sholio | SGA 4x07: Missing

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episode reactions:sga

SGA 4x07: Missing

Well, this week it's my turn to point and go "... what she said!" at Derry's post on "Missing". (Note: Derry's post contains mention of the big Rachel Luttrell/Teyla spoiler for this season. Most of you probably already know this spoiler, I suspect, but just in case you don't -- you will be spoiled!) And the rest of this post contains mention of that spoiler, too.

I don't know why sometimes the solo character episodes work for me and sometimes they don't. This one really did; I had major problems with some of the "survival" stuff, which just FAILED at common sense, but I really do love the whole "on the run, in the wilderness, world turned against you!" plot (which should be abundantly clear from, well, pretty much any of my long SGA stories). Actually I feel vaguely guilty for having been unimpressed by a couple of the previous solo-character episodes (Real World and Travelers) where I really liked this one. (Although I must say with both of those other eps, re-watching them and discussing them with other people has turned me around on them just a bit.)

But I have been eager for more development of the female characters this season, and getting a Teyla-and-Keller, adventure/survival episode was just a delight. I really liked Keller's outsiders-eye view on the Pegasus Galaxy; all of this adventure stuff has become commonplace for most of the others (even Rodney by this point) but it's all new to her, and her frozen astonishment when Teyla was fighting -- well, she hasn't ever seen anything like that before! (The one bit I could've done without was her falling off the bridge -- c'mon, there's ordinary-person clumsiness and then there's having to be saved from your own incompetence. But I'm not sure how well I would have done either.) I love outsider POVs and that's exactly what I was hoping Keller would provide. I liked how the women basically rescued themselves ... well, up until the horde descended on them at the end, and that coulda happened to anybody. (Oh, and the geek moment with John and Rodney matching up actors with movie villains? DORKS! Hee! And the arrow comments -- Ronon and Rodney are still the cutest thing going.)

Okay, now moving along to the Rachel Luttrell spoilers.

...

I should note that ALL I know about this is that one, big spoiler about Rachel being pregnant. I know nothing about how that plotline is going to develop on the show, and if you do know, PLEASE DO NOT SPOIL ME. Ahem.

As I've discussed in earlier posts, I had major concerns about how Rachel's pregnancy was going to be addressed. I've been worried about a "magic baby" storyline (a la SG-1 with Vala, or LOST, or most any other sci-fi I can think of off the top of my head) ever since finding out they were going to incorporate Rachel's pregnancy into an arc for Teyla. Pregnant women are rare enough in sci-fi, but pregnant women who just get pregnant the normal way and have a normal pregnancy ... I can only think of one or two. I mean, it is TV, so a certain amount of eventfulness is just fine, but I had my teeth clenched for worry that Teyla would be magically impregnanted by an Ancient device, or experimented upon in Michael's lab, or some other freaky thing...

And so, I had a little "eeeeee!" moment when I saw that they actually did give her a boyfriend; not only am I simply relieved that she didn't suffer some sort of Pegasus Galaxy immaculate conception, but it's really nice to see Teyla's love life addressed in any depth. The guys get their flings with offworld women, but Teyla hasn't done likewise ... until now. It just gave her character a lot of depth in a whole lot of ways. That she would keep it secret from her teammates is really telling of how she still compartmentalizes her life between Atlantis and Athos (as well as just wanting to avoid being teased, because I'm sure she knows better by now than to give John and Rodney ammo like that).

The cliffhanger at the end isn't really that much of a cliffhanger with the Rachel spoilers floating all around, though -- IMHO, they really should have had Keller deliver the news and then cut it off. Unless there's more to it than just the pregnancy news ...?

And since I'm so pleased with how they handled that in this episode, I'm really looking forward to next week, and finding out how this plotline is carried forward. So, once again, if you do know more about it, please don't tell me; I'd rather be surprised. :)

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To be totally honest, this isn't one of my favorite eps. I thought that that Keller was annoying and Teyla was way, way out of character. I think that the writers should have made ther reason for her rage a bit more clear. The Bola Kai were cheesy and the prisoner Genii/Wraith Worshipper plot twist was unnessecary. The only thing I liked was that they did give Teyla an Athosian boyfriend. All in all, it won't be an epsiode I'll be rewatching anytime soon.

