SGA 5x08: The Queen (quick notes)

[sholio]

I have houseguests right now, so ... just a few brief observations.

EEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEEE. How much do I love John's rather ill-advised rescue plan of utter suckage and Teyla's total lack of needing to be rescued. THIS MUCH! ♥ ♥ ♥ &hearts ♥ (Poor John, going all "big damn hero" and then not being needed, getting thrown in the brig and shuffled off ingloriously to Todd's ship. *pats him*)

I was braced for this episode; all I knew was that it was a Teyla episode involving Wraith, and I was all freaked out that they were going to lose Torren. But ... no losing Torren! (No seeing Torren either, but I'll deal with it.) And I loved the team fretting in the waiting room, and going through hell and high water to rescue Teyla from, um. Nothing much, really -- though, okay, it is true that they made a big difference in the fight against the other hive, but it certainly wasn't a "sweeping to the damsel's rescue" sort of thing, more like lending a helping hand since they were there anyway. And they're cute when they're worried. Awww, team!

Love Todd's behind-the-scenes machinations; he really is some kind of Wraith uber-genius (a Machiavellian one, too ... though I suspect they don't come in any other flavor). And Teyla was awesome, and we didn't lose Torren or Kanaan, and life is good. ^_^ (Though their plan was as terrifyingly ambitious and inept as their plans always are. These people should not be allowed to plan anything, ever.)

Okay, back to houseguests now.

Comments

[perspi.livejournal.com]

I *really* loved Teyla's reminder to Todd at the end, about still being the Queen in charge--it seemed like after her arch little 'Permanently.' Todd gave her a look of real respect, like he was finally compelled to treat her as a Queen, and that was AWESOME.

[horridporrid.livejournal.com]

This was such a cool "Teyla" episode (heh, I nearly typed "fic" which I think is a compliment *g*). But to be trapped among Wraith, playing in their sandbox, trying to influence their world? And actually doing it?!? So very awesome. :)

[astridv.livejournal.com]

(Poor John, going all "big damn hero" and then not being needed, getting thrown in the brig and shuffled off ingloriously to Todd's ship. *pats him*)

Loved that part. "Don't try to escape!" Heh. Though to be fair, the jumper did its part in blowing up the other hive, so they helped after all. Only they didn't realize it at the time.

(Though their plan was as terrifyingly ambitious and inept as their plans always are. These people should not be allowed to plan anything, ever.)

Have you ever watched Angel? The fang gang's plans usually consisted of "let's go in, beat everybody up, and try the hell to get out again."

Fun episode! Todd was, as usual, delightfully sneaky and crafty. The only thing you can be sure of where he is concerned is that he has a hidden agenda of some kind. Now, there's a guy who knows how to plan.

[anniehow.livejournal.com]

"I may have... overstated my importance" I love Todd. I want to write his name in a note book and doodle little hearts all around it :-P

I saw the promo for the episode and thought it sounded horribly cheesy... but it wasn't! The promo monkeys really outdid themselves to cut out all the good parts.

What about Rodney and Keller exchanging glances in the jumper at the beginning? I'm going to have to get me a McKeller icon soon:-D

[scarym1.livejournal.com]

Oh I love this ep. Todd's sense of humor is a hoot - "the fruit probably tastes as good as the farmers who grew them". I love Todd's change of plans. That was brutal with him killing the other Queen like that. Loved Teyla reaction. She did seems uneasy at first but once she got the hang of it she kicked ASS. Her warning to Todd at the end was beautiful.

Basically all The guys had to do was sit around and wait.

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

I loved the guys being totally hapless. John's plan was so made of fail. I was afraid they were going to bring him in front of her and she was going to have to feed on him.

And now? I have the disturbing urge to write Teyla/Todd.

[parisntripfan.livejournal.com]

Basically all The guys had to do was sit around and wait.

True, but for some people - like our guys - that is hardest thing to do.

[parisntripfan.livejournal.com]

Yeah I know. I would have liked to have seen Kanaan and Torren as well - or at least a mention of where they were. And it didn't have to be much - just a line or two about Kanaan taking Torren to the Athosians to be nursed by one of the women there while Teyla was off on her mission.

Although it would have been nice to see them in the waiting room with the team and see Kanaan hand off Torren to Keller before they go and see Teyla because seeing his mother not look like his mother would have freaked Torren out.

[shayera.livejournal.com]

Todd is awesome. I love everything from his mannerism (the fruit! and his admission that maybe he exaggerated some bits!) to his competent scheming and planning. He's the only one in the entire episode who knows what he's doing all the way. Teyla was awesome too, but she was mostly playing it by improvisation - and it worked!

Poor team, getting all worked up about nothing. XD

[wildcat88.livejournal.com]

I loved this ep too. I didn't think anyone could ever take Kolya's place as John's nemesis, but Todd has done so in style and HIGH fashion. He just ROCKS! Teyla was terrific as well (RL did an amazing job), and I adored how she found her footing and wreaked havoc on the Wraith.

[sheron]

The part I loved best about this episode was the bits between Teyla and Todd..When he says that most wraith "need" a queen and then when he saved her from that servant, her thank you was very heart felt. Some interesting chemistry there, to the point that when at the end when Teyla leaves having ordered him to keep his place and he's stretching his fingers I didn't know if he wanted to run after her and kill her or stop her and keep her as queen.

I thought John's resque plan was ridiculously adorable too, especially when he gives Rodney his "I know this sucks this much but I gotta..." explanation where he doesn't even pretent to be cool about it. Cute!

