We don't know what his big fight with his father was about, although it's inferred that it had to do with not living his life as his father would have wanted. We don't really know why he broke up with Nancy; it appears to have to do with personality differences, but one interesting wrinkle is that he appears to have kept in touch with her until leaving for Atlantis (with her comment about not having heard from him for four years -- surely their divorce had to have been earlier than that!). I don't think the episode implies that he's gay (though I'm sure some will disagree XD), but, like I've said before, they really could have him come out of the closet without it being a total bolt from the blue, and that's as true after the big "John backstory episode" as it was before.
At the point he's at with his friends in Atlantis, I don't think you could PULL them away from him, and the whole thing just makes me happy. ♥
Eeeee, so much love for that. ^_^ And, yeah, I agree with you; it makes it even better to know that he's walked away before, but here, he's found something worth staying for. I've always felt that one of the things I really like about SGA is how the characters aren't joined at the hip -- the team is close, but they aren't the only important things in each other's world; they've all got a social circle that extends beyond the team. And for me, this just adds to that and deepens it. If John ever did lose the team, he's kinda got a place to go; it would break him in all sorts of ways, but he wouldn't be completely alone, just like Rodney's got Jeannie, Zelenka and others to get his back, and Teyla, er, used to have the Athosians, and now her baby. It makes their world feel a little more real that they aren't the only important thing in each other's universe.
no subject
My take on it would probably be that John was the older son, and that part of what drove him away from his family was the expectations that followed with that. It's kind of old-fashioned, but the Sheppards seemed to be the kind of people where that sort of thing would matter, and where the father would want to groom the oldest son to be his heir. Also if the casting was supposed to be indicative of the older/younger thing, the actor playing Dave is five years younger than Joe F! But like you said - it could go either way.
AHAHAHAHAHA! Would you believe I hadn't even thought of that?
Apparently I had my slash goggles firmly in place for the episode! And did you notice how nobody seemed very surprised by the fact that he was bringing a "co-worker" to his estranged father's funeral.
But the thought did occur to me that, if you wanted to make a case for canon John being gay, it would actually fit perfectly with the details of his life as revealed in this episode.
Exactly! I was thinking the very same thing, watching the episode. The relationship he has with his ex wife, the way it's never made explicit what made him leave his family... I find it fascinating that the subtext is so visible. Giving someone an ex-wife could be a way of saying "look how straight he is!", but the way it was played here, it was much more ambiguous.
I've always felt that one of the things I really like about SGA is how the characters aren't joined at the hip -- the team is close, but they aren't the only important things in each other's world; they've all got a social circle that extends beyond the team.
It adds an element of choice to their close relationship that I find absolutely irresistible, yes. I can't even explain why that is, but I know that I love it! There is a lot to be said for fate, and it is possible that fate brought them all together, but they all have (or had, at least) other places they could go, other people they could live - but they have committed to Atlantis, and to each other, and seeing them reaffirm those choices just... make me happy.
no subject
Proof! Unless the writers change their minds *g*