Well, you're certainly entitled to your opinion, of course. I really loved this one; the Bolokai were cheesy as hell and I did cringe a bit at the scene in the tent with their leader, but I am a total sucker for Butch Cassidy-esque, outlaws-on-the-run stories.

I think that the writers should have made ther reason for her rage a bit more clear.

How much more clear could it get than having nearly everyone you love killed? I'd say that'd make me pretty pissed off. ^_^

I'm more with scifi_lemon above, I'm afraid. I wanted to like the episode; maybe my expectations were too high!

I know what you mean about SF pregnancies! At least Tom and B'Ellana had their own baby on Voyager, but they did a really awful episode where B'Ellana went nuts and reprogrammed the Holo Doc to do genetic manipulation on the baby in utero (one of their all-time worst eps, I thought). I can't come up with a single other normal pregnancy off the top of my head. (It's not just SF, though. A lot of other shows hide actresses' pregnancies or come up with odd explanations: I didn't watch Friends, couldn't stand it, but even I know the one character was a surrogate mother when the actress was pregnant).

I was just bothered so much by the stupid things that both characters did throughout the episode that it kind of wrecked it for me. I wonder if they'd have done it with the men? But then again, in "The Game" Rodney and John acted like total idiots repeatedly (when they weren't in a survival situation), so maybe they would have.

I agreed they should have had Keller give Teyla the news--especially since Rachel has been showing since at least the third episode of the season!

I tend to get pickier and pickier the longer I watch a show, so I do like to read reviews by people who liked it more than I did--especially when they're thoughtful reviews and not the mindless sorts of things some of the commenters on Joe Mallozzi's blog have been leaving. I appreciate reading your review, which reminds me of some of the things I did like, and makes them loom larger in my mind.

I hope the storylines of the missing Athosians and Teyla's secret get better development as the season goes on!

I have to admit, the surviving in the wilderness bits were a lot of fun. The ground-squid thing was pretty amazing and watching Keller try to eat it...I agree with her, that was my least favorite part of Survivor too. It was definitely nice to see Teyla in her own element, but, I dunno, something just didn't click for me.

Oh well. To each his own. ;-)

Miles and Keiko O'Brien on ST: TNG are the best example of a "normal" sci-fi pregnancy and baby that I can think of.

Amanda Tapping had at least one baby during her SG1 tenure, which they hid. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. I'm actually very glad that they opted not to hide Rachel's pregnancy, because not only does it give her a good, solid storyline for a change, but having her warrior-woman-type character become pregnant has all kinds of potential for character growth and development ... in fic if not on the show itself! *crosses fingers*

I think one of the things I loved most about this episode is that they gave the women an action-type episode -- I realize that some of the decisions they made were pretty damn silly, but it was still the kind of episode that you could imagine them doing with the guys, and ... I dunno, I really loved that it didn't seem to matter all that much that it was the girls instead. And one of them pregnant, at that!

I loved this simply because this is the first time we've seen Teyla as a Warrior since they brought Ronon The Barbarian on and she got shoved into the background. But then, I have Issues. Heh.

Heee~! I just posted pretty much exactly this reaction! Except you added the insight that Keller actually was an outside POV on Teyla - and like you, I love those outside POVs. So. Yeah. This episode made me happy! (Women! Having adventures that don't just set them up to be rescued by the heroic men!)

It also added a couple of interesting details to the Pegasus galaxy, and I'm all about that. The ground-squid was awesome! First off-planet alien creature! Whoo! (Wasn't it?)

Now I'm desperate to find out how Teyla's pregnancy is going to go, and if there is more to it than just "you're pregnant". It's possible that Keller was so hesitant because she knows the baby's daddy has just disappeared, together with Teyla's entire people, and she feels a bit weird couching it as happy news, but... On the other hand, there could be a lot of "ands" or "buts" to the news. (I hope not, but - this is TV. Are pregnancies ever natural and normal on TV? Other than on Psych, which did so good it deserves a lifetime supply of cookies!)