[springwoof.livejournal.com]

Teyla was very awesome. And I enjoyed Todd as usual...
I found this episode more...adult than many of their episodes, in that they actually mentioned a possible consequence of one of their plans.
SHEPPARD: Look, even if this works, even if all the Wraith stop feeding, you think they're gonna become nice and friendly overnight? No. They're gonna have a massive technological advantage.

TEYLA: You're suggesting they will enslave the people of this galaxy rather than feed on them.

[sholio]

I was afraid they were going to bring him in front of her and she was going to have to feed on him.

That was totally where I thought they were going with that. They definitely got off easy, all things considered.

[sholio]

Oh yes. Todd thought he was getting a pawn and instead he got, well, a Queen, and he recognized that. Awesome!

[sholio]

She totally pwned them. *g* From what little I knew about the episode, I was expecting a damsel-in-distress scenario, and I was very happy with what we got instead!

[susnn.livejournal.com]

DO we even know that the Wraith would be unable to feed? I didn't get the impression that they no longer could feed but rather that the treatment would enable them to get nourishment from non-sentient food. Kenny seemed to indicate that wraith could eat food but got something from humans they did not get from anything else. And the terror of being fed upon is a useful tool that I'm not sure Todd would want to do without, for all their technological advantages. What this might do is turn the wraith from 'the shark, the lion, eat to live morally neutral enemy' into an enemy in which they make the choice to feed off sentient beings for their own satisfaction. That might change the dynamics of the enmity between human and wraith quite a bit, I'd think.

[sholio]

Yeah, they helped by accident, but it wasn't exactly the big rescue that John no doubt had in mind!

I haven't watched Angel (not more than a couple of episodes here and there) but it's nice to know that Team Sheppard aren't the only ones with less-than-stellar planning skills. *g*

[sholio]

Todd ... hearts ... *brain breaks*

The episode was way better than I was expecting from what little I knew about it!

[sholio]

I like Todd's sense of humor, too -- it's nice that we've got a Wraith now who is not only a character, but a likeable one to boot! (Well, Michael is fun as a villain, but Todd's just fun.)

And we still don't know if Wraith have names, come to think of it.

[sholio]

*snicker* Poor guys! They don't deal well with the whole concept of sitting back and letting someone else save the day, do they?

[sholio]

The utter omission of Torren from a Teyla-centric episode did seem a bit odd! In my head, it's just what you said -- Kanaan wasn't in the waiting room because he took Torren off to stay with the Athosians while Teyla went through her undercover mission. Because otherwise, you would certainly expect him to at least drop by! I really do appreciate that Teyla is still doing kickass world-saving stuff and that her role is not defined by motherhood, but the baby is still there, after all!

[sholio]

In general, I think the show has been doing much better lately at dealing with the consequences of their actions in a fairly sensible and mature way. In season four, it was pretty clear that they'd created the mess with the Replicators and had to clean it up; and here, they seemed to be doing a much better job of looking forward and trying to work out the negative consequences of their plans before it happens rather than after.

*sigh* It makes me depressed all over again that we're losing the show just as it's really hitting its stride!

[sholio]

Was this comment in response to something in my post or just the episode in general? Because I didn't get the impression that they wouldn't be able to feed, either. Just that they wouldn't have to. But that would still put them on more-or-less equal footing with humans (aside from the technological advantage) because we're perfectly capable of torturing/killing each other; the Wraith would just have one more tool in their weapons arsenal than we do.

[sholio]

I love Todd! I think part of what makes him so entertaining is that he's not really an enemy, more an independent agent who is very much working on his own agenda.

[sholio]

Poor team, getting all worked up about nothing. XD

*g* They're so cute when they're worried!

[sholio]

Teyla and Todd's verbal sparring and jockeying for position was really a lot of fun! I love how he obviously thought he had a human pawn for his plans, only to find out that she was playing him as much as he was playing her.

[susnn.livejournal.com]

To the episode in general. I just wondered how all fired Carson would have been to find a "cure" for the Wraith if they had a choice all along.

[sheron]

Exactly :)

I really liked that their inability to predict each other's actions were rooted in their differences -- Teyla knew he was capable of betrayal but betraying your own kind seemed foreign to her, and he knew that she'd fight if backed into a courner but didn't expect self sacrifice. They were both closer than ever and farther than ever at different points in the episode and that was awesome.

By the way my one wild hope for the rest of the season is that it sets up enough threads for future fanfic to be really interesting, and Wraith Queen!Teyla is one such thread.

[sholio]

By the way my one wild hope for the rest of the season is that it sets up enough threads for future fanfic to be really interesting

I'm mostly just focused on ending the season in a happy team place. I haven't read enough spoilers to know, and I don't want to know (I like being surprised), but I just really hope there aren't any major changes to the status quo between now and 5x20. I really hope that we end the series with the team together, with Teyla still having her baby and no major, permanent romances and everyone still getting along. I just want to have my team to hug and hold forever. *g*

[sholio]

Yeah ... I don't know. I like to think that Carson's whole focus on "curing" the Wraith was mainly to enable humanity to co-exist with them -- a solution that didn't involve genocide. But it's hard to say, because the scripts from that part of the series seem to indicate that Carson thought of their Wraith traits as, basically, a pathological condition, and saw his own role as that of savior/healer.

The more we find out about Wraith, the more I'm tempted to write a story exploring that, but it's pretty much impossible to do it without casting Carson in a very bad light.