Ronon the Barbarian. Hee. I like Ronon a lot, but he does usurp a bit of Teyla's role (which he really *shouldn't*, since the characters are so different; it all comes down to how they're written...). I was immensely happy to see Teyla get an episode in which she really got to do stuff.

The characters are different, but their role on the team is the same; the Pegasus native/guide warrior with experience fighting the Wraith. ( I could go on, but I don't want to ruin a squee post with my frothing at the mouth about sexism by the writing staff)

You know on this tangent, I think ever since Ronon came on board he's sort of taken away a lot of 'action" away from John and Teyla..I mean think how diff "The Eye/Storm" might have been if Ronon were there. Now with Ronon I think a lot of physical fighting is given to him and it should I LOVE Ronon....but sometimes I thik its at the expense of the others.

I loved this episode a whole, whole lot. Usually Teyla's episodes are my least favorite, but this one was great.

Actually I feel vaguely guilty for having been unimpressed by a couple of the previous solo-character episodes (Real World and Travelers) where I really liked this one.

Well, Real World was a total snooze, and Travelers was babe-of-the-week fluff, so do feel too bad. *g*

I really wanted to like this episode and looked forward to the women-centered episode. I liked Teyla in this but deeply disliked Keller. Her character made it nearly impossible for me to view the episode. I get the whole outsider view and learning to cope, and I enjoy it when it's done well, but the whininess and simpering were more than I could bear. The topper for me was the entire bridge scene. She knows they are being chased by people who will do bad things to her should they get her. That isn't enough motivation to get her over the bridge? Then she clumsily falls and screams and screams...the hunters didn't hear that noise?

Teyla on the other hand, loved her. Lutrell, like the others, seems to have stepped up her game this season.

I think this is how you felt when it came to "Travelers" way less Team this time around which hurt it. I liked seeing a more fleshed out Teyla, she was in charge, made tough choices, killed and protected. Her outrage over what happened to her people was very real.

What killed it for me was Keller's constant whining. When Rodney complains he's still useful and or funny....with Keller I wanted to smack her. I also didn't like that we learned decent nuggets about her when its taken seasons to get that type of personal info on the original Team. Now I'm not anti-Keller, she began a bit wooden for me and I've warmed to her of late...this eppy kind of ruined her for me...though I did like what she did in the end, finding some inner-strength.

My other issues were just plot ones. Why don't the Athosions the original allies to Atlantis have no way to communicate during an emergency?

There were two guards at the gate that Teyla didn't take out but she held her own during the big group fights?

Overall, it was cool to see the beginning of Teyla's plot line over the season and seeing a more layered character...we were stuck with too much Keller and we had no minor B plot line to back things up.

Season 4 rocks and this is still better TV than most shows, just not one I'll watch again.

I agree with you wholeheartedly about pretty much everything. Overall, I loved this episode. I loved the Keller/Teyla interactions. And I'm also cautiously happy with how they've decided to introduce her pregnancy. So, yay!

Yeah, from the sound of things, my problems with Travelers were similar to the problems you had with this episode -- the plot holes and my dislike of the main supporting character shot down Travelers for me, whereas this time around I liked the secondary character and her interaction with the lead, and (as with episodes like Doppelganger) I was having enough fun to ignore the plot holes. Both episodes were ultra-light on the team; I actually enjoyed the team interactions more in this episode than I did in Travelers, but I'm not sure if that's just because I was enjoying the whole episode more.

In any case, it's probably a "your mileage may vary" thing; I adore the "outlaws on the run in the wilderness" plot enough that they might be able to do it with ANYONE and I'd still be there with bells on. And I'm a gigantic sucker for h/c, another area where this episode really scored for me. :)

But I can see that if you weren't enjoying Keller, the episode wouldn't have been much fun.

Yay back atcha! *g*

The fall off the bridge was one of the parts of the episode that I did have some problems with -- it seemed a bit contrived, and yes, I had a ton of problems with the many mistakes they made while they were supposedly being chased by hunters. But overall, I really loved Keller in this; I'm really enjoying her character this season.

Mmmh huh, pretty much word to your reaction. Being unspoiled, as soon as I realized that this was going to be a Teyla & Keller episode I had a moment of squee, because the women of Atlantis tend to get short-changed with the writing... go forth and kick ass!

When the wraith-worshipping plot came out I instantly thought "oh, side effects of life, the pegasus way! people on LJ are going to love it!"

And they gave a nod to Carson, which really endeared Keller to me :)

And even with the cheez-oh of the Bolo-kai this was pretty darker relative to this series - and pretty awesome that we got to see another way the humans survive in pegasus: nomadic squatters.

And cheers for hopes of a normal pregnancy on a genre show!

You know, "Real World" actually had me right up until they cut back to the team in the middle -- one of the few times I've thought it would have been better if they'd kept away from what was happening in Atlantis. Up until then, it was fascinating and creepy and mysterious, but that just blew the suspense and my interest in the episode took a nosedive.

I haven't really read through your episode review for this one beyond skimming the beginning, but this season has really rocked, hasn't it?

I loved the ground-squid! In fact, when Teyla tensed up and we saw it scuttling around, I was OMG hoping that it would be some kind of animal, because we see alien wildlife so rarely! (There's Sam the whale, of course, but other than that ...?)

I would also be terribly remiss in my fanfic-writer duties if I failed to mention that it's now total canon that the Athosians make wine ... and that Sheppard's been drunk on it! And goes to their parties! One assumes...

I generally expected that Keller's hesitancy was just because the baby's daddy is missing and she's about to give Teyla news that'll turn her life upside down. I'm desperately looking forward to the next episode, though -- I really, really hope that we get to see the team's reactions when they find out, and I really would love to see the show actually address issues like: should Teyla continue to be on a first-contact team while she's pregnant? What will happen to the baby after it's born? My fanfic-writer brain is already buzzing around scenarios for the characters arguing such things out, which probably means that I shouldn't get my hopes up too much, but it really was a MASSIVE weight off my mind to find out that she got pregnant the normal way! Not only is she normally pregnant, but pregnant and single, which is not only rare enough on regular TV, but almost unheard-of in sci-fi!

Tangent alert! It's weird how sci-fi is so conflicted about women and sex. On the one hand, there are skimpily clad, beautiful women everywhere, and the male characters can hardly turn around without tripping over a willing female. Yet, as far as a woman having sexual interests of her own ... it's rare, aside from falling for one of her male co-leads, and that usually turns out to be more his story than hers. I do love sci-fi and I swear I don't mean to sound like a raging feminist here, but ... I just would like to see a more even-handed treatment of the characters, that's all! Like we got here! Yay for Carl Binder!

One of these days I ought to get a discussion going about the way that the Stargateverse deals with gender, because they do some things right and others oh so wrong. But, yeah ... with NaNoWriMo and everything, I don't really feel up to running a discussion like that just now!

The Bolokai were so cheesy that they should have their picture in the dictionary next to "Velveeta". *g* But they were fun as mostly-off-camera baddies. (And the way they kept sucking on lolipops from Keller's medkit cracked me up!) It was really wonderful to see more of the galaxy in this episode -- how things work, how people survive, even the alien land squid.

This season has generally been better at both maintaining the dark tone (something that the last half of season 3, for all that I loved some of the episodes, really didn't do well at all) and giving nods to past seasons.

In fact, when Teyla tensed up and we saw it scuttling around, I was OMG hoping that it would be some kind of animal, because we see alien wildlife so rarely!

Hee! I had the same reaction! And I was so very pleased when it had tentacles, and wasn't just some kind of big mole or something. Yay for indigenous Pegasus fauna! Having thought about it, I'm pretty sure the only other animals we've seen were the giant fish-whales on Lantea. Aside from horses and such, that don't exactly count as "alien".

I would also be terribly remiss in my fanfic-writer duties if I failed to mention that it's now total canon that the Athosians make wine ... and that Sheppard's been drunk on it! And goes to their parties! One assumes...

Yes! There were so many fun little details like that in this episode - makes me very happy. We've got a name for the Athosian wine, and for one of their ceremonies, and John knows it well enough himself. Awww! (Again - I really, really hoped they haven't offed the entire Athosian population for good, because that would just be SAD!)

Oh, all the questions about Teyla's pregnancy - I just hope they answer at least one or two of them! They don't have to spend too much time talking about it on-screen, but - we definitely need to be there when the team gets the news! It would be a waste of a unique opportunity to just cut to sometime later, after everyone already knows...

One wonder if they've had babies made on Atlantis before? They should have some kind of regulations about it, at least. Though I bet if it does happen (which it obviously can, even if there are regulations against it), I'm pretty sure they send Earth personnel straight back home. Which they can't do with Teyla - and now they don't even have the option of sending her off to be with her people, which would otherwise probably have been the ultimate solution for everyone... I want to see Atlantis prepare for a baby! (You know it will be a communal affair! The team are practically uncles already, and then Teyla has all her other friends...)

but it really was a MASSIVE weight off my mind to find out that she got pregnant the normal way! Not only is she normally pregnant, but pregnant and single, which is not only rare enough on regular TV, but almost unheard-of in sci-fi!

Same here! I was really dreading the worst - and in sci-fi, the worst can be so painfully bad... And then she's single, too! I hadn't even thought about how that might be a big deal, too... Interesting.

I do love sci-fi and I swear I don't mean to sound like a raging feminist here, but ... I just would like to see a more even-handed treatment of the characters, that's all! Like we got here!

Heh. Don't worry about me - I sound like that all the time! At least in my own head... I don't know how much of it makes it onto my LJ, but I am so very, very tired of the weird clichés and totally schizophrenic views on women and sex - not just in sci-fi, but since that's what I tend to get involved with... Anyway. If they actually continue in this vein, I might just have to pass out from astonishment. (It'll be the happy kind of passing out!)

I loved Keller in this episode. I found her very convincing, much more so than Teyla, who was uncharacteristically impatient with Keller and seemed to possess superpowers, taking out half a war tribe by herself with a stick and a knife, while inconveniently dressed. (I HATE the season 4 wardrobe - on all of them).

Oh! And may I just add that B.C.(I suppose that's where they shot this) is GORGEOUS! OMG. I couldn't even concentrate on the rescue, I was too distracted by nature. I'm jealous of anyone lucky enough to live there.

I really quite liked it myself, so whee to the happy reactions! ^^

I think it was a bit different from the single-char eps you name (which I didn't care for much myself) in that it wasn't one char on their own, but one char with an ally (more like GUP, really). And Keller is an outsider becoming an insider, and some of the emphasis of the ep was her relationship with Teyla, and her relationship with the Atlantis mission, coming to terms with the kind of things you have to do, the person you have to become, in the Pegasus galaxy. Rather than random interactions between Sheppard-and-pretty-not-very-good-actress, it was development between two chars that hopefully will continue.

I liked that Keller wasn't very capable - I didn't mind her with the bridge, really, because, yeah, sprained ankle, slight acrophobia, woods with monsters - I'd have done worse than her. She wasn't brought to Atlantis for her wilderness skills but her medical ability; the wilderness skills stuff is supposed to be taken care of by the soldiers! (why they didn't take someone else with them...no idea. Why didn't they at least radio ahead to make sure the Athosians were still there before leaving Atlantis? --it's a credit to how I enjoyed the ep that this didn't actually occur to me until now ^^;) Early-season Rodney would've been even worse. And she comes through in the end, as any true Atlantean must...

Really rather liked Teyla's attitude in this ep. She is awfully impatient with Keller - which is not only a previously-established trait (I think she's got less patience with Rodney carrying on than any of them - I'm thinking "The Siege" with the "shall I leave you to be eaten by the Wraith?" line) but also was explained in this ep - 10 days of survival training as a kid! Teyla just isn't that used to dealing with people who aren't self-sufficient; she understands it intellectually but emotionally it just is wrong to her.

<33333 to Ronon sniping at Rodney about the arrow in his ass. They are the cutest brothers - they squabble more and more pettily than Sheppard & McKay, really, and it's adorable. I so want a Rodney & Ronon ep ^_^

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SGA 4x07: Missing